Skip to the content of the web site.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

 

 

  • Co-op employer survey results released
  • Prof Googled "award" and his name came up
  • Organize for Success update and other notes

 

 

Words of welcome: this video featuring President Feridun Hamdullahpur sets a welcoming tone for new undergraduate students as they prepare to join our campus community in a few weeks' time.

The video was a collaborative effort involving University Relations, Marketing and Undergraduate Recruitment, Communications and Public Affairs, Creative Services, and the Student Success Office.

 

Back to top

 

Co-op employer survey results released

a message from Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA).

Recently, the University of Waterloo conducted an online survey of co-op employers with a goal to monitor and improve employer satisfaction.  Overall, the results were very positive and enlightening, and gave Co-operative Education & Career Actions (CECA) a good idea of what employers are happy with and what they are looking for in the future. 

The survey was sent out to approximately 1,800 employers who have been part of the co-op hiring process during the past year, with 661 employers, from as far away as India, taking the time to respond to the survey.

Below is a summary of some of the key findings from the survey, in infographic form (click to enlarge):

An infographic summary of survey results.

An infographic outlining the summary of the survey results.

Last week’s poll: 70 per cent of you guessed correctly! Last year, 287 info sessions were held. Congratulations to this week’s winner, Jean Webster (Institute for Computer Research).

 

This week’s poll: What percentage of employers conduct interviews face-to-face with students on campus? Take a guess and enter to win a lunch bag!

 

Back to top

 

Prof Googled "award" and his name came up

by Carol Truemner. This piece originally appeared in the Eng-E-News newsletter

Vijay Ganesh, an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering, is the recipient of funding from the Google Research Awards Program 2013 for his proposal entitled From Functional Regressions to Security Testing.


The Google "unrestricted gift" awards support the work of faculty members at top universities around the world. Ganesh is planning to use the funds that come with the award to hire master's and doctoral candidates to assist him with his research into computer security testing. Computer security is a challenging and exciting topic that requires an inter-disciplinary approach leveraging ideas from testing, formal methods, programming languages, systems and cryptography. In his proposal, Professor Ganesh plans to leverage functional tests that humans routinely write to automatically construct tests for security properties of computer systems.

Ganesh says he's honoured to receive the Google award. "Every year hundreds of faculty apply from all over the world. Only about 10 per cent are successful in receiving the award," he adds.

He received the same award in 2011 in the software engineering category when he was a scientist at MIT. That award was for "String SMT solvers for theories over strings and regular expressions." SMT solvers are computer programs that automatically solve certain kinds of mathematical formulas. They are useful in software testing, formal verification, program analysis and synthesis. The award was transferred to Waterloo Engineering when Ganesh joined the Faculty in September 2012.

Ganesh also recently received acceptance by the Scientific Committee of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation to participate in the first Heidelberg Laureate Forum, to be held from September 22 to 27 in Heidelberg, Germany. The Heidelberg Forum is a meeting place where a select-few young faculty and post-docs can meet with Turing award, Fields Medal and Abel Prize winners. Only 200 qualified young researchers are selected to take part in the forum from a pool of thousands of faculty members and postdocs.

 

Back to top

 

Organize for Success update and other notes

"IST's Organize for Success initiative is progressing well," writes Communications Officer Natasha Jennings. "One of the outcomes of the process so far is a number of internal openings posted this week on the My Career website." Visit the Internal opportunities page for more details (requires WatIAM login).

Waterloo alumni are being encouraged to cheer on the Waterloo Warriors with the Alumni Big Ticket, a special offer that provides access to 2013-2014 regular season home games for football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, and men's and women's hockey. Alumni have until December 15 to sign up for the season pass.

Electrical power will be out in several buildings on campus this weekend, according to Plant Operations.

The Brubakers area in the Student Life Centre will be without power from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday, August 23 as renovation work is done.

Rooms 110, Room 141B and 141C of the General Services Complex will be without power from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 24 for renovation work.

Needles Hall will have electrical power cut on Saturday, August 24 from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. as repairs are carried out.

