UBC This Week 17-April-2014

Linc Kesler has been reappointed for a second term in the joint roles of Director of the First Nations House of Learning and Senior Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Affairs.  A President’s Advisory Committee consulted internally and externally at both campuses, and received strong support for extending Kesler’s term for another five years until December 31, 2018. The process also highlighted the need to further articulate the senior advisor’s role in engaging with UBC’s Okanagan campus and for providing additional resources to the incumbent and the First Nations House of Learning team.

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UBC’s Communications and Marketing department launches a significantly redesigned ubc.ca website on April 25, 2014.

Consultation and research showed that the current site could do a better job reflecting the true nature and scope of the university. The navigation, content and functionality of the current site needs improvement and the overall look is considered conservative and dated. The redesign addresses these challenges; it is bold and experiential, offering improved design, navigation and content.

Highlights are:

1. Moving from an internally-focused navigation structure to one that is audience-based
2. Expanding the opportunity for faculties and units to share their content through a new homepage section called “UBC Now”
3. Creating innovative and in-depth stories on the homepage that illustrate the impact UBC is making in the world
4. Implementing secondary pages that provide a stronger introduction to internal UBC partner sites to improve site navigation and hand-off

“We are encouraged by the positive feedback we have received from those who have seen the site while in development and will continue to monitor its performance and fine-tune as required following launch,” said Kari Grist, Managing Director, Communications and Marketing. “We wish to thank the large number of contributors from across our campuses for bringing their energy and ideas to the project.”

The UBC community is encouraged to explore www.ubc.ca beginning April 25.

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UBC alumnus Jared Miller (BMus ‘10) has been appointed composer in residence at the Victoria Symphony. At UBC, Miller studied composition with Stephen Chatman and Dorothy Chang, and piano with Sara Davis Buechner and Corey Hamm. He completed his Masters of Music degree at The Juilliard School in New York under Samuel Adler. He is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at Juilliard where he studies under Oscar and Pullitzer-winning composer John Corigliano.

Miller will be Victoria Symphony Orchestra’s youngest composer in residence.  His two-year term begins June 1, 2014.

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A UBC research team has developed a technology that addresses the environmental challenges of excess carbon dioxide and wastewater in the oil and gas sector by converting them into valuable chemicals and desalinated water for reuse. The team led by Professor David Wilkinson in collaboration with SFU’s Professor Steven Holdcroft, received $500,000 in funding from the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation to further the new technology towards commercialization. The project was one of 20 finalists chosen from over 344 international submissions.  For more information, click here.

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Nursing PhD candidate Laura Housden is the lead author of “Update in Diabetes,” a study that will be presented at an annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine held in San Diego on April 23-26. Housden’s research focuses on group medical visits with nurse practitioners for patients with chronic conditions and the impact of that model of care for patients and their care providers.  The study has been described as one of the top 10 papers of significance of the last few years regarding changes in clinical practice for internists and primary care providers working in diabetes care. For more information, click here.

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A new study, co-authored by associate professor of nursing Lynda Balneaves, and published in the journal Open Medicine, looks at how cancer patients make decisions about the use of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer care.  Researchers found that cancer patients go through distinct phases when making decisions around complementary and alternate medicine use, and that it is a non-linear, complex, dynamic process.  For more information, click here.

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Computer Science professors Dinesh K. Pai and Alla Sheffer have been awarded Idea to Innovation grants by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.  The grants provide funding to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential.

Pai has received the grant for developing realistic computer models of skin and skin-like materials, such as clothing. For more on his project, click here.  Sheffer has received the grant for developing tools for automatic hexahedral meshing using polycubes.  For more on her project, click here.

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The School of Journalism International Reporting Program’s (IRP) multimedia documentary CUT has been named a Webby honoree in the green category which recognizes the best of environmental journalism. CUT is the culmination of a year of research, reporting and production on the topic of illegal logging. Students traveled to the Russian Far East, Cameroon and Indonesia, documenting the problems with illegal logging, and exploring efforts to slow down forest destruction.

This marks the second time the School’s IRP has been recognized by the Webby Awards. Click here for more information.

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The office of the Vice President Students has announced the winners of this year’s Student Development Awards which recognizes individuals, programs, and faculties that continually strive to significantly enhance the student experience at UBC.

Margaret Fulton Award (for an individual)
Hassan Bhatti, third-year student, Science
Mona Maleki, third-year student, Science
Ana Vivaldi, PhD candidate, Anthropology, Teaching Assistant
Paul Smith, professor, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Helen McCrae Award (for a student service provided by the AMS, GSS or a UBC program)
Faculty of Law, Peer Tutoring Program
Faculty of Arts, Tri-Mentoring Program

Peter Larkin Award (for a graduate program or department)
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Graduate Program

For more information on the awards, visit the VP Students website.

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The Mechanical Engineering Department invites high school students, incoming students, or anyone interested in mechanical engineering to their annual guided lab tours that feature demos, cutting-edge technology and cool gadgetry.  Participants can also ask questions about the department and its programs. Lab tour dates are May 14, July 9 and August 12.  To RSVP and for more info, click here.

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