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February 2008 • Number 53 WATERLOO ENGINEERING ALUMNI LETTER An artist’s rendering of the student design centre. In This Issue: A PLACE TO CALL HOME ■ From the Dean “ t’s a little odd to walk into the fluids lab and find the solar car,“ says Derek Hans, project leader of the Midnight Sun Solar Race Car Team. But the team’s current workshop isn’t large enough to assemble the car, and the fluids lab is. This sort of creative use of cramped quarters is common among Waterloo Engineering’s many student design teams. ■ However that’s about to change. This year, Waterloo Engineering will break ground on Engineering V. The new building will be located on what is now a parking lot off of Phillip Street, across the railway tracks from the Davis Centre and other engineering buildings. Engineering V’s centrepiece will be the student design centre: a twostorey space dedicated to undergraduate design, with multiple project bays and centralized workshops. ■ Engineering V is the first of three new buildings planned for Waterloo Engineering. When the buildings are completed, along with expansion and renovation projects involving existing space, we’ll have added over 400,000 square feet to the existing 800,000 square feet I — by far the largest physical expansion in Waterloo Engineering history. ■ And it’s needed. As work progresses on implementing Vision 2010, engineering’s strategic plan, we’ve expanded our graduate studies program and our research intensity. Both activities have meant an increase in graduate students, faculty and staff, which has created an urgent need for space. ■ Hans says that, for the Midnight Sun Team, a dedicated student design centre means “dirty workspace and a lot of it. We have to do a lot of sanding when we’re building the wooden models that we use to make moulds for the car. It has always been a problem for us to find a space where we can create dust without bothering anyone, not to mention without freezing.“ The team’s last space was unheated. ■ Hans adds he’s looking forward to working on the solar car in one space rather than several. “It will be great to be able to just concentrate on building the best vehicle we can.“ page 2 ■ Rewarding Alumni Achievement page 3 ■ Coursework Master’s Programs Open Doors page 4 ■ Faculty News page 6 ■ The Design Power Behind the Bow Tower page 8 ■ Motivating Employees page 9 ■ Young Entrepreneurs Choose Waterloo Engineering page 10 ■ Alumnus Shifts Facebook Application into High Gear page 11 ■ Civil Grads Serve in Afghanistan page 12 ■ Class Notes page 13 ■ Upcoming Events page 18 ■ Mentoring from Experience page 20 Dean Adel Sedra with alumni at a Hong Kong reception. FROM THE DEAN ou may expect this to be my last WEAL column; my five-year term as dean of Waterloo Engineering is ending in June. ■ I came to Waterloo in 2003, tempted away from my long-time academic home at the University of Toronto by an irresistible challenge: earning Waterloo a place among the leading schools of engineering in North America. And I’ve seen the entire Waterloo Engineering community rise to that challenge. We worked hard to develop Vision 2010, a strategic plan for excellence in engineering education and research, and are working even harder to see that plan through. ■ It’s been a privilege serving as dean. I’ve been energized by my time with Waterloo Engineering students, faculty, and alumni, and I’ve learned a lot. One of the things I’ve learned is something you as alumni already know: Waterloo Engineering is a hard place to leave. ■ And so, I am not leaving. I was honoured to be asked to serve another term as dean and pleased to agree. Although previous commitments require me to take a year away from the position, I will return for a second term, this one for three years, beginning in 2009. Leo Rothenberg, the current chair of civil and environmental engineering, will be the acting dean during the year I am away. ■ Over the next few Y years, you can look for Waterloo Engineering to continue to grow. Our undergraduate programs are already Canada’s best and are the foundation of our reputation as a premier engineering school. We will work to make them even better, through lower student-to-faculty ratios and careful attention to co-op and the Professional Development for Engineering Students (PDEng) program. Graduate studies continue to expand dramatically and we are working to significantly increase the intensity and impact of our research in our areas of strength. ■ Of course, all of this requires more faculty members to strengthen our undergraduate programs, support the growth of graduate studies and expand our research teams. ■ To accommodate all this growth, we’re adding the space you read about in our cover story: three new buildings dedicated to engineering, with additions and renovations to others. ■ New faculty, new graduate students, new research, new buildings: it’s an exciting, dynamic time here. I think you can see why I’ve chosen to stay. Sincerely, Adel S. Sedra, Dean, Faculty of Engineering REWARDING ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT W unsafe conditions may arise. Tomlin will use part of her MacArthur grant money to study genetic biology. ■ Last year was the first time both Waterloo Engineering’s Team Alumni Achievement Medal and Friend of the Faculty Award were presented. ■ The team medal was awarded to Camp 15’s eight active members who are all engineering alumni living in the Waterloo area. Maintaining the traditions of the iron ring, the symbol of Canadian engineers, Camp 15 representatives conduct the annual ceremony at which graduating engineers receive their rings. They also attend Waterloo Engineering reunions to provide replacement rings and recently raised more than $50,000 for the Iron Ring Endowment Fund. ■ The Friend of the Faculty Award was presented to Research in Motion. Founded by Mike Lazaridis when he was a Waterloo Engineering undergraduate, RIM has maintained a strong relationship with the University of Waterloo, employing hundreds of alumni over the years. In the past three years alone, RIM has hired more than 1,000 co-op students. The company has also been a good friend of Waterloo’s student teams – RIM has sponsored a number of vehicle projects including UW Alternative Fuels, Formula SAE Race Car, Waterloo OffRoad Mini Baja and Midnight Sun Solar Race Car. The nomination deadline for the 2008 Engineering Alumni Achievement medal is April 30, 2008. Details and nomination forms can be found at www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni/medals. Members of Camp 15 3 Representatives of RIM Photos by David McCammon UW WEAL February 2008 hat do a risk-management expert, a protector of Canada’s natural resources, a genius, a camp of iron ring wardens and the industry leader in wireless communications have in common? They were all recipients of the 2007 Engineering Alumni Achievement Medal, joining 41 others who have been recognized since the first medal was presented in 1994. ■ Ron Dembo (PhD ’75, MSci) is a risk taker – and a successful one at that. After an academic career that included professorships at Yale, MIT and the University of Toronto, he founded Algorithmics Incorporated in 1989. Prior to being sold to the Fitch Group, the company was the largest risk-management software company in the world. In 2005 Dembo started using his risk management skills in a different way — he founded Zerofootprint Inc., which serves businesses and consumers who want to reduce their impact on the environment. ■ Ensuring Canada’s natural resources remain for future generations has become second nature to Donald Noakes (MASc ’79 and PhD ’85, SD). He worked his way up from a research scientist with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, eventually becoming director of the aquaculture division and playing a key role in developing a sustainable aquaculture industry in Canada. Today, as dean of the School of Advanced Technologies and Mathematics at Thompson Rivers University, Noakes is a leading researcher in water resources and aquaculture. ■ Claire Tomlin’s high-flying career received a boost last year when she received one of the world’s most prestigious fellowships: the MacArthur Award, popularly known as the genius grant. Tomlin (BASc ’92, Elect) is an aviation researcher and academic who teaches at both Berkeley and Stanford. She studies hybrid control systems for aircraft flight control and collision avoidance and has developed practical solutions for determining when Christina Wasilishin at an on-campus lecture. 