In all cases, Plant Operations advises that computer equipment be shut down properly prior to the time the renovations and repairs are to take place. For further information or assistance, contact the Computer Help and Information Place at extension 84357.

 

Back to top

Link of the day

Sable Island shipwrecks, 430 years and counting

When and where

Ontario Mennonite Music Camp, Sunday, August 11 to Friday, August 23, Conrad Grebel University College. Details.

Centre for Teaching Excellence presents Instructional Skills Workshop, Tuesday, August 20 to Friday, August 23, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Details.

UWRC Book Club featuring Sebastian Barry's "The Secret Scripture," Wednesday, August 21, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.

Chemistry Department Seminar Series featuring Prof. Karen Kavanagh, Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, “Semiconductor Nanowire Defects and Interfaces,” Wednesday, August 21, 2:30 p.m., C2-361. Details

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, August 21, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

Co-operative Work Term ends, Friday, August 23.

Winfield Fretz Bowtie Gala, Friday, August 23, 6:30 p.m., Conrad Grebel Dining Hall. Details.

Grebel Sixties Era Reunion Brunch, Saturday, August 24, 10:30 a.m., Conrad Grebel dining hall. Details.

Conrad Grebel Decade Era Gatherings and Academic Reunions, Saturday, August 24, 2:00 p.m. Conrad Grebel University College. Details.

Chemistry Department Seminar Series featuring Prof. Alex Bunker, Centre for Drug Research, University of Helsinki, "What can modular dynamics tell us about the role of PEGylation in drug delivery?" Monday, August 26, 2:30 p.m., C2-361. Details.

Conrad Grebel 50th Anniversary Reunion Service, Sunday, August 25, 10:30 a.m., Theatre of the Arts. Details.

Deadline to become "Fees Arranged" for Fall 2013 term, Monday, August 26. Details.

Chemistry Department Seminar featuring Professor Janusz Rachon, Department of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, "Neopentylidene-phosphorodithioic Acid in Organic Synthesis," Wednesday, August 28, 2:30 p.m., C2-361. Details.

9th Annual Hydrocarbon Summit, Wednesday, August 28 to Thursday, August 29, all day. Details.

UWSA Miniature Golf Social & BBQ on Thursday, August 29, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Bingemans. Details.

Labour Day holiday, Monday, September 2, most university buildings and services closed.

Orientation Week, Monday, September 2 to Saturday, September 7.

Retirement event for Kevin Stewart, Wednesday, September 4, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Commissary Building. RSVP to Sheila Hurley by email or at extension 33587.

Positions available

On this week's list from the human resources department, viewable through myHRinfo:

• Job ID# 2214 – Marketing Co-ordinator – Coop Education and Career Action, USG 7
• Job ID# 2223 – Chair’s Secretary/Department Webmaster – Biology, USG 6
• Job ID# 2225 – Learning Environment Supervisor – Information Systems & Technology, USG 13
• Job ID# 2226 – Manager, Information Security Operations – Information Systems & Technology, USG 14
• Job ID# 2230 – Information Systems Specialist, Portfolio Group - Information Systems & Technology, USG 13/14
• Job ID# 2227 – Computing Consultant – Academic Support, IT Supervisor - Information Systems & Technology, USG 11
• Job ID# 2224 – Undergraduate Recruitment and Outreach Officer - Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, USG 9/10
• Job ID# 2219 – Program Coordinator, Grad and Postdoctoral Programs – Centre for Teaching Excellence, USG 6
• Job ID# 2228 – Manager, Portfolio Management - Information Systems & Technology, USG 15
• Job ID# 2229 – Manager PMO, Portfolio Management - Information Systems & Technology, USG 15
• Job ID# 2232 – Graduate Administrator, PhD Program – Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering, USG 6

Internal secondment opportunity, viewable on myCareer@uWaterloo

• Director, International Communications and Strategic Initiatives – Waterloo International, USG 13 –One Year

Yesterday's Daily Bulletin