Daily News

November 14, 2005

A diagnostic test that detects all the major human respiratory viruses, including H5N1 (Avian Flu) and SARS Corona, has been developed by a virologist at McMaster University, and is about to undergo clinical evaluation. It is expected that the test will be available for evaluation by hospital-based laboratories by early December. Jim Mahony and his lab at McMaster University collaborated with Tm Bioscience Corporation, a Toronto-based company that conducts genetic testing, says the test reduces the laborious and long process involved in acquiring definitive results.

November 14, 2005

Sam Minniti has been appointed the new executive director of the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students (MAPS). In this role, Minniti will lead MAPS' