Departmental newsbriefs Council of INFORMS: the International Federation of Operations Research and Management Sciences.
Chemical Engineering Congratulations to Chen Lu, a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Robert Pelton, who placed second in the 2003 Canadian Pulp and Paper Graduate Student Seminars, qualifying him for a H.I. Bolker Prize. The seminars were held during the Pulp & Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) meeting at the Palais des Congrés on January 30th. Twenty graduate students presented their research as undertaken at Pulp and Paper Centres in universities across Canada. The title of Lu’s seminar was: “Poly(ethylene oxide)/ Polypeptide Cofactor Flocculation Mechanism: Influence of Poly(ethylene oxide) Molecular Weight”. Three prizes were created in the name of Dr. H.I. Bolker. They are aimed at encouraging and recognizing students who achieve excellence in communication by presenting their research. Dr. Robert Pelton and his wife, Helen, recently attended a dinner at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa with the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien and his wife Aline, in honour of his excellency Gèran Persson, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden. Dr. Pelton is very active in research and production areas of pulp and paper and has worked with Swedish paper companies. The Journal of Chemometrics (Issue 1, Volume 17) was dedicated to Dr. John MacGregor, the fourth recipient of the Herman Wold medal. The medal was awarded by the Swedish Chemometrics Society at the 7th Scandinavian symposium on Chemometrics in Denmark, August 2001. It is awarded to a person who contributes significantly to the development and proliferation of chemometrics both inside academia and industry, “in the spirit of Herman Wold”. The editorial to the first issue of volume 17 details the many contributions that Dr. MacGregor has made to both industry and academia. It also contains testimonials to John’s work written by former students, friends, industrial clients and colleagues.
Computing & Software Tamás Terlaky has recently been elected for a two-year term to the Subdivisions M
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Science and Technology Inc. Safety and Environmental Protection Research Institute in China were at McMaster for three months from November 2002 to February 2003. During that time they worked with Dr. J-S. Chang conducting joint research projects on construction of a pilot plant for Plasma Pollution Control for Coal Boiler Flu Gases. From September 2002 to January 2003, Dr. Na Li, from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, worked with C-Q Xu on research in the development of semiconductor lasers.
Engineering Physics Congratulations are extended to ChangQing Xu on his successful application to New Opportunity Program through CFI (Canada Foundation for Innovation), for his research on optical waveguide devices based on lithium niobate substrates. He was also awarded funds through the Ontario Innovations Trust to support the research being funded through CFI. On February 6th, Paul Jessop hosted a meeting here at McMaster of the Ontario Photonics Education and Training Association (OPETA). The participants were from Ontario universities, colleges, government and industry groups. OPETA’s role is to promote photonics education and foster cooperation among various types of programs, including university level (both graduate and undergraduate) college level and professional re-skilling. The department welcomed a number of visitors recently. Drs. Wen-Ming Wang and Han-fang Hu, from the Wuhang Tiancheng Environmental Protection
Materials Science & Engineering The department extends its heartiest congratulations to Gary Purdy who has been elected to the US National Academy of Engineers as a Foreign Associate. He is being recognized for pioneering theoretical and experimental studies of chemical and structural effects on phase transformations and interfacial diffusion-induced phenomena. There are only 7 Canadian Foreign Associates, and two of them are in our department! The other is David Embury.
Dan Olsen profile Olsen’s church in Scarborough to Nicaragua where they helped to build a house (with Habitat for Humanity). This past summer Olsen travelled to Mexico with his own group of McMaster students. “They teach you way more than you could ever teach them,” he says of the people he has met and helped. “Everyone helps each other and is committed to family. I think sometimes in Canada and North America we get away from that, those values of family and helping others, and focus on other things that don’t really matter.” Engineering seems to run in his family. In addition to his father, Greg, his two brothers are also in engineering. (Younger brother Dave is now in his third-year chemical engineering and management at McMaster. Older brother Geoff graduated from McMaster’s mechanical engineering and management program in 2001.) U
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However, Olsen admits he’s more interested in the ‘soft’ skills of engineering rather than the more technical side. He spends a good portion of his time now promoting among fellow students, friends and peers the opportunities that exist to help abroad and make a difference at the grassroots level. “I know a lot of engineers who have approached me about this work and have asked what it’s all about. Most people want to do something to bring about positive change in the world.” Looking ahead, Olsen is hoping for a career in international work. He’s thinking about a master’s program and expects his interest in sustainability, nurtured under the tutelage of civil engineering professor Brian Baetz, will guide his future direction. It is possible to make a difference as individuals and as a society, he says. “It’s important we all do our part to be socially responsible.” T
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