Monday, December 9, 2019

Monday, December 9, 2019

Editor:
Brandon Sweet
University Communications
bulletin@uwaterloo.ca

Capstone project wins first prize in international contest

This article was originally published onthe Faculty of Engineering website.

A management engineering Capstone Design project that explored the need for pay-and-display parking machines in Toronto took top prize in an international competition.

Milan Preet Kaur.

Milan Preet Kaur,a recent management engineering graduate, presented herteam’s Capstone projectat the 2019(INFORMS) Undergraduate Operations Research Prize Competition, whichtook place at thethis month in Seattle.

Team members used optimization models to re-evaluate the need for pay-and-display machines throughout Toronto aftera drastic increase in mobile payments since the city’s parking authority introduced a mobile-pay app in 2016.

The team’s solution involved developing adata analysis tool that consolidates multiple large-scale datasets on historical parking transactions and a mathematical optimization methodology that finds the optimal number and locations of parking payment options while minimizing operational and maintenance costs.

“These tools are expected to help the city save millions of dollars annually,” saysHoura Mahmoudzadeh, a management engineering professor and the team’s faculty adviser.

Only Canadian finalist

ݮƵ’s project was one six to be presented at the INFORMS annualmeeting.The other fivewere from the U.S. (University of Michigan, Northwestern University andUniversity of California atBerkeley), Germany (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)and Turkey (TOBB University of Economics and Technology).

With over 12,500 members from around the globe, INFORMS is the leading international association for professionals in operations research and analytics.

Earlier this year, the management engineering Capstone Design project captured first place in theundergraduate category of the Canadian Operational Research Society Student Paper Competition.

A message from Copyright at ݮƵ.

As we head into the Winter term, we’re reaching out to all instructors to remind you of the services and resources available for assisting with copyright questions that relate to your teaching.

Services

  • Course Reserves,, or theCentre for Extended Learningstaffwill assess copyright concerns on your behalf, and apply fair dealing, a Library license, or purchase transactional licensing for you.
  • copyright@uwaterloo.ca– A team of four copyright helpers can assist you with your question.
  • Copyright workshops are offered each term. These sessions provide a simple overview of copyright as it applies to your teaching.

Resources:

  • TheCopyright at ݮƵwebsite provides information to assist you, including afrequently asked questions page, and theFair Dealing Advisory. These pages are available to guide the use of resources in your teaching.
  • E-Journals and e-Books are almost always covered by license agreements. License agreements set out specific rules to follow when using electronic resources.
    • To find out if you can use licensed content in LEARN, use theFinding Usage Rightspage for step-by-step instructions on how to find license terms.

If you have any questions about copyright or licensing, please send them tocopyright@uwaterloo.ca.

For more help using Library resources in your teaching, reach out to your Liaison Librarian. To find the Librarian for your subject area, use theLibrarians by subjectpage.

Students in a lather over soap at design event

Students share a laugh as they inspect handmade soaps at the design studio event.

A student design presentation.

“The President’s Hamdul-lather’s Natural HandcraftedSoapfor the United Way Campaign helped inspire our first year Chemical Engineering students (approximately 160 students), who took on designing, formulating and making handcraftedsoaps as part of their 1A course Chemical Engineering Design Studio 1 (ChE180)," says a note from Professor Marc Aucoin of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

"The course culminated with a Design Studio held in the Engineering 7 Event Space and attracted faculty, staff,students (and even some children) that came from far and wide. This was the first offering of this course, and by all accounts it was a success. Congratulations to the 1A Chemical Engineering Students that did a fantastic job!”

Monday's notes

A collages of office windows that feature messages of support to exam-writing students.

Sticky notes of support:as students study for and write exams, a number of supportive messages have appeared in buildingwindows around campus to raise morale and encourage students as they head for the academic finish line.

Workday supportis available in December and January. For more details, please visit theWorkday Supportweb page. No registration is required for these support sessions in EC1 1021.

People doing yoga.

Staff/Faculty Yoga Sessionsstart up again in January 2020, and there are still a few spaces available.For more information, please contactSandra Gibson.

