![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Friday, October 1, 2004
|
Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Setting sun on black wall]](/images/2004/1001perimeter.gif)
The Perimeter
Institute for Theoretical Physics will open its new building in
central Waterloo with a black-tie dinner tonight and an open house
tomorrow. At 8:45 tomorrow, a UW
convocation
ceremony will be held
at Perimeter (admission by ticket only) to honour three prominent
physicists -- James Hartle of the University of California at Santa
Barbara, Sir Roger Penrose of Oxford and Steven Weinberg of the
University of Texas at Austin -- with honorary degrees.
The open house runs from 10 a.m., with tours until 4 p.m. as well
as lectures by prominent physicists, researcher forums and family
activities. The
Perimeter Institute is a
research facility and think-tank, independent of UW but with close links.
Building photo by Jesse Rodgers.
|
"My mandate is to give Premier McGuinty and Minister Chambers my advice about the design and funding of Ontario's postsecondary education system in January 2005," Rae writes on his web site, "and this means there is no time to waste." So the discussion paper will be followed by the beginning of province-wide "town hall meetings" that start Monday afternoon.
One of those meetings will be held in Kitchener-Waterloo -- on November 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. The location isn't set yet, but the Rae web site says meetings will take place on college and university campuses "where possible".
In addition, Rae and his panel members will be holding a private meeting with some key people from UW, tentatively on October 29, UW president David Johnston told the university senate a few days ago.
Johnston gave the senate a quick rundown of a "preliminary brief" that was sent to Rae in late summer, listing the main points that university leaders hope will be included in Rae's advice to the government. There are four of them, the president said:
The Rae commission was set up by the government last spring "to review the design and funding of Ontario's postsecondary education system and recommend innovative ways in which our institutions can provide the best education to students and support Ontario's prosperity. . . . The Advisor will engage Ontarians in discussions to help define higher expectations for our higher education system, and to develop a plan that gets us to a higher-quality, affordable and accountable postsecondary education system. The Review will focus on the opportunity for all Ontarians that higher education represents, as well as the need for us to allow both individuals and institutions to aspire to and achieve excellence."
The review's web site offers a library of background information about post-secondary information in Ontario, and individual submissions are welcomed electronically as well as on paper and through the town hall meetings.
RF is Radio Frequency, and the centre is expected to conduct leading research on emerging communication technologies. It houses a new RF laboratory and a RF MEMS clean room (MEMS for Micro-Electro-Mechanical System). The clean lab is the only one of its kind in Canada.
![[Mansour]](http://www.mtt.org/awards/01fellows/mansour_web.jpg)
Some $2.5 million in
infrastructure funding for the new research facility comes
from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the government of Ontario,
high-tech firm COM DEV, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, and Science and
Engineering Research Canada (also known as NSERC).
The centre's director is Raafat Mansour (right), professor of electrical and computer engineering, who is leading a research team consisting of 20 PhD graduate students and research engineers.
The focus of the CIRFE's research activities is on emerging RF technologies, such as RF MEMS. The MEMS technology is described as the next logical step in the silicon revolution, destined to become the hallmark technology over the next decade with numerous applications having a dramatic impact on everything from automotive to aerospace.
The centre builds on previous funding for Mansour's research and the launch of an industrial research chair in RF engineering, sponsored by NSERC and COM DEV, in February 2002. Mansour is the chairholder.
Taking part in today's celebration will be Eliot Phillipson, president of CFI; Andrew Telegdi, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with special emphasis on Aboriginal Affairs; John Keating, CEO of COM DEV; and UW president David Johnston.
WHMIS training scheduledTraining in the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System program is available next week for UW employees and graduate students who need it. The session, including a video and brief quiz, runs for about an hour and a half.Available times are Tuesday (October 5), 10 a.m.; Thursday (October 7), 2 p.m.; Tuesday (October 12), 10 a.m.; Thursday (October 14), 2 p.m. In each case the location is Davis Centre room 1304. Pre-registration is not required. More information is available from the safety office at ext. 5613. |
During October, the campaign seeks to raise $165,000 from UW employees, retirees and friends through a combination of direct gifts and the proceeds of fund-raising events. It's part of the $5.3 million community-wide campaign for the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich.
"There are 43 United Way member agencies who provide 87 programs and services in our community," says Donella D'Souza, co-op student in the United Way office. "Member agencies provide services to over 272,000 people . . . 35,000 have some sort of disability and 5,700 are housebound."
Among the agencies receiving support are the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area; the Canadian Hearing Society; Community Justice Initiatives; the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region; the K-W Friendship Group for Seniors; the New Hamburg Interfaith Counselling Centre; St. John Ambulance; and the YWCA.
The agencies are grouped under five goals: "Promoting Children and Youth to Succeed"; "Strengthening Families"; "Supporting Basic Needs and Promoting Self-Sufficiency"; "Building Inclusive Neighbourhoods and Communities"; "Supporting Seniors and People with Disabilities".
"If you review the many services provided by our Member Agencies," says the campaign web site, " it is likely you'll discover at least one which has served you, your family, or friends. The strength of a community is directly influenced by the health and happiness of those within it. United Way relies on your support to ensure that these community services are in place should you, or a loved one, need them."
| WHEN AND WHERE |
|
Biology seminar: "Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Pacific
Killer Whales", Peter Ross, federal department of fisheries and oceans,
2:30, Biology II room 350.
