May 10, 2002

Friday, May 10, 2002

Dean of engineering will end term
Banners promote Keystone Campaign
Wireless group sends clear signal
More, on a spring weekend

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

M is for a hundred Mothers whose day is Sunday

[Chaudhuri]

Dean of engineering will end term

Sujeet Chaudhuri (right), dean of engineering since 1998, won't continue after his term ends in the summer of next year, a memo from UW's provost has announced.

It was sent electronically to engineering faculty, students and staff yesterday:

"The Dean of Engineering Nominating Committee is now in place and has held its first meeting. As Chair of the Committee, my first task was to inform the Committee of Sujeet's decision not to stand for a second term. Based on this decision, the Nominating Committee will be operating in 'search' mode.

"You are invited to discuss matters concerning the Deanship with any member of the Nominating Committee (identified below). The Committee especially seeks feedback on the issues and challenges facing the Faculty of Engineering.

"If you prefer to respond in writing, your submission should be directed to Lois Claxton, the Committee Secretary (by mail, c/o University Secretariat in Needles Hall; via e-mail: lclaxton@uwaterloo.ca; or by fax 888-6337). Comments should be received no later than Friday, May 31, 2002 and will be held in confidence within the Committee."

These are the nominating committee members:

Amit Chakma (4766), Vice-President, Academic & Provost and Committee Chair (provost@uwaterloo.ca)
Lois Claxton (4012), Secretary of the University and Committee Secretary (lclaxton@uwaterloo.ca)
James Bookbinder (4013), Management Sciences (jbookbinder@uwaterloo.ca)
Claudio Canizares (5355), Electrical & Computer Engineering (claudio@uwaterloo.ca)
Peter Douglas (2913), Chemical Engineering (pdouglas@uwaterloo.ca)
Bruce Hellinga (2630), Civil Engineering (bhelling@uwaterloo.ca)
Glenn Heppler (4648), Systems Design Engineering (heppler@uwaterloo.ca)
Alan Plumtree (6840), Mechanical Engineering, member at-large (plumtree@uwaterloo.ca)
Gordon Stubley (2875), Mechanical Engineering (stubley@uwaterloo.ca)
Mary Thompson (5543), Statistics & Actuarial Science, external member (methomps@uwaterloo.ca)
Carol Smith (2150), Management Sciences, staff member (csmith@uwaterloo.ca)
David Walsh (2788), Engineering Computing, staff member (dwalsh@uwaterloo.ca)
Shannon Puddister (3831), Systems Design Engineering, graduate student member (smpuddis@uwaterloo.ca)
Daren Toppin, Mechanical Engineering, undergraduate student member (datoppin@uwaterloo.ca)

The process for selecting a dean, and the terms of reference for a new appointment, appear in UW's Policy 45.

Poll results
Wednesday's question: There are annual awards for "distinguished" UW faculty and teaching assistants; should there be a similar award for staff members?
Answers received in 24 hours:

Yes, great idea -- 186
No, it would seem patronizing -- 51
No, there aren't enough worthy candidates -- 14
No, there are too many worthy candidates -- 50

Banners promote Keystone Campaign

The first issue of a newsletter supporting the staff-and-faculty Keystone Campaign will be mailed across campus today, says Bonnie Oberle of the office of development and alumni affairs.

"A number of exciting achievements continue to unfold as we move closer to the launch of the Keystone Campaign on June 20," Oberle said in e-mail earlier this week. "These achievements are largely the results of creative and dedicated volunteers who are committed to the campaign."

The Keystone Campaign -- formerly the Keystone Fund -- is the on-campus portion of Campaign Waterloo, with a goal of raising $4.5 million in donations from staff, faculty and retirees, their share of the $260 million that the national and international campaign will seek for Waterloo.

Right now, Oberle said, donors and volunteers are 24 per cent of the way to the goal, as $1.1 million has been raised toward the $4.5 million.

She said "more than 150 dynamic volunteers" have signed up to help with the campaign in one way or another. "Their involvement ranges from the Council, to the four Working Groups, as well as over 100 of the 150 volunteers who are Departmental Representatives."

Banners reporting the Keystone Campaign goal and total dollars raised to date will be hung on three buildings next week, she added: the Arts Lecture Hall, the Davis Centre, and Biology II. "The plan is to have the banners up during the two annual Keystone Campaign appeal periods (spring and end of year appeals), mid May to July 31 and then again in mid November through to January 30."

Other kinds of publicity are happening as well, she said, pointing to a second "Donor Profile" ad scheduled for next week's Gazette and a new look on the Keystone Campaign web site that should go live early next week.

Wireless group sends clear signal

A group of enthusiasts setting up a local wireless computer network will hold their second meeting on Monday evening to decide on a group charter and possible affiliation with "the only prosperous and self-funding community network in Canada", based in Brantford.

They're part of what a recent Vancouver Sun article called "the grassroots movement to build high-speed community wireless networks . . . as individuals and communities, often driven by necessity, find conventional networks beyond their reach, financially or geographically". Or, as in the case of the Waterloo Wireless Project, just plain fun.

