![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[With model of robotic arm]](/images/2004/0929sanders2.gif)
Benjamin Sanders at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, while working for MD Robotics this summer. |
They'll be meeting in Vancouver October 4-8 at the International Astronautical Congress, where leading researchers from around the world will unveil their views on the future of flight and space exploration.
Also giving his views will be Benjamin Sanders, a second-year electrical engineering student at UW, who will present a paper October 7 in a session on "Hypersonic and Combined Cycle Propulsion". He is the only Canadian and the only student presenting in this field.
Title of Sanders's paper is "The Need for a Versatile and Reusable Hypersonic Vehicle" -- in effect an aircraft that can travel at "hypersonic" speeds, several times as fast as sound, which travels at 761 miles (1,224 km) per hour.
Says Sanders: "Even today's largest commercial airliners continue to gridlock passengers at travel speeds which haven't changed in over 40 years. . . . It is time to start pushing those boundaries." He says his work was inspired by a meeting with Canadian aerospace legend Jim Floyd, who was the former chief design engineer of Canada's Jetliner and Avro Arrow.
Sanders goes on: "The Wright Brothers officially marked the dawn of powered, controlled, manned flight just over a century ago, and since then, there have been similar paradigm-shifting breakthroughs in passenger aircraft design roughly every 20 years -- that is, until now. Several promising concepts are not gaining enough momentum, and a new passenger aircraft design is long overdue." His proposal leads to the hybridization of several advanced technologies that could drastically improve travel speeds and also open a more sustainable, cost-effective path to space.
He was a lead organizer of the Canadian Student Summit on Aerospace, Canada's largest student aerospace conference, held at UW last winter, and spent the spring term on another space project, working at MD Robotics with the Canadian team that is building a critical extension to the Canadarm for NASA's shuttle return-to-flight program. His conference trip is sponsored by MD Robotics as well as the Canadian Space Agency, Research in Motion, and UW's dean of engineering.
"My goal is to become an astronaut," says Sanders -- no surprise there. "With the X-Prize opening an increasing number of doors to space travel, I think we'll see a greater number of people reach orbit and I am going to do everything I can to prepare myself for that opportunity."
He's currently the president of the Waterloo Space Society, which is holding a general information meeting today at 5:30 in Biology I room 271. In addition to his technical paper, he'll be presenting a poster on student outreach at the congress in Vancouver next week, along with several Waterloo Space Society past presidents.
| POSITIONS AVAILABLE |
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On this week's list from the human resources department:
Longer descriptions are available on the HR web site. |
IST proposes to investigate existing and potential collaborative software solutions in order to select and set up support within IST for one or two such facilities. In order to select the software the project team needs to determine: the types of collaborative activities for which we should make available facilities; the set of commonly used features desirable for collaborative activities; the support required to set up and run collaborative spaces; the cost to setup and run collaborative spaces.
There are lots of examples of collaborative facilities already in use at UW: Mailman (free software to provide mailing lists which can be managed in a distributed fashion); WebBoard (has been on campus for a few years, and we need to decide its future); UW-ACE, for online courses, which could be made available to non-course related groups; phpBB (used on campus for the WatIT discussion board); Websystems Inc.'s AceProject; and others.
The project team has held demonstrations from people using these solutions. We need to identify interested parties who will provide input to the selection process. A list of requirements has been started and will be updated during the next couple of months.
On Wednesday, October 6, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Math and Computer room 2009, a meeting has been organized for the campus community to meet and talk about web collaboration software. All interested parties are welcome to attend, and no registration is required.
The agenda for the meeting will include Objectives and scope of UW Web Collaboration Project; Introduce the UW Web Collaboration project team and resource members; Review collaboration solution requirements; Review of current solutions being used on campus; Discussion of other solutions that are available.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Career fair at RIM Park, 10:00 to 3:30, buses from Humanities
every half hour,
details online.
