"Through a fabric of light and sound, 'twofold' explores intersections in time and space, translating them into tangible experience," say the creators of a project developed by the student collective GALTstudio, based in UW's school of architecture. Their work will be part of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche art festival in Toronto overnight tomorrow. Look for it in the Liberty Village area near King and Dufferin Streets.

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Research network eyeing new materials

Two UW researchers are among the 12 initial members of a new “network” that will carry out studies of vision loss among Canadians, with the support of $6.7 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and industrial partners.

Lyndon Jones of the school of optometry and Maud Gorbet of the systems design engineering department are listed as researchers in the new group, dubbed the “20/20: NSERC Ophthalmic Materials Network”, which was launched by research leaders and politicians in Hamilton last week.

“They may have grown up to the 1970s hit ‘I can see clearly now’,” a news release observed, “but Canada’s ageing population can do anything but. Funding for a new $6.7-million research network was announced to deal with the increasing vision loss of Canadians.”

The official word came from Gary Goodyear, the federal minister of state for science and technology, at a gathering at McMaster University. He said NSERC is providing $5 million to the 20/20 Network over five years through a Strategic Network Grant. Other funding is being provided by industrial and institutional partners, and the Ontario Centres of Excellence, over the same period.

“Providing Canadians with a lifetime of perfect vision is the ultimate goal of the network,” said Heather Sheardown, scientific director of the 20/20 Network and professor of chemical engineering at McMaster. “It is rather ambitious, but by combining different areas of expertise there is a lot of potential for drastically improving treatment of vision loss.”

The 20/20 Network will focus on developing and commercializing new biomaterials, medical devices, and drug delivery devices for treating vision disorders. Some of the products being pursued include composite and hybrid materials; ocular microgels, microemulsions and triggerable materials for drug release; a drug delivery system that attaches to the back of the eye to eliminate monthly needle injections; and contact lenses that eliminate end-of-day dryness and discomfort.

“The potential for new biomaterials and drug-delivery devices to address vision loss is hugely untapped,” said Keith Gordon, vice president for research at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and chair of the board of directors of the new network. “This is the type of initiative we need to release our research talent in Canada, provide new therapies for vision loss, and develop a homegrown industry.”

The 12 researchers in the network are based at Waterloo, McMaster, Queen’s and Toronto. Industrial partners are Alimera Sciences, CIBA Vision, Custom Contact Lenses, Fovea Pharmaceuticals, iCo Therapeutics, Rimon Therapeutics, Siltech, Take Control Cosmedix, Vista Optics, and Walsh Medical Devices.

The news release said 30 to 40 post-doctoral fellows, 35 to 45 graduate students and more than 60 summer students will be trained through the network over the five-year funding period.

“There is a lot of innovative and promising work being done in universities to address disorders of the eye and other conditions,” said Michael May, president of Rimon Therapeutics Ltd. and a member of the board of directors. “This network provides an ideal forum to bring key players together and move solutions into the market as quickly as possible.”

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Some tickets left for Perimeter festival

a news release from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Just two weeks from now, Perimeter Institute’s 10th anniversary science celebration, the “Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future” Festival, will take a global audience from the strange subatomic world to the outer frontiers of the universe.

In addition to comprehensive online content accessible worldwide , the on-site guests visiting the Q2C Festival from October 15 to 25 in Waterloo can take full advantage of the Physica Phantastica Exhibit experience.

Inside the Physica Phantastica Exhibit, more than 6,000 square feet of exciting science activities and family fun will include a full-scale model of the next Mars Rover, scheduled to blast off to Mars in 2011; an ultra-high definition 3D theatre that puts viewers in the midst of colliding galaxies; creative hands-on fun with origami and its connection to the design of satellites; superconductivity as demonstrated through a model magnetic levitation train set; and two live stage shows demonstrating fun and fascinating physics concepts.

In the Quantum Stage Show, science fans and the generally curious of all ages will find out what happens when lots of liquid nitrogen, balloons and lasers are mixed. In just 12 minutes, a number of eye-popping demonstrations will introduce the world of quantum physics through the amazing properties of liquid nitrogen – a liquid that boils at minus 196 degrees Celsius.

Across the tent at the Cosmos Stage Show, brave volunteers from the audience can climb into a two-seater gyroscope and, as they spin backward and forward, learn how the forces at work in their bodies are connected to the most distant galaxies. This mysterious cosmic connection is related to some of the deepest questions human beings are currently asking about our universe.

Free timed entry tickets for the Physica Phantastica Exhibit are still available for weekday evenings, with limited availability on weekends. Full ticket and venue details are available online.

