UBC This Week 10-April-2014

 

Recent UBC Media Releases

Apr 10  Yeast provides genetic clues on drug response
Apr 9 UBC experts offer tips on preparing for exam season
Apr 8 The new pulse of digital music

Upcoming Event Highlights

Apr 11 Some Questions Concerning Ethics by Dr. William E. Doll, Jr.
Apr 11 UBC Opera Ensemble: Optica Delusions
Apr 12 The Forest and Sea of the Great Bear
Apr 12 TRIUMF Saturday Morning Lecture
Apr 13 Assertiveness Training 2: Emotional Intelligence From the Inside Out
Apr 13 Annual UBC Pharmacy Alumni No-Host Spring Brunch
Apr 14 Public Poetics, Public Women
Apr 14 Pedagogy in Place: The Shifting Landscape of Higher Education
Apr 15 The Roots of Bullying
Apr 15 UBC Emeriti Research Day
Apr 16 KIN CRCII Candidate Presentations (Puterman)
Apr 16 “Sensory” Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Does the Research Say?- CIRCA
Apr 17 Debunking Digital Myths: Online Tracking
Apr 17 Job Search Strategies Workshop
May 13-15 Office of Graduate Programs and Research – Research Week
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

UBC raises over $500,000 in United Way campaign

With the help of 350 campus volunteers, 45 events and 750 generous donors, UBC Vancouver and Okanagan have raised over $550,000 in this year’s United Way campaign. Staff and faculty from all VP portfolios, students and alumni were engaged in raising awareness and hosting sales, auctions and draws, and even a stair climb challenge.

Each year, the campaign aims to create a stronger and more inclusive community on campus and also strengthen the ties with the broader community by supporting more than 100 local non-profit organizations and programs through United Way of Lower Mainland. This year United Way of Lower Mainland, in collaboration with UBC, the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) and the Social Research Planning Council (SPARC) of B.C. started a new initiative – My Neighbourhood, My Future which aims to build stronger and healthier neighbourhoods in Surrey and Port Coquitlam based on their community-specific needs.

For more information on the campaign and how to get involved, visit www.unitedway.ubc.ca

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Five new Aboriginal digitization projects win funding

Five new projects have been awarded funding under Irving K. Barber Learning Centre’s Aboriginal Audio Digitization and Preservation Program (AADPP), which provides matching funds for B.C. Aboriginal organizations to digitize audio cassette tapes for preservation and access.

The projects are:

• “Preserving Lake Babine Nation’s Oral History” – Lake Babine Nation
• “Preserving Splatsin Historical Audio Collections” – Splatsin Tsmtaksaltn Teaching Centre Society
• “Unlocking Tsleil-Waututh Oral History through Audio Digitization” – Tsleil-Waututh Nation
• “A Decade of Indigenous Governance: Digitizing and Preserving UBCIC Chiefs Council Meetings (1985-1995)” – Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs
• “Preservation and Digitization of Tahltan Knowledge and Wisdom” – Tahltan Central Council

The AADPP initiative is led by UBC Library in partnership with the Museum of Anthropology. Click here for more information.

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Civil engineering professor co-leads Building Information Modeling project

Professor Sheryl Staub-French is one of the leaders of the Construction and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) project research team, which published a report this week on the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Canada’s construction industry. Click here for more info.

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Art of the Book travelling exhibition

The public is invited to Art of the Book 2013, a collection of more than 30 breathtaking examples of book art with highlights ranging from handmade paper to special bindings.

The exhibition opens April 14 and is hosted by UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. It is the sixth juried travelling exhibition from the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG) and will travel to academic libraries in Canada and, for the first time, the United States.

Open house is on May 8. Local book artists and CBBAG members will be on hand to discuss the exhibition.

Date: April 14 – May 1 (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.)
Open house: May 8, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Place: Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library
Level 1, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall
More info: Click here

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ECE celebrates first year of capstone projects April 10

UBC’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is celebrating the first year of its capstone projects with a display of prototypes, videos and posters of students’ work. Community, industry and campus partners and faculty members are on hand to discuss the projects and the course.

A capstone design project enables students to showcase the knowledge and the skills they have learned during the previous three years. They design a product/service of significance, and solve an open-ended problem in electrical or computer engineering.

ECE’s capstone clients include:
Gazepoint, founded by UBC alum Craig Hennessey in 2013 with the vision of putting an eye tracker on every desk. Gazepoint challenged students to create a product to showcase its technology.
Tetra Society of North America, a non-profit organization that creates customized assistive devices. The UBC capstone team designed an improved lighting system for wheelchairs to make them safer on the street.
• Capstone students also verified different aspects of BC Hydro’s safety standards. Through research, physical testing and software-based modeling, the group validated a set of standards for the electrical isolation of the 300 substations in B.C.

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24/7 hours at the Learning Centre

The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will stay open around the clock to accommodate students during the final exam period.

The Learning Centre will be open 24 hours a day from Thursday, April 10 (opening at 6 a.m.) to Tuesday, April 29 (closing at 1 a.m.), except for Level 1, Chapman Learning Commons, Library bookstacks and Ike’s Café.

During the 24/7 opening period, regular cleaning of study spaces will continue, and computer workstations on Level 2 will remain open.

Students who have an early exam or want to stay overnight should check out the Commuter Student Hostel. Those travelling late at night are advised to contact Safewalk at 604-822-5355, a free service that provides a co-ed team to take them anywhere they need to go on campus.

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