University Of Waterloo Research Articles

The Development of GENE 101 – A ‘Strategies and Skills for Academic Success’ Course for First Year Engineering Students at Waterloo

As a way to help ease the struggles thatstudents face in the transition from high school intouniversity, the Engineering Faculty at the University ofWaterloo started a reduced load program in 2010. Duringtheir first term at Waterloo, engineering students who arein academic jeopardy after midterms can drop twoprescribed courses to give the students an opportunity tofinish the term on a successful note. The two droppedcourses are taken during the following spring term alongwith a third course, GENE 101 – Strategies and Skills forAcademic Success. After successfully completing thereduced load terms, the students return to a full load.GENE 101 is considered a foundational success course.This paper will look at the curriculum and structure of thecourse and the impact it has had on engineering students.At the time of this writing, two groups of students who tookGENE 101 and the reduced load program have graduatedfrom Waterloo as engineers.

Do different experimental tasks affect psychophysical measurements of motion perception in autism-spectrum disorder? An analysis.

There is a rapid increase in the number of individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA). Research on motion perception in HFA has shown deficits in processing motion information at the higher visual cortical areas (V5/middle temporal). Several hypotheses have been put forth to explain these deficits as being due to enhanced processing of small details at the expense of the global picture or as a global integration abnormality. However, there is a lot of variability in the results obtained from experiments designed to study motion in adults with autism. These could be due to the inherent diagnostic differences within even the same range of the autism spectrum and/or due to comparison of different experimental paradigms whose processing by the same visual neural areas could be different. In this review, we discuss the various results on motion processing in HFA, as well as the theories of motion perception in autism.

Special Issue: Diagnostic Tools to Assess In Situ Remediation System Performance

Special Issue: Diagnostic Tools to Assess In Situ Remediation System Performance

MS Risk in Immigrants in the McDonald Era: A Population-Based Study in Ontario, Canada

Background: Migration studies may provide insights into environmental determinants of multiple sclerosis (MS) and whether a critical window for exposure exists. We aimed to determine risk factors for MS in immigrants and compare MS risk in immigrants versus long-term residents in Ontario, Canada. Methods: We applied a validated algorithm to linked, population-based immigration and health claims data to identify incident MS cases in immigrants and long term-residents between 1994 and 2016. We conducted two multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses including one limited to the immigrant cohort assessing potential risk factors for developing MS; and one comparing MS risk between immigrants and matched long-term residents (1:3 match). Results: We identified 2,304,302 immigrants for the immigrant-only analysis, of whom 1,526 (0.066%) developed MS. Younger age at migration, female sex, greater co-morbidity burden, lower neighbourhood income, and time since landing were associated with increased MS risk. Risk was greatest in those <15 years old at landing (Ref: <15 years; 16-30 years: HR 0.73, 95%CI: 0.63-0.85; 31-45 years: HR 0.55, 95%CI: 0.47-0.64). Region/country of origin was also associated with MS risk. Immigrants from the Middle East (HR 1.22, 95%CI: 1.06-1.40) were at greater risk than immigrants from Western nations; all other regions had lower MS risk (p<.0001). The matched analysis included 2,207,751 immigrants and 6,362,169 long-term residents. Immigrants were less likely to develop MS than long-term residents (p<.0001), although this lower risk was attenuated with longer residence in Canada. Interpretation: MS incidence in immigrants to Ontario, Canada varied widely by region of origin, with greatest risk seen in those from the Middle East. Although MS risk declined with increasing age at arrival, considerable risk was sustained with migration after age 15, suggesting that environmental exposures into adulthood contribute to MS risk. Funding Statement: This study was supported by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC). The opinions, results and conclusions reported in this paper are those of the authors and are independent from the funding sources. No endorsement by ICES or the Ontario MOHLTC is intended or should be inferred. Declaration of Interests: DR has received research support from the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. She has served as a consultant for Sanofi Aventis, Biogen, Novartis, EMD Serono, and Roche. RAM receives research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Research Manitoba, the Consortium of MS Centers, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, and the Waugh Family Chair in Multiple Sclerosis. CJM has received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, P.S.I. Foundation, MS Society of Canada, Consortium of MS Centers, MS Scientific Research Foundation, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care-Health System Research Fund, Canadian Frailty Network, Partners for Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, Network for Aging Research-University of Waterloo. She is supported by a University Research Chair at the University of Waterloo. KT receives a research scholar award from the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the research ethics boards at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Informed consent by participants was not required.

