First details on June 'global science' event

a news release from the Perimeter Institute

Flash forward 20 years. What if our best efforts to lower carbon emissions, wean off fossil fuels, and plan for a soaring population weren’t enough? Would we ask ourselves why we didn’t take action sooner, transforming the ideas from our greatest innovators into the technologies needed to prepare for a more secure and sustainable future?

June 5 to 9 in Waterloo, Ontario, the Waterloo Global Science Initiative presents the Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 — a global conversation on how science and technology can help solve our current energy crisis. Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 will examine the world’s energy concerns and the specific need for cleaner and more sustainable production, distribution and storage of electricity. The Summit will bring together pioneering scientific experts with next-generation leaders from around the globe, all of whom are supported by the mentorship of seasoned advisors from science, engineering, public policy, and industry.

The Summit is focused around the cooperative creation of a blueprint document that shortlists a set of key technologies that could transform the current carbon-heavy scenario, as well as providing a roadmap on how to implement these innovations by 2030. The outcomes will be summarized during a special “report card” session on June 9.

To accompany the working sessions, Equinox Summit: Energy 2030 will host a series of events for students and the general public – facilitating participation both on location and online by providing an interactive avenue for global engagement in this important energy dialogue. From June 5 to 9, people from around the world can stream live and on-demand daily speakers, videos, televised panel debates, and the final presentation of the Summit’s key findings.

Waterloo Global Science Initiative is a non-profit partnership between Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo. WGSI’s mandate is to catalyze long term thinking and solutions to the world’s most fundamental social, environmental and economic challenges using science and technology. WGSI provides a rare opportunity for great minds to come together, share new ideas and collectively work toward a secure and sustainable future.

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Retired prof writes history of a county

Retired history professor Royce MacGillivray, who came to Waterloo as a lecturer in 1962 and took early retirement in 1996, has published a Dictionary of Glengarry Biography (Glengarry Historical Society, 2010) that’s being described as “magnificent.”

Says a description in the Ontario History Society’s Bulletin: “Long appreciated by Canadian academics for his other published works — and for editing Ontario History in the 1980s — MacGillivray devoted his retirement years to researching and writing this great volume. His investment will pay dividends to historical and genealogical researchers for many years to come.”

Why Glengarry County? “There’s always been a fascination with Glengarry, [which] always seemed to be something of a small nation in its own right,” MacGillivray (left) told the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder. A Glengarry native himself, MacGillivray spent 13 years working on the book. Unlike most biographical dictionaries, which are usually group projects, this one has a single author.

The Glengarry Historical Society’s website has the 777-page hardcover book for sale. It also shows a 40-page subject index that lists all 1,600-plus entries. (More than 18 of the 40 pages in the index are taken up with names starting with Mc or Mac.)

The contents cover 230 years, from the earliest settlers to the year 2000. It includes the famous, such as prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, MP for Glengarry; novelist Ralph Connor; Alexander Macdonell, first bishop of Upper Canada; and John Sandfield Macdonald, first premier of Ontario.

It also includes the more obscure, such as Cato Prime, one of the first black settlers in Ontario; Annie Langstaff, aviator and law lexicographer; Allan Cameron, riverman, prospector, and police chief; and a host of fur traders, lumbermen, explorers, farmers, soldiers, politicians, railway barons, pipers, priests, poets, and “personalities,” as well as the odd murderer and vagabond.

MacGillivray, who now lives England (in Romford, in the northeast suburbs of London), is at work on his next project, a book on Ralph Connor (real name Charles Gordon), author of such books as Glengarry School Days and The Sky Pilot.

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What profs do on year-long sabbaticals

Here’s another list of Waterloo faculty members who are currently on sabbatical leave. All these leaves began January 1, 2011, and are for twelve months. In each case the plans for the sabbatical are quoted from material submitted to the university’s board of governors, which has to give approval for all leaves.

Mathias Schulze, Germanic and Slavic studies: “I will continue my SSHRC funded research collaboration (2010-13) with a colleague at Simon Fraser University on the instructional design of online tutoring systems for language learning and will begin writing a book on learner variability and computer-assisted language learning, which is built on research on the application of Complexity Science to Second Language Acquisition Research and Computer-Assisted Language Learning.”

Magdy Salama, electrical and computer engineering: “During my sabbatical year 2011, I’ll be focusing on my research activities and supervising my graduate students. I have recently established a new research direction in Smart Distribution Systems with Hydro One and Natural Resources Canada and I need to put a concentrated effort to make this initiative succeed. I am the principal investigator in four major research grants (plus my operation and equipment grants) and I am a research collaborator in another three research grants. Also with the new structuring of the Renewable Energy Resources (wind and solar), there are great opportunities for research funding in this area, and during my sabbatical I’ll be participating in these activities.”

Diana Denton, drama and speech communication: “Write articles/ a book on leadership based on her research/ interviews conducted with leaders across sectors from 2008-present. As the co-lead on the Federal Public Service Leadership initiative (a collaboration with the federal public service and McMaster University), I will initiate and oversee the expansion of this initiative to universities across Canada.”

Kaan Erkorkmaz, mechanical and mechatronics engineering: “During January-August 2011, I plan to conduct research at the University of Stuttgart, Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) on ball screw drive position/ vibration control. During September-December 2011, I intend to conduct research at Koç University (Turkey) on optimal trajectory planning for freeform machining. I also intend to teach a graduate course at Koç.”

Kankar Bhattacharya, electrical and computer engineering: “During this period I will undertake a revision and update of my book Operation of Restructured Power Systems (Kluwer, 2001). This will involve a significant re-write due to major policy changes that have taken place in the power sector in recent years. I also intend to collaborate with some Ontario-based utilities and policy organizations to gain useful experience. I also plan to spend some time at the Indian Institutes of Technology in India to develop research collaborations in sustainable energy and power systems.”

Paul Kay, environment and resource studies: “I will consolidate and extend research on aspects of water demand management, including soft-path approaches, including papers at three international conferences. Some of winter and spring 2011 I will be in Israel to research application of these concepts in that water-crisis situation. As well, a long-standing interest in water ethics will be renewed, eventually leading to a book.”

Susan Mikkelsen, chemistry: “This leave will be used to prepare the second edition of my textbook/ reference book entitled Bioanalytical Chemistry, the first edition of which was published in 2004. Preparation of the second edition will be done in collaboration with my Argentine co-author Eduardo Corton. There will also be time spent on a new research collaboration with NRC/Steacie involving electrochemical sensor arrays.”

CAR

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