![[University of Waterloo]](/images/logobars/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Big smile as he dips into the Lego]](/images/2005/0629esqlego.jpg)
Marking its fifteenth anniversary this year, ESQ has exposed thousands of young people -- entering grades 1 through 12 -- over the years to science through fun, educational, interactive activities. One popular chemistry lesson, for example, uses ultra-cold liquid nitrogen to make ice cream in just a few moments. Another activity explores biology by offering students the chance to make their own anatomically-correct jello moulds of the human brain. Specialized Lego kits (right) allow campers to explore the worlds of mechanical engineering and computer software by building their own programmable robots.
"At ESQ, kids experience science in a really unique way," said ESQ assistant director Lynda Martin. "For a lot of kids in elementary school, science is something that can be a bit boring or uneventful, but when they come here it becomes alive. The way we present the science to them is something they can connect to, it's a very meaningful experience. It's something they can take home with them."
In recent years, ESQ has also begun to offer specialized tech-focused camp programs. Known as the "ExXtreme" camps, youth entering grades 5 through 10 are eligible for these in-depth experiences. Photo and video editing, web design and mechatronics engineering activities that use specialized Lego kits are all part of the typical ExXtreme camp.
In addition to its regular on-campus summer programs, ESQ reaches students throughout the province each year. Special ESQ science "clubs" operate over the winter at UW: there are special Lego, science and girls-only programs offered to local budding scientists.
Each May and June, ESQ leaders travel to schools throughout southern Ontario, offering special science and technology workshops for students still in the classroom. Finally, ESQ goes off campus each summer -- far, far off campus -- with week-long "satellite" programs for youth in the Tobermory, Six Nations, Stratford, Wiarton, Lion's Head, Chatham and Paris (Ontario) areas.
Budding science and engineering enthusiasts are not the only ones who benefit from the presence of ESQ. Through the office of the dean of engineering, the camp also employs more than 50 university students in leadership roles over the course of the summer.
| 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. |
While the camp employs students from around the country, some UW students work for ESQ as spring term co-op jobs. "For my first work term, ESQ is great," says Andrew Ambrocichuk, a computer engineering student. "I don't have the pressure of working for a big corporation, but at the same time I'm learning a great deal."
ESQ also promotes leadership opportunities for high school youth, offering special placements at the camp for "high school leaders" and "junior leaders". "For a lot of them, it's their first job," Martin noted. "However, the leadership experience that they get out of it is unique, quite different from other summer jobs. Many of them go on to become leaders in university as well." The leadership opportunities offered help to keep ESQ's leader-to-camper ratio between 6-to-1 and 4-to-1, considered a low figure by comparison with many summer camp programs.
This year's ESQ programs are nearly full, though some camps still have space available. Camp programs, schedules and availability are described online.
Sponsored by UW's arts faculty with the assistance of the continuing education office, this three-week program will include travel to Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania. Led by Gary Bruce of UW's department of history and historian Jacques Pauwels, it will explore the wealth of history and culture of the region. Lectures will cover the history, politics and social change of this often ignored but fascinating part of Europe. Planned destinations include Bratislava in Slovakia; Cracow and Auschwitz in Poland; Debrecen, Szeged and Budapest in Hungary; and Cluj, Sighisoara, Brasov, Bucharest and Sibiu in Romania.
Among the topics for study: Eastern Europe from Antiquity to Modern Times; Legacy of the Habsburgs; The Balkans: Powder Keg of Europe; Eastern Europe in World Wars I and II; the Munich Conference and the Fate of Czechoslovakia; Poland under Nazism and Communism; Auschwitz and the Holocaust; the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; the Rise and Fall of Ceaucescu; and 1989: Ode to Freedom.
Participants have the option of registering in this program as a UW degree-credit course.
"It's an alternative way for people to travel and have the opportunity to learn in a combination of formal and informal settings," says Don Kasta, director of distance and continuing education. "Students can learn by experiencing the actual locations and by having access to local experts in the various places we'll be visiting."
The price is $4,495 a person (based on double occupancy), which includes return airfare from Toronto, hotel accommodation, overland transportation via private coach, most meals and all sightseeing as detailed in the itinerary. Details: call 888-4002.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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Sandford Fleming Foundation debates for engineering students,
faculty competition continues today 11:30, Engineering II room
3324; finals Friday at noon, POETS pub.
