UBC This Week

UBC unveiled the Dept. of Chemistry’s new Shared Instrument Facility (SIF), a 262 square metre learning space that will provide undergraduate students with unprecedented access to instruments being used in the industry, better preparing them for a career in the sciences.  The SIF combines a laboratory and student resource centre and can accommodate more than 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students every year.

The $1.2 million project was made possible with support from the Dept. of Chemistry and the University Investment Fund, along with private donations from alumni and friends of the department.

For more information visit  http://science.ubc.ca/news/561

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UBC Bookstore’s new website rolls three websites into one and has a strong focus on eye-catching visuals and layout, simple navigation, one click to buy (where possible). Students can now buy course materials online and other products including clothing and giftware.

Working with UBC IT Services, students were involved in the photography, content building and testing. Features include information for faculty, staff and students, links to social media, newsletter sign-up, UBCevents and links to other campus partners.

View the new website at http://www.bookstore.ubc.ca/

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UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences announces five new faculty appointments for the upcoming academic year.  Learn about them at http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/aboutus/faculty-news#FiveNewFacAppts

“We will be accepting an additional 72 professional degree students this September,” says Dean Robert Sindelar. “This expansion in our student cohort requires additional instructors to ensure that we are effectively delivering our program.”

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Fariborz Musavi, Wilson Eberle and William G. Dunford won the first prize paper award from the IEEE Industrial Applications Society Industrial Power Conversion Committee for their paper “A High-Performance Single-Phase AC-DC Boost PFC Converter for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Chargers.”   Eberle is a faculty member at the School of Engineering at UBC’s Okanagan campus and Musavi and Dunford are from the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering on UBC’s Vancouver campus.

For more information, visit http://www.ece.ubc.ca/news/201108/first-prize-paper-award-ieee-industrial-applications-society

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Laura Bandy and Mehrdad Bokharaei, graduate students in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, have recently been awarded scholarships from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Bandy won a three-year scholarship in the postgraduate category and Bokharaei won a two-year scholarship under the Canadian graduate category.

To read more, visit http://www.pharmacy.ubc.ca/aboutus/faculty-news#NSERCScholarshipWinners2011

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A study by graduate student Emma Talbott from UBC’s Okanagan campus is looking at how many graduates stay in the region and are able to find employment in their field after completing their studies.

“‘When I graduate, I have to leave the city,’ is what a lot of (my classmates) tell me,” Talbott said. “I want to find out if they actually left. I suspect more people are sticking around, but not necessarily in their field of education.”

Talbott is working with Carlos Teixeira, an associate professor of human geography in the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences. Teixeira says while the arrival of UBC in the Okanagan in 2005 started a new era of knowledge for the Valley, the challenge is figuring out how to keep those young minds in the Okanagan. 

For full story, visit https://news.ok.ubc.ca/2011/08/12/where-are-all-the-ubc-graduates-going

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The ninth annual Welcome Back BBQ signals the start of the new academic year and an opportunity to connect with more than 3,000 staff members over lunch.

The event includes a complimentary BBQ lunch, live entertainment, and information booths hosted by a variety of campus service providers.  Staff members are encouraged to join the festivities during their lunch break on Sept. 15.

Staff interested in attending should RSVP to their department contact before Aug. 26, 2011.  Find department contacts at http://www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-Staff-Welcome-Back-BBQ-Department-Contacts-Rvsd-Aug11.pdf. Those registered for this event will receive a wristband to redeem for their lunch.

Date:    Sept. 15, 2011
Time:    11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Place:   Flagpole Plaza
Info:     http://www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/staffbbq

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