Johnston ice cream event moves into DC

Today's the day to celebrate David Johnston by eating ice cream, but his fans will be doing it indoors. The "ice cream social" being held as a community farewell to Johnston — who finishes his 11-year term as the university's president two weeks from today — has been moved to the Davis Centre great hall, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Something like an inch (25 mm) of rain is expected in the course of the day. So much for the original plans to hold the party outside, on the Matthews Hall green. "At least this is an easy decision to make," says Nancy Heide of communications and public affairs. And the indoor venue means it'll be possible to run the slide show, "capturing the many lighter sides of David's 11 years at Waterloo", that had its premiere at his testimonial dinner on Tuesday night.

Organizers are expecting a crowd in the thousands. Invitations have been distributed campus-wide (along with a note of assurance that the time involved counts as paid time for staff and faculty members). Members of executive council will serve the ice cream (vanilla and chocolate, plus a non-dairy alternative, lime sorbet) starting at 3:30.

The Engineering Jazz Band will be playing on stage before and after the formal program, which starts at 4:00 and features student senator Dave Smith, vice-president (external relations) Meg Beckel, the Waterloo cheerleaders, and naturally Johnston himself.

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Five faculty gain FRSC credentials

Five Waterloo faculty members are among the 80 scholars across Canada and beyond who will be installed this fall as new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada — a status that’s considered to be this country’s highest academic honour.

“The newly elected Fellows have diverse backgrounds and disciplines,” says a news release announcing the awards, “but they have been elected to the Society by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. . . . Excellence and accomplishment in the arts, humanities and sciences is a touchstone of vibrant and successful societies. These new Fellows from across Canada, from universities, industry and government, and from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, honour our country by their talents and achievements.”

Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scholars, artists and scientists. It exists to recognize academic excellence and outstanding contributions to Canadian intellectual culture, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada. The Society's three academies collectively consist of nearly 2,000 Fellows selected by their peers for outstanding contributions to the natural and social sciences, in the arts and in the humanities.

This year's new Fellows will be inducted to the RSC in a ceremony November 27 at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The RSC citations for the four Fellows who are based at Waterloo:

François Paré, French studies, “is recognized internationally for his work on minority and diasporic cultures.  He has written eight books on this topic. He is interested in promoting cultural and linguistic diversity within trade globalization.”

Michael Yovanovich, mechanical and mechatronics engineering, “is a world authority on thermophysics applied to thermal contact and spreading resistances for thermal management of micro-electronic devices, packages and systems. His sustained, significant research contributions have been presented in seminars, short courses, six chapters in handbooks, two books and over 360 journal and conference papers. Dr. Yovanovich is Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Fellow of the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is the recipient of the AIAA Thermophysics Award, the ASME Memorial Heat Transfer Award, and the CSME Gold Medal for Heat Transfer.”

Richard Cleve, computer science and Institute for Quantum Computing, “works in the area of algorithms and complexity theory and is concerned with the impact of quantum mechanics on these fields. He has discovered various quantum computer algorithms and communication protocols that utilize quantum mechanical behavior to compute exponentially faster than possible in the current computing paradigm.”

Ian Goulden, combinatorics and optimization and dean of mathematics, “is a superb algebraic combinatorialist.  He has had a profound effect on an area of mathematics that, increasingly, has been seen to deal with structures central to many other parts of mathematics.  Much of his research has now entered into standard use within the discipline itself, as well as in applications to the mathematical sciences.”

Janusz Pawliszyn, chemistry, “is developing state-of-the-art, integrated and automated analytical methods and instruments for on-site analysis and monitoring of living and environmental systems.”

There’s also a “specially elected fellow” with a close UW connection: Savvas Chamberlain, formerly a faculty member in electrical and computer engineering and now chairman of Waterloo-based Dalsa Corporation, which he founded in 1980. Says his citation: “Savvas Chamberlain can be characterized as a scientist, inventor, professor and entrepreneur.  His research on semiconductor devices, his basic charge transfer theories on CCDs and time-delay integration-imager, and the transfer of his technology to commercialization, are all well recognized internationally. Founder of DALSA Corp and growing it to more than 1,000 employees are also noted achievements.”

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Gallery 're-launched' today with 2 shows

A reception today will celebrate the opening of two art exhibitions in East Campus Hall as “UWAG, the all-new University of Waterloo Art Gallery”, begins a “re-launch”.