4 COURSEWORK MASTER’S PROGRAMS OPEN DOORS he one consistent thing about engineering is that nothing stays the same. ■ Christina Wasilishin knows that’s true. In part, it’s why she chose to enrol in the new Master of Engineering program in mechanical and mechatronics engineering with a specialization in fire safety. The program was exactly what Wasilishin was looking for to enhance her career: she’s a civil engineer whose job is to inspect the factories and facilities of companies seeking insurance and to evaluate the risk of fire. ■ As skills and technology change, graduate education becomes a vital tool for helping engineers and other professionals keep pace. Waterloo Engineering’s master’s programs allow engineers to do just that. While traditional master’s degrees centre on independent T research and end in a thesis, coursework master’s programs are an intensive, advanced, specialized education structured around classroom work. Students are drawn to these programs by their speed and flexibility: most can be completed in a single year and many are available through part-time study. ■ Waterloo recently retooled its coursework engineering master’s programs to give students even greater opportunities to tailor their education. These specialized MEng degrees in strategic fields like green energy and software engineering attract a wide variety of students, from new graduates looking to get ahead quickly to experienced engineers interested in switching tracks or upgrading their skills. ■ Although she’s only started the program, Wasilishin is already putting what she’s learned to use. “The first course I took was on fire testing standards,“ she says. “These are referenced in material that I review This degree will give me more confidence and will help me do my job better. in my job and it helps a lot to understand them in some depth. This degree will give me more confidence and will help me do my job better.“ ■ The deciding factor for Wasilishin was the format in which the courses are offered. The part-time student spends one week every couple of months attending on-site lectures. “The rest is online,“ she says. “I can pace myself and work at my own speed – mainly after my kids go to bed.“ ■ Coursework master’s programs also benefit engineers Dan Donovan graduated from Waterloo with a BASc in computer engineering and landed a job as a machine control and robotics specialist. He liked it – but something else was at the back of his mind. “Starting a company really appealed to me. And I thought I should do it now, before children and a mortgage came along.“ So Donovan enrolled in Waterloo’s Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program. “I learned a lot in a short time,“ says Donovan. “MBET took me from ‘Hey, I think I might want to start a company’ to having the knowledge and tools to actually do it.“ Donovan’s company, HealthSpoke, provides web-based business management software to chiropractors, massage therapists, nutritionists and other health professionals. The software is designed to help them manage their business and offer clients online appointment booking and progress tracking. At the moment, HealthSpoke is a one-person operation and Donovan is very busy. But it’s worth it, he says. “The best part is the challenge. You have a big goal and it feels so good when you achieve it.“ with international degrees. One such student is Attaullah Khan who holds an engineering degree in civil engineering earned in Pakistan. His credentials are recognized in Canada but like many engineers trained abroad he found the job market here tough to crack without Canadian experience. After years of disappointing jobs, he decided to take a Waterloo MEng in civil engineering, graduating in 2007. “I had the Each course in itself provided a nice balance of breadth and depth of knowledge. opportunity to choose from a rich variety of courses,“ Khan says, “and each course in itself provided a nice balance of breadth and depth of knowledge.“ ■ And the payoff: an engineering position with Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation. “After eight long years of struggling to support my family in Canada, I finally have a job that is professionally satisfying and rewarding.“ 5 FIND OUT MORE AT WWW.ENGINEERING.UWATERLOO.CA/GRADUATE. • Advanced Design and Manufacturing • Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology • Chemical Engineering • Civil Engineering • Electric Power Engineering • Electrical and Computer Engineering • Management of Technology • Management Science • Mechanical Engineering • Nuclear Engineering • Software Engineering • Systems Design Engineering Specializations are offered in: • Infrastructure Systems (Civil and Environmental Engineering) • Computer Networking and Security (Electrical and Computer Engineering) • Software Engineering (Electrical and Computer Engineering) • Sustainable Energy (Electrical and Computer Engineering) • Management Engineering (Electrical and Computer Engineering) • Design (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) • Fire Safety (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) • Green Energy (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering) UW WEAL February 2008 Waterloo Engineering offers graduate coursework degrees in: Student Team Work Praised by Industry Minister Waterloo Engineering’s winning Concrete Toboggan Team. Photo courtesy of GNCTR. 6 FACULTY NEWS Teamwork Cements Concrete Toboggan Win They chalked up firsts for the best technical report, the best technical exhibit and even the best attire both on and off the hill. ■ But it was working together as a team that Waterloo's concrete toboggan members credit for placing first out of 24 universities in the 2008 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race held January 30 to February 2 at the Université de Sherbrooke. "We were all together working as one," said Mike Sidiropoulos, the construction manager for the 24-member team. ■ Called Waterloo911, Waterloo's winning entry was a fourth-year civil engineering design project. One of the unique features of the 288-pound toboggan was its reinforcement system developed by three Waterloo civil and environmental engineering professors to prevent the concrete from cracking. Recognizing Outstanding Performance Last fall’s annual Faculty of Engineering dinner recognized both faculty and staff for outstanding performance. Terri Meyer Boake of architecture, Ray Legge of chemical engineering and Wayne Brodland of civil and environmental engineering received the 2007 teaching excellence awards. And two staff members were honoured with the faculty’s inaugural outstanding staff performance awards: Ken Bowman, a technician in civil and environmental engineering and Jeff Lederer, the general manager of the School of Architecture. Promising research was the reason given by Jim Prentice for making the University of Waterloo his first postsecondary stop since becoming the new federal industry minister in August 2007. During a visit last September to the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR), Prentice said the work being done by the university’s Alternative Fuels Team is critical in providing new economic opportunities for the troubled auto industry. He was able to appreciate the team’s accomplishments first-hand: after having an under-the-hood look at the team’s hydrogenpowered Chevrolet Equinox he took the vehicle for a short test drive. Photo by Chris Hughes Top of the Class Last year Gordon Stubley of mechanical and mechatronics engineering was named one of Ontario’s top 100 university teachers. He was presented with a 2007 Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award, which was introduced by the Ontario government last January to honour and encourage teaching excellence at Ontario’s colleges and universities. Stubley was cited for his research into new and effective teaching techniques and his mentoring of fellow teachers. ■ Keith Hipel of systems design engineering is one of two University of Waterloo faculty members who recently received an Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision. Waterloo’s graduate studies office, in collaboration with the graduate student association, established the award to recognize faculty who have demonstrated excellence in supervising graduate students. Honorary Doctorates Inventor Wai-Cheung Tang and energy researcher Angus Bruneau received honorary doctorates at last fall’s Waterloo Engineering convocation. Tang, a Waterloo Engineering alumnus, is a world-renowned expert in spacecraft communication filtering systems and high power phenomena. Bruneau, who served as a professor of mechanical engineering in Waterloo’s early days, founded the engineering