UBC This Week 09-Feb-2012

 

Recent UBC Media Releases

Feb. 8 UBC researchers use Google Earth to verify Mediterranean fish farming data
Feb. 7 New poll shows Canadians want to make family a priority
Feb. 5 UBC researchers discover key to immune cell’s ‘internal guidance’ system; could lead to more efficient vaccines
Feb. 3 Deborah Buszard appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal for UBC’s Okanagan campus
   
 

Upcoming Event Highlights

Feb. 9 Problem Child & The End of Civilization
Feb. 10 E-Week: Cooking with Beer
Feb. 10 Davis Cup
Feb. 11 FestEVOLVE 2012
Feb. 11 The UBC Players Club presents The Drawer Boy
Feb. 12 Science Undergraduate Society Presents: Heartbeat 2012
Feb. 12 Dvorak: Rusalka (opera)
Feb. 13 The Clothesline Project
Feb. 13 Nearly a Century — BC Native Plants Education and Research at the UBC Botanical Garden
Feb. 14 Book Launch and Signing: Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer
Feb. 14 Clear the Clutter
Feb. 15 Quantum Computing and the Limits of the Efficiently Computable
Feb. 15 Science Wellness Carnival
Feb. 16 Planetary Optimization and Advanced General Intelligences: The ‘Intelligence Stairway’
Feb. 16 Palomar: Michael Morris at Satellite Gallery
   
  Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/calendar.aspx.

 

UBC People


UBC People

Safety notice for UBC Vancouver’s campus

The University is committed to maintaining a safe campus environment and providing information in a timely manner.

On Feb. 7, 2012, at around 9 p.m. a female walking on University Boulevard became aware of a presence beside her. The unknown person reached into the female’s jacket pocket before striking her and fleeing the scene. The RCMP is investigating the matter, but no description of the assailant is available.

UBC Campus Security urges members of our community to be aware of your surroundings, carry a cell phone or safety whistle, use AMS Safewalk (604.822.5355) and avoid walking alone if possible.

For more safety resources and a copy of the Safety Alert, please visit: http://www.security.ubc.ca/. In the event of an emergency, call 911. If you see suspicious circumstances call Campus Security 604.822.2222.

to top

Deborah Buszard appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal

UBC’s Board of Governors has approved the appointment of Prof. Deborah Buszard to lead UBC’s Okanagan campus as Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal. She will begin her five-year term on July 1, 2012.

Buszard is currently professor of Environmental Science at Dalhousie University, and has held a variety of academic and leadership positions at Dalhousie University and McGill University. In her new role, she will be the senior leader at UBC’s Okanagan campus and a core member of the University’s executive leadership team.

Buszard succeeds Doug Owram, who has held the position since July 1, 2006.

For more information, visit: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2012/02/03/deborah-buszard-appointed-deputy-vice-chancellor-and-principal-for-ubcs-okanagan-campus/

to top

UBC post-doctoral fellow named Rising Star in Global Health for life-saving innovation

Grand Challenges Canada has announced that UBC Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow Walter Karlen is a Rising Star in Global Health, an innovator dedicated to improving health in the developing world. As a Rising Star, Karlen will be awarded a $100,000 grant to further develop his innovation, the Camera Oximeter. The Camera Oximeter is a novel, ultra-low cost device that uses the built-in camera of a smart phone to measure oxygen saturation, heart rate and respiratory rate. Software will include an advisory system for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases (pneumonia) in remote areas and in community hospitals of low income countries.

Karlen is currently in South Africa with the Camera Oximeter working with local partners to demonstrate how innovative and affordable technology can help bridge the healthcare gap between Canada and low- income countries. He works at UBC under the supervision of Guy Dumont of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and with Mark Ansermino of the Dept. of Anesthesiology.

Canadian Rising Stars in Global Health is a program designed to encourage emerging Canadian innovators to use their energy and creativity to find solutions to pressing global health challenges.