International Deep Drawing Research Group 37th Annual Conference

37th INTERNATIONAL DEEP-DRAWING RESEARCH GROUP CONFERENCE - “FORMING OF HIGH PERFORMANCE SHEET MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS” – IDDRG 2018The 36th IDDRG conference was held June 3-7, 2018 in Waterloo, Canada and was hosted by the University of Waterloo. The conference chairs were Professors Michael Worswick and Cliff Butcher of the University of Waterloo and Professor Alexander Bardelcik of the University of Guelph. The conference theme was “Forming of high performance sheet materials and components”.International Deep Drawing Research GroupIDDRG was started in the late 1950s as an organization of national groups devoted to the study of sheet metal forming including forming processes, materials, formability issues, tooling, tribology and many other interesting aspects of sheet metal forming research and industrial practices.List of Conference Topics, Participants, Acknowledgement, Keynote speakers, Scientific Committee, Local Organizing Committee (University of Waterloo), Sponsors and exhibitors and Editors.

An Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Non-isothermal Cup Drawing of a 7XXX-T76 Aluminum Alloy Sheet

The 7000-series of aluminium alloys are an attractive material for anti-intrusion components in the car body-in-white due to their high specific strength and lower density. The limited room temperature formability of these alloys can be overcome through elevated temperature forming while controlling heat exposure to prevent changes to the microstructure such as over-aging. The present work details a comprehensive characterization of a developmental alloy, 7xxx-T76, for non-isothermal warm forming of a cylindrical deep drawn cup. Material anisotropy and a non-associated constitutive model were developed with the hardening response as a function of temperature and strain-rate. Friction was characterized at elevated temperature using a Warm Twist Compression Test apparatus developed at the University of Waterloo. Significant material anisotropy was observed in the tensile characterization results and during warm forming with the formation of eight ears in the deep drawn cups for a drawing ratio of 2.25. The predictions of the forming model were evaluated in terms of the earring profile, punch force, and surface strains from optical strain measurements using ARGUS.

Deriving lifetime predictions for wire bonds at high temperatures

We report a method to predict wire bond lifetimes. Wire bond resistance increase due to thermal stress can be modelled by the Arrhenius equation, permitting prediction of wire bond reliability in a product prior to qualification if sufficient experimental data is collected and statistically analysed. Activation energies for various experiment “legs” are determined by stressing a number of wire bonds at 3 different temperatures, then, using survival analysis techniques for accelerated failure time models, extrapolating results to use conditions. Example lifetime predictions for Cu and PCC wire bonds on Al pads are shown to illustrate the method, using a small number of test dies that incorporate four-wire resistance measurements of wire bond pairs, with two ball bond sizes and two different wire types, stressed at precise temperatures with in-situ resistance monitoring in the University of Waterloo's “mini-oven” reliability test systems. These results show that typical Cu wire bonds on Al bond pads can be highly reliable up to 163 °C without encapsulation or 155 °C with encapsulation, with estimated lifetimes of 12,000 h with <1 ppm failure rate, assuming a failure condition of 10% resistance change.

New electrolyte improves Li-S batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries can pack up to five times as much energy by weight as some lithium-ion batteries, in principle. In practice, experimental versions of the batteries have fallen short of expectations because of unwanted chemical reactions between the electrodes and the electrolyte solution that alter the electrodes, thereby reducing energy storage and shortening battery life. Rather than trying to solve these problems by modifying the electrodes, as many researchers have done, a team led by Quanquan Pang and Linda F. Nazar of the University of Waterloo have come up with a promising alternative approach. The team designed a customized electrolyte solution that limits these destructive reactions and suppresses battery degradation (Nat. Energy 2018 DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0214-0). Lithium polysulfides are well-known bad actors in Li-S battery chemistry. The species, which dissolve in electrolyte solutions, shuttle between the cathode and anode, removing electrochemically active cathode material and co...