program at Memorial University and established Fortis Incorporated, a power distribution utility that serves two million gas and electric customers. High Voltage Lab Re–Opens its Doors Congratulations go out to the 13 graduates of Waterloo Engineering who were among the 50 campus-wide alumni recognized last year with the University of Waterloo’s 50th Anniversary Alumni Award. The onetime award highlighted the impact graduates have had on the university and marked the school’s 50th anniversary. The engineering alumni recipients were Erin-Bourke Dunphy (BASc ’98,Elect), Arthur Church (BASc ’76, Mech), Rod Coutts (BASc ’64, Elect, DEng ’07), Larry Galajda (BASc ’76, Elect), Donald Haycock (BASc ’68, MASc ’73, Civil), Mike Lazaridis (DEng ’00), Paul Koch (BASc ’63, MASc ’64, Chem), Paul Koenderman (BASc ’71, Mech), Bill Lennox (BASc ’62 Eng Phy, MSc ’63), Vivienne Ojala (BASc ’84, SD), Paul Spafford (BASc ’71, Elect), Dermot Sweeny (BAS ’83) and Bill Tatham (BASc ’83, SD). Architecture Professor in TVO’s Lecturer Competition Waterloo architecture professor Robert Jan van Pelt is one of 10 contestants who will be competing this winter for the title of Ontario's Best Lecturer on TV Ontario. The competition will air starting in March. One of his students has been quoted as saying “All good lecturers have the ability to seduce their audience through a combination of passionate story telling and a careful calibration of their subject matter to the audience at hand. Professor van Pelt is a master of this seduction.“ High tech equipment as well as fire resistant materials and security systems are key features in the high voltage engineering laboratory (HVEL) that reopened last fall in Carl Pollock Hall. In March 2005, a fire destroyed the equipment and months of research by graduate students and others. ■ The 4,200-square-foot lab is used by Waterloo electrical and computer engineering professors whose work includes high voltage insulation, applied electrostatics, renewable energy, including wind and solar powers, and electric vehicles. The lab is also the flagship facility for the Power and Energy Systems Group, one of the largest research groups in power engineering in North America. Photo by Chris Hughes. 7 Alumni Mentors Span the Globe About 80 Waterloo Engineering graduates living around the world have volunteered to be online mentors for the Professional Development for Engineering Students (PDEng) program. The undergraduate program was launched four years ago to help Waterloo Engineering undergraduate students on co-op terms develop their professional skills. The program’s online mentoring provides students with alumni advice and guidance during their work terms. Sandor Weinacht, co-ordinator of the alumni mentor program, is working on organizing face-to-face meetings with mentors and students at engineering alumni events. FOR THE LATEST NEWS FROM WATERLOO ENGINEERING, VISIT WWW.ENGINEERING. UWATERLOO.CA/NEWS UW WEAL February 2008 Alumni Honoured With Anniversary Award The reopened high voltage engineering laboratory. An artist’s rendering of The Bow. THE DESIGN POWER BEHIND THE BOW TOWER avid Jefferies is described as the ‘tower of power’ by Alberta Venture Magazine, which named him one of the 50 most influential people in Alberta last year. ■ Jefferies, who graduated from Photo reprinted courtesy of Waterloo’s architecture The Calgary Herald. program in 1976, is managing project architect of The Bow, the proposed new Calgary headquarters for EnCana, one of the largest independently owned oil and gas companies in the world. When completed in 2011, the 58-storey structure will be the tallest office building in Western Canada. ■ Now a principal with Zeidler Partnership Architects, Jefferies has designed some of Canada’s most interesting buildings during his over 30-year career. His work includes the SkyDome hotel and the head office of Rogers Communications, both in Toronto, the National D 8 Along with the latest building materials and energy conservation techniques, an important piece of Calgary’s history will be incorporated into The Bow. Aviation Museum in Ottawa, and the Eau Claire Estates in Calgary. He calls The Bow his “largest, most dramatic and exciting project.“ ■ Named for its crescent design and view of the Bow River, the complex is being built on two city blocks and will eventually house over 3,000 of EnCana’s Calgary-based employees, as well as retail stores, an art gallery and a six-level underground parking garage. ■ The Bow will include many environmentally-friendly design features that are expected to reduce energy consumption by about 30 per cent compared to conventional construction. The building orientation will passively harness the sun’s energy throughout the year and the curved bow configuration is also expected to significantly reduce wind resistance and drafts. ■ Along with the latest building materials and energy conservation techniques, an important piece of Calgary’s history will be incorporated into The Bow. The façade of the 78-yearold York Hotel, taken apart brick by brick last summer, will become the cornerstone of The Bow. The hotel’s second floor once housed CFCN radio, the “Voice of the Prairies“ from where Wilf Carter (aka Montana Slim) sang country tunes and William (Bible Bill) Aberhart delivered his weekly radio Bible study classes. ■ Jefferies says while the York Hotel’s façade is now featured prominently in building renderings, initially its restoration was considered something of a waste of time. “I was able to unearth background on the origins of the graphics and the design artist who developed the castin-place relief elements found at the top and bottom of the building faces. The building façade is now an important part of the heritage restoration component of The Bow project.“ hen it comes to performance incentives, two management scientists have discovered that call centre employees would rather work towards a piece of jewelry, a game system or a new camera than extra cash in their pockets. ■ Management sciences professor Scott Jeffrey and PhD candidate Gordon Adomdza gathered performance data on 441 call centre employees who worked for a large financial services organization collecting past-due accounts. About 75 per cent of the employees were women and most had been with the organization for less than two years. Employees were able to choose one of three incentive levels – low, medium or high – set by the organization. ■ In each of the levels half of the employees worked towards W Choosing an incentive from a catalogue to work towards provides many with the opportunity to end up with something they wouldn't have otherwise. acquiring points to be redeemed for money and the other half were part of a tangible incentive program. Those in the tangible incentive program were given a catalogue with pictures of various prizes and their point values. ■ Halfway into the two-month program, Jeffrey and Adomdza asked employees in both groups to agree or disagree on a five-point scale to the following statement: “I regularly thought about the potential rewards from this program while working.“ They also asked the employees to report on their commitment to achieving the performance target they had selected. ■ What Jeffrey and Adomdza discovered was that a larger percentage of employees in the tangible incentive group focused on the rewards they chose such as a trip or new golf clubs. Fewer employees in the other group regularly thought about topping up their bank accounts. Members of the tangible incentive group were also more committed to their performance targets. ■ Adomdza says being able to picture a reward and refer to it in a catalogue helps employees zero in on their goals. “With so many changes occurring in the workplace today having something to concentrate on keeps people both motivated and focused. The mind is a very powerful and imaginative tool,“ he says. ■ The two management scientists say there are several reasons more employees choose to work towards a reward other than money. “When someone receives extra cash they tend to pay bills or spend it on practical, non-frivolous things like groceries and gas,“ says Jeffrey who specializes in research on goals, incentives and other aspects of employee performance management. “Choosing an incentive from a catalogue to work towards provides many with the opportunity to end up with something they wouldn't have otherwise.“ ■ A tangible incentive also has “trophy value,“ says Jeffrey. “It can make for a great conversation piece at work or at home.“ Scott Jeffrey, left, and Gordon Adomdza with employee incentive prizes. Photo by Chris Hughes. 