On Tuesday, it was announced that UW was selected as the site for a new regional hospital. The hospital will be a joint effort from Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital, and is scheduled to open by 2034.

The news came during Tuesday’s announcement event, which was held on campus and attended by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, and leaders from Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s General Hospital, and UW. Ford said that the new hospital will “​foster innovation, enhance research and better connect the growing region to convenient care closer to home.” UW president Vivek Goel also emphasized the opportunities it will provide for research and experiential learning, adding, “We look forward to playing a role alongside this new facility in advancing transformational health innovation in our region, our country and globally.”

The building site occupies 60 acres across part of UW’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park, with the decision to locate the new hospital there coming after a 10-month review process. Moving forward, there will be a five-year planning process which will be followed by five years of construction. St. Mary’s General Hospital will remain operational until the new hospital opens.

The project comes as part of a larger collaboration between Grand River and St. Mary’s General Hospitals, which will be merged into a single organization by the spring of 2025. The hospitals have created an initiative entitled “Building the Future of Care Together,” which aims to develop research and innovation opportunities in the local health care sector. As part of this initiative, the new hospital will introduce services and bring more hospital beds and acute care capacity to the region, according to the joint press release by UW and the hospitals. “Not only does the location make great sense in terms of patient accessibility, it also allows our organizations to deepen our relationship even further for the benefit of the communities we serve,” said Mark Fam, president of St. Mary’s. 

Video footage of the hospital site can be found here.

Nikki Rana, an incoming systems design engineering student at UW, was awarded the Ted Rogers Legacy Scholarship, a prestigious award valued at $100,000 over four years. Rana, a Cambridge native, is one of only ten annual recipients of this scholarship, recognized for her academic excellence, volunteerism, and overall deservingness.  

Awarded on her birthday, this scholarship will significantly impact Rana’s university experience, allowing her to live on campus instead of commuting three hours daily. “The scholarship really meant that I had the privilege of choice. It meant that I didn’t have to choose between having just this or that. I could actually have the choice to live on campus for university without taking loans, get invested by joining extracurriculars, and not worry about getting a part-time job on the side,” Rana shared.

Rana’s journey to UW began early, influenced by her two older sisters who also graduated from the university. “I’ve always been on campus, sometimes being dragged around with them while they were going to a class or conference. Because of that exposure, I really loved just going into engineering [buildings] and seeing the solar panel cars, people working on design teams. It was so cool,” she recalled.

Her passion for engineering was further ignited through various high school programs and volunteer opportunities. “My high school experience got off to a funky start with the pandemic, but I joined online STEM camps, did the Engineering Science Quest (ESQ), and volunteered for ESQ. That was a really nice transition into seeing how I can use these skills in other parts of my life,” Rana explained.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Rana has been an ardent volunteer, teaching coding and math to girls and participating in her local youth council. “Volunteering has always been important to me. It’s about giving back and inspiring others, especially young girls, to pursue STEM fields,” she emphasized.

Rana’s parents moved from Pakistan to Canada to provide better opportunities for their daughters. This scholarship represents a culmination of their efforts and hard work. “For me, this is not just my accomplishment but also my parents’. Their sacrifices made this possible,” Rana stated.

Reflecting on her journey, Rana shared advice for future students: “Success is achievable for anyone. It’s about trying a little bit every day and staying committed to your goals. You don’t have to do something spectacular — consistent effort is key.”

As she prepares for her first semester at UW, Rana is eager to engage with the campus community and explore various engineering groups for women. “Tell everyone on campus I’m excited to be there. I’m excited to get chased by geese, I’m excited to get like, you know, shawarmas from Lazeez. I’m excited to have all those firsts,” she added with a laugh.

Rana’s story is an inspiring example of perseverance, dedication, and the transformative power of education. As she embarks on this new chapter, the UW community eagerly awaits the positive impact she will undoubtedly make.

Activate Gaming, the world’s first “active gaming facility,” held a grand opening ceremony for its Cambridge location this past Monday, June 22. Imprint was invited to cover the event, and yours truly was the lucky one chosen to sample what it had to offer.

To ensure I would form an unbiased opinion, I went into this ordeal blind. I had never heard of Activate so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and didn’t fall victim to any of their marketing (yet).

Even before I entered the facility, I was already impressed with how convenient the place was to access. From the Waterloo bus terminal, you only have to take bus number 25 for around 30 minutes before you reach the plaza where the facility is located in. Already one point for Activate, and we’re just getting started.

At the entrance, I was greeted by an employee maintaining the waitlist, for customers and for media representatives like me. After signing in, I was then offered a mocktail and an energy bar to “fuel me for the upcoming activities.” As I am unfortunately in the process of losing weight for an upcoming weightlifting competition, however, I was forced to decline. I was then guided towards the front desk where two enthusiastic employees helped me get settled in. I received two wristbands: one to serve as a locker key, and one to keep track of how much time I had to play the games. At this point, my curiosity about the place was piqued by how professional and clean everything looked. I caved and asked them what Activate was. Their answer? “You’ll see soon enough.”

