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Friday, July 26, 2013

 

 

  • Athletics Director stepping down
  • A campus community "in full bloom"
  • ChemEd conference comes full circle

 

  • Editor:
  • Brandon Sweet
  • Communications and Public Affairs
  • bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

 

Athletics Director stepping down

a news release from the media relations team.

Bob Copeland.Bob Copeland, director of athletics at the University of Waterloo, announced today that he will step down from his role on November 1, 2013.

In his five years as the head of the Department of Athletics and Recreational Services, Copeland contributed to the success of the Waterloo Warriors and laid the foundation for their future. In a career spanning 17 years at Waterloo, he worked in other senior leadership roles, including associate vice-president, development and alumni affairs.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have led such a dynamic department and passionate group of staff, coaches and student-athletes who represent the University of Waterloo with great distinction,” said Copeland. “I am looking forward to taking on new challenges and continuing to make positive contributions in the Canadian sports community. I will forever be a Warrior and plan to remain active in my support of the department as an alumnus.”

During Copeland’s tenure he led the development of a comprehensive strategic plan for athletics, the expansion of Warrior Field and increased Athletic Financial Award scholarship support for student-athletes. He championed a new sport model that is currently being implemented across Waterloo's expansive interuniversity sport program and has been successful in attracting to Waterloo some of the best coaches in Canada.

“Bob has made several significant contributions to the University of Waterloo throughout his career. We will miss his passion and determination to advance the university,” said Chris Read, associate provost, students. “During difficult times, Bob provided courageous and steadfast leadership. We wish him the very best and know he will continue to be a valued member of our community.”

Copeland has been an active and respected part of the Canadian sporting landscape and accepted senior leadership roles with Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport. He also received the prestigious Taylor’s Award in 2010 from the Taylor Hooton Foundation “for courage in leading the effort to protect young people from the dangers of steroids and other [appearance and performance enhancing drugs].”

Copeland is a graduate of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and received the department’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.

 

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A campus community in "full bloom"

by Feridun Hamdullahpur, President and Vice-Chancellor.

Feridun Hamdullahpur.

There’s only one way I could possibly start July’s update: with a huge thank-you to the team that enabled our biggest, best Canada Day ever.

More than 40,000 of our friends and neighbours came out to the Columbia Lake Fields to celebrate Canada, and to celebrate this wonderful community where we’re so fortunate to live and work.

We promised a “bigger, better Canada Day than ever before,” and our organizers and volunteers delivered beautifully. My sincere thanks to all the student, faculty, and staff organizers who made the day possible, and to each and every one of you who joined us for the event. I’m looking forward to seeing you at next year’s celebration!

If you haven’t already, browse this photo gallery of the Canada Day festivities – they capture the day perfectly.

I’m delighted to report that another major university initiative, the Strategic Plan, is moving ever closer to being fully approved by the university’s Board of Governors, allowing us to begin the implementation phase this fall.

By now you’ve heard me say countless times how vital the Strategic Plan is to our ongoing and future success – because it’s true. We intend to secure a bright and exceptional future for the University of Waterloo, defined by our global leadership in experiential education and entrepreneurship, and built upon a foundation of core academic, research, and organizational strengths.

Developing and implementing a strong Strategic Plan is the cornerstone of my mission as president and central to our work as an institution of higher learning. I know that you share my pride in seeing the plan continue to build momentum – from consultation, to vision-setting, to priority-making, and now, to approval and implementation.

Achieving the level of growth and success called for in our Strategic Plan will require the commitment of a broad range of stakeholders both on and beyond campus. The federal government – the level of government responsible for the lion’s share of funding for research and innovation – is a key partner, and we sent our congratulations to key members of the new federal cabinet following #shuffle13.

An image of a congratulatory tweet from the Office of the President's Twitter account.

One of our local Members of Parliament in Waterloo Region, the Honourable Gary Goodyear, continues to serve as Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario, and the Honourable Greg Rickford, from northern Ontario, has been appointed Minister of State for the  Science and Technology portfolio – an important ministry for a science and tech powerhouse like Waterloo. We congratulate these and all other newly appointed ministers, and look forward to keeping the lines of communication open, and building awareness about the value Waterloo brings to Canada's communities and economy.

As we roll into August, I can’t help but observe something special about this university, which I’ll leave you with.

Many universities and colleges more or less shut down for the summer. They slip into a bit of a trance, or turn most of their attention to the year ahead. But not here.  Our university is in full bloom during the summer months, in countless ways.

The grounds look spectacular, thanks to the efforts of our maintenance staff; our community is engaged, and truly grateful for the wonderful Canada Day we gave to local families; we have many students on campus and many courses being taught, thanks to our year-round academic programming; our dedicated support staff are on the job to make sure our students have every support and opportunity they need to be successful; and our Board of Governors is hard at work supporting our Strategic Plan, and constantly asking me, “What else can we do to help?”

Some universities wind down for the summer, but not this one. We’re in full bloom.

