![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Thursday, August 25, 2005
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Guys goofing in the box office]](/images/2005/0629criticalmass.jpg)
Five guys
from UW make up Critical Mass, a leading Catholic rock band. They're
four students -- Luke Kupczyk, Scott McKendrick, Tracey Doyle and Lawrence
Lam (currently a vice-president of the Federation of Students) -- as well as
electrical and computer engineering professor David Wang.
The band "is now taking its unique sound on the
road. Recent dates in Framingham, MA, and Derry, NH, were successes,"
its
web site says, and Critical Mass will perform in Oakville this
Sunday and in Toronto (the Renaissance Cafe on the Danforth) on August 31.
The photo
comes from the launch of their CD "Grasping for Hope in the Darkness".
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"The welcome ceremonies," says a report in the engineering faculty's electronic Eng-e-News, "included a pleasant surprise visit by Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Ferrari Formula-One Team, who took time out of the F-1 British Grand Prix weekend to say a few words to all of the competitors and complimented some of the vehicles.
"On the first official day of competition, teams were required to go through all of the static events (Cost, Marketing, and Engineering Design) in one day. The Cost presentation was a bit shaky and the team was slightly hit on the cost report as the judges were looking for some different information compared to the US competition. The Marketing presentation went well and comments from the marketing judges were positive with a few minor criticisms.
"The Engineering Design event was the most difficult area for Waterloo to adjust as the format was very different from the Detroit event. Nevertheless, the judges' comments were very positive, especially commenting on Waterloo's excellent understanding and knowledge.
"Dynamic events began the following day and the team did fairly well in Skid Pad and Acceleration, as both events saw time improvements compared to the Detroit results. The concrete track surfaces at Bruntinghorpe required some suspension and tire parameter adjustments. The very smooth surfaces mean more grip, thus helping all cars to go faster than they otherwise would on asphalt. The Autocross ('Sprint' as it is called in UK) track had been set up on a go-kart track so there was considerable room to negotiate, including some slaloms and chicanes marked with cones to slow the cars down. Despite this, the team's emphasis on Autocross driving training during June paid off as the team finished third in the event.
"The next day, Waterloo entered the Endurance/Fuel Economy event at second place, only 17.12 points shy of University of Toronto, a four-year veteran of this competition. The Endurance/Fuel Economy event is the most important event as a maximum of 400 points are awarded for successful completion in the shortest amount of time. Driven by William Chan (BASc '05, Mechanical), the F2005 set the fastest lap time of 50.04 seconds, well ahead of the 54- to 55-second lap time range posted by Toronto, the eventual overall winner of the competition. In fact, Waterloo passed every car that started before it, including Toronto.
"Unfortunately, the Waterloo Formula 2005 car was unable to complete the Endurance/Fuel Economy event due to a cooling system malfunction that caused the engine to overheat, thus preventing the car to restart after the driver change. Prior to the failure, Waterloo was poised and favoured to win both the event and the overall competition. Similar malfunctions took out Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal and Ryerson University."
The team calls the British competition "a great event" and "a learning experience". Final scorecard: 12th overall, 3rd in autocross (sprint), 5th in engineering design, 8th (tie) in marketing presentation, 10th in cost presentation and report, 13th (tie) in acceleration, 14th in skid pad.
Health studies and gerontology. Renée MacPhee, "Use of Emergency Medical Services by the Elderly in Community and Institutional Settings." Supervisor, John Hirdes. On display in the faculty of applied health sciences, BMH 3110. Oral defence Friday, September 16, 3 p.m., Lyle Hallman Institute room 1633.
Physics. Lixin Zhan, "Fast Global Optimization Methods and Their Applications to Cluster Crystallization and Protein Folding." Supervisor, W.-K. Liu. On display in the faculty of science, ESC 254A. Oral defence Friday, September 16, 3 p.m., Physics room 352.
Psychology. John Lee, "The Paradoxical Effect of Positive Self-Statements." Supervisor, Joanne Wood. On deposit in the faculty of arts, HH 317. Oral defence Monday, September 19, 10 a.m., PAS (Psychology) room 3026.
Computer science. Masud Hasan, "Reconstruction and Visualization of Polyhedra Using Projections." Supervisors, T. Biedl and A. Lopez-Ortiz. On display in the faculty of mathematics, MC 5090. Oral defence Monday, September 19, 2:30 p.m., Davis Centre room 1331.