To view a short video of Karlen and the Camera Oximeter, visit: www.grandchallenges.ca/grand-challenges/gc1-stars/canadasrisingstars/round2grantees/

to top

UBC alumna named Dean of Engineering at Waterloo

Pearl Sullivan (PhD ’90, MTRL), professor, researcher and UBC alumna, has been appointed as the University of Waterloo’s Dean of Engineering effective July 1, 2012. Sullivan earned her PhD in materials engineering at UBC under the supervision of Anoush Poursartip.

After completing her PhD at UBC, Sullivan became a faculty member in mechanical engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and then at the University of New Brunswick. She joined the University of Waterloo as a professor in 2004, and since 2006 has been chair of the Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering.

Sullivan’s term as dean will run five years, ending June 30, 2017.

For more information, visit: http://blogs.apsc.ubc.ca/apscnews/2012/02/02/ubc-alumna-pearl-sullivan-named-dean-of-engineering-at-waterloo/

to top

SPIE Best Poster in Ultrasonic Imaging, Tomograpy and Therapy

UBC Electrical and Computer Engineering researchers received the Cum Laude best poster award in Ultrasonic Imaging, Tomograpy and Therapy at the International Symposium on medical imaging.

The poster was presented by UBC PhD students Narges Afsham and Mohammad Najafi, with professors Purang Abolmaesumi and Robert Rohling. Their research, “Out-of-plane motion estimation based on a Rician-Inverse Gaussian model of RF ultrasound signals: speckle tracking without fully developed speckle,” will be published in the SPIE conference proceedings this March.

For more information, visit: http://www.ece.ubc.ca/news/201202/spie-best-poster-ultrasonic-imaging-tomograpy-and-therapy.

to top

UBC team takes top spot at Western Engineering Competition 2012

A team of engineering students from UBC’s Okanagan campus took first place at the Western Engineering Competition 2012 in Calgary recently.

The team of Clifford Gilker, Devyn Farr, Patrick Finch and Phillip Batt took first place in the Senior Design category. The team was faced with a simulated oil spill to deal with and they had eight hours to come up with a budget for the material they would need, a presentation on their plan and a method for removing the ‘oil’ from water’s surface.

For more information, visit: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2012/02/03/ubcs-okanagan-engineers-design-a-first-place-finish/

to top

UBC Okanagan’s Centre for Advancement of Psychological Science and Law opens

The Centre for Advancement of Psychological Science and Law (CAPSL) officially opened on Feb. 3 at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

The driving force behind CAPSL is the trio of Zach Walsh, assistant professor of psychology, Mike Woodworth, associate professor in psychology, and Stephen Porter, psychology professor. Each specializes in different areas of psychology and law and will bring their expertise to the centre.

The centre focuses on four key areas at the cross-section of psychology and law:
• personality/psychopathy and aggression
• investigative psychology (detecting deception, investigative interviewing, eyewitness memory)
• police and jury decision-making
• preventing victimization by criminals and understanding victim responses to violent crime

Funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the B.C. government, research conducted by CAPSL will be relevant to the basic understanding of the psychology of crime and victimization, and to the types of biases that can influence decisions about suspects and defendants in the legal system, sometimes leading to wrongful convictions. This research could help improve the criminal justice system.

For more information, visit: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2012/02/02/scholars-join-forces-to-launch-world-class-research-centre/

to top

Inaugural engineering Co-op alumni survey shows positive results

As part of the UBC Engineering Co-op Program’s continuing assessment of its program and post-graduation employment statistics, a web-based survey was conducted in June 2011. The first-ever co-op alumni survey was sent to 1,378 alumni from the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses and a total of 252 (18.3 per cent) responded.

“We are very excited to share the results of the co-op alumni survey which shows a strong indication of how the Engineering Co-op Program assists our graduates in their engineering career path post-graduation,” says Jenny Reilly, program director. “It’s wonderful to see our Co-op alumni working in their engineering-related field of interest and to also receive favourable feedback from them – 95 per cent would recommend participation to future undergraduate students.”

View the survey results at: http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/LandingPage.aspx?id=924225&lm=32163429&q=413136824&qz=0377a00062dc84f08377bf2d9731c8ab

to top

UBC Press author shortlisted for Canada Prize in social sciences

UBC Press author Paulette Regan has been shortlisted for The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ (CFHSS) Canada Prize in Social Sciences for her book Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth-telling and Reconciliation in Canada.

