FouR CANADA RESEARCH CHAIRS NAMED HE UNIV ERSI TY OF Guelph has added four more Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) to its growing cohort of distinguished CRC researchers. U of G now has a total of 18 CRCs. Established in 2000 to enable Canadian universities to attract and retain excellent faculty, the CRC program supports faculty who are acknowledged as international experts as well as younger researchers who have the potential to become world leaders in their fields . • Zoologist Kevin McCann, who came to U of G from McGill University, plans to develop an internationally
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recognized research program that he hopes will begin to unfold the role and function of biodiversity in ecosystems. • James France, currently a professor in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, will join U of G this fall to establish a Centre for Nutritional Modelling in Animal Production Systems. He plans to develop methods and software to predict and manage prudent nutrient use on farms to minimize potential land, water and air pollution. • Also joining U of G in the fall is Edward McBean, currently a vice-president with
RACE CAR IN TOP 50
Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, an engineering and environmental consulting firm . McBean, who has been on faculty at the University of Waterloo and taught at universities in California, received a CRC chair to study water supply security and risk management in the School of Engineering. • U of G botany professor John Klironomos will use CRC support to establish an advanced soil ecology analysis lab and training centre. Scientists will explore the biology and ecology of soil organisms, as well as the interactions and feedbacks between belowground and above-ground communities and ecosystems.
APPLE DUNKS TAKE PRIZE PPLE DUNKS PROVED to be a winning recipe for U of G students who became the first Canadian team to bring home top prize from the National Agri-Marketing Association Student Marketing Competition. One of only two Canadian teams among 35 competitors at the 2003 competition in San Diego, the Guelph students portrayed the Ontario Apple Co-operative and presented a marketing plan for Apple Dunks, a fresh apple snack for children's lunches. They worked with U of G food scientists who are developing a mineral and vitamin solution that prevents apples from turning brown when sliced and packaged. For greater appeal to children . the team proposed adding a flavoured dipping sauce.
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Key members of the Gryphon racing team are, from left, Rob Battiston, Jeremy Goertz, Ben Beacock and Jason Griffith .
TEAM OF ENGINEERI NG students who custom-built a race car to enter in the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers competition in Pontiac, Mich., in May placed 47th overall out of 125 university entries. Formula SAE is the
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largest prototype race in the world, but this was the first time U of G had entered. They were recognized as the third-place rookie team and won the perseverence award. The 12-member team was advised by Prof. John Runciman .
CANCER PRO F. MICHA EL Wirth, Computing and Information Science, says up to 30 per cent of breast cancer cases go undetected in mammograms, usually because a clinician or radiologist misreads or misinterprets the information contained in the results. He is writing computer algorithms intended to help in computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. He hopes automated screening will provide a second pair of eyes for physicians.
WASTE BACT ERIA ARE remarkable evolutionary life forms, says Prof. Stephen Seah, Microbiology, and many have evolved into efficient and versatile consumption engines that can turn an array of carbon sources into a meal. To take advantage of their natural abilities, Seah is genetically modifying bacteria to "eat" some common chemical compounds known to damage human health, wildlife and the environment.
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Summer 2003 5
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