 

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ChemEd Conference merchandise on display at the Waterloo Store.
ChemEd conference comes full circle

For the biennial ChemEd Conference's 40th anniversary, the Faculty of Science's Chemistry Department is bringing it back to where it all began.

The conference, which was established at the University of Waterloo in 1973, will be held from Sunday, July 28 to Thursday, August 1. It is the largest such gathering of educators involved in teaching high school and introductory chemistry in North America.

Held every two years, the conference has been an opportunity for chemistry educators to share their teaching experiences, classroom innovations, and laboratory experiments with their peers. Attendees learn valuable insights from outstanding educators, and engage in hands-on workshops and chemical demonstrations.

The conference will also feature the final "So You Think You Can Demo" competition, with the three finalists competing in front of a panel of judges during the conference's open ceremonies.

Over the past 40 years the conference has been held at universities on both sides of the border, from Queen's and York to Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia and Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The long-lived event has developed some traditions of its own including the Reg Friesen lecture, an ice cream social, a children/family program, the Mole Day breakfast and Mole Day run.

The conference will also provide attendees with an opportunity to vote in-person for their favourite elemental tile design to be added to the Chemistry department's Periodic Table Project after the recent discovery of two new elements, flerovium and livermorium. Voting winds up on August 1.

The enthusiasm and energy of past conferences is captured in an online photo history.

 

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Hooray, it's payday

Employees on the monthly payroll will find their cheques deposited today.

Prepare yourselves, though: next month's payday is a long way off - Friday, August 30 to be exact.

Employees on the biweekly payroll will receive their next paycheques on August 9 and 23, according to this handy list on the Human Resources website.

Link of the day

Curaçao Day

When and where

ChemEd 2013 conference, Sunday, July 28 to Thursday, August 1. Details.

WatRISQ seminar featuring Roger Lee, associate professor of mathematics, University of Chicago, "Variance Swaps on Time-Changed Markov Processes," Monday, July 29, 4:00 p.m., M3 3127. Details.

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, July 31, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

QKD Summer School 2013, Monday July 29 to Friday, August 2, Institute for Quantum Computing. Details.

Spring Term lectures end, Tuesday, July 30 (which is a Monday class schedule).

Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology seminar featuring Professor Jeff Dahn, Dalhousie University, "Why do Li-ion batteries die and can they be immortal?" Tuesday, July 30, 11:00 a.m., QNC 1501. Details.

Institute for Quantum Computing presents Roee Ozeri, Department of Complex Systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, "The Ion-Qubit Toolbox," a three-part lecture mini-course, Tuesday, July 30, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., QNC 1102/1103. Details.

Pre-examination study days, Wednesday, July 31 to Monday, August 5.

Student Success Office presents "Strength in Numbers: Student Leader Networking Event," Wednesday, July 31, 5:00 p.m., RCH 306. Details.

Civic Holiday, Monday, August 5, university closed.

Drop, Penalty 2 Period ends, Monday, August 5.

3rd Annual Conference on Quantum Cryptography, Monday, August 5 to Friday, August 9, Institute for Quantum Computing. Details.

On-campus examinations begin, Tuesday, August 6.

Institute for Quantum Computing presents John Preskill, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, "Quantum Computing and the Entanglement Frontier," Tuesday, August 6, 7:00 p.m., QNC 0101. Details.

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

Online class examination days, Friday, August 9 and Saturday, August 10.

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

Quantum Cryptography School for Young Students, Monday, August 12 to Friday, August 16, Institute for Quantum Computing. Details.

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, August 14, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

Tour For Kids 1-Day Cycling Tour, Saturday, August 17, 7:00 a.m., Ron Eydt Village. 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.

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

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

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

PhD Oral Defences

Electrical & Computer Engineering. Kalikinkar Mandal, "Design and Analysis of Cryptograhic Pseudorandom Number/Sequence Generators with Applications in RFID." Supervisor, Guang Gong. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, PHY 3004. Oral defence Thursday, August 1, 9:30 a.m., EIT 3142.

Geography and Environmental Management. Wenxia Tan, "An Examination of Sea Ice Spring and Summer Retreat in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: 1989 to 2010."  Supervisor, Ellsworth LeDrew. On display in the Faculty of Environment, EV1 335. Oral defence Thursday, August 1, 9:30 a.m., EV1 221.

Electrical & Computer Engineering. Hossein Siboni, "Investigation of Charge-Exciton Interactions and Their Correlations with the Device Efficiency and Operational Stability in Phosphorescent Organic Light Emitting Devices by Studying Delayed Electroluminescence." Supervisor, Hany Aziz. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, PHY 3004. Oral defence Thursday, August 1, 1:30 p.m., EIT 3142.

Civil & Environmental Engineering. Jian Deng, "Fractional Stochastic Dynamics in Structural Stability Analysis." Supervisors, Mahesh Pandey, Wei-Chau Xie. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, PHY 3004. Oral defence Thursday, August 1, 2:00 p.m., CPH 2371.

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