Career workshops: "Selling Your Skills" 2:30, "Resumé Writing" 3:30, Tatham Centre room 2218. Kitchener artist-in-residence reception for Tony Urquhart, retired UW professor and 2005 artist, 7 p.m., Kitchener City Hall. Capture the Flag campus-wide game tonight, meeting 7 p.m. Rod Coutts Hall room 101. More information online. Warrior Weekend activities in the Student Life Centre tonight (movies "Dodgeball" and "Spiderman 2", games, pizza) and Saturday night (mini-golf, more games, indie music), more information online. All access club night, Sunday, Federation Hall (all ages). Class enrolment appointments on Quest for winter undergraduate courses, October 4-30. Open enrolment begins November 1. Winnipeg writer Charlene Diehl, formerly of Waterloo, reads at St. Jerome's University (room 2009), Monday 4 p.m. 'Echoes of the Holocaust', Stephanie Gray, Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, on genocide and abortion, sponsored by UW Students for Life, Monday 4 p.m., CEIT room 1015. Computer science distinguished lecture series: Jim Gray, Microsoft, "On-Line Science: The World-Wide Telescope as a Prototype for the New Computational Science", Monday 4:30, Davis Centre room 1350. Introduction to Online Resources for New Faculty, Centre for Learning and Teaching Through Technology, Tuesday 9:30 a.m., Flex Lab, Dana Porter Library, details online. |
![[Craig Cardiff at the Bomber tonight]](http://www.feds.ca/graphics/slideOct1.jpg)
Princeton University mathematician Paul Seymour, is
visiting UW as recipient of the 2003 Ostrowski Prize,
given in alternate years for "outstanding recent achievements in pure
mathematics or the theoretical foundations of numerical mathematics".
Chair of the jury awarding the prize this year was Cameron Stewart
of UW's pure math department, and so the celebrations are here.
On Wednesday Walter Gautschi
of Purdue University gave a talk about the founder of the prize,
mathematician Alexander Ostrowski.
A reception was held yesterday to honour Seymour. And today he'll
give the Ostrowski Prize Lecture under the title "The Strong Perfect
Graph Theorem" (3:30, Math and Computer room 5158).
"Paul
Seymour has enriched mathematics
with a number of spectacular results," a colleague says.
"His work is known not only
by all discrete mathematicians but also by most theoretical
computer scientists. For instance, Seymour gave a precise
characterization of totally unimodular matrices, a result which
is one of the deepest in the theory of matroids. Furthermore,
recently Seymour and his student Chudnovsky combined their work
with that of Seymour and his close collaborators Robertson and
Thomas in order to prove the strong perfect graph conjecture of
Berge. Berge's conjecture had stood since 1961 and was one of the
most important open problems in graph theory."
The Hildegard Marsden Day Nursery, on UW's north campus, is holding an open house all day today (from 8 to 5) to honour its director, Alicia Smith, who's retiring after 26 years of leadership in UW child care. A short ceremony will be held at 9:15 at the day care centre. "Please drop by for a visit," organizers say, "and don't forget to sign the well-wisher cards in the gym. Juice and munchies will be served."
Saturday brings this year's World Religions Conference, the 24th in a series (and the third to be held on the UW campus). It's sponsored by the local branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association, and will run from 11:00 to 6:00 in the Humanities Theatre. "The theme of this year's conference," a letter says, "is 'Why Religion?'. Several renowned scholars representing various faith and philosophical traditions are invited from across Canada and abroad to address the gathering on their deepest understanding on the question of the need of religion in this day and age. Numerous multi-faith spiritual presentations consisting of poems and songs are also scheduled. Moreover, religious organizations will set up spiritual exhibits and displays of books and literature." Lunch and dinner are also on the program. Global TV anchor Anne-Marie Mediwake is the moderator. Everyone is welcome; there's more information on the web.
Also on Saturday, the UW Quiz Bowl club will host "Watbowl VI", an intramural trivia tournament, from noon to 6 p.m. in the Mathematics and Computer building, with the tournament headquarters located in MC 4040. Watbowl is "a team-based general knowledge trivia game open to all UW students," says the group's president, Craig Sloss. "The questions span a wide range of topics, including history, science, sports, mythology, music, literature and popular culture." Teams of four take part; registration fee is $20 for a team, and the deadline is noon today (e-mail quizbowl@watserv1). More information is available online.
Sports this weekend: The Waterloo Invitational women's volleyball tournament in the main gym; the Warriors have games today and Saturday at 1:00 and 7:30. The women's hockey Oktoberfest Tournament, starting with a Warrior game (vs. Kitchener Senior A) at 4:30 today at the Columbia Icefield. Golf, the Waterloo Invitational today at the Elmira Country Club. Women's rugby, Saturday 1 p.m. vs. York, Columbia Field. Soccer vs. Western tomorrow at Columbia Field, men at 1 p.m., women at 3 p.m.; then both soccer teams visit Trent on Sunday. Football vs. Wilfrid Laurier, Saturday 7 p.m. at University Stadium. Field hockey, three games this weekend at a tournament at York. Badminton, Sunday at Ryerson. Men's hockey, Saturday and Sunday at the York Invitational.
Finally, a note from plant operations: repairs near the PAS (Psychology) building are scheduled for Monday, so that the sidewalk on the west side of the building will be closed and the ring road in that area will be reduced to one lane for most of the day. "Please use caution."
CAR