"We hope to appeal to anyone with a computer, $100 for a wireless card, and some interest in getting involved -- no technical expertise needed," says Ian Howard of UW's information systems and technology department, one of the key people in the new project.

Tim Philp, the founder and president of the Brant FreeNet, will be speaking at Monday's gathering. An announcement says Philp will speak about how the Brant FreeNet was formed seven years ago and why it is still successful today. "He will offer insight and advice to the Waterloo Wireless Project participants about how to structure their organization, and they will discuss a possible future affiliation between the two groups."

Monday's meeting will be held at UW -- 7 p.m., Math and Computer room 2009 -- and quite a number of UW people are involved, including Howard and computer science student Ross Jordan (one of two people listed as "technical lead" on the project).

In its newsgroup, uw.wireless, group members have speculated about a direct connection with UW's campus network as a way of connecting their planned local network with the Internet. (The university already has wireless networks in the Davis Centre and the engineering buildings, and St. Jerome's University has chosen wireless for the network in its residences.)

"We are seeking endorsement or support from the university in our pursuit of creating a locally empowered and economically comfortable alternative to broadband/DSL," says Howard.

It's also been suggested that the community wireless network could link to an antenna atop one of UW's taller buildings. "If Married Students could be used," one poster wrote, "then you could sit in Waterloo Park and be connected with your notebook PC. Cool!"

Another participant, math student Darik Horn, has a web page describing the construction of an antenna mast attached to the chimney of his house.

A "node" within half a kilometre is considered essential for reliable wireless computing, although for short-range connections an antenna right inside a laptop computer is enough. The essentials are a wireless card and a little technical knowledge. Jordan describes the current standard for wireless connections, sometimes nicknamed Wi-Fi:

802.11b is an IEEE standard for wireless networking at speeds up to 11mbps. It operates in the 2.4GHz ISM unlicensed Radio Frequency (RF band). The 2.4GHz band is divided into channels (2400-2450MHz: Channels 1-8 (indoor usage); 2450MHz: Channels 9-14 (outdoor usage). The maximum EIRP is 4 Watts, with a maximum of 1 Watt from the transmitter. 802.11b defines the bottom two layers of the 7 layer OSI model (the Physical, and Data Link layers). The 802.11b standard uses Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) technology.

If you can handle that, you're more than welcome at Monday's meeting -- and at an "antenna workshop and shootout contest" planned for Saturday of the long weekend, details pending.

More, on a spring weekend

Voting ends today at 3 p.m. in the election of a board of governors member.

The beginning-of-term social week at the Graduate House is continuing, with pub night tonight. The Sharp Five, a New Orleans-style jazz band, will play starting at 9:00. (The Grad House isn't exclusively for graduate students; memberships for "undergrads and the UW community" are on sale now, at $15 for the term.)

About 50 participants in a provincial German contest are arriving at the Village conference centre for the weekend. Coming in on Monday: about 150 members of the International Emergency Management Society, holding its annual conference.

A busload from UW's staff association is off to Casino Rama for the day tomorrow. Now being planned are a pair of wine tours to the lush vineyards of Niagara, May 25 and June 1, and I'm told that participants are still wanted -- the association office, phone ext. 3566, has more information.

The Da Capo Chamber Choir, based at Conrad Grebel College, will give a concert Saturday night at 8 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Kitchener. Tickets are $15 (students $10) at the door. The concert is entitled "Songs of Praise" and features work by R. Murray Schafer, Barrie Cabena, and Leonard Bernstein. Da Capo is directed by Leonard Enns, chair of the music department at Grebel, and will be joined for this concert by the King's College University Choirs from Edmonton, directed by Tim Shantz, as well as harpist Lori Gemmell of the K-W Symphony.

The Humanities Theatre will be filled with dancers and doting parents again on Saturday: this time it's Dancefest.

Pat Kalyn, retired as secretary to UW's registrar, is far from retired from her artistic avocation. An exhibition of her mixed-media paintings is under way at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre on Regina Street, where there will be a meet-the-artist reception tomorrow from 2 to 5 p.m.

John Vellone writes from engineering computing: "The UW Campus Response Team is now accepting applications for the Summer 2002 term. The UWCRT is an on-campus first aid team providing pre-ambulance care at numerous campus events. Volunteers receive continuous first-aid refreshers, weekly advanced training, realistic training scenarios, and have the opportunity to compete in national first aid competitions. The application deadline is Wednesday, May 15, and applications are available at the turnkey desk in the Student Life Centre. For more information, email: uwcrt@hotmail.com. Standard First Aid and Level-C CPR (or equivalent) certification is a minimum requirement."

And I'd just like to mention that with today's Daily Bulletin, this channel for information and conversation on the Waterloo campus has been coming out for nine years. The first Bulletin appeared May 11, 1993.

CAR

TODAY IN UW HISTORY
May 10, 1954: Carl Totzke is hired as athletics director of Waterloo College; he'll later move to UW and serve until 1989. May 10, 1972: After many delays, the new University of Waterloo Act is approved by the private bills committee of the Ontario legislature.