Biology. Tara M. E. Hayes, "Examining the Ecological Effects of Naphthenic Acids and Major Ions on Phytoplankton in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region." Supervisor, R. E. H. Smith. On display in the faculty of science, ESC 254A. Oral defence Tuesday, September 20, 9 a.m., Biology I room 266.
Kinesiology. Shaelyn Strachan, "An Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory Examination of the Role of Identity in Health Behaviour and Behavioural Regulation." Supervisors, Larry Brawley and Jim Frank. On display in the faculty of applied health sciences, BMH 3110. Oral defence Tuesday, September 20, 1:30 p.m., Matthews Hall room 3119.
Chemical engineering. Kang Karen Xiao, "Extrusion of Wood-Polymer Composites." Supervisor, C. Trzoganakis. On display in the faculty of engineering, CPH 4305. Oral defence Tuesday, September 20, 2:30 p.m., Doug Wright Engineering room 2534.
Psychology. Sonya Dal Cin, "The Use of Stories as Persuasive Tools." Supervisor, Mark Zanna. On display in the faculty of arts, HH 317. Oral defence Wednesday, September 21, 10 a.m., PAS (Psychology) room 3026.
Kinesiology. Jennifer Angove Woodgate, "Self-Efficacy Theory and the Self-Regulation of Exercise Behaviour." Supervisors, Larry Brawley and Jim Frank. On display in the faculty of applied health sciences, BMH 3110. Oral defence Monday, October 3, 1:30 p.m., Matthews Hall room 3119.
The recent news that Michael Higgins, president of St. Jerome's University, is among aspirants to the title of "Ontario's Best Lecturer" naturally raises the question: who else is among the 30 candidates for the title, as selected by TVOntario? Part of the answer, it turns out, is that four UW alumni, teaching at other institutions now, are on the list in addition to Higgins. They are Robert A. Campbell (PhD 1999 in sociology, now at the University of Toronto at Scarborough); Susan J. Haslip (BA 1998 in arts, now at Algonquin College); Steve Joordens (MA and PhD 1994 in psychology, now at Scarborough); and Dan C. McIntyre (PhD 1969 in psychology, now at Carleton University).
![[Waller]](/images/2005/0825waller.jpg)
Gary Waller (right) retires September 1 after
a long
career as a psychology professor and UW administrator, but in fact he's
not going anywhere. "He will continue for two more years under
a contractual arrangement," says Bruce Mitchell, associate
provost (academic and student affairs), which happens to be a
position that Waller held from 1996 to 2003. Key responsibility
for Waller in the coming two-year period: he'll continue as director of
the Waterloo
Centre for the Advancement of Co-operative Education.
The engineering faculty's electronic newsletter reports that two graduate students recently took part in a competition that was held during the Second International Conference on Design Education, Innovation, and Practice, hosted by the Canadian Design Engineering Network in late July in Kananaskis, Alberta. The competition was based on the content and presentation of a paper submitted to the conference. Steven Samborsky of mechanical engineering won first place, while Maria Wei of electrical and computer engineering took second. Samborsky's paper was titled "Design Projects in an Academic Setting: Collaboration versus Consensus" and is authored by S.J. Samborsky, S.B. Lambert, and R.J. Pick. Wei's paper was titled "Designing Energy Storage Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles" and is authored by M. Wei, M.I. Marei, M.M.A. Salama, and S. Lambert.
Donald Good, a former member of UW's staff, died August 3. He was an electrical repairperson in the plant operations department from July 1980 until his retirement June 1, 2000.
The faculty of engineering has redesigned its web site, to match the new UW standard, and changed the URL to www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca. . . . Participants in the Ontario Mennonite Music Camp, which has been going on for the past two weeks at Conrad Grebel University College, will give their final performance tomorrow night at 7:30 at Breslau Mennonite Church. . . . Michael Wolfe, a maintenance foreman in plant operations who has been working for UW since April 1991, will officially retire September 1. . . .
And off campus, this weekend brings not one but two festivals to Kitchener-Waterloo. In central ("uptown") Waterloo, it's the Waterloo Busker Carnival, with street performers doing their thing tonight, Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening (with a late-night show Saturday), and Sunday afternoon. In Kitchener, it's Songwriterfest 2005, with performances by "between 75 and 100 songwriters and musicians" Friday and Saturday at five clubs.
CAR