9 UW WEAL February 2008 MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES Enterprising students from left: Keith Peiris, Salima Gilani and Eugene Solodkin. YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS CHOOSE WATERLOO ENGINEERING eith Peiris founded CyberTeks.net in June 1999 at just 11 years old. When he entered Waterloo Engineering’s nanotechnology program in September 2006 he was not only running a successful business but had been named one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20, a Youth in Motion award program that honours innovation and leadership. His many other accomplishments include being a member of the Team Canada Trade Mission to China in 2001. ■ Stephen Lake (below) was part of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 list in K 10 For engineering in Canada, Waterloo is the place to be. 2007. Before beginning Waterloo’s mechatronics program last September he had launched two businesses – one that develops high-efficiency LED lighting systems for mobile vehicles and the other in the DJ/entertainment business. ■ Waterloo Engineering has always attracted bright students, but it seems these days more and more are arriving with impressive business experience on their CVs along with top marks. ■ Before starting his studies in Waterloo’s software engineering program in September 2007, Eugene Solodkin worked in a research lab at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto for two months developing a program to browse through MRI scans of the brain. With a 99.3 per cent Grade 12 average, most, if not all, educational opportunities would have been open to him. Last June he graduated with the second highest average in the Toronto School Board. Solodkin jokes that the one subject that may have held him back from having the top average was English – he only learned to speak the language three years ago when he and his family immigrated to Canada from Belarus in eastern Europe. ■ Salima Gilani has only been in Canada for five months but she’s already made her mark in and out of school. The Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) student was chosen as the 2007 leader of the Impact Leadership Conference, a student entrepreneurial event held in Toronto. The conference honour recognized Gilani’s work on a program that promotes interactive learning at the American School of Bangkok, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She is currently working with a number of Ontario hospitals to develop better business intelligence solutions for the healthcare industry. ■ Lake, currently on a co-op term in Ottawa, says Waterloo was his first choice of Canadian engineering schools. “For engineering in Canada, Waterloo is the place to be. On top of that I love the idea of the co-op program. Being able to make connections with different employers and get a taste of several different fields before graduation is a great concept.“ ALUMNUS SHIFTS FACEBOOK APPLICATION INTO HIGH GEAR recent Waterloo Engineering graduate is the driving force behind Carpool, a Facebook application that has seen thousands of new users posting shared rides since the site was launched in July 2007. ■ Rajat Suri (above), who graduated with a double major in chemical engineering and economics last June, came up with the idea of an independent carpooling site during reading week in 2007. ■ “I was driving home from Waterloo to Toronto when I realized what a pity it was that I was on my own in the car. I started wondering how many others were heading in the same direction and could have carpooled with me.“ ■ Although there was a bulletin board advertising ride sharing in the University of Waterloo’s Student Life Centre, Suri was convinced much more could be done to promote carpooling. While A include music interests, which can be important on a long drive. The site also allows users to request a shared ride in a private vehicle or a taxi from an airport. Other features include systems that track the amount of carbon dioxide saved by sharing rides. Although he’s not earning any money from the site right now, Suri hopes to eventually make a profit through sponsorships. ■ Suri credits the university’s entrepreneurial culture and engineering’s co-op program for giving him the confidence to spend last summer working on Carpool. “My six different co-op placements provided the reasoning and critical skills necessary for this project.“ ■ Late last fall Suri reported there were over 20,000 Carpool users in countries including Canada, the United States, Finland, Hong Kong and Turkey. Most of the users were between 18 and 22 years old and were college or university students – 800 of those attended the University of Waterloo. Although attracting thousands of users to the site in less than six months is an impressive feat, Suri is aiming higher. “My vision is to have millions using Carpool. I’m trying to change the way people think about sharing rides on a fundamental level.“ 11 surfing the web for information and ideas he came across the site zimride.com. Suri got in touch with its creator, Logan Green, a student at the University of California in Santa Barbara, and together they worked almost full-time over three weeks developing the Facebook site. ■ Suri says one of the main differences between zimride and Carpool is that users can check out the profiles of the people they’re considering carpooling with before meeting face-to-face. Profile details often UW WEAL February 2008 Users can check out the profiles of people they’re considering carpooling with before meeting face-to-face. Captain Mark Gasparotto in Afghanistan. CIVIL GRADS SERVE IN AFGHANISTAN “ 12 he military had the challenges and lifestyle I was looking for in a career and I haven’t been let down,“ says Major Mark Gasparotto (BASc ’96, Civil) of his decision to leave civilian life behind a year after graduating from Waterloo Engineering. Although both Gasparotto’s paternal and maternal grandfathers fought in the Second World War, the London, Ontario native says that didn’t influence his decision. ■ Many of the skills Gasparotto honed during his engineering studies, like decision-making, innovative thinking and problem solving, were put to the ultimate test as part of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group in Afghanistan. Gasparotto commanded the 23 Field Squadron Combat Engineers from August 2006 to February 2007, one of the most violent tours of duty Canadian soldiers have seen in Afghanistan. ■ As a Waterloo co-op student and later as an engineering graduate, Gasparotto worked on Highway 407 in Ontario. His roadwork experience was put to use in Afghanistan T Captain Dan Clarke (BASc ’02, Civil) joined the army shortly after graduating from Waterloo when the Canadian military was advertising for engineering grads. “I thought I’d swing by the recruiting centre for a look and I really liked what I saw. I liked the challenge of the job and the emphasis on fitness and teamwork. I’ve always considered myself to be a patriotic person and I was excited for the opportunity to give something back,“ he says. Clarke spent just over five months in Afghanistan working as a replacement troop commander for Major Mark Gasparotto. In his position Clarke says he regularly relied on his ability where he was responsible for building Route Summit, a key road through the heart of insurgents' territory. But unlike his Highway 407 experience, Gasparotto and his squadron, which he describes as “an eclectic grouping of soldiers, sailors and airmen,“ had to be on constant alert from the Taliban, drug lords, rival tribes and others who didn’t want the road to go through. ■ Besides building Route Summit, Gasparotto’s 135-member squadron cleared mines and other explosive threats and worked to improve bunkers, camps and other protection for friendly forces. “These tasks were often undertaken under fire and we certainly saw our fair share of violence. We needed to be on guard all day, every day.“ ■ One of the toughest times Gasparotto says he had in Afghanistan was during particularly heavy fighting in September 2006 when a member of his squadron was killed. “It was difficult – no amount of training can prepare you for what we experienced physically and emotionally. You learn as you go along.“ ■ Last October Gasparotto received a meritorious service medal from Canada’s Governor General. The Department of Defence credited the combat engineer with “exceptional leadership under enemy fire that saved the lives of Canadian soldiers.“ Gasparotto says his medal “speaks to the incredible efforts of the entire squadron.