The new curator of the gallery — known over the past few years as  Render — is Ivan Jurakic, who was appointed earlier this year. Today’s reception runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

In Gallery One, the show is “Ticket to Ride” with the work of four artists. “If Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is the greatest show on earth,” says a publicity release, “its estranged sibling is the carnival. The carnival sets up on the outskirts, the periphery or edge of town. It is an escape from the routine of the everyday, a place where we go to flee limitations. ‘Ticket to Ride’ uses the carnival as point of departure and a means of uncovering the unconventional in the work of Dianne Bos (Calgary), Niall Donaghy (Hawkestone), Anitra Hamilton (Toronto) and Dan Kennedy (Toronto).

“Dianne Bos’s Stampede series features as series of C-prints enlarged from pinhole negatives that capture rides in motion at the Calgary Stampede. Niall Donaghy’s Labyrinth Coaster is a small-scale reconstruction of a roller coaster that mimics the form of a labyrinth. Anitra Hamilton’s Audio Parade: Field Recording #2 is a recording of the Calgary Stampede parade and the audience response to it. Dan Kennedy’s paintings such as The Voice Mansion appropriate antiquated fonts and vintage cartoons that suggest the effect of the phantasmagoria or magic lantern show.

“’Ticket to Ride’ elicits the many different facets of the carnival, from cheap thrills to catharsis.”

In Gallery Two, the show is “Unlikely Stories”, a survey of recent work by Art Green, who taught in the fine arts department from 1977 to 2006. “Spanning a 40-year period,” says the release, “Green’s practice has its roots in Chicago and his formative affiliation with the iconoclastic 1960s art group The Hairy Who. Alongside his work as an instructor, his paintings have been widely exhibited and can be found in collections throughout North America and Europe.

“Art Green’s recent paintings — completed in his Stratford, Ontario, studio over a period of three years — are a densely layered collision of shapes and patterns mixed with a disquieting array of common objects. The interaction between these meticulously rendered forms suggests labyrinthine depths despite the rigidity and flatness of the shaped canvasses that the artist paints on. Combining a recurring iconography of fingers, ladders, scissors, airplanes, hats and scythes with complex geometric forms, archetypal patterns and faux finishes, the paintings represent both a formal and intellectual balancing act.

“Ultimately, Green’s work evokes the causality of the mundane. Presented in conjunction with the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo, ‘Unlikely Stories’ acknowledges Art Green?s contribution and influence to the cultural life of the campus and beyond.”

Both exhibitions continue until October 30.

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The Tool, the Tie, and other notes

The hard hats in the top photo make it clear that the students are first-year engineers-to-be, but what's with the middle-sized wrench they're holding? Answer: it's a placeholder for The Tool, mascot of Waterloo's Engineering Society, which is half a world away for these students, members of the first-year class at the United Arab Emirates campus in Dubai. Classes in civil and chemical engineering got under way at the UAE branch last week. New math students on the UAE campus are similarly being introduced to essential Waterloo traditions: check out the group at right, posing with the requisite Pink Tie outside the building of Dubai Men's College where the Waterloo programs are based. The photos are courtesy of Ralon Nazareth in Dubai.

"Work continues at Columbia Lake Village," says Gary Kosar of plant operations, "with asphalt removal and roadway prep for new asphalt pavement. Work also continues on installation of conduit and bases for new ring road lighting at villages and north side of ring road near Columbia Street entrance." And in an unrelated infrastructure problem, the power went out around midday yesterday in Math and Computer, the Student Life Centre, the Davis Centre and several other buildings, as well as some areas off campus. Possibly for that reason, the campus's primary Internet connection, Cogent, was out of commission for a time. "UW's internet service is automatically routed through our backup, Hydro One Telecommunications," says Bruce Campbell, director of network services. "However, service is degraded."

And finally a news release from Schaumburg, Illinois, where the Actuarial Foundation makes its headquarters: "The Foundation is pleased to announce that Waterloo student Siaw Yun Poi is a recipient of the Foundation’s John Culver Wooddy Scholarship. Poi, who was awarded $2,000, joins 12 other students from around the world recognized with this prestigious scholarship. The John Culver Wooddy Scholarship is awarded annually to college seniors who have successfully completed at least one actuarial examination, rank in the top quartile of their class and are nominated by a professor at their school. The Actuarial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1994 to help facilitate and broaden the actuarial profession’s contribution to society. The mission of the Foundation is to develop, fund and execute education and research programs that serve the public by harnessing the talents of actuaries."

CAR

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