Jack Carlson, department of biology, funeral 11 a.m., Calvin Presbyterian Church, 248 Westmount Road East. (UW flags are at half-staff today in his memory.) K-W Software Quality Association meets 11:45, Davis Centre room 1302, more information online. Noon-hour concert at Conrad Grebel University College chapel: Hector Vasquez (cello) and Sydney Bulman-Fleming (piano), 12:30, free. Café-rencontre du département d'études françaises: Christine McWebb du département, "La rhétorique comme science dans la littérature médiévale", 14h30, Tatham Centre salle 2218. 'Rethinking Globalization', Chet Bowers, University of Oregon, sponsored by Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, 5 p.m., Environmental Studies II room 173. Graduate Student Association council meets 5:30, CEIT room 1015. St. Jerome's High School historic building, Duke Street, Kitchener, open house 5:30 to 7:30, beginning conversion of the building as home for Wilfrid Laurier University school of social work. Warrior men's hockey vs. Mount Royal College, 7:30, Columbia Icefield -- free pizza from Domino's for the first 300 fans. Spiritual Heritage Education Network presents Anne Treadwell, Unitarian minister, "A Free and Responsible Search", Thursday 7:30, CEIT room 1015. |
![[In-Flight Safety free at noon at the Bombshelter]](http://www.feds.ca/graphics/in-flight-safety-WEB-AD-PRE.jpg)
The convocation, honouring three prominent physicists, will start at 8:45 a.m. and last about an hour. Perimeter's open house, marking the opening of its new building, will then start at 10 a.m. (Until 10, access to the Perimeter building will be restricted to those holding tickets for the convocation.)
Says the memo: "For those who would like to attend this special convocation ceremony, they can pick up their free ticket between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Customer Service desk in the Registrar's Office, Needles Hall 2001.
A few words from Roydon Fraser, president of UW's faculty association, writing in the September issue of the association's Forum newsletter: "The FAUW continues to pursue with the Administration several issues of concern. Three of the most active issues are the development of a policy for spousal hiring, revisions to the policies for Dean and Chair appointments, and clarification of the status of faculty liability protection. . . . The spousal hiring guidelines are relatively new and were put in place as UW gained experience with the pros and cons of how to implement a spousal hiring program. Your faculty association believes all faculty hirings should be governed by UW policy and, to this end, we are working on moving the spousal hiring guidelines into policy. Accompanying this revision of policy we are also discussing with the Administration the possible inclusion of exceptional case hirings which can bypass the need for advertisement but not the need for demonstrated merit."
Alicia Smith, long-time director of the Hildegard Marsden Day Nursery on UW's north campus, "is retiring after 26 years of high quality child care with the University of Waterloo," a memo from colleagues tells parents and friends. In her honour, a celebration is scheduled for Friday morning at 9:15 at the day care; everyone is welcome. The centre will also hold an open house all day Friday, 8 to 5: "Please drop by for a visit and don't forget to sign the well-wisher cards in the gym. Juice and munchies will be served." Again, all are welcome. "If you are unable to attend, please e-mail us, and we will pass on your messages to her. Any stories or pictures would be much appreciated." Marsden board members can be reached by e-mail at, among other addresses, vcb@ist.
Online "appointments" for winter term course selection will begin October 4 and not, as some printed sources suggest, this week. . . . The bookstore in South Campus Hall is holding a "Hurt Penguin Sale" today and tomorrow, with discounts on damaged Penguin Books. . . . Jitka Dvoracek, a library assistant in the Davis Centre who's been working for UW since 1980, officially retires on October 1. . . .
The Association of Caribbean Students continues to have a booth in the Student Life Centre, collecting food, clothing and contributions for relief for victims of the recent hurricanes. . . . "Watbowl VI", an intramural trivia tournament, will be held Saturday from noon to 6 in the Math and Computer building (there's more information online). . . .
And finally a correction: I said on Monday that John Goyder, the new chair of the sociology department, is taking over from Jim Curtis in that role. In fact the chair of sociology for the past half-dozen years has been Keith Warriner.
CAR