UBC This Week | Jun. 14, 2007

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event highlights. 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

• Jun. 8: Boring star may mean livelier planet: UBC astronomer
• Jun. 12: Hair researchers gather for world’s largest hair congress
• Jun. 14: Hungarian refugees celebrate 50th anniversary of arrival at UBC

Upcoming Event Highlights

• Jun. 14-26: Zoltan Kodaly Exhibit
• Jun. 18: VISI - One Hour of Madness and Joy: Walt Whitman
• Jun. 20: UBC Full Court 4's Basketball Tournament
• Jun. 20: Pundits, Pachyderms and Pluralism...
• Jun. 21: National Aboriginal Day Celebration

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

• Seeking nominations for honorary degrees
• Arts program recognised for leadership
• UBC professor elected Fellow
• UBC engineers inducted as CAE Fellows
• UBC projects receive national funding
• 24 UBC faculty members receive Killam Faculty Teaching Prize
• Downtown land use discussed at Robson Square

UBC People

Seeking nominations for honorary degrees

The Senate Tributes Committee is seeking nominations of outstanding individuals for honorary degrees. The criteria are excellence, eminence and accomplishment. Nominees are distinguished scholars, creative artists, public servants, prominent community or professional members, and others who have made significant contributions to the life of the university, province or country. The deadline for nominations is Sept. 15.

For more information and a nomination form, visit www.ceremonies.ubc.ca/ceremonies/honours.

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Arts program recognised for leadership

UBC’s Arts Instructional Support and Information Technology has won a Center of Excellence award from the New Media Consortium (NMC) in recognition for leadership and support of open source solutions for the Faculty of Arts. 

The NMC is an international not-for-profit consortium of colleges, universities and museums dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and technologies.

For more information, visit www.nmc.org/news/nmc/2007-center-excellence-award-recipients.

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UBC professor elected Fellow

Prof. Edwin A. Perkins, Canada Research Chair in Mathematics, has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the U.K.’s national academy of science, in recognition of his contribution to society. Perkins’ main research has been on complex stochastic processes.

For more information, visit www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news.asp?id=6651.

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UBC engineers inducted as CAE Fellows

Prof. Yusuf Altintas, Mechanical Engineering; Prof. David Dreisinger, Materials Engineering; Prof. Alan Russell, Civil Engineering, and Prof. David Wilkinson, Chemical and Biological Engineering, have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in recognition of their achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession.

Fellows of the Academy are committed to ensuring that Canada's engineering expertise is applied to benefit all Canadians.

For more information, visit www.engineering.ubc.ca/news/2007/june4.html.

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UBC projects receive national funding

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced a $39 million investment in the country’s research community, including more than $887,000 for seven UBC projects:

• Chromatin Biology Laboratory
• Discovery and characterization of novel mechanisms of translation
• Laboratory for the discovery of melanoma causing genes
• Palaeoenvironmental Research Laboratory
• Parallel cluster computer for the simulation of complex materials
• Research facility for broad band characterization of molecular nanoparticles and aerosols
• The effects of climate change on marine organisms, populations and communities

The 2007 federal budget includes $510 million in funding for CFI for work through until 2010.

For a full description of funding, visit www.innovation.ca/media/index.cfm?websiteid=502.

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24 UBC faculty members receive Killam Faculty Teaching Prize

Correction: on May 31, UBC This Week announced two Killam Teaching Prize winners. In fact, 24 professors received the Killam Teaching Prize. This award is given annually from the Killam Endowment Fund to faculty nominated by students, colleagues and alumni in recognition of excellence in teaching.

For more information and a full list of faculty, visit www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/awards/killam.

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Downtown land use discussed at Robson Square

UBC’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate and the Sauder School of Business present a roundtable event on the future of Vancouver’s downtown on June 20. Panelists will present economic and planning perspectives on themes such as Condos vs. Offices in Vancouver’s Downtown, and Land Use and Density: A Zero Sum Game or Not?

Registration is required for this free event. For more information, visit http://cuer.sauder.ubc.ca/CUER_roundtable_event.html.

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