UBC This Week – 16-Apr-2015

Four UBC mathematicians have been recognized for their research contributions with awards and fellowships.

Dong Li, a UBC researcher with a focus on fluid dynamics, mathematical biology and mathematical physics, is the winner of the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) 2015 Coxeter-James prize.

Alejandro Adem, a leading expert in group cohomology and the geometry of group actions, was the recipient of the 2015 CMS Jeffery-Williams Prize.

Two mathematicians were recognized by the American-based Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: Fred Brauer and Rachel Kuske have joined the Society’s new cohort of fellows. The fellowships recognize outstanding contributions to the fields of applied mathematics and computational science.
More information here.

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Vancouver School of Economics’ associate professor Hiro Kasahara has received the Japan Statistical Society Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding research in statistics and related fields. Kasahara’s main research areas are econometrics and international trade. More information here.

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 The Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN) will honour zoology professor Michael Gordon with the 2015 CAN Young Investigator Award at the upcoming annual Canadian Neuroscience Meeting in Vancouver. Gordon’s research provides insight into two critical decisions that humans and animals have to make: what to eat, and how much. He studies this complex question in the fruit fly and has significantly contributed to the understanding of the neural circuits that drive taste responses and feeding preferences. More information on his research here.

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Wendy Atkinson, the rentals and programming manager at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, was honoured with the B.C. Touring Council’s 2015 Presenter of the Year award.

Atkinson programs the Chan Centre’s Beyond Words series, launched in 2012 to explore the power of words in performance as an agent of change and a means of igniting conversation. Events have included sold-out engagements with songwriter John K. Samson, spoken word poets Shane Koyczan and Ivan Coyote, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, and environmentalist/author Severn Cullis-Suzuki.

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A study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and led by nursing associate professor Vicky Bungay examines the work environments of off-street sex workers and how they make decisions affecting their health and safety.

The study, called SPACES (Sex, Power, Agency, Consent, Environment & Safety), has launched a website with the first report of findings and biographical information of 116 participants and their experiences. More information here.

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 School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) professor Matthew Soules has received the Honorable Mention Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for his living canopy structure “Vermilion Sands,” a living canopy structure installed on Vancouver’s waterfront in the summer of 2014. More information here.

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UBC alumna Jodi Gustafson is one of three Canadian students selected among 54 Gates Cambridge Scholars who will begin their postgraduate courses at the University of Cambridge this October. Gustafson, who will do a Master of Philosophy in conservation leadership, produced a documentary during her undergraduate research at UBC which highlighted the impacts of climate change on Inuvialuit communities in Canada¹s Western Arctic.

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Andrea Palmer, a mechanical engineering student in her final year, has won the 2015 Canadian Global Impact Competition for “Reveal,” a wearable device to track anxiety in real-time for children with autism. Palmer has earned a spot in the Singularity University’s Graduate Studies program which accepts only 80 students worldwide each year.

Palmer co-founded Reveal with students Kristoffer Vik Hansen (Integrated Engineering), Paul Fijal (Mechanical Engineering), Diou Cao (Finance and Accounting), Maricel Saenz (Finance) and Logan Graham (Economics). More information here.

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Christoph Sielmann, an electrical and computer engineering PhD student and teaching assistant, is one of 16 winners of the Killam Graduate Assistant Teaching Award. Sielmann has been commended for mentoring students to think critically and for sharing his industry experience and knowledge with students. More information here.

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 Civil engineering students held a poster-showcase celebration to present their Community-Based Experiential Learning Sustainability Projects. Under the guidance of Professor Susan Nesbit, student teams worked with local community organizations to design concepts for sustainable responses to challenges and opportunities faced by these organizations. Projects include a design for an affordable, sustainable Vancouver condo building on principles of “The Blue Economy,” a proposal for a soilless microgreen growing system, and the identification of energy efficient opportunities for a new parks operations centre. More information here.

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 In their final-year capstone project, fourth-year electrical and computer engineering students Brittaney Geisler, Tyler MacDonald, Caleb Ng and Tina Saad created a simple, inexpensive, user-friendly and wireless electomyography system that can provide clinicians with objective information during clinical assessments of Restless Legs Syndrome. More information here.

For their final-year capstone project, electrical and computer engineering students Prab Grewal, Sarah Holdijk, Rohit Singla and Kathy Xu worked with medical diagnostic imaging company Novadaq Technologies in exploring ways to apply 3D imaging and surgical navigation techniques in intra-operative imaging environments. More information here.

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Angie McTague of LV Rogers Secondary School in Nelson, B.C., and Gordon Trousdell (April 23, 1980-January 21, 2015) of West Vancouver Secondary School were honoured with UBC Engineering’s McEwen Family Teacher Recognition Award. Presented annually by the Faculty of Applied Science, the award was established by James McEwen and his family to celebrate teachers and their influence on students both academically and personally. More information here.

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The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre presents an exhibition of photographs exploring village life in Guizhou Province, China, by anthropologist, photographer, and UBC alumna, Evelyn Nodwell. The exhibition appears in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary at UBC Library and Asian Heritage Month.

Date:    April 16 – May 30
Place:   Level 2 foyer, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (1961 East Mall, Vancouver)
Info:     Click here.

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