Upcoming office closures

University Relations in East Campus 5 will be closed onTuesday, December 10from 8:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. for a staff training session.

The Centre for Teaching Excellence will be closed onTuesday, December 10from 8:30 a.m. until2:00 p.m. for a departmental event.

Due to staff meetings onTuesday, December 10, Campus Wellness will have the following closures:

  • Counselling Services, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.;
  • Health Services, 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.;
  • Health Promotion from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Linkof the day

Puppeteer Caroll Spinney with his two alter egos, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

When and Where

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,Monday, November 25 to Tuesday, December 10.

University Club Holiday Lunch Buffet, Thursday, November 28 to Monday, December 23, 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., University Club.

2019 President’s Town Hall survey, open until Friday, December 20.

, Monday, December 2 to Friday, December 20.

Germanic and Slavic Studies Conference, Monday, December 9.

Preventing Depression Relapse: A Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Group,Monday, December 9, 10:30 a.m., NH 2447 – Register on.

Pension plan information session, Monday, December 9, 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., RCH 301.

Pension plan information session, Monday, December 9, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., RCH 301.

Eating Disorder Support Group, Monday, December 9, 4:30 p.m., NH 3308 – Register on.

Pension plan information session, Monday, December 9, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., RCH 301.

NEW -Workday Support, Tuesday, December 10, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., EC1 1021. No registration required.

featuring keynote lecture by Douglas Rushkoff,"Team Human: It's Time to Remake Society Together as the Team We Are," Tuesday, December 10, 7:00 p.m.,Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Research Ethics drop-in session for faculty and students,Wednesday, December 11, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Dana Porter Library (study booth on the main floor).

Webinar: Copyright for Teaching, Wednesday, December 11, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Deadline to get "Fees Arranged,"Tuesday, December 12.

Brown Bag Lunch: Let's chat about Healthy Relationships, Thursday, December 12, 12:00 p.m., HH 373.

Alleviating Anxiety Seminar, Tuesday, December 12, 5:00 p.m., HS 2302 – Register on.

Life Drawing Session, Tuesday, December 12, 6:30 p.m., ECH 1224A.

Entrepreneurship Information Session for Undergraduate Advisors, Thursday,December 12, 10:30-12 p.m., Conrad School, E7, 2ndFloor

, Friday, December 13, 12:00 p.m., Federation Hall.

NEW-Workday Support, Tuesday, December 17,9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., EC1 1021. No registration required.

Pension plan information session, Tuesday, December 17, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., RCH 301.

Pension plan information session, Tuesday, December 17, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., RCH 301.

Research Ethics drop-in session for faculty and students,Wednesday, December 18, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Dana Porter Library (study booth on the main floor).

Retirement celebration for Phil Knipe, Wednesday, December 18, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Graduate House green room. RSVP toedoede@uwaterloo.ca.

Co-operative work term ends, Friday, December 20.

On-campus examinations end, Saturday, December 21.

PhD oral defences

Recreation and Leisure Studies. Jibin Holden Yu, "Examining the Formation of Wellbeing During and its Change After a Tourism Experience." Supervisor, Bryan Smale. On display in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, BMH 3110. Oral defence Thursday December 12, 9:30 a.m., AHS 1686.

Chemical Engineering. Zachary Paul Cano, "Electrode Design for Durable and Energy-Dense Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries." Supervisor, Michael Fowler. On display in the Engineering graduate office, E7 7402. Oral defence Friday December 13, 1:30 p.m., E6 2022.

Chemical Engineering. Moon Gyu Park, "Design and Engineering of Hierarchically Porous Transition Meta-based Electrocatalysts for Rechargeable Zn-air Batteries." Supervisor, Zhongwei Chen.On display in the Engineering graduate office, E7 7402. Oral defence Friday December 13, 9:15 a.m., E6 4022.

Combinatorics and Optimization. Stefan Sremac, "Error Bounds and Singularity Degree in Semidefinite Programming." Supervisor, Henry Wolkowicz. Thesis available from MGO - mgo@uwaterloo.ca. Oral defence Friday December 13, 9:00 a.m., MC 5479.