Sjogren's syndrome in optometric practices in North America.

To describe the presentation of dry eye in Sjogren's syndrome (SS) in optometric practices, to report on the methodology used in dry eye monitoring and to explore the level of corneal staining versus age and time of disease. Records of SS patients were reviewed in 6 optometric sites. A standardized abstraction tool was developed to collect data from the records including: health history, medications and symptoms and signs of dry eye. The methods of testing symptoms and signs of dry eye were recorded. Variables were recorded at each site and collated at the University of Waterloo. The first visit after January 1, 2000 was selected for description in this paper. 123 charts were included. The average time since diagnosis was 7.2 years ±5.1 years. Symptoms of dryness were present in 110/123 = 89.4% of charts. Corneal fluorescein staining was present in 96/123 = 78% of charts. MGD was present in 52% of charts. There were significant differences in the protocols and grading systems used in these 6 sites. Corneal staining levels did not change with greater age or length of disease. These 123 SS patients presented with a large variation in their symptoms and signs. Symptoms of dryness and corneal fluorescein staining were the most commonly recorded presentations. There was a great deal of inconsistency in dry eye protocols among offices. Future prospective research with standardized testing will contribute to our understanding of the best dry eye protocols for SS patients.

Veronika Irvine: The Art and Mathematics of Making Bobbin Lace

Veronika Irvine has a Master of Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and a Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Victoria, where she studied combinatorial objects. She is c...

Sentient architecture promises insight into our evolving relationship with AI

As the sun set on April 11, 2018, around 400 people gathered in Indiana University’s Luddy Hall, anticipating a sort of birth. There, in the home of the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, all eyes pointed to Amatria , a woven cloud of white Mylar and clear acrylic plastics, wire, glass, laser-cut stainless steel, and electronics hanging from the glass ceiling. Amatria , a new work of “sentient architecture” by Philip Beesley and others in LAS, is at once art installation, architectural prototype, and test bed for artificial intelligence. Image courtesy of Philip Beesley (photographer). This new work of “sentient architecture” by multidisciplinary researcher and artist Philip Beesley of the University of Waterloo and colleagues hung still. Then Beesley reached up. Sensing his movement, Amatria shuddered. Vibrations near Beesley’s hand rippled outward accompanied by bursts of warm light and sounds ranging from otherworldly clinks and bellows to natural gurgles and hisses. Amatria is at once art installation, architectural prototype, and test bed for artificial intelligence. Beesley created the sculpture in collaboration with researchers at Indiana University, as well as electrical engineer Rob Gorbet of the University of Waterloo and other members of Beesley’s Living Architecture Systems group (LAS), which includes an international team of 90 architects, scientists, engineers, and sound artists. The goal of the LAS group is to make buildings come alive, revolutionizing built spaces and our relationships with them. The group aspires to create an architectural structure that is more integrated with the natural world, a metabolism that enables self-renewal, and an artificial intelligence capable of curiosity and even empathy. LAS has exhibited more than 50 installations around the world. But Amatria is unique in that it functions as a permanent test bed in an academic community where it can evolve. As researchers collaborate with the sculpture’s …

Horizon meeting on cardiovascular physiology: Dedicated to Dr. Mike Sharratt.

This perspective document summarizes discussions held at the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Annual Meeting in Winnipeg on October 27, 2017, when an expert panel was assembled to discuss the key questions and challenges for future research in cardiovascular exercise physiology. We were inspired by the example of the late Dr. Mike Sharratt, an accomplished and impactful Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Sharratt had a unique ability to bring experts together and translate theory into action, with a central goal of optimizing the health benefits of exercise, particularly in the fields of cardiac rehabilitation and aging (University of Waterloo Applied Health Science Department 2016; University of Waterloo Health Science Newsletter, 10-1-2017 ( http://uwaterloo.ca/applied-health-sciences/news/remembering-mike-sharratt )).

