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UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event hightlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.
Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.
Recent UBC Media Releases
- Mar 17: UBC Students Celebrate International Week
- Mar 20: Nobel Laureate Joins UBC to Boost Science Education
- Mar 21: UBC Creator of First Drug for Most Common Cause of Blindness Wins Top Canadian Science Prize
- Mar 22: University of British Columbia Names New President
Upcoming Event Highlights
- Mar 24: Vadim Repin, Violin & Nikolai Lugansky, Piano
- Mar 25: UBC Men’s Rugby vs. U. Cal Berkeley (World Cup)
- Mar 26 – 31: Storm The Wall
- Mar 27: The Future of Food
- Mar 28: Peter Klein, "WMD and Me: Reporting on Biological Weapons Before and After 9/11"
- Mar 29: Eugenia Choi, Violin & Jane Coop, Piano
Find out what else is happening at UBC this week.
For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.
UBC People
- UBC women’s basketball team brings home national championship
- Kevin Hanson named coach of the year in men’s university hoops
- UBC instructor wins national engineering prize
- Thirteen UBC engineering students receive industry accolades
- UBC’s annual student development awards announced
- UBC student film to screen at international festival
UBC People
UBC women’s basketball team brings home national championship
The UBC Thunderbirds women’s basketball team captured its second Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship in three seasons Sunday night at the University of New Brunswick, defeating fourth-seeded Cape Breton 56-53 in a nail-biter of a final.
With a record of 30 wins and five losses, the second-seeded Thunderbirds beat York, Simon Fraser and then the Cape Breton Capers en route to the fifth "Bronze Baby" trophy in program history and UBC’s 66th CIS championship.
"At some point in the season there became a belief that we could get some big things done, not as individuals, but as a team," said head coach Deb Huband. "Everybody bought into their roles and that adds up to a heck of a lot more than a lot of individuals."
Next season, the team will be joined by Leanne Evans and 6-foot-5 Katie Ward, transferring from Southeast Missouri State and Illinois State, respectively, along with recently signed recruits Devan Lisson of Fredericton and Megan Pinske of Port Moody, considered two of the best high school point guards in the nation this year. Also joining the program is legendary B.C. high school coach Rich Chambers, who comes on board as the team’s first ever full-time assistant this summer.
Kevin Hanson named coach of the year in men’s university hoops
UBC Thunderbirds head coach Kevin Hanson has been named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball coach of the year. Hanson received his first Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy after guiding the Thunderbirds to a No. 1 national ranking for six weeks and a perfect 20-0 regular season — the first unbeaten UBC conference campaign since 1969-70, and just the second 20-0 campaign in the history of the Canada West Conference.
"Whenever a person wins a coach of the year award, it’s a true indication of the quality of players that are in the program," said Hanson. "A coach can never win that award unless he’s got a tremendous group of guys, and this is a reward that represents their accomplishments over the course of the season."
In addition to his six seasons at UBC, Hanson has been actively involved in Basketball Canada, coaching the National Universiade team in the 2003 Summer Games in Korea and the 2005 World University Games in Turkey.
UBC’s men’s basketball team ends the season 34-6 after going 20-0 in conference and winning the Pacific Division title. The team placed sixth at the nationals in Halifax, winning against University of Quebec at Montreal and losing to Cape Breton and McMaster.
UBC instructor wins national engineering prize
Jon Mikkelsen, UBC Instructor of Mechanical Engineering, has received the national 2005 Wighton Fellowship from the Sandford Fleming Foundation and the National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science (NCDEAS) for his contributions to UBC’s Mechanical Engineering laboratory program.
Since the fellowship’s inception in 1986, this is the first time it has been awarded to a UBC faculty member. Mikkelsen plans to donate a portion of the $3,000 prize to the Dale Cherchas Memorial Scholarship Fund in honour of his colleague who passed away in 2004.
"I am particularly pleased to be able to bring the Wighton Fellowship to UBC since Dr. J.L. Wighton was a UBC graduate and a UBC Mechanical Engineering faculty member from 1958 to 1968," said Mikkelsen.
The fellowship is a national award to recognize excellence in the development and teaching of laboratory-based courses in Canadian undergraduate engineering programs, funded by an endowment from the late Dr. J.L. Wighton.
Thirteen UBC engineering students receive industry accolades
The Foundation Trustees of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. (APEGBC) have recognized 13 UBC engineering students for their contributions to the advancement of the engineering and geoscience professions.
The following students were awarded APEG-Member Advantage Program for Students scholarships in the amount of $750:
- Paul Evans, fourth-year geological engineering
- Jill LeDrew, third-year mining engineering
- Nam Nguyen, fourth-year integrated engineering
- Monica Rucki, fourth-year integrated engineering
- Zoe Sarrat-Cave, fourth-year mechanical engineering
- Allison Schaap, third-year engineering physics
- Heather Stewart, third-year geological engineering
As well, B.C. Hydro/APEGBC scholarships in the amount of $1,000, designated specifically for third-year students, were awarded to:
- Solveig Brandvold, mechanical engineering
- Kathleen Hanley, civil engineering
- William Hui, civil engineering
- Jill LeDrew, mining engineering
- Michelle Murphy, civil engineering
- Hayley Robertson, geological engineering
- Michelle Sevenhuysen, chemical and biological engineering
For more information about APEGBC, visit www.apeg.bc.ca.
UBC’s annual student development awards announced
On March 11, six UBC individuals and programs received UBC Student Development Awards, presented annually by the Campus Advisory Board on Student Development (CABSD) in recognition of exceptional contributions or improvements to the student experience and learning at UBC.
Margery Fee of the Faculty of Arts, Allison Dunnet of Student Development and Triny Shen of the Graduate Student Society were awarded the Margaret Fulton Award for individual student service. UBC REC and the UBC Tax Assistance Clinic received the Helen McCrae Award for student service programs, and the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning was presented with the Peter Larkin Award for a graduate program or department.
UBC student film to screen at international festival
Dream, a 10-minute film by UBC Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student David Hauka, has been accepted to screen at the Aarhus Annual International Film Festival (AFIA) in Denmark.
Hauka describes the 10-minute dramatic film as a gothic tale of love and fear. "The objective I set for myself in Dream was to combine a story of doomed love with a more ‘Asian’ encounter with the fantastic," says Hauka. "It begins with a young woman waking suddenly from a nightmare. Her lover, concerned by her fear, convinces her to tell him about the dream. This may not have been a good idea."
The AFIA is a five-day celebration of worldwide independent, innovative and experimental filmmaking and film related arts. Due to the specific focus on young and new generation of filmmakers, the festival is the essential hub for discovering film talent, for catching word of mouth on world and international premieres, and for exploring a quality selection of almost two hundreds of recent short films and documentaries. For more information, visit www.afianopop.com.
