July 31, 2003

Thursday, July 31, 2003

Prof rethinks the workplace
Developing smart technologies
A few other notes on a slow day

Editor:
Chris Redmond
credmond@uwaterloo.ca

[Sedra's in a gray suit]
Empurpled and empowered is Laura Mooney, the new president of Engineering Society A, moving up from vice-president (education). She greets a somewhat bemused Adel Sedra, dean of engineering, shortly after the customary dye job. "Purpling of the new president is an Engineering Society tradition," explains VP (external) Jeff Henry, "as purple is a nationally recognized colour associated with engineering." The plaque Mooney is receiving from the dean honours her 16-month term as a VP.

Prof rethinks the workplace -- from the UW media relations office

It's Monday, a quarter after eight in the morning. You finish your breakfast and prepare to leave for work. Instead of negotiating congested roadways in your car or jockeying for space on a crowded bus, you walk a few blocks to your workspace.

Neither home nor office, this workspace was created for and by the people in your neighbourhood. You sit down at a workstation. You have all that you need to work comfortably -- office equipment, meeting rooms, kitchen facilities, perhaps even a pool table. This is your "co-workplace".

Thanks to telecommunications breakthroughs, half of all jobs in North America and Europe could today be performed away from a traditional office. Millions of office workers are already working from home, and while some appreciate the flexibility of home-based telework, others find that they are bound to their employers by an "electronic leash".

[Johnson] In her innovative new book, The Co-Workplace: Teleworking in the Neighbourhood, Laura C. Johnson (left), a professor in the school of planning, explores an alternative to both the traditional and the home-based office -- the "co-workplace". A new type of neighbourhood-based facility, it offers the benefits of remote work while maintaining boundaries between workplace and home. With access to such amenities as meeting rooms, childcare, food services and recreation facilities, the co-workplace combines the infrastructure of a good corporate office with the convenience of a neighbourhood location.

Drawing lessons from spaces used collaboratively by software developers, artists, lawyers and other professionals, Johnson tackles one of the central policy and planning issues of our time and offers vital reading to those interested in humanizing the work environment.

"I learned so much from this wonderful small book!" writes Dolores Hayden, author of Redesigning the American Dream: Gender, Housing, and Family Life, about the new book. "In her fascinating and well-researched account, Laura C. Johnson discusses home work in historical perspective, looks at North American telecommuting experiences by class, gender and household type, and exposes the potential of architectural design to improve live-work solutions. The Co-Workplace is essential reading for anyone contemplating work from home and for all architects and urban planners."

The book is published by University of British Columbia Press, and the first chapter is available for view on its web site.

Developing smart technologies -- from the annual report of the engineering faculty

Mechanical engineering professor Farid Golnaraghi (right) is keeping a close eye on the construction taking place just outside his office window. When the addition to Engineering III is completed, the faculty's newest Canada Research Chair will be moving into one of the new labs in the mechatronics wing.

Weaving his way through the cramped quarters he now shares with four other researchers, Golnaraghi points to project after project that seamlessly integrates mechanical elements with electrical and electronic elements. He stops at a cantilevered mechanism attached to a model of a human arm.

"This is a feedback system that is designed to counter the adverse effects of Parkinson's disease," he explains. "Smart sensors analyze the shaking motions of the patient's arm, feed them to an actuator no bigger than a wrist watch. The actuator provides a force that is equal and opposite to the shaking motion and the patient's hand appears to move steadily."

Further along, he stops at a test rig that is set up to develop micro electro-mechanical sensor (MEMS) technology. "Someday we will be able to implant a sensor into the tip of a blade and, as the blade appears on a video monitor, the computer will help to guide the surgeon to the exact fringe of a tumor. This will help the surgeon remove all of the tumor, without damaging any healthy tissue."

As holder of the Canada Research Chair for Intelligent Mechatronics Systems, Golnaraghi will receive $200,000 a year for seven years (renewable indefinitely) to support his research into the design and development of "smart" technologies capable of sensing and adapting to motion changes in real time. He has also received $124,996 infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

His excitement about his new lab is matched only by his excitement about the new mechatronics program. "In the real world, engineers combine electronic and mechanical systems," he says. "For the first time, we will teach students the two disciplines in combination with systems design."

Robotics group in fourth place
Waterloo's aerial robotics team placed fourth in the static judging phase of the International Aerial Robots Competition -- a "multi-year competition to push the envelope of technology by challenging students to accomplish near-impossible mission objectives". The static judging is the portion of the competition where the vehicles are judged on their technical merits rather than their actual performance. Writes team member Adam Philip: "While autonomous flight did not occur, we achieved a state of readiness that we hope will enable us to attain autonomous flight [on Thursday]." No word yet on the final results.

A few other notes on a slow day

Skies are gray, the phone isn't ringing much . . . we're in that eye-of-the-storm lull before exams start (and while anybody who was at the Stones concert in Toronto last night straggles home and tries to catch some sleep). Still a few things are happening today . . .

Another batch of graduate students who are involved in the Certificate in University Teaching program will present their research this morning. Speakers are Jennifer Campbell ("Interaction Without Distraction: Promoting Student Involvement in Large Classes"); Vahid Garousi ("Advantages and Disadvantages of Cooperative Learning, a Teaching Perspective"); and Somaya Sabry ("Motivation in Poetry Classrooms: How a More Rigorous Application of Mental Growth Theory Can Help"). Presentations start at 9:30 in Math and Computer room 5158.

[Exercises on mats]
From another philosophical point of view, the local Falun Gong Club has announced an exhibition about its teaching, Falun DaFa, being held in the Student Life Centre this week (through Friday). Falun Gong practitioners are seen exercising in Waterloo Park last summer. The system, which combines philosophy and physical culture, has been persecuted as a cult in China in recent years.
Coming tonight is a free session on "Suffering and How to Transcend It", sponsored by the Spiritual Heritage Education Network. The announced speaker is "Ven. Sam", better known as Ven. Supha (Sam) Uttho, a Theravadan Buddhist monk now living in Cambridge, Ontario, and formerly a teacher at Mahamakut Buddhist University in Thailand. "The issues that he will explore in this discussion," a flyer says, "include what constitutes suffering, what are the major causes of our suffering, and what the paths we can take to overcome it." Admission is free; his talk starts at 7 p.m. in Math and Computer room 4021.

The north entrance to the Hagey Hall of the Humanities, and the hallway that's room 1032, will be closed for repairs today and tomorrow, says a note from the plant operations department. "This entrance is located across from Arts Lecture," the memo explains. "All other entrances are open."

A couple of days ago I mentioned that UW's staff association has discount tickets available for some popular summer attractions, including Sportsworld and Canada's Wonderland. Let me add now that graduate students can also take advantage of such discount tickets, through the Graduate Student Association: enquire at the counter in the Grad House.

Finally, here's an interesting note from the minutes of a meeting held June 10 by the senate undergraduate council, which has extensive authority over UW's academic programs. The topic was a proposed "regular" stream in the new Bachelor of Accounting and Financial Management degree, which is supposedly being offered only through co-op. Say the minutes: "Members discussed at length the practice of establishing 'emergency' regular programs in the event students are unable, for reasons outside their control, to complete the co-op component of their degrees (the regular program is not open to direct admission; academic requirements are identical to the co-op version). The Registrar suggested that the rationale for establishing the regular program is to deal with an operational issue, not an academic one, and that an 'emergency' program is not necessary (extenuating circumstances are taken into account on a case-by-case basis when determining whether the co-op requirements have been met). However, council approved putting the regular program on the books, just in case it's ever needed.

CAR

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