“ ■ Back on Canadian soil, Gasparotto is working with new recruits at Gagetown, New Brunswick. Although he doesn’t rule out the possibility of returning to active combat in the future, he is enjoying a more regular lifestyle that includes spending time with his wife and two young daughters. “It was certainly great to come home and not have to worry about possibly not seeing the next sunrise or sunset.“ to analyze and solve problems – things he learned while working on his civil engineering degree. “Those are skills that are valuable in any environment and a warzone is certainly no exception.“ He says his squadron made a difference in Afghanistan. “There were some good days and some very bad days, but I can look back and feel that we made a positive contribution.“ In June 2007 Clarke received a commendation from the Commander of the Army for his outstanding leadership and professionalism demonstrated as a replacement troop commander. He’s now back in Ontario working as a staff officer with 2 Combat Engineer Regiment in Petawawa. “I expect to continue to serve in the army as long as I keep enjoying the life and feel like I’m making an impact.“ ■ 1962 Gerald L. Beebe (Elect ’62) retired in 1990 from Northern Telecom and Bell Canada where he worked for 32 years. Gerald was the chairman of the Brampton and District Chapter of APEO from 1971-1972. You can reach Gerald at 905-877-8862. Alexander MacDonald (Civil ’62) is retired and lives in Mazatlan, Mexico for six months each year. Leonard G. Nobleman (Eng Phys ’62) says “since 1998, I have been a sponsor in the Saint Germain Foundation of South Western Ontario. A sponsor is similar to a bishop in the Catholic Church – there’s no pay and you encounter many problems. I also practise my golf game two hours each day.“ You can contact Leonard at 519-426-4208. ■ 1963 Class Reunion: September 27-28, 2008 Peter Wozniuk (Mech ’63) continues to stay busy as an adjunct professor, teaching summer modules at the business school of the Russian American University in Moscow. He is retired but continues to operate his Eastern European import business, which fits well with his teaching duties. He and his wife Judy enjoy spending time with their five grandchildren in the mountains of western North Carolina. ■ 1964 Paul Koch (Chem ’63 & ’64) was thrilled to be one of the recipients of the University of Waterloo’s 50th Anniversary Alumni Award. ■ 1967 Wayne Brock (Mech ’67) retired from Freightliner LLC in Portland, Oregon in December 2001. Previously he had worked in Shanghai, China as general manager of the Shanghai Freightliner Truck Company. Wayne says he’s interested in providing consultation assistance to any company considering investing in China. He is currently secretary of the Evergreen Curling Club’s board of directors in the Portland/Vancouver area and curls at the Lloyd Center ice rink. He is enjoying the sport and is trying to help it grow in the USA. ■ 1968 Class Reunion: September 27-28, 2008 Samir Basu (Elect ’68, PhD ’70) recently travelled with his daughter Ajanta Basu and another alumnus, Aninda Dutta Ray (Mech ’06) to Peru for a one-week vacation in the beautiful land of the Inca civilization. They visited Lima, built by the Spanish conquistadors, and the famous Machu Pichu, the seventh wonder of the world. Robert Domoney (Civil ’68) retired from a 29-year career at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in 1997. His most rewarding project was developing and implementing the graduated driver licensing system for new Ontario drivers. Currently, he is President of R. Domoney Associates Inc., and since 1997 has specialized in carrier (truck and bus) safety issues. Weather permitting, he plans to spend a lot of time skiing this winter in Collingwood. Andre D. LeBlanc (Mech ’68) reports he not only spent all six co-op terms but since graduation working in research and development at Pratt & Whitney Canada. He is planning on ending his career as an aerodynamic engineer in 2008. “The past 42 years have been both challenging and gratifying,“ he says. ■ 1969 Lorne Byzyna (Chem ’69) retired from full-time work in the global pulp and paper industry in December 2006. He spent the last 14 years building and operating pulp and paper mills with APRIL in Indonesia and China. He and Yvonne are now semi-retired and living on the sunshine coast in British Columbia. When not fishing, he is still working part time as an independent consultant in BC and overseas. His email address is [email protected]. ■ 1970 David Hogg (Elect ’70) has been appointed by the Arlington Heights-based Association for Manufacturing Excellence to chair the 2008 AME International Lean Manufacturing Conference in Toronto. This will only be the third time in 24 years that this conference has come to Canada. The organizing team of 30 volunteers come from across Canada, the USA and Australia. The conference, the largest of its kind ever held in North America, is expected to draw about 3,000 manufacturing practitioners from 26 nations. Dave lives in Kitchener with his wife Beverley. You can reach him at [email protected]. Glen Robert Phaneuf (Chem ’70) passed away on March 19, 2007 at Grey Bruce Health Services, Southampton, Ontario. Glen was employed by Lubrizol of Canada (Niagara Falls) from 1970 to 1975 and by Bruce Power from 1975 until his retirement in 2001. He is survived by his wife Linda, daughter Kim and her husband Rob Cresswell, and sons Chris and Jeff. Timo Wadhawan (SD ’70) is the CFO at Heartwood Studios, a leading 3D animation and visual effects studio that provides digital storytelling. Recently, Heartwood received the 2007 San Francisco East Bay Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the new media category, placed 13th in the list of the “50 Fastest Growing Private Companies“ in the East Bay Business Times and received 2007 Recognition from California state assemblyman Guy Houston as one of the finest entrepreneurial companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. ■ 1972 Alan Dunn (Mech ’72) is completing his first term as councillor for the municipality of Strathcona County, Alberta. His political interests are focused on environmental sustainability, development and financial control. He is also the proprietor of Helal Ltd., an engineering and management firm in the Edmonton area. Alan is a cellist in a string quartet, violinist in a baroque orchestra, a fiddler, hand drummer and piper. 13 Kosla Vepa (Civil ’72) chaired a session at the Human Empowerment Conference 2007 in Dallas, Texas. The conference is an annual event held in various cities in North America. Those interested in participating in this year’s conference may contact Kosla at [email protected]. ■ 1973 Class Reunion: September 27-28, 2008 ■ 1974 Kar Yew Edwin Cheng (Elect ’74) has been retired since August 2006. He hopes all his classmates will enjoy retirement as much as he does. UW WEAL February 2008 CLASS NOTES ■ 1975 Robert Allen (Mech ’75) is currently in the process of putting a game on the market and having the time of his life doing so! Get ready for Kissplay, a kissing game for romantic couples. ■ 1977 Eduardo Espinosa (Mech ’77) is back to consulting after leaving a career in the manufacturing industry. John Hamalainen (Elect ’77) is married to a wonderful woman from the Ukraine and they have a sevenyear-old daughter and one-year-old son. 14 Ronald Ristich (Chem ’77) started out with Dow Chemical in Sarnia, Ontario. He transferred with the company numerous times within Canada before settling in Lake Jackson, Texas in 1995. Ronald and his wife Heather have two daughters, Jenny and Kaitlin, and a son, Jason. Len Trembley (Elect ’77) retired from Nestle Canada after 26 years and has joined MHPM Project Managers in Ottawa as a program and project manager. Len is currently seconded to Algonquin College as the program manager for its 2007-2008 capital investment program. Len and Elaine live in Russell, Ontario and their daughter, Erin, works and lives in London, England. Len can be reached at [email protected]. ■ 1978 Class Reunion: September 27-28, 2008 Ebenezer Alade (Civil ’78) obtained his first degree, a BASc in civil engineering, from the University of Lagos, Nigeria in 1968. After completing a graduate degree from Waterloo Engineering he worked in government at the state level in Nigeria and retired in 1999 from Ekiti State Government of Nigeria as permanent secretary/general manager. Ebenezer currently operates his own engineering construction company and is actively involved in the politics of Nigeria. ■ 1979 Hugh R Alley (SD ’79) reports that after seven years as a consultant with Grant Thornton, he started a new job as operations manager of Alco Ventures, an international manufacturing firm based in Langley, BC. It is an exciting opportunity to put into practice the things he has been urging his clients to do. He and his wife Diana and their two children, Rebecca, 15, and Ted, 13, have lived in the same house in Burnaby for 15 years and are just now redoing the kitchen. He is treasurer of the Burnaby Canoe and Kayak Club and is involved in a number of other volunteer activities. Robert Scott Boyer (Mech ’79) continues to expand his company, BPM Solutions, providing supply chain and manufacturing consulting services throughout Ontario. For relaxation, he plays keyboard and sings in a number of jazz and weekend dance bands. He is also the musical director and conductor for the show choir, Bravado! from Barrie. You can contact him at [email protected] or 705-790-8086. ■ 1982 Shane Ryder (Mech ’82) has recently been appointed as director, technical programs and training for the Ontario Power Generation Nuclear fleet. Friends can contact him at [email protected]. ■ 1983 Class Reunion: September 27-28, 2008 Richard Gruttner (Mech ’83) says “two of my four boys are out.