Non‐Precious‐Metal Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysis

Non‐Precious‐Metal Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysis

Amplify Your Impact: An Interview with Mark Aaron Polger, Editor of &lt;em&gt;Marketing Libraries Journal&lt;/em&gt;

Mark Aaron Polger is the First Year Outreach Librarian at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York (CUNY), where his responsibilities include promoting library services and resources as well as providing instruction to first year students. Polger is also an Information Literacy Instructor at ASA College. His research interests include library marketing, outreach, and user experience design. He is active in LLAMA as the chair of the PR XChange Committee as well as the co-chair of the Annual PR XChange Awards Competition. Regionally, he is an active executive board member of ACRL/NY (Association of College and Research Libraries, Greater Metropolitan New York Area), where he serves on the planning committee of the annual symposium and co-chairs the User Experience Discussion Group. Locally, he co-chairs meetings in New York City for ACRL National’s Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group. He is also a member of the planning committee of the annual Library Marketing and Communications Conference (LMCC). He is co-chair of the LACUNY (Library Association of the CUNY) Library Marketing and Outreach Roundtable Discussion Group.Currently, Polger is the founder and editor-in-chief of the new open-access, peer-reviewed Marketing Libraries Journal, which was launched in fall 2017.Originally from Montreal, Canada, Polger holds a BA in Sociology from Concordia University (1999), an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario (2000), an MA in Sociology from University of Waterloo (2004), and a BEd in Adult Education from Brock University (2009). He is currently a third-year PhD student in the Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning Program at SUNY University at Buffalo. He moved to New York City in 2008.The first issue of Marketing Libraries Journal was published in fall 2017. We wanted to ask Mark about his inspiration to create this new publication.—Editors

9th International Conference on Inverse Problems in Engineering (ICIPE)

IntroductionThis proceedings of the Journal of Physics: Conference Series contains a subset of papers presented at the 9th International Symposium on Inverse Problems in Engineering (ICIPE), held at the University of Waterloo, May 23-26 2017. Since the first ICIPE in 1993, this conference has served as the main international venue for collaboration and interaction between mathematical theorists who develop inverse analysis tools, and engineers who use these tools to solve today’s problems. Our meeting continued this tradition, with 80 delegates from many sub-disciplines of engineering, science, and applied mathematics.The conference and its proceedings are dedicated to Professor Graham Gladwell, FRSC. Graham played a key role in establishing this conference series, and was cross-appointed between the Faculties of Mathematics and Engineering during his career at the University of Waterloo, exemplifying the fact that inverse analysis lies at the intersection of these two areas. Sadly, Graham passed away on March 11th, 2017, only two months before our conference. We honoured his memory and spirit throughout the conference.List of Dedication, Conference Organizers, Sponsors and Conference Participants are available in this Pdf.

Special issue on Indigenous Food

In the spring of 2016, I had a conversation with Dr. Kelly Skinner at the University of Waterloo that led to the mutual decision that we work towards a special issue of Canadian Food Studies on Indigenous Food. She was well connected with Canadian researchers, writers, activists, and artists on this topic, and felt that there was a plethora of potentially publishable material for such an issue. From the journal’s perspective, an Indigenous focus would embody important and relevant aspects of food culture, politics, knowledge, history, world views, and practices that should be featured and honoured in a special issue.

Constitutive Equations and Finite Element Implementation of Isochronous Nonlinear Viscoelastic Behavior

