![[University of Waterloo]](/goldbar.gif)
| Yesterday |
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
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Editor: Chris Redmond credmond@uwaterloo.ca |
![[Blazer and tie]](/images/2004/0210oec.gif)
"Once again, our students performed admirably at the OEC," said David Clausi of systems design engineering, who acted as the UW coordinator at the contest. "Capturing three of the six top prizes is a terrific achievement and a reflection of the exceptional capabilities of the UW engineering students." The undergraduate student competition consisted of six categories, emphasizing societal and technical engineering aspects.
A first-place prize went to UW's Elliot Smith (pictured) and Jay Detsky (systems) for their Corporate Design entry, titled "Adaptive Delay System (ADS) for Sound Reinforcement." The category seeks a corporate design of a solution to a problem faced by a company. The ADS is a new method for synchronizing sound throughout an audience during a concert, in order to compensate for electrical impulses that travel faster to the speakers than the sound that travels from the stage.
Another first-place prize was awarded to Hsiao-Chien Lin (computer engineering) in the Editorial Communications category, which calls for personal viewpoints on social, economic and environmental consequences of current technological issues. He penned an editorial from a personal viewpoint, titled "Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Right Direction For Nuclear Technology?" Hsiao argued that the current initiative to produce sub-kiloton nuclear weapons has inherent dangers that pose a tremendous threat to the world.
Yet another first-place prize was captured by the team of Robyn Paul, Matthew Cheung, Ksenia Golod and Jordanna Kwok (computer engineering) in the Entrepreneurial Design category. The category looks for an entrepreneurial design of a marketable product or service not currently available. Their Mobile Cardiac Emergency Medical Services Dispatcher is a system designed to collect and analyze real-time cardiac data for a user. Upon detection of a heart attack, the system sends a wireless alert message to facilitate the prompt delivery of medical assistance to the user.
The Entrepreneurial Design category also yielded a third-place prize for UW. Chris Goodall, Sachin Agrawal, Angus Fan, and Drew Morris (systems) presented their PageTurn Pro, a software system that automatically detects the progress of musicians as they play from a digital sheet of music. The system automatically turns pages and provides user feedback on mistakes.
![[With cutout dolls]](/images/2004/0122smith.gif)
Conflicts
between siblings are the basis of research by psychology graduate
student Julie Smith, who's had a fair amount of publicity lately.
She's looking for some brother-sister pairs, 5 to 10 years old, for
the next stage of her research, said a recent Gazette story
that then became
a UW news release
and was picked up by newspapers. Smith says sibling rivalry is "a potentially
constructive part of children's lives" through which they learn "how to
negotiate their own goals, how to make persuasive arguments and how
to compromise".
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As well, Detsky placed third in the Explanatory Communications category with a talk titled "Downloading Your Brain." His main theme was the advancements in human understanding of the brain that will lead to the possibility of downloading memories, emotions and other information stored in one's brain to a computer. This marked Detsky's second year of success at the OEC, since he also finished first place last year in the same category.
The first and second place teams will represent UW at the Canadian Engineering Competition, to be held at McMaster University March 4-7.
Gambling games date back before 2000 BC and many of today's social pastimes, such as chess, darts and bowling, originate from these. Interestingly, the game Lotto was once used to fund the Olympics and even funded the Great Wall of China. Many major universities were originally funded through lotteries.
Gambling games vary depending on culture and they range from appearance in prestigious high-class casinos to those offered by street vendors.
"Take a chance and come by the museum . . . odds are you will have a great time," said museum technician Jennifer Gillies. "You can bet on seeing some old favorite pub games, including pool, darts or Tric Trac. Test your luck at the section dedicated to casino games, featuring blackjack, roulette and poker. Prove your skill with social gambling games, such as chess, backgammon or skittle bowl.
"You can also play Bingo or explore the history, rules and origin of mysterious games such as Tarot or Slahal. This fun-filled exhibit features an opportunity for visitors to play and enjoy many of these games."