“ One is at the University of Ottawa in mechanical engineering and one is at the University of Waterloo in computer science. Richard will soon be celebrating 25 years of marriage with his high school sweetheart, Cathy. James McCallum (Mech ’83) is currently director of engineering for Curtiss-Wright Marine Defense (formerly Indal Technologies). Curtiss-Wright has a long history with its roots dating back to the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903. Kelly McGillivray (Civil ’83) is president and chief methodologist of Peoplecount/ Transearch Group, a consulting firm specializing in traffic and pedestrian research and modelling. A specialized niche is audience research and measurement for sign-based advertising. The company recently moved to downtown Toronto. Kelly lives in North Toronto with her two sons. Heather Scott (MSci ’83) has lived in Calgary and worked for Petro-Canada since graduation. She has had a number of different roles including engineering, natural gas marketing and corporate strategic planning. Currently, she leads the Western Canada natural gas production engineering department and all the field-based production operations. She has been married for 22 years and has two daughters. She hopes all is well with her classmates. ■ 1984 Anthony Green (Mech ’84) was awarded a PhD (Aerospace Engineering) from Carleton University, Ottawa in October 2007. His thesis was on the intelligent tracking control of fixed-base and free-flying flexible space robots. S. David Staniforth (Civil ’84) says “Ciao a tutti!“ After over 18 years with Saab and GM, the last four of which were in ■ 1985 Evan Dust (Civil ’85) says, “I’m married to a very beautiful lady from Maui and enjoying life!“ Evan has returned to work in the private sector as a transportation planning consultant. Andrew Piggott (Chem ’82 & ’85) is back in Toronto working at a biotech/pharma process skid manufacturer after six years in Vancouver. Adding a second storey to his East York home keeps him busy and out of trouble. He and his wife just celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary and his kids, Alex and Chris, are almost grown up. Rick Santing (Elect ’85) hopes all is well with the electrical engineering class of ’85. He and his wife Sharon moved to Calgary where he is trying to convert his three sons (Tyler, Cody and Lukas) from Toronto Maple Leafs to Calgary Flames fans. He is enjoying lots of snowboarding, skiing and hockey. ■ 1986 Thomas A. Kinney (Chem ’86) reports he is alive and well in Boston and sends his best regards to old friends and classmates. ■ 1988 Class Reunion: September 27, 2008 Alan Ferguson (Elect ’88) was recently promoted to vicepresident, business development at Gennum Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of semiconductor solutions for the global video and data communication markets. As well as a BASc, Alan has a BA in economics (1994) from the University of Waterloo. Alan is married with two children and lives in Oakville, Ontario. He has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and stays active competing and teaching. Abyd Karmali (Chem ’88) will be starting a new position with Merrill Lynch in London, UK as a managing director and global head of carbon emissions. Roland Tanglao (SD ’88) is working for a start-up company called Bryght and enjoying living in Vancouver and family life. He’d love to meet up for coffee with SD ’88 grads and University of Waterloo friends whenever they happen to be in Vancouver. Thomas White (SD ’88) was promoted to director of operations for Rubbermaid Canada last September. He is now responsible for all Canadian manufacturing and company-owned distribution operations. ■ 1989 Matt Snell (SD ’89) his wife Kim, and two daughters, Mackenzie, 9, and Paige, 6, have begun a new adventure. Matt, who along with his wife has a law degree from the University of Western Ontario, had been working as an in-house counsel to IBM Canada since 1999. He recently accepted a two-year assignment with IBM Corporation in New York. His family relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut in August and Matt is splitting his working time between Somers, NY and New York City. The family is enjoying settling in and exploring the area. The Snells can be contacted at [email protected]. Bruce Taylor (Chem ’89) says it’s been a very eventful year. He met Jang ok (Jana) Kim while she was visiting from South Korea, and they have since married. Bruce and Jana celebrated their engagement in Southern Sudan where they were assisting a local orphanage and teaching local church parishioners how to construct sustainable drinking water treatment systems for their neighbours. In 2000, Bruce established Enviro-Stewards Inc. (www.enviro-stewards.com), which helps industry and commercial institutions to reduce their consumption of resources (water, energy, chemicals etc.) and to appropriately treat any remaining discharges. Jacques Tremblay (Civil ’89) has recently been appointed director, project controls for the industrial/process business unit of Washington Group International, Inc. and will be relocating to Houston, Texas. Since joining the company in 1991, Jacques has moved from Canada to Thailand, Germany, Brazil, the Philippines, the USA and Romania, most recently as director, project controls for European Operations. Jacques enjoyed beautiful Bucharest and now looks forward to some serious Texas barbecue. You can contact Jacques at 281-529-7091 or [email protected]. ■ 1990 Paul Overbaugh (Mech ’90) is married to Stephanie Bouska (Kin ‘92) and they have three children. They are living in California enjoying the sun. Laszlo Toth (Mech ’90) married Sossy in August 1997. The couple has a son Arek, 6, and a daughter Emma, 4. Laslo, who left Shell Canada in September 2007, is an avid cyclist and international traveller. ■ 1991 Stefan Uriadka (Comp ’91) reports that after moving from Nortel to Computer Science Corporation during the hi-tech melt-down of 2000, he opened his own consulting company, StillwaterStudios. He is also involved in photography and live audio recording. ■ 1992 Todd Bailey (Mech ’92) now lives in Montreal, with his wife, Panagiota Dafniotis, and their two young children. Todd is working as Patent Counsel at Pratt & Whitney Canada. John Morgan (Arch ’90 & ’92) has completed his MSc at the London School of Economics (LSE), graduating in December 2007 with merit. After over seven years as an associate with Allies and Morrison, John is leaving to pursue other projects which include a part-time teaching position with professor Harry Gugger‘s architecture research studio at the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. 15 John Vieth (Elect ’84, SD ’92) says life is good in “Canada’s Technology Triangle.“ He and his wife Angela are pleased that two of their children are now also Waterloo alumni. ■ 1993 Class Reunion: September 27, 2008 Eleanor J Morrison (Chem ’93) says “Hello from London! I moved from New York to London in May 2007 to help build Lehman Brothers European Commodity trading business. Currently, I’m focused on trading natural gas and electricity markets. Any friends and classmates, please contact me at [email protected].