Student competing for Sunnybrook Prize

A Waterloo student is among 10 finalists who will be presenting research projects at the fourth annual 2015 Sunnybrook Research Prize competition this week.

Emily Watson, a chemical engineering student, will be presenting her research project, "Liquid-infused polymers utilized in urinary catheters." Watson will be competing against students from McMaster University, Queen's University, the University of Alberta, the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, and the University of Victoria. Each finalist has 15 minutes to present their research to a panel of judges and answer the panel's questions.

The competition, open to science and engineering undergraduates in their third or fourth year of study at a Canadian university, is organized by the Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI), a hospital-based medical science research institute linked to Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

The aim of the prize is to recognize excellence in undergraduate research and promote careers in biomedical research.

The grand prize is $10,000, which is funded by income generated by royalties from technology developed by SRI scientists.

The final round of the competition will be held Friday, January 9 at the SRI in Toronto.

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Environment researcher wins Insight grant

This article was originally published on the Faculty of Environment's news page.

Professor Robert de Loë, of Environment and Resource Studies and the Water Institute at Waterloo, has been awarded an Insight Development grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

De Loë will use an Insight grant to inspire new ways of governing water. He wants to change the way we think about water issues by exposing the connections between water and related areas such as energy, food, finance, security and trade.

“My research will focus on why we have been dealing with the same water problems for decades, with too little progress in many cases, and determining how we can re-frame water issues to move forward,” said Professor de Loë. “This grant gives my team and me an extraordinary chance to step back, re-evaluate, and take a strategic approach to research that I hope will make a difference in water governance around the world.”

The goal of both the Insight and Insight Development grant programs is to support new approaches to interdisciplinary research on complex topics to mobilize research knowledge with the potential for intellectual, cultural, social and economic impact.

For more information on these awards, please visit the SSHRC website.

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Remembering Jack Brown

J.W. “Jack” Brown, Waterloo’s first University Secretary, died December 22, 2014.

A native of St. Thomas, Ontario, Brown was a journalism graduate of the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) and pursued a career in public relations for industry in Welland, Windsor, Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Brown joined the University of Waterloo in November 1965 as the director of ancillary enterprises and secretary of the Board of Governors.  In March 1971, he was appointed the University’s first full-time Secretary, taking minutes at both board and senate meetings, as well as several other committees.

The position of University Secretary was created on the recommendation of management consultants who conducted a survey of the University in 1970 as a way of bringing the organizing and recording of top administrative and governance bodies under one roof.

In addition to his duties as secretary, which included oversight of the internal audit office and UW Police, Brown became the first Director of Alumni Affairs and Development at a time when Waterloo’s alumni family numbered just over 7,000 grads.

He also guided the search committee that selected Waterloo’s third president in 1980.

Brown retired in 1991 after 26 years with the University, passing the torch to Lois Claxton, who would hold the position of University Secretary until 2010.

Cremation has taken place with a private family interment at a later date. Brown is survived by his wife Betty, two daughters, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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Campus Recreation registration open

It's that time of year again: registration is now open for Campus Recreation programs. The deadline for register for intramurals is Friday, January 12 and the deadline to register for instructional programs is Friday, January 19. Registration for all other programming is ongoing.

Registration can be done online or in person at the Athletics Office located in Red North of the Physical Activities Complex.

There are 9 intramural leagues, 32 clubs, first aid courses, fitness and wellness offerings, and much more.

If you're interested in trying out some intramural sports, there's a session for something called futsal in Gym 3 tonight at 6:00 p.m., with other "try-it" sessions scheduled for later this week.

For more information call extension 35869 or send Athletics an email.

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Memories of a warm December; other notes

Hey, remember how warm it was in December? The University of Waterloo Weather Station sure does. "For the entire month of December the temperature was 2.7 degrees higher than average," writes Weather Station Coordinator Frank Seglenieks. "This is a lot higher than average, however you only have to go back to 2012 to find a December that was even hotter." The maximum temperature reached in December was 9.8°C, with a low of -10.3°C.

Also notable was the lack of precipitation, coming in at 33.3mm for the month, which was "much less than the average of 80.4 mm" and thus "the driest December since 1960 when there was 31.2 mm." Of that precipitation, only 5 cm was snow. "This is the lowest December snowfall we have seen in the 100 years of records in the region."

More details can be found at the University of Waterloo Weather Station's blog.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Claudio Cañizares has begun a term as Acting Executive Director of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE). The term runs from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015. Cañizares succeeds Professor Ian Rowlands of the Department of Environment and Resource Studies, who had served as Acting Executive Director from September 1 to December 31, 2014 during the Executive Director's sabbatical year.

In addition, Cañizares continues a one year re-appointment as Associate Director, External Partnerships, from January 1 to December 31, 2015.

More details about administrative appointments at WISE can be found on the institute's website.

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