I was handed off to another employee who was tasked with giving me a tour, and they immediately led me into what I would call the “real” facility. It was essentially a hallway with 10 rooms in total, and these rooms housed one of Activate’s wide assortment of games. The most popular, they told me, were Strike and Grid / Super Grid. Other games offered were Hoops, Pipes, Laser, Hide, Control, and Portals.

Seeing as it was a Monday afternoon, I was not able to find a plus one to come with me. However, the employees were more than kind enough to partner up with me to give me the full experience.

We started with Grid, whose room contained a floor constructed entirely of square panels that lit up different colours. With Grid and most other rooms, there were also sub-categories of games to choose from. The mini-game Zone was apparently the easiest for beginners to grasp, so we started with that. Once we were in the room, we were left in the dark for a while until a large, booming voice intoned “RED IN 5, 4, 3…” while the employee screamed at me to find a red panel to stand on before the time runs out. Using every muscle fibre in my legs to accelerate, I was lucky enough to make it, but I was only given a literal second of rest before the same voice returned with “BLUE IN 5, 4, 3…” Needless to say, the game had my heart rate peaking within minutes. The fear combined with the exercise was a surprisingly fun combo, and I could see how Activate was tricking kids to become active again.

After Grid, we moved onto Strike, whose room contained a panel of screens and some softballs. What we had to do here was throw balls at the screens which had asteroids hurtling towards us while simultaneously avoiding ones with satellites. Despite having a horrible throwing arm, I thoroughly enjoyed this game as well. If anyone plans to play this one, I recommend you bring someone who plays baseball.

We then moved on to a more classic arcade game: Hoops, which was basically basketball lite. I spent the most time in this room, trying out most of its subgames. One had us answering trivia questions by shooting at baskets that corresponded to the correct answer. Others had us trying to score as many points as possible before the time ran out. Another had the backboards continuously light up at certain times, indicating when we had to shoot to score points. You can’t go wrong with the classics, and Activate does a great job here too.

While I couldn’t play all the games, I did have the opportunity to meet the masterminds behind Activate — Megan and Adam Schmidt — and learn more about how Activate was born. The Schmidts were originally owners of an escape room game facility in Winnipeg. In 2018, they wanted to expand their franchise but found it difficult to do so given the industry-associated constraints of designing physical rooms, updating rooms across the country promptly, etc. This ultimately led them to their backyard shed, where they would work tirelessly to brainstorm a business model that would overcome these barriers. After raising a couple million dollars from their old company and banding with some engineers, they were lucky enough to open their first location in 2019.

Then COVID happened, which rendered growth and expansion difficult to say the least. Nevertheless, they persevered and since 2022, their team has grown from 10 people to more than 150 in their central Winnipeg corporate location. Activate now also has 35 locations across Canada, the US, and the UK and is set to open another location in Dubai.

Their journey was also one that was quite serendipitous. Megan is a University of Toronto and Western University alum and was a practising physiotherapist before the business took off. Adam is a Conestoga alum who worked as a pilot. The Schmidts’ accomplishments only go to show how the entrepreneurial spirit lives within everyone, and all we have to do is just put in the effort to find it.

After I was tired out from playing, I was then led outside to where food was being served, which included pork sliders, aged cheddar, and a salad bar. They pulled no stops on the food for their grand opening. The final cherry to top off my experience was getting a free $50 Stanley Cup, which I am using as I write this.

All in all, I was very glad to have been able to experience Activate. I highly recommend anyone in the KW region to give it a try — whether you’re 8 or 88 years old, you definitely will not regret it.

On Monday, Waterloo Ventures (UW’s entrepreneurship hub) and the Accelerator Centre (AC) announced their partnership to launch the Global Impact Creator pilot program. The AC is a Waterloo-based startup incubator, which works to support the work of student entrepreneurs. According to the AC’s press release, the pilot program is aimed at helping UW faculty, students, and recent graduates “explore global entrepreneurship opportunities.” In particular, the program will work to develop solutions within rural Canadian or global geographies, with outlined focus areas in human, animal, and planetary health.

Applications to participate are open from now until July 31, with the program itself scheduled to run from September 2024 to March 2025. Once underway, the AC will work with five to seven participants, who will “research, develop, and pilot solutions.” Tabatha Laverty, the AC’s vice-president of marketing and external relations, said that the program is ultimately geared towards those who are interested in exploring entrepreneurships that have a “social impact lens,” which she described as “entrepreneurship in the interest of making the world a better place.”

The program will combine entrepreneurship opportunities from the AC as well as support from UW researchers and resources. Laverty said that the program would be a great fit for UW community members looking to get involved in entrepreneurship, as the program will take a structured, introductory approach towards getting started. In addition to networking and research opportunities, participants will receive a $12,000 stipend for the program. In March 2025, participants will present their work at a culminating showcase hosted at the AC.

Looking into the future, Laverty said that both the AC and Waterloo Ventures are interested in continuing to offer these kinds of opportunities for beginner entrepreneurs. For those with further questions about program eligibility and how it might fit into academic or co-op plans, Laverty encouraged reaching out to Sarrah Lal, the director of innovation for Waterloo Ventures.