Awarded annually to one work in French and one in English in each category, the prizes are a benchmark for outstanding scholarly work in the humanities and social sciences.

The four prizes are each valued at $2,500 and will be presented at a special award ceremony on March 30, 2012 at the Musée des beaux-arts in Montreal. The nominees are chosen from works supported by CFHSS’s Awards to Scholarly Publications Program and winners are selected by a jury of scholars from across the country.

For more information on Regan, visit: http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/?p2=/modules/liu/profiles/profile.jsp&id=45

to top

Water Security in Canada (Public Lecture)

How secure is Canada’s water? What are the greatest threats we face? And what should be our priorities for management and conservation? Researchers from UBC’s Program on Water Governance and invited experts will give a public lecture held in conjunction with the 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting.

Speakers include:

Prof. Howard Wheater, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Water Security and Director, Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan
Prof. Gordon Young, former UN World Water Assessment Program coordinator
Prof. Tom Pedersen, Director, Pacific Institue for Climate Solutions, University of Victoria
Dr. Judy Isaac-Renton, Public Health Laboratory Director, BC Centre for Disease Control

The panel will be moderated by Prof. Karen Bakker, Director of the UBC Program on Water Governance and author of Eau Canada: The Future of Canada’s Water and Prof. Emeritus Mike Church, UBC Dept. of Geography.

Date:  Feb.17
Time: 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Place: Vancouver Convention Centre (for a panel discussion on these issues)
Info: http://calendar.events.ubc.ca/s/3px

to top

Canada Foundation for Innovation, Dialogues at UBC Robson Square

Harnessing the power of quantum information has game-changing implications for global communications. Information processors that function according to the laws of quantum mechanics promise to vastly outperform their “classical” counterparts.

This technology is changing the way that we think about communication and information, and Canadian researchers are leading the way.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation Dialogues at UBC Robson Square is presenting Raymond Laflamme, executive director of the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing. Laflamme will discuss key challenges in building quantum devices, the important milestones that have already been achieved, and the bright future of research and technology in this fast-moving field.

Pioneering the Quantum Information Frontier with Raymond Laflamme
Date:  Feb. 15
Time:  6 – 7:30 p.m.
Place:  UBC Robson Square, Sauder School of Business Room C150, 800 Robson Street
Info:  This event is free and open to the public, no registration required.
Q&A and refreshments to follow. http://www.calendar.events.ubc.ca:80/s/3tE

to top

Old Red New Red: Feb. 9

The UBC Faculty of Applied Science and the Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) will hold their annual “Old Red New Red” event. As Engineering Week 2012 comes to a close, this event will be a sharing of student team success from the past and present. All are encouraged to bring a colleague – alumnus or not – to join in celebrating UBC Engineering.

Date:  Feb. 9
Time: 6 – 9 p.m.
Place: Cecil Green Park House, 6251 Cecil Green Park Road
Info: To register, contact Alumni Relations at 604.822.9454 or sarah.saddler@ubc.ca

to top

Asia Pacific Memo update – Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Tribunal / China and Eurozone Bailout Bonds

Current issues in Asia and across the Pacific are published twice-weekly on the Asia Pacific Memo series. To subscribe and read the short text memos, visit: http://www.asiapacificmemo.ca/

• Feb. 7 – Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Tribunal – Victims’ “Right to a Remedy” by Theressa Etmanski, UBC Master of Arts in Asia Pacific Policy Studies and law student
• Feb. 2 – Why China isn’t Buying Eurozone Bailout Bonds (Yet), by Xu Hongcai, Visiting Professor, Institute of Asian Research

to top

CiTR Radio Prof Talk interviews Courtney Booker

UBC CiTR Radio’s Prof Talk with host Farha Khan interviews Courtney Booker from the UBC Dept. of History about his research on early medieval history. Every Tuesday, Prof Talk on 101.9FM features live interviews with professors from a variety of disciplines.

Date:  Feb. 14
Time:  3 p.m.
Info: Live programming: http://citr.ca
Podcasts: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Citr–ProfTalk
Show schedule: http://proftalk.ubc.ca/

to top