Daily Bulletin

'Elder' students come to Grebel

As part of the international Elderhostel experience -- with more than 250 sites at educational institutions in Canada alone -- Conrad Grebel College is again offering a program of one-week courses this summer. From August 9 to 15, Elderhostelers are exploring The History and Craft of Oral Storytelling with instructor and storyteller Dorothy Bowman, Canadian Literature with Gayle Goosen, and Technological Transformations with Daryl Pullman.

A previous session in June offered courses on the flora and fauna of Waterloo region, linguistics, and the Dead Sea scrolls.

Latest reasons for UW pride

A technical paper award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers has come to UW's chemical engineering department. Francis Dullien, professor emeritus, and Ann (Collins) Dullien, research technician, are two of the four authors of the winning paper, which was presented at one of ASHRAE's semiannual meetings in 1997. Its title: "Removal of Suspended Fine Particles from Gases by Turbulent Deposition". Their two co-authors are at Nutech Energy Systems in London, Ontario.

Christopher Small of UW's statistics and actuarial science department was head coach of the Canadian team at the International Mathematical Olympiad, held in late July in Taipei. The Canadian team, made up of high school students, brought home a gold medal, a silver, two bronzes and an honourable mention.

Archie Sherbourne, retired from the civil engineering department (and a former UW dean of engineering), is this year's winner of the Horst Leipholz Medal, awarded by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. The medal "recognizes outstanding contributions to engineering mechanics research and practice in Canada", and an announcement from the society notes that Sherbourne "is internationally recognized for his numerous original contributions to the field of structural engineering".

Professional engineers woo students

Student membership is expected to improve communications among professional engineers, engineers-in-training, undergraduate engineering students and the PEO. "Students wish to become informed about the organization they are expected to join upon graduation," explains Dustin Kersey, president of the Engineering Student Societies Council of Ontario (ESSCO), of which the UW Engineering Society is a member.

In a letter to Engineering Dimensions, a PEO publication, Kersey suggests a closer relationship between PEO and engineering students would be mutually beneficial. "Students . . . represent an untapped resource for PEO. Many students would jump at the opportunity to work with PEO on projects of common interest. Projects directed at promoting engineering, establishing cooperative outreach programs and increasing public awareness of the responsibilities of an engineer are just a few of the areas where students could be helpful."

Students have also gained an observer seat on the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). Having an observer seat on the CEAB will give students a better understanding of the accreditation process, notes Ryan Chen-Wing, president of the UW Engineering Society. The UW Engineering Society supported both initiatives through its membership in ESSCO and national student engineering association. "All these things are small steps, but any step forward is worthwhile," he added.

UW web site of the day

"The purpose of this web site," the first page begins, "is to assist UW Co-op students living in the 905-705-807 area codes." Its creator is coordinator Chris Engel, who's based in Toronto, and who put the page on a web server at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, not at UW, because he's also a part-time graduate student there and the page grew out of work he did for a course in on-line education.

"The information that students want and need while at UW is at various locations on the UW webspace," Engel points out. "However, finding certain pieces of information can be at times a bit challenging. At the same time, there is a wealth of experience and information held by all those in the co-op department that is not on the web." So, why not collect it for them?

Engel first did a web site specifically for the 30 to 40 students working each term at IBM in Markham and Toronto, then expanded it for all students in the area code region he's responsible for. "In a way," he says, "it is an on-line office in which students can get answers to simple questions, or contact a coordinator if the question or issue is more complex."

What's there?

The General Information section contains items such as the identification of various UW Co-ordinators by discipline and area, links to various Faculties and Departments at UW, information regarding work reports, and links to organizations that may be of interest to UW Co-op students, and important phone numbers. The Unemployed Students section contains information and links that are designed to provide information that will help students in their job search. The Employed Student section contains information and links to such things as the "Work Term Evaluation" form, the "Work Report Evaluation", a work report "FAQ" and similar links. The Career Counselling and Information section contains information and links that can be useful to students in career planning. The section titled Contacting and Communicating with Co-ordinators and Students contains an e-mailer form for contacting a co-ordinator, and a bulletin board for use by all for announcements and establishing contact with other students.

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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