Chemical engineering seminar: G. D. Yadav, University of Mumbai, "Practice of Green Chemistry Though Cascade Engineered Phase Transfer Analysis", 12:30, Doug Wright Engineering room 2517. Career development workshop: "Job Search Strategies" 3:30, Tatham Centre room 1208. Observatory tour 9 p.m. Meet at Physics room 308 for question-and-answer period and, weather permitting, views through UW's telescope. EPortfolios presentation by three faculty members, Thursday 12:00, Needles Hall room 3004. Bomber Night sponsored by Engineers Without Borders, Thursday from 6:00, Bombshelter pub, Student Life Centre: Drum Circle, spoken word, guitar, Soulmates, centred on the theme Make Poverty History. 'Sexuality and Culture in a Parallel Universe': readings from Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids and comments by B. J. Rye, St. Jerome's University, Thursday 7 p.m., Huether Hotel, tickets from The New Quarterly 884-8111 ext. 290. 'Low Risk Guidelines for Safe Drinking' brown-bag presentation by psychologist Darryl Upfold, sponsored by Employee Assistance Program, Tuesday, July 12, 12 noon, CEIT room 1015, reservations to Johan Reis, health services. Family members welcome. |
The UW library reports a recent acquisition: "At the suggestion of Eva Havlicova, assistant professor in the Fine Arts Department, the UW Library submitted a successful request to obtain a series of research resources relating to various facets of Japanese studies from the Japan Foundation's Library Support Program. The Library recently received sixteen titles related to Japanese culture, art, architecture, and gardens. Once processed, these resources will be available for student and faculty use at their respective UW Library location."
Chemical engineering student Rajat Suri, founder of a student think-tank at UW, writes: "What's your favourite problem? The student think-tank on campus, the Forum for Independent Thought, is in the process of launching its new center-based model in the coming few weeks by inviting the entire campus population to contribute their experiences and ideas and help decide which issues research centers should be created to tackle, and which resources are best employed to find effective solutions. For example, there might be a Center for International Development, or a Center for Environmental Technology, or a Center for Tax Reform -- whatever the issues raised among the campus community, an official group with a well defined mandate can be created to approach that specific problem. It's all part of FIT's vision of building a sustainable research network among all levels of the university and channelling students' creative energy into innovative solutions via action plans and policy proposals." FIT will be meeting tomorrow, and again the following Thursday, at 5:00 on the upstairs level of the Student Life Centre.
John Straube, of UW's civil engineering department and school of architecture, is in New Zealand today, giving a keynote talk at a conference on "leaky buildings" being held at the University of Auckland. The issue is a controversial one in a city where almost half of the houses examined in one study had moisture levels higher than allowed by the building code. The two-day conference is expected to cover "the scientific causes of leaky buildings, practical ways of fixing them, legal issues surrounding the situation and converge on the vision of industry leaders in ensuring quality homes for all New Zealanders". Straube has spent more than a decade doing research on building performance, and if you've noticed the Building Engineering Group "hut" near parking lot B, you've seen his outdoor laboratory. He'll be giving a two-day course for contractors and project managers on the subject in Mississauga in August.
Gerry Gray, director of the technology transfer and licensing office for the past nine years, officially retired June 1. . . . About 50 participants in an "intensive English" program sponsored by the faculty of mathematics arrived on campus this week and will stay through August 26. . . . Twenty participants in the "Einstein National Teachers' Workshop on Modern Physics" are also in the Ron Eydt Village conference centre this week. . . .
Men's basketball coach Tom Kieswetter has some new material to work with, as four fine recruits have been announced. "Coming off a trip to the CIS nationals in Halifax back in March," an athletics department news release reminds fans, "expectations are high as the Warriors look to build on the successes from last season." They'll do it with the help of David Burnett, a point guard from Kitchener's Rockway Mennonite Collegiate; Ben Frisby, a forward from Argyle High School in Vancouver; Matthew Hayes, a forward from Midland High School in Midland, Ontario; and Joel Reinders, a forward from King's Christian Collegiate in Oakville.
CAR