This free on-campus exhibit is open to the public through mid-April. Cash donations for museum collection acquisition are welcome. Winter hours are Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The public gallery is on the main floor of Matthews Hall.
| WHEN AND WHERE |
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'Facilitating Effective Discussions', teaching workshop,
12 noon, information from teaching resources, phone ext. 3132.
Senate undergraduate council 12 noon, Needles Hall room 3004. Arts faculty council 3:30, Humanities room 373. Café-rencontre, Marilyn Lambert-Drache, Université York, "La francophonie à l'heure d'Internet", 14h30 à 16h, Environmental Studies I salle 221. Society for Technical Communication, "Word 2003 and XML", 7 p.m., Davis Centre room 1304. GarageBand software for music recording, demonstration Wednesday 10:00 to 3:00, Campus TechShop, Student Life Centre. Baroque Valentine's Music, Stephanie Kramer (soprano) and Richard Cunningham (counter-tenor), Wednesday 12:30, Conrad Grebel University College chapel, free. Semi-formal charity concert and dance party for Iran earthquake relief, Thursday 9 p.m., Bombshelter pub, tickets $10 in Student Life Centre. 'Growing Up in a School of Love', Joseph Schner, Regis College, Friday 7:30, St. Jerome's University. |
A few hundred of the games are documented on the museum web site. The site enables the public to enjoy objects from its collection and features photographs, tours and documentary text about many individual items. Presented in the form of a "virtual exhibit," each documentary Web page includes one or more illustrations of collection objects. Many were photographed by the late Gerald Hagey, a museum volunteer, who was UW's first president.
Continuing with its primary research mandate, the museum answers e-mail inquires from Web viewers on an individual basis. The site is regularly updated, enhancing the "virtual museum" presence that continues to evolve.
The museum is operated by the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, staffed by graduate students, and administered by the faculty of applied health sciences as part of the Waterloo Heritage Collections. There is funding support from the Ontario ministry of tourism, culture and recreation.
Three firms have formally expressed "interest" in developing the next building in UW's north campus research and technology park, says Carol Stewart, business development manager for the park. A request for such expressions went out in December, with a closing date of January 30. "The Review Committee is committed to selecting a symbiotic partner for this key project," says Stewart. She said a recommendation will come to the R&T Park advisory board in the first week of March, and "we hope to have a public announcement detailing the winning submission shortly after that meeting." The building will stand "in a prominent position" near the entrance to the research park along Hagey Boulevard, which runs north from Columbia Street. "This proposed 100,000-square-foot building also includes a publicly funded and operated Accelerator Centre to encourage the growth of high-tech firms and act as a catalyst for the creation of new products and services."
The most recent issue of the faculty association newsletter Forum includes a two-page article by Anne Fullerton, one of UW's professional librarians, talking about "The Academic Status of Librarians" and a recent national conference on the topic. Fullerton writes that she was one of the three speakers in a conference session on "Hot Spots" -- institutions where there has been controversy over librarians' status. In recent years "there have been two attempts to negotiate with UW's administration the academic status of UW librarians and their representation by the FAUW," the faculty association, she writes. "Despite these efforts, the representation of UW librarians by the FAUW remains an unresolved article in the Memorandum of Agreement and we continue to be members of UW's Staff Association. Our UW Librarians Handbook is under review in order to address the support for research and other issues. As well, the UW Staff Relations Committee is currently considering the question of academic freedom for librarians and other staff members."
available on Quest.
A memo is at hand from Robert Achtemichuk, interim director of the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, which is located in central Waterloo just south of the campus. "Our gallery," he writes, "along with the K-W Art Gallery and the Cambridge Galleries, is involved in analysing our audiences in the Region. The CCGG is asking for participants for a focus group at the gallery on February 17 at 5;30 p.m." Anybody interested in joining the group can reach Achtemichuk at 746-1882 ext. 231.
And speaking of art galleries, two shows in UW's East Campus Hall will close this Thursday. Both have been in place since early January: "Vivid", by a group of five artists, and "Digital Journey" by retired fine arts professor Don MacKay. Admission to both exhibitions is free.
Finally . . . invitations have gone out for the ceremonial opening of UW's big new building, the Centre for Environmental and Information Technology. The event is set for Friday, February 27, at 10:30.
CAR