“ UW WEAL February 2008 Germany, he - along with Erik, 13, and Claire - decided to try Italia. David joined the Fiat Group last spring. He reports they have a great view of the Alpi Maritimi out their kitchen window and are looking forward to the ski season. ■ 1994 Nicholas Hesse (Mech ’94 & ’97) Nicholas is now the director of engineering at Curtiss Wright Controls EMT in Stratford where he leads the department designing rotary sensors and electric motors for aircraft. After commuting from London for almost seven years, he has moved to Stratford. Nic can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 519-305-1081. ■ 1995 16 Eric Toker (Arch ’93 & ’95) and Dedre live in Calgary with their son Eli, now 5 1/2, who provides endless entertainment and welcome relief from their work. After establishing their firm, Toker + Associates in 2002, the office has grown to a staff of eight, with a focus on both architecture and commercial interiors. When not at work, Dedre, Eric and Eli escape to the Rockies where they attempt short hikes. Graham Whiting (Arch ’93 & ’95) reports he is living and working in Waterloo at Whiting Design, is married to Kasia Kord and is father to Sage, age 4. Whiting Design is a firm specializing in ecologically responsible design in the residential and commercial markets. For details check out www.whitingdesign.ca. ■ 1996 Jonathan Evans (Elect ’96) has abandoned engineering in favour of writing novels set in exotic locations. His latest novel, a thriller called Invisible Armies, was published by HarperCollins last year and will come out in paperback this April. For more about Jonathan visit his website at: www.jonevans.ca. Karim Hirji (MSci ’96) has recently been promoted to principal within the IBM Software Group where he is responsible for the Americas West Region and Latin America. Karim continues to live in Toronto with his family and can be reached at [email protected]. Steph Hunt (nee Christie) (Chem ’96) says “I’ve been with Chevron for over nine years, working in Hawaii for seven of those. I’m working as a process engineer in the refinery but also helping out with the oils planning group. My son, Hamilton, will be three in June and I’m pleased to announce I’m pregnant with baby #2 and it’s a girl. Cameron and I are thrilled. Feel free to drop me a line or swing by Hawaii!“ Steph can be reached at [email protected] or 808-626-9770. Fariborz Lesani (Elect & Comp ’96) is currently in Japan starting up a mobile internet consulting and solutions company after working in the same field in Toronto for seven years. He moved to Japan last April after getting married in March. Fariborz and his wife live in Tokyo and are experiencing a life of fast trains and technology, great food and culture. You can reach Fariborz at [email protected]. ■ 1997 Sohail Ahmed (SD ’97) is back in Northern Virginia doing freelance consulting in the information services area - a mixture of development, program management and design. He would love to hear from other University of Waterloo alumni in the area. Kelly (Soucie) Locke (Elect & Comp ’97) finally saw sparks and was married to industrial electrician Jay Locke in September 2004. Their first child Rowan turned one in October 2007. They are all enjoying a quiet life in their Victorian mansion in Milverton, Ontario. Tony Savor (Elect & Comp ’93 & ’97) started a new job as head of engineering and operations at OANDA Corporation, an online foreign exchange trading company. Tony is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. ■ 1998 Class Reunion: September 27, 2008 Fiorella Dinoi (Arch ’96 & ’98) and Michelangelo Giombini were married in June 2007 in the church of Porto Venere in Ligura, Italy. Ella and Michelangelo live and work in Milan. Scott Sharabura (Chem ’98) and his wife Kim welcomed their first child, Douglas Hay Sharabura, in December 2006. Scott and his family are living near Dallas, Texas, where he is working with Booz Allen Hamilton as a management consultant in the oil and gas industry. ■ 1999 Sumana Kundu (Civil ’99) and her husband Charles welcomed their second daughter, Anjalina Collins, in April 2007. Sumana completed an MBA in 2006 and is currently on maternity leave. Michael McGuffin (Comp ’99) completed a PhD in computer science at the University of Toronto, specializing in human-computer interaction and visualization. In September 2007 he became an assistant professor at ETS, a Frenchlanguage engineering school in Montreal. His wife of seven years, and children aged 3 and 5, are happy to be back in Montreal close to extended family. For more check out: http://profs.logti.etsmtl.ca/mjm/. ■ 2000 John Baker (SD ’00) reports that Desire To Learn, the company he started while still in university, recently placed 12th in the Deloitte Fast 50 Award. The award recognizes the fastest growing companies in Canada over a five-year growth period. For more on the company log on to: www.desire2learn.com. Shannon Nauman (Mech ’00) moved from Kitchener-Waterloo to London, taking on a new career direction with SR&ED Tax Consulting for Deloitte and Touche. You can contact Shannon at [email protected]. Mohd Sulaiman (Elect ’00 & ’02) was married in September 2000 and is a proud father of two daughters and a son. His wife completed an MES degree from the University of Waterloo in November 2001. David Tunnah (SD ’00) reports he recently made a career change into professional service and is now a consultant in Deloitte’s corporate responsibility and sustainability service. The move comes after he completed his MBA at the Schulich School of Business at York University. He says it’s a refreshing change after five years of working as an engineer for Sony in Japan. David lives in Vancouver with his wife Noriko. If you want to catch up with David you can contact him at [email protected] or 604-568-3488. ■ 2002 Trevor Fenton (Chem ’97 & ’02) is just settling back into life on the west coast. After graduating from law school in 2006 and articling in Ottawa he and Lucas moved to Vancouver. His practice involves helping businesses claim tax credits for doing scientific research. ■ 2003 Class Reunion: September 27, 2008 Paul D’Souza (Comp ’03) has bought an apartment and is more or less settled in Copenhagen after going there to do a master’s degree. ■ 2004 Andrew Cameron (Mech ’04) says the greatest way to travel is by bicycle. Having never been to Africa, he figured the best way to see it was from the seat of a bicycle. He covered just under 12,000 km from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa. In doing so, he managed to raise $2,500 for a charity that was able to donate 25 local bicycles to native health care workers in Malawi. For more about Andrew’s trip check out his blog site at www.12000km.blogspot.com. Vasudave Daggupaty (SD ’04) is currently enrolled in the economics graduate diploma program at the University of Cambridge. S. Mani Sarathy (Chem ’04) recently won an NSERC PGS-D scholarship to pursue a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Toronto. He will use the funding to study the combustion of alternative fuels derived from biomass feedstocks. ■ 2005 Hisham Al-Shurafa (SD ’05) recently left his position at Amazon.com and moved from Seattle to Toronto to join NexJ Systems as product manager. For his move he travelled by motorcycle along the backroads of Canada. He reports that the 12-day, 6,000-kilometre trip was “a blast.“ You can read about his travels at www.alshurafa.net. Andrea Brown (nee Polack) (Enviro ’05) and Randal Brown were married in August 2007. They had a small ceremony and reception in Toronto and honeymooned for two weeks in Brazil, where they enjoyed the Rio beaches and saw the wonders of Iguazu Falls. TJ Kelley (SD ’05) has finished basic training and has been promoted to lieutenant. Although he is working in an intelligence job, he is still an engineer, both at heart and by trade. Gotshal & Manges in New York before returning to Michigan for his final year. He sends his best regards to the class of 2006. ■ 2007 Class Reunion: September 27, 2008 Christina Harvey (Enviro-Civil ’07) says after she completed her degree in April 2007, she accepted a junior engineering position with the County of Northumberland in her hometown of Cobourg. She completed her last two co-op terms with the county and was pleased to return to an exceptional work environment. Tristan Schmelcher (Comp ’07) started work with the Google Talk team in the Seattle area. He reports he has a nice apartment and is shopping for all the household items he didn’t have while on Waterloo co-op terms. Vecheslav Silagadze (Elect ’07) recently founded 2G Robotics Inc. with Jason Gillham. They are currently consulting for companies in manufacturing as well as the marine robotics industry. Check out their website at http://2grobotics.com. In Memoriam Jerome N. Capricci, Elect ‘79 Thomas W. Graham, Civil ‘71 Tage Hansen, SD ‘75 Hugh M. Hincks, Civil ‘72 Elaine Howie, Mech ’88 J. Douglas Hubbell, Civil ‘66 Russell E. Kawai, Chem ‘87 Douglas