We present a phenomenological three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model for time-dependent analysis. Based on Schapery's single integral constitutive law, a solution procedure has been provided to solve nonlinear viscoelastic behavior. This procedure is applicable to 3D problems and uses time- and stress-dependent material properties to characterize the nonlinear behavior of material. The equations describing material behavior are chosen based on the measured material properties in a short test time frame. This estimation process uses the Prony series material parameters, and the constitutive relations are based on the nonseparable form of equations. Material properties are then modified to include the long-term response of material. The presented model is suitable for the development of a unified computer code that can handle both linear and nonlinear viscoelastic material behavior. The proposed viscoelastic model is implemented in a user-defined material algorithm in abaqus (UMAT), and the model validity is assessed by comparison with experimental observations on polyethylene for three uniaxial loading cases, namely short-term loading, long-term loading, and step loading. A part of the experimental results have been conducted by (Liu, 2007, “Material Modelling for Structural Analysis of Polyethylene,” M.Sc. thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON Canada), while the rest are provided by an industrial partner. The research shows that the proposed finite element model can reproduce the experimental strain–time curves accurately and concludes that with proper material properties to reflect the deformation involved in the mechanical tests, the deformation behavior observed experimentally can be accurately predicted using the finite element simulation.

The case for a student run clinic in London

Student Run Clinics (SRCs) are an emerging form of primary healthcare involving the collaboration of students and licensed health care professionals. SRCs aim to identify healthcare needs in the community and to meet those needs with supervised clinical and non-clinical services, education, and outreach. The SRC model provides students with direct patient interaction to complement classroom learning and develop extracurricular clinical skills.&#x0D; The Alliance of Students Providing Interprofessional Resources and Education (ASPIRE) is a new interdisciplinary student group from the University of Western Ontario, Fanshawe College, and the University of Waterloo. Using established Canadian SRCs as a framework, ASPIRE is working to start a London-based SRC. A recent review of healthcare needs and social determinants of health completed by ASPIRE for the City of London identified a high incidence of mental health conditions and HIV in the community. Furthermore, the adequate provision of primary healthcare in London is complicated by transportation issues, financial constraints, and language barriers among underserved and minority populations. These concerns may be addressed by care provided by professional students from various disciplines organized by ASPIRE.&#x0D; The future of ASPIRE includes health promotion in the London community with presentations on topics such as opioid addiction and overdose prevention, diabetic foot care, and smoking cessation. ASPIRE will continue to work towards a transition into a larger role in health promotion and health advocacy, with the ultimate goal of establishing an SRC in the City of London.

Parametric computational analysis for punching shear in RC slabs

One of the key phenomena in flat slab structures is their punching shear behaviour. The real importance of punching shear consists of a sudden brittle fracture, which can trigger catastrophic consequences for humans. This paper presents a nonlinear numerical model based on finite elements in order to study the punching shear phenomenon of reinforced slabs. The numerical model developed has been configured with hexahedral 3D elements for concrete and linear elements (2D truss) for steel reinforcements. Constitutive equations for concrete and steel include the nonlinearity of these materials. The slab has been simulated in ABAQUS software and the model has been calibrated in comparison to experimental results developed in the University of Waterloo by Adetifa and Polak, and some additional analytical results developed by Polak, in order to validate the model. The calibration has also been contrasted with some experimental results from ACI database for punching tests. Afterwards, a parametric analysis has been performed to study the influence of different geometric and mechanical parameters which define a classic slab-column structure. This discussion also addresses the adequacy of some mechanical approaches, such as the CEB Model Code 2010.

Interview with Andy van Dam

Andries van Dam, is the Thomas J. Watson Jr. University Professor of Technology and Education and Professor of Computer Science at Brown University. He has been a member of Brown's faculty since 1965, was a co-founder of Brown's Computer Science Department and its first Chairman from 1979 to 1985, and was also Brown's first Vice President for Research from 2002--2006. His research includes work on computer graphics, hypermedia systems, post-WIMP and natural user interfaces (NUI), including pen- and touch-computing, and educational software. He has been involved for five decades with systems for creating and reading electronic books with interactive illustrations for use in teaching and research. In 1967 Prof. van Dam co-founded ACM SICGRAPH (the precursor of SIGGRAPH) and from 1985 through 1987 was Chairman of the Computing Research Association. He is a Fellow of ACM, IEEE, and AAAS, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts &amp; Sciences. He has received the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, the SIGGRAPH Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics, and the IEEE Centennial Medal, and holds honorary doctorates from Darmstadt Technical University, Swarthmore College, the University of Waterloo, and ETH Zurich. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers and nine books, including "Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics" and three editions of "Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice".