The CPSC 430 students will see my face for the Wed, 7 July class with Prof. Joseph Luk.

Here is the CPSC 430 course library page that outlines my session – http://toby.library.ubc.ca/ereserve/er-coursepage.cfm?id=2388

From the Province – http://www.theprovince.com/sports/soccer+robot+competes+World/3150084/story.html

Mining Engineering professor Marcello Veiga sings parodies in his Mining and Environment (MINE 391) students to explain the environmental and social effects of mining and he claims that new miners must change their attitudes..

This is a parody telling the story of a irresponsible miner who believes that he can extract gold using mercury and dump everything in the rivers because nobody is watching him in a remote site in the North of Canada.

Very cool…Hats off to UBC APSC Communication Office for sharing this one

The contest, introduced this year by Dean Tyseer Aboulnasr, challenged Engineering students to share their sense of pride in their UBC experience and reflect the fun they have here.

Here is the winning video, by Paul Milaire (3rd year MECH) –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szGMS6LIbkM

See all UBC engineering videos here – https://www.youtube.com/ubcengineering

UBC Computer Science Professor Uri Ascher was recently elected as SIAM Fellow. You can see many of his publications on his CS homepage.

Our congrats to Prof. Ascher!

It is a very good news to us in the Science and Engineering library to hear that Richard Kerekes is to receive the 2010 TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award.

From the UBC Applied Science press release:

The award recognizes an individual who has created a pre-eminent scientific and engineering achievement that has proven of commercial benefit to the world’s pulp, paper, board and forest products industries.

“Dr. Kerekes’ contributions to research, technology and education for our industry over a 38-year period are exemplary and make him a deserving recipient for TAPPI’s highest honor,” said Larry N. Montague, President of TAPPI. “He has made numerous significant contributions to papermaking technology during his career, including founding the Pulp and Paper Centre at The University of British Columbia where he established a research program between UBC and Paprican.”

“To a remarkable degree, he has contributed to most all of the unit operations in papermaking, from stock chests to calenders,” said Gary A. Baum, 2009 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Winner, who nominated Kerekes for the award. “His research has been characterized by a blend of solid science and the application of fundamental principles to the solution of practical problems.”

To see some of Prof. Kerekes publications in the Web of Science database (around 70 articles) , please use this search:

Subject Heading=(MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY OR PHYSICAL SCIENCES) AND Author=(KEREKES R*) AND Institution=(UNIV BRITISH COLUMBIA OR PULP PAPER RES INST CANADA OR PAPRICAN)

The earliest article dates back to 1974 and the newest was published last year.

From UBC engineering folks…This work is the result of a collaborative effort between assistant professors Alireza Nojeh, nanotube expert, and Kenichi Takahata, micropatterning expert, of the department of electrical and computer engineering. The image was created by graduate student Masoud Dahmardeh with assistance from graduate students Parham Yaghoobi and Mohamed Sultan Mohamed Ali.

The area on which this image was created is smaller than a snowflake, yet it contains over 100 million carbon nanotubes. Nanotubes are not just tiny as their name suggests: Each is around 10 thousand times thinner than human hair and highly flexible. They also posses many other amazing properties: They are almost as light as air, better conductors of electricity and heat than copper, stronger than steel and tougher than diamond.

** Credit – http://www.apsc.ubc.ca/olympics.php#torch

Here is my newest article – “A Library Journal Club as a Tool for Current Awareness and Open Communication: UBC case study” which oddly sees light online during the last week of 2009.

It is published in a free, open access, Canadian journal  – Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/svenwerk/

Ron Simmer Patent and IP Expert has once agained issued his Patex Bizarre Patents Calendar.

This calendar documents the creative spirt of the human race reflected in patents.

Check out Ron’s excellent site of patent and intellectual property links at the Patex website.

Submitted by Kevin Lindstrom Science and Engineering Liaison Librarian

Great news for UBC folks:

A new $23.2 million Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) designed to advance Canada’s position as a global leader in new media, animation and games is to be hosted by the University of British Columbia.

The Graphics, Animation and New Media (GRAND) network will be headquartered at the Centre for Digital Media at Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC), a joint academic collaboration between UBC, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

GRAND will offer student learning and research opportunities and comprise 30 projects clustered around five themes: new media challenges and opportunities; games and interactive simulation; animation, graphics and imaging; and cross-cutting themes of social, legal, economic and cultural perspectives and enabling technologies and methodologies. The network will involve 50 investigators along with collaborating researchers and industry partners.

http://www.science.ubc.ca/news/334