A. MacLennan, Mech ‘80 Kurt D. Mitchell, Elect ‘82 Peter F. Ostertag, Elect ‘82 ■ 2006 Gordon F. (Bob) Pearce, Mechanical Engineering Professor Ann Lee’s (Elect & Comp ’06) baby, Andre Lee, was born in April 2007. Glen R. Phaneuf, Chem ‘70 Howard Li (Elect & Comp ’06) started a new job at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton last September. Steven Serajeddini (Elect & Comp ’06) is in his second year at the University of Michigan law school. He will be spending next summer at Weil 17 Lawrence C. Sentence, DEng ‘74 Steven C. Spicer, Mech ‘84 Cecil J. “Dick“ Sprenger, MSci ‘69 George Tomlinson, Chem ‘72 UW WEAL February 2008 Christopher Castleton (Mech ’00) says a lot has happened in recent years. After graduating from Waterloo Engineering he travelled for a year, ending up in Germany where he continued working for Magna Decoma. After six years there, he became a consultant in Six Sigma and process optimization. Recently he married Silvia and moved to her home country of Italy. He reports that a family is next on the agenda. UPCOMING EVENTS Going Green Workshop Series Dates: February 2 to May 2008 Times and Locations: Various The Grand House Student Co-operative, a non-profit housing co-op comprised of Waterloo architecture students and community members, is building an student residence. To find out some of the methods being used to build the residence, alumni and others are invited to attend workshops being hosted by the cooperative from February to May 2008 at various locations throughout Waterloo Region. 18 Learn about a variety of green-building techniques and technologies from the experts, including straw-bale construction, renewable energies, eco-home design, rainwater harvesting, plastering, earthen building, solar hot water and much more. For workshop and registration information visit www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumi. FIRST Robotics Waterloo Regional Competition Dates: March 20-22, 2008 Times: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Location: Main Gymnasium, Physical Activities Complex, University of Waterloo The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of high school students to build robots from a standard kit of parts and compete in a series of competitions. The free event is open to the public. www.firstrobotics.uwaterloo.ca. Alumni Curling Funspiel Date: April 5, 2008 Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: Dixie Curling Club, Mississauga, ON Come enjoy a day of curling and socializing with other Waterloo Engineering alumni. To find out more and to register, visit www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni. Alumni and Friends Reception in Detroit This event will be held during the SAE World Congress to be held April 14 to 17 in Detroit, Michigan. For details log onto www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni. Alumni and Friends Reception in Niagara Falls Date: May 1, 2008 Time: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Location: Hilton Niagara Falls Fallsview Alumni are invited to meet up with former classmates and others at this reception being held during the 2008 Ontario Association of Architects Conference. You can register at www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni. Alumni and Friends Reception in Waterloo Date: Time: May 13, 2008 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. A special evening is being planned for alumni and friends in the Waterloo area. Check out details at www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni. Class Reunions Reunions are a great time to catch up with your classmates, relive memories of your university days and see how the campus has changed since you last visited. Your reunion now coincides with the University of Waterloo Homecoming to offer additional programming and family-friendly activities. Mark your calendar now so you don’t miss it. For more detailed reunion information, visit www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni/reunions. Seeking Class Reps! Reunions in 2008 Classes of ’63, ’68, ’73, ‘78 and ’83 September 27-28, 2008 Classes of ’88, ’93, ’98, ’03 and ’07 September 27, 2008 Future Reunion Dates Alumni take a look at student team projects during the open house at last fall’s reunion. 19 Your reunion takes place every five years. To check for the future dates of your reunion, please visit www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/ alumni/reunions and add them to your calendar. If you would like to volunteer as a Class Rep to help encourage your former classmates to come back for reunion, please contact Daniella Cross at 519-888-4567, extension 36838 or [email protected] to find out how you can get involved. GREETINGS ALUMNI T www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/alumni. Please contact me if you have an event idea or feedback related to our services. ■ I look forward to meeting you at one of our events this year. Sincerely, Daniella Cross, Acting Alumni Officer UW WEAL February 2008 he goal of the Waterloo Engineering alumni office is to provide you with opportunities to network, volunteer and stay involved with the faculty. ■ Last year we held a number of alumni receptions throughout the world in locations including Hong Kong, New York City, Washington D.C., Toronto and San Francisco. As you can see, we are planning many more for 2008 – be sure to visit our website on a regular basis for a listing of upcoming alumni events and developments: Contact Us Engineering Alumni Affairs University of Waterloo CPH 4301 200 University Ave. W. Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 36838 Fax: 519-746-1457 Email [email protected] URL www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~eng-alum We respect your privacy and communication preferences. To learn more, please go to http://alumni.uwaterloo.ca/privacy. Contact Us Engineering Alumni Affairs University of Waterloo WEAL Waterloo Engineering Alumni Letter February 2008 . Number 53 WEAL is published twice a year by Engineering Alumni Affairs at the University of Waterloo. Circulation: 25,000 Editor Carol Truemner Writers Erin Bow Carol Truemner Design Ampersand Studios Printing Ampersand Printing Printed in Canada WEAL MENTORING FROM EXPERIENCE s a manager at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Washington, you would think Erin Bourke-Dunphy would have more than enough to keep her busy. But Bourke-Dunphy (BASc ’98, Elect) manages to make time to work towards one of her professional and personal goals – increasing the number of women entering engineering. To create more diversity within the profession, she has mentored many young women and has helped establish a scholarship for women choosing academic careers in math and engineering. ■ A University of Waterloo donor and a lead volunteer for Campaign Waterloo’s Microsoft Campaign, Bourke-Dunphy was honoured by the university with a University of Waterloo 50th Anniversary Alumni Award. She remains connected with Waterloo Engineering through her work with the faculty’s Women in Engineering Committee, which includes making presentations to prospective and current engineering students. ■ Bourke-Dunphy says it makes her sad more women aren’t becoming engineers. “It is one thing that 10 years ago the numbers were low, but with the increase in women going to university the fact that the numbers haven’t significantly increased in engineering is alarming to me. I feel strongly that for the engineering profession to be successful in the upcoming decades having a diverse workforce is key – it brings different A perspectives to the table and strengthens the end product.“ ■ When Bourke-Dunphy started at Waterloo in the early 1990s she says the biggest challenge was maintaining friendships with other women, especially since most were in other faculties and the engineering course load was heavy. ■ “There weren’t a lot of women in engineering when I went to Waterloo. But then there weren’t a lot of women in my advanced math and science classes in high school or in my job once I graduated,“ she adds. ■ BourkeDunphy says as a woman it’s not only important to believe in yourself and your skills, but also to have a good mentor. “Chances are someone else has already experienced what you’re going through – reach out and ask for help. That’s part of building a support network, which is essential to weathering both the challenging times and the good.“ WATERLOO ENGINEERING ALUMNI LETTER Engineering Alumni Affairs University of Waterloo CPH 4301 200 University Ave. W. Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Return Postage Guaranteed Publications Number 40065122