February 24, 2005

Extolling the virtues of conducting research in Canada, UW professor Michele Mosca participated as an invited guest at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting held last weekend in Washington, D.C.

$[Mosca]$ Mosca (right), a faculty member in mathematics at St. Jerome's University, holds the Canada Research Chair in Quantum Computation, and studies the power and impact of quantum computers. He is also the co-founder and Deputy Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, as well as a faculty member in combinatorics and optimization.

The AAAS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to advancing science around the world by serving as an educator, leader, spokesperson and professional association. Besides organizing membership activities, AAAS publishes the journal Science, as well as many scientific newsletters, books and reports, and spearheads programs that raise the bar of understanding for science worldwide.

Mosca participated as an invited panel speaker at the AAAS conference with Arthur Carty, Canada's National science adviser, and NSERC president Tom Brzustowski (both former UW administrators). The panel, "Plug into Canada! Why Leading Scientists Are Choosing Canada for R&D," was held on Sunday and was organized by the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

The session highlighted Canada's goal of achieving the highest levels of research excellence and establishing world-class centres for research in the global economy by attracting researchers to Canada from around the world. Other members on the panel were Molly Shoichet, Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering at the University of Toronto, and Tim Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta.

Reactions to the federal budget

The media are, of course, full of the federal budget this morning, with emphasis on planned income tax reductions and new spending on Canada's military. Also of interest, somewhere down the column, are promises of new spending on research. Canadian universities "welcome" the additional funds for the research councils, for Genome Canada and for Aboriginal scholarships, says the Association of Universities and colleges of Canada.

But "The Association notes that the additional $15 million annually in funding announced for indirect costs of university research, while welcome, will in fact see the average rate of indirect costs funding received by universities drop."

The Canadian Association of University Teachers was not at all complimentary: "Sadly, there was nothing in the budget that provides any relief to students and their families struggling with record-high tuition fees and record-high debt. . . . The federal government should have followed the advice of the finance committee that recommended Ottawa create a separate funding envelope for post-secondary education." And the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations expressed "deep disappointment".

"We were showcasing Canadian science and explaining why so many leading scientists worldwide are choosing Canada," Mosca said later, noting the success of the IQC and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo. "We have been so successful because of the availability of resources which are essential to create the positions, buy equipment, hire postdoctoral fellows and students, and provide other direct research needs. As well, top researchers are attracted to existing critical mass in their research area, or at least the raw ingredients necessary to build a leading group."

Mosca also credited the recognition and moral support from political and business leaders and the general public for showing an appreciation and interest in research. "Our vision is key as we aren't in this for the money. Here we have an institute dedicated to solving fundamental mysteries in physics and another to understanding the nature of quantum information and applying it to solve important problems. For people working in these areas, this is their dream job!"

Amit Chakma, UW's vice-president (academic) and provost, said about Mosca's participation on the panel: "It is an honour to have Mike Mosca, a Canadian rising star and deputy director at the Institute for Quantum Computing, represent Canada's leading-edge science at the AAAS meeting."

Former union steward profiled

This month's "profile" from the Keystone Campaign draws attention to Pat Mihm of the plant operations department, who was a speaker at the February 10 evening celebration after Keystone reached its original $4.5 million goal.

Says the profile, posted on the Keystone web site: "This golfing enthusiast with an ever present positive attitude has been busy on the University campus for 21 years. Pat Mihm (pictured below) is a former union steward with CUPE and a former member of the UW Board of Governors, the Pension and Benefits committee, and the Health and Safety committee. He was part of the original organizing committee for the Downey Tennisfest, and is now a volunteer with the Keystone Campaign and part of the organizing committee for the Matthews Golf Classic.

[Mihm on the
golf course] "Of course he's also very busy with his regular duties as a mechanic (sheet metal) in Plant Operations -- duties which include building maintenance and the repair of sheet metal details, roof flashing, ductwork, and more. 'I'm proud to be part of a team of good people doing good things on campus,' says Pat."

What do you like best about your job at UW? "Meeting and interacting with my fellow employees all over campus."

What motivated you personally to give to Waterloo? "When I was a member of the Board of Governors, I saw the valuable contribution the University of Waterloo is making in this community and the world, through its teaching, research projects, and development of technology.

To what project have you designated your gift? "To the CUPE Local 793 bursary, which was established in 1992. Students who qualify for the bursary are either a CUPE Local 793 union employee, or a spouse, child, or grandchild of a CUPE Local 793 union employee. They are involved in community activities, have a B average or higher, and may have demonstrated financial need."

What do you do in your spare time? "I golf and travel with my wife, Elaine. I'm the district deputy of the Knights of Columbus, the chairman of membership for the Historical Golf Society, a collector of old golf stuff, and I enjoy playing bridge. The rest of my spare time I spend with my pet dog -- a shih tzu named Mercedes."

WHEN AND WHERE

UW web design "institutional overview" session 9:00, Davis Centre room 1304; "technical overview" 1:30, registration online.

[Burning arrow] 'Hot Night in the City' fashion show featuring Waterloo firefighters, Federation Hall, doors open 7 p.m., tickets $25 (call 880-8877) -- fund-raiser for Easter Seals.

Folk Lounge Night at the Graduate House, cover charge $5.

Reading period for engineering and mathematics, no classes Thursday and Friday. Reading week for other faculties continues.

'Research Works' UW-based child literacy initiative holds annual meeting Friday at Kingbridge Centre, King City; 11 a.m. media event and presentation on single-sex schooling.

Hagey Bonspiel annual curling event Saturday, Ayr Curling Club.

Photojournalist Linda Panetta, "School of the Americas and the War on Terrorism", Saturday 1 p.m., Arts Lecture Hall room 113, sponsored by Waterloo Public Interest Research Group.

What's your favourite spot on campus? "My favourite spot to relax on campus is working with sheet metal at the layout table in the shop."

Quiet day in 'reading period'

First of all, I have a correction to yesterday's item about the award-winning UW teams in the recent Ontario Engineering Competition. I wrote that the four-member team which came third in the "Senior Design" category included "Christopher Troup". In fact, that was 3A chemical engineering student Christopher D'Angelo.

"There are 6*10^20 ways to spell Viagra," reports Dawn Keenan of the information systems and technology department, explaining one of the reasons it's so hard to filter out spam e-mail, even the classic stuff offering blue pills at bargain prices. Keenan attended the recent Spam Conference 2005 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and will report some of what she learned at a professional development seminar for IST -- "Directions in Spam Detection" -- on Friday morning (8:45, Math and Computer room 2009).

UW's joint health and safety committee met on January 27, and here's an excerpt of interest from the minutes: "Committee member expressed concerns received from staff on the conditions of the walkways on January 12. Galloway [that's Tom Galloway of the plant operations department] gave an overview of the winter maintenance program on campus. Every storm is different in terms of the time of day, day of week, duration of storm and intensity. In this regard the procedure for each event will vary upon circumstances. The freezing rain did not start until 5:00 a.m. and most walks were done by 9:30 a.m. The Grounds Section endeavours to maintain an acceptable level of winter maintenance. No further action was indicated on this issue."

Marianne Mellinger has been named "coordinator of leadership formation" at Conrad Grebel University College, in charge of "coordinating and promoting the pastoral leadership education activities". . . . This year's version of "We're Waterloo", the university's annual report and general information brochure, which I described last month, is now available on the web as well as in print. . . . International Celebration Week is almost here, as events begin Monday with "Cultural Caravan" in the Student Life Centre. . . .

CAR

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