UBC This Week | Aug. 31, 2006

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event hightlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.

Recent UBC Media Releases

• Aug 31: W. McConnell Family Foundation and UBC Commit $2.5 Million to Enrol Five Per Cent of Students in Community Service Learning
• Aug 29: Learning locally: UBC med students depart for B.C. communities
• Aug 28: Demand for a UBC education increases: 12,100 fresh faces expected at UBC this fall
• Aug 25: UBC conference to reveal pine beetle infested wood as part of biofuel solution to world's energy crisis

Upcoming Event Highlights

• Sep. 6: University-wide Orientation
• Sep. 6: Roundtable Discussion: Territories of kinship, trails and trees: The power of indigenous territory in Brazil

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

UBC People

• TSX Group and UBC establish the TSX Capital Markets Initiative
• Engineering Students Fight Poverty With Appropriate Technology

UBC People

TSX Group and UBC establish the TSX Capital Markets Initiative

The University of British Columbia  Faculty of Law and TSX Group, operator of Canada’s two national stock exchanges, have announced the establishment of the TSX Capital Markets Initiative at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law, within the UBC National Centre for Business Law. TSX Group will become a National Gold Affiliate Member of the Centre for five years.

TSX Group is contributing $250,000 to this initiative. UBC will use the funds to support capital markets research and policy initiatives through the UBC initiative and UBC’s participation in a planned National Council, which would include universities from across Canada. UBC will also host an annual lecture that will include the dissemination of research findings generated by the UBC Initiative and UBC will organize an annual public policy forum in consultation with the other academic members in the National Council.

TSX Group operates Canada's two national stock exchanges, Toronto Stock Exchange serving the senior equity market and TSX Venture Exchange serving the public venture equity market as well as Natural Gas Exchange (NGX), a leading North American exchange for the trading and clearing of natural gas and electricity contracts.

to top

Engineering Students Fight Poverty With Appropriate Technology

UBC Engineering students Nick Jimenez and Troy Barrie spent their summer vacation working to end poverty in rural Africa. Both are active members of the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) and were selected to go to Zambia and Ghana respectively for a four-month internship.

Jimenez’ placement was sponosored by AMEC, in international project management and engineering services company.

"Engineers Without Borders has the ability to transform students into superior engineers that have a socially  responsible view on the needs of people, communities, and projects," said Bob Stanlake, a General Manager at AMEC. "We at AMEC are proud of Nick, Troy and the UBC Chapter of Engineers Without Borders for helping others while learning valuable lessons that will accelerate their careers."

EWB placements incorporate community integration. Jimenez lived with a Zambian family, pumped and carried his own water and lived on less than $5 a day.  He worked with the Zambian Ministry of Food and Agriculture developing solutions to irrigation problems.

Barrie traveled in Ghana, finding suitable communities for the Multifunctional Platform (MFP), a rural energy system that operates a variety of essential machinery.

to top