The free tickets for the amazing lineup of lectures, panel discussions and “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” live broadcasts that are also part of the Quantum to Cosmos Festival are sold out, but you can still join in online from anywhere at anytime, with full access to all panels and talks as they happen.

Q2C will take a global audience from the strange world of subatomic particles to the outer frontiers of the universe. Q2C will transcend traditional festivals by streaming events live and on demand, offering additional multimedia content online, and providing special opportunities for students and teachers. TVOntario, Ontario’s public educational media organization, is the Presenting Media Partner for the Q2C Festival.

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Homecoming and other notes today

Beth Bohnert of UW's alumni affairs office sends a recap of last Saturday's Homecoming activities, thus: "Even lowering skies couldn’t dim the spirits of hundreds of alumni, students and others who thronged the campus. The annual AHS Fun Run saw more than 170 people run or walk in support of alumna and cancer survivor Alyson Woloshyn, raising $5,000 for brain cancer research. Bryon Hughson, a 2006 biology grad and son of kinesiology prof Richard Hughson, ran this year’s fastest time, 17:25. On the north campus, a giant tent housed activities, games and a bouncy castle for young alumni-in-training. Brother and Sister of the Berenstain Bears were on hand for hugs and story time. Student performers provided live music and dancing to an enthusiastic crowd. At Warrior Field, the football team rewarded rain-soaked fans’ loyalty with a 49-0 trouncing of the Windsor Lancers. Luke Balch, Steve Lagace, Tyler Smith, Dustin Zender and Sean Cowie all contributed touchdowns.

"At Renison and St. Paul’s, visitors experienced East Asian and aboriginal culture through music, dance and — everyone’s favourite — food. And later in the afternoon, Facebook VP and Waterloo alumnus Chamath Palihapitiya gave an intimate and informative talk that ranged from the social lives of skunks to the Iranian government’s recent ban on Facebook. As always, many alumni came o reunite with classmates in a variety of events that took place all weekend. You could find Engineering grads at POETS and Fed Hall, where the Tool made special appearances. Mathies toured campus and St. Paul’s alumni had a chance to visit their old dorm rooms. What with trading stories, flipping through yearbooks, eating and dancing, some evening events ran into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Despite the rain, it was a day to remember."

In other matters . . . an e-mail memo to all of UW’s students this week drew their attention to “an online research project being conducted by Dr. Maureen Drysdale of St. Jerome’s University and Dr. Gary Waller of the University of Waterloo. The purpose of the study is to examine the psychological outcomes of education that are believed to play a part in academic achievement and subsequent employment success. For example, study skills and attitudes about competence in certain subjects have been linked to achievement and success. This study will examine the differences in some of those psychological variables between students in co-op programs and students registered in regular programs.” Volunteers are wanted: “The questionnaire will ask you to rate yourself on a number of behaviours and characteristics. Your participation in this study should take no more than 30 minutes and you will receive an $8 gift card in appreciation of the time commitment.” There’s more information online.

Here’s a leftover note from the September 21 meeting of the UW senate. A number of seemingly routine changes to graduate study regulations were approved, but one proposal ran into trouble. As presented, the new rule said that “if a student plans to enrol in courses beyond the degree requirements (i.e., once degree requirements have been met), he/she must apply for non-degree admission for the term following the term of degree completion.” Some senate members said that wasn’t clear — did it mean only courses in a later term, or did it also cover additional courses taken during the normal length of a student’s program? Grad student representative Rashid Rehan said the rule would particularly affect students in course-based (professional), rather than research-oriented, programs, and charged that such students “are not being adequately represented” or consulted. “We have an obligation to the province,” said associate provost (graduate studies) Sue Horton, not to make room for students, and accept large government grants to pay for their education, once they’ve finished the program for which they signed up. Eventually the revised rule came to a vote and was approved, 28-20.

Two major events are both starting at 4:30 this afternoon. In the Laurel Room of South Campus Hall, president David Johnston hosts the annual reception for the "Athlete Academic Honour Roll", formerly known as Academic All-Canadians — in other words, Warrior athletes who also excelled in the classroom during 2008-09. Meanwhile, in the Bombshelter pub in the Student Life Centre, the launch of this year's events for the One Waterloo diversity campaign will be under way, continuing until 7:30. A news release yesterday from UW's media relations office told more about One Waterloo and its plans. Among other activities (and there are even more of them listed in the "When and where" column at right, of course), celebrity economist Paul Krugman is the keynote speaker for the big weekend conference on the world economy held by the Centre for International Governance Innovation at its Erb Street headquarters. And a little mouse told me that the Campus Crusade for Cheese is having its first meeting of the term today.

CAR

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