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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

 

 

  • Vote for the best 24 Hours of Waterloo photo
  • Heading north with Habitat for Humanity
  • Focus on Teaching Week in full swing
  • Tuesday's notes

 

 

A college of photos.
Vote for the best 24 Hours of Waterloo photo

A message from the Student Success Office (SSO).

On Wednesday, October 2 the Student Success Office asked the uWaterloo community to send in photos and videos of their day as it was happening. Twenty -four hours and over 700 photos later, we were given a true taste of #uwaterloolife.

Photos came in from around the world (South Korea, Rome, Sweden and the Netherlands) and photos came in from across campus (Dana Porter was a big favourite).

We’ve chosen the top 15 submissions but now we need your help to choose number one. The top 15 are posted on the uWaterloo Life facebook page, we encourage you to check them out and vote for your favourite by liking it. Voting will be open until Monday, October 14 at 8:00 p.m. At that time the submission with the most likes will win a $500 Retail Services gift card.

The SSO would like to thank everyone for sending in photos and videos to share what their uWaterloo life looks like, and a big thank you to UW Police for keeping us company in the wee hours of the morning.

You can view all of the submissions on Storify.

 

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Heading north with Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity volunteers horse around in a wheelbarrow.

Do you like to volunteer? Have you ever dreamed of going to Canada's north? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you may be interested in joining a team of Waterloo staff and faculty for an exciting opportunity.

It's the 1st Annual University of Waterloo Habitat for Humanity Build, and a team of volunteers is being assembled to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Whitehorse, Yukon in the summer of 2014. The dates for the project are August 2 to 10.

Aside from airfare, the cost to participate is $1,500 for the build cost and $200 for "R&R." The build cost and the airfare are tax deductible.

"Construction experience is not necessary, but a flexible attitude and a sense of humour definitely is!" writes Michelle Burlock, one of the build organizers.

Burlock, along with organizers Steve Krysak and Erin Smith will be hosting a brown bag lunch information session on Wednesday, October 16 at 12:00 p.m. in RCH 112 for those of you interested in learning more about this opportunity.

For more information or an application, please contact Erin Smith.

 

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Focus on Teaching Week in full swing

The second annual Focus on Teaching Week, presented by the Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE), is underway from October 7 to 11 this week.

The theme of this year's week is "Assessment for Learning."

Eight sessions have been programmed. The week started with the full-day Course Design Fundamentals workshop, and will be followed by practical workshops on tools and techniques for planning assessment and implementing peer evaluation, rubrics, group assessment, and well-constructed multiple choice tests.

Today's workshops include:

The rest of the week's events are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday, October 9:

Thursday, October 10:

The workshops are taking place in the Dana Porter Library's FLEX Lab (LIB 329) and are open to faculty.

 

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Tuesday's notes

The University of Waterloo’s United Way Campaign officially launched on October 1, 2013. Staff, faculty, and alumni are able to donate in a variety of ways including monthly payroll deductions or one-time gifts. Those who participate have the chance to win fantastic prizes throughout the term such as a University Club Gift Certificate, and Retail Services Gift Card. Five donors will win lunch with Geoff McBoyle, the vice-president, academic and provost.

On October 31, the last day of the campaign, another five donors will win lunch with President Feridun Hamdullahpur.

For more information about how to contribute, please visit the campaign’s webpage.

VeloCity Fund applications are being accepted as of today as registration opens for the fall term's competition.

The VeloCity Fund, formerly known as the VeloCity Venture Fund, provides early stage funding in the amount of $25,000 for up to four tech-focused startups each academic term. Funding recipients are also guaranteed a spot in the VeloCity Garage.

Applicants will make their pitches at the VeloCity Fund finals in November.

As the autumn season continues, here's another sign of the times: University of Waterloo Legal Studies graduate Tara Hebblethwaite was crowned Miss Oktoberfest for 2013 on Saturday. The region's Oktoberfest celebrations get underway October 11 and run until the 19th.


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Link of the day

The Other Great Fire of 1871

When and where

Senate Undergraduate Council meeting, Tuesday, October 8, 12:00 p.m., NH 3001.

Public Lecture with Michel Fich, Physics and Astronomy, "Observing the Universe in Invisible Colours." Wednesday, October 9, 12:00 p.m., Kitchener Public Library (Forest Heights Branch). Details.

VeloCity Campus event, "Business Model Generation" with Josh Wright of Marmot Labs, Wednesday, October 9, 7:30 p.m., EV3 4412. Register for free pizza.

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, October 9, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

Quantitative Biology Seminar featuring Brian Ingalls, Associate Professor,
Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, "Model-based Design in Synthetic Biology," Friday, October 11, 2:30 p.m. B1 266.

“KW Oktoberfest Natural Classic” performances, Saturday, October 12, 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Humanities Theatre.

Thanksgiving Holiday, Monday, October 14, most university buildings and services closed.

Habitat for Humanity Yukon Build info session for faculty and staff, Wednesday, October 16, 12:00 p.m., RCH 112.

Professional School and Post-Degree Days, Wednesday, October 16 and Thursday, October 17, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Student Life Centre.

UWRC Book Club featuring Kim Thuy, "Ru," Wednesday, October 16, 12:00 p.m., LIB 407.

Wednesday Night Discussion Group, Wednesday, October 16, 7:15 p.m., MC 5136. Details.

Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference, Thursday, October 17 to Saturday, October 19. Details.

IST Campus-wide open house, Thursday, October 17, 10:00 a.m., DC 1302.

Chemical Engineering presents the Park and Veva Reilly Distinguished Seminar featuring Mousa Jafari, uWaterloo postdoctoral fellow, "Design, Characterization and Application of Amphipathic Peptides for siRNA Delivery," Thursday, October 17, 3:30 p.m., E6-2024.

Observations and Free Inquiries Lecture Series, "The Misery of Being Homo Sapiens," Friday, October 18, 5:00 p.m., E5 6004. Details.

Tamil Cultural Night, Saturday, October 19, 5:30 p.m., Humanities Theatre.

University Senate Meeting, Monday, October 21, 3:30 p.m., NH 3001.

 

PhD Oral Defences

Physics & Astronomy. Daniel Criger, "Practical Advances in Quantum Error Correction and Communication." Supervisor, Raymond Laflamme. On deposit in the Faculty of Science graduate office, PHY 2021. Oral defence Thursday, October 10, 9:00 a.m., QNC 2101 (note the new location).

Computer Science. Kacper Bak, "Modeling Analysis of Software Product Line Variability in Clafer," Supervisor, Krzysztof Czarnecki. On display in the Mathematics graduate office, MC 5090. Oral defence Thursday, October 24, 10:30 a.m., DC 2314.

Systems Design Engineering. Justin Alexander Eichel, "Statistical Model-Based Reconstruction." Supervisors, David Clausi, Paul Feiguth. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, PHY 3004. Oral defence Friday, October 25, 11:00 a.m., E5 6111.

Electrical & Computer Engineering. Shiva Abbaszadeh, "Indirect Conversion Amorphous Selenium Photodetectors for Medical Imaging Applications." Supervisor, Karim Karim. On deposit in the Engineering graduate office, PHY 3004. Oral defence Monday, October 28, 10:00 a.m., MC 2009.

 

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