UBC This Week | Thursday, September 17, 2009

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

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Recent UBC Media Releases

Upcoming Event Highlights

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.

UBC People

Eleven recipients announced for UBC Staff Awards

Eleven staff members were recognized for their contributions of excellence in categories such as global citizenship, community engagement, customer service, and leadership as part of a new staff awards program.

The President’s Staff Awards (Vancouver) and the Staff Awards of Excellence (Okanagan) both recognize the personal achievements and contributions of staff to UBC and to the vision and goals of the University.

President’s Staff Awards (Vancouver)

Enhancing the UBC Experience:
Mark Bomford, Program Coordinator, Land & Food Systems
May Wah Chow, Scheduling Clerk, Enrolment Services
Karen Young, Undergraduate Program Advisor, Dept. of Geography

Leadership and Creativity:
Michelle Berner, Director, Total Compensation, Human Resources
Jennifer Phelps, Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies

Global Citizenship:
Madeleine MacIvor, Associate Director, First Nations House of Learning

Staff Awards of Excellence (Okanagan)

Community Engagement:
Bud Mortenson, Public Affairs Manager, Alumni and University Relations

Leadership:
Roger Bizzotto, Manager of Facilities

Customer Service:
Wendy Mohns, Faculty Administrator, Creative and Critical Studies
Barbara Lucente, Faculty Assistant, Barber Arts & Sciences

Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Award (Okanagan)
Leanne Bilodeau
, Manager, Workplace Health and Sustainability

To view the eligibility and nomination process for this awards program, visit www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/ceremonies/honours/index.html#psae and web.ubc.ca/okanagan/facultystaff/current-staff/excellence.html

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IAS announces new director

The Institute of Asian Research has announced the appointment of Prof. Paul Evans as the new Director effective Sept. 1, 2009, for a three-year term.

For more information visit http://www.iar.ubc.ca/home.aspx

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Mechanical engineer honoured by Engineers Canada

Prof. Elizabeth Croft, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, has been named Fellow of Engineers Canada for her noteworthy achievement and service to the engineering profession.

Croft is an internationally recognized expert in robotics, and leads research in human robot interaction applied to assistive technology and industrial automation.

For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/sep15.html

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UBC spin-off ranks in CleanTech 100

UBC spin-off company Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, co-founded by civil engineering professor Don Mavinic, has been listed in the Guardian’s first global Cleantech 100. The alphabetical listing highlights companies with innovative low-carbon technologies.

The Ostara technology removes polluting nutrients from wastewater treatment systems and produces environmentally friendly fertilizers. Ostara is the only Canadian company to make the list.

For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/sep9.html

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Engineering student featured on Discovery Channel

UBC fourth-year engineering student Aaron Coret was featured on the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. The program featured Coret’s snowboard Landing Pad which he co-invented with UBC alumnus Stephen Slen.

To view the clip, visit

http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/september-2009/daily-planet-september-11-2009/#clip213090 or http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/students/spotlight-archives/eng-coret.php

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Mechanical engineer receives honorary degree

Mechanical Engineering Prof. Emerita Martha Salcudean received a doctor of engineering degree and addressed convocation at the University of Waterloo on June 13.

Salcudean is the Weyerhaeuser Industrial Research Chair Emerita in Computational Fluid Dynamics. A member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, she has published widely in the area of heat transfer and fluid flow.

For more information, visit http://www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2009/sep11.html

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Human Resources department revamps website

UBC’s Department of Human Resources is revamping their site this fall and is seeking input on how to improve the current site’s content, navigation and design. An online survey is available on www.hr.ubc.ca from Sept. 15 – Oct. 19 with weekly prizes to be drawn for participants.

Survey results and progress of the redevelopment can be viewed at the Human Resources web redevelopment blog www.hr.ubc.ca/blogs/newweb.

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Award-winning poet featured at the Learning Centre

Renowned writer Rita Wong will be featured as part of the Robson Reading Series. Wong received the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop Emerging Writer Award in 1997. Her recent collection of poems, Forage, a vivid commentary on the international political landscape and its injustices, won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize.

Date: Sept. 24
Time: 1 – 2 p.m.
Place: Lillooet Room (301), Level 3, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Info: RSVP at 604.827.4366 or allan.cho@ubc.ca

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Green College Writer-in-Residence gives fall talk series

Green College’s 2009 Canada Council Writer-in-Residence, Oana Avasilichioaei, a poet and translator from Montreal, will give a series of talks at Green College this fall. She will also be available to the community for consultations on writing work/performances. Her most recent book, feria: a poempark (Wolsak & Wynn, 2008), probes the identities of Vancouver’s Hastings Park.

For more information on her series and office hours, visit www.greencollege.ubc.ca or contact gc.events@ubc.ca

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