Daily News

May 27, 2008

Zig or zag? Both may be the answer according to this year's McMaster Innovation Showcase keynote speaker. Aris Melissaratos will discuss the Multi-Path Approach to Commercializing Research that he guides at Johns Hopkins University. A former secretary of Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development, Melissaratos currently serves as the special adviser for enterprise development to the president of Johns Hopkins University.

May 26, 2008

McMaster University and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board plan to work with the City of Hamilton towards construction of a shared facility on the school board's current downtown headquarters site. Last week school board trustees approved unanimously the concept of a partnership to bring a Family Health and Education Centre to Hamilton's downtown core. In a letter of support, McMaster President Peter George said the University is pleased to explore the opportunity.

May 26, 2008

Earlier this month, volunteers from the McMaster Let's Talk Science Partnership Program (LTSPP) helped more than 100 students from Hamilton Public Schools with a project that reintroduced salmon to the local Bronte Creek Watershed in Lowville Park, just north of Burlington.

May 26, 2008

Six high school students were awarded a total of $3,500 in the finale of the DeGroote School of Business' High School Business Heroes competition held on Friday, May 16. Students from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board and Peel District School Board were invited to participate in the annual marketing contest.

May 23, 2008

Young and smart is the profile of the largest graduating class of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. One hundred and fifty-two physicians will graduate at the Faculty of Health Sciences spring convocation at Hamilton Place on Friday, May 23. It's a group that, when entering the program, had more than 85 per cent younger than 25 and the highest entering mean grade point average (3.88) in the history of McMaster's medical school.

May 23, 2008

Last week, details of McMaster's comprehensive plan to combat an anticipated Gypsy Moth infestation were communicated to neighbours. The program includes the aerial spraying of the northern and western perimeters of campus and ground spraying of certain trees. Because the spraying cannot be undertaken during cold, windy or wet conditions, this week's inclement weather has delayed the launch of the program. The tentative date for the aerial spraying on campus is now Sunday, May 25. Aerial spraying will be completed before 7:45 a.m.

May 22, 2008

Professor emeritus Ming-ko (Hok) Woo in the School of Geography & Earth Sciences, based in the Faculty of Science, is the 2008 recipient of the prestigious J. Tuzo Wilson Medal. Every year, the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU) presents the J. Tuzo Wilson Medal to scientists who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of geophysics in Canada. The selection process criteria include excellence in scientific or technical research, instrument development, industrial applications and teaching.

May 22, 2008

As it does for many others, the annual F.O.G. (Friends of Glen) Hike has intensely personal meaning for Leanne Laing and Lisa Bonney.

May 20, 2008

When asked what she hoped her students get out of Inquiry 4SZ3/777, a Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences course offered to both undergraduate and graduate students, professor Fiona McNeill said she hopes students learn that "humans are really the same everywhere." While this may seem like a strange objective for a course in the sciences, it is likely an unavoidable consequence of visiting Hiroshima, which constitutes the basis of the course.

May 20, 2008

Every day, street nurses throughout Ontario talk with the homeless. Most often, they work in isolation, meeting street people -- many with urgent acute and chronic health problems -- on park benches, in vacant lots and emergency shelters.

May 20, 2008

On Thursday, May 15, nominees and recipients of the President's Awards for Outstanding Service in 2007 were honoured at the annual reception in Convocation Hall. This year, 54 individuals joined the ranks of more than 845 nominees and recipients of these prestigious awards since the program's inception in 1997.

May 20, 2008

A program to train physician assistants to work alongside Ontario physicians is being launched at McMaster University. This will be Ontario's first physician assistant program and Canada's first civilian program at an undergraduate level for these health care professionals who will practice medicine under physician supervision in a wide range of health care settings.

May 16, 2008

Once again this spring, McMaster is undertaking a comprehensive program to protect campus trees from an anticipated Gypsy Moth infestation. Left unchecked, moths can severely damage, defoliate and eventually kill mature, healthy trees. Over the course of the early spring, McMaster's Grounds team conducted an extensive inspection of campus trees, checking for signs of Gypsy Moth egg clusters.

May 16, 2008

The Department of Anthropology sadly announces the loss of a friend and colleague, Dr. Shelley Saunders, after a long and brave struggle with cancer. She passed away on May 14.

May 16, 2008

The current Director of McMaster's Labour Studies Program is the University's new Dean of Social Sciences. Senate and the Board of Governors' Executive Committee approved the appointment of Charlotte Yates this week. She assumes her new role when Susan Elliott's term as Dean ends at the end of June. Dr. Yates has been a member of Labour Studies and the Political Science department since arriving on campus in 1987. She is a full professor and has served as Assistant Director and Director of the Labour Studies Program.

May 15, 2008

The ability to detect autism in children as young as nine months of age has sparked immediate and widespread interest in the media. The Early Autism Study, led by Mel Rutherford, associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Science's Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, has been using eye tracker technology that measures eye direction while the babies look at faces, eyes and bouncing balls on a computer screen.

May 15, 2008

More than 300 faculty members, alumni, students and supporters of the Faculty of Engineering gathered at Liuna Station in Hamilton on Tuesday evening to recognize and celebrate their achievements over the past year. The evening featured a tribute to more than 50 outstanding engineering alumni who were special guests at the Applause and Accolades Awards Gala in tribute to the Faculty of Engineering's 50th anniversary in 2008.

May 14, 2008

The McMaster community is invited to attend a reception to celebrate this year's recipients of the President's Awards for Outstanding Service in 2007. President Peter George will present awards to eight individual employees and two employee teams in Convocation Hall, located in University Hall, on Thursday, May 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

May 14, 2008

The Ontario government is helping to bring to market the award-winning CPRGlove developed by three alumni from the electrical and biomedical engineering program at McMaster. Corey Centen, Nilesh Patel and Sarah Smith's CPRGlove interactively guides users on how to most effectively perform life-saving Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The technology will improve the survival rates of the nearly 350,000 annual out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that occur within Canada and the United States.

May 13, 2008

Beta-blocker drugs may help prevent heart attacks during surgery, but they may increase the risk of death and major stroke, says a major study published online today by the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet. POISE is the world's largest randomized trial addressing perioperative cardiac complications. POISE evaluated the effects of a beta-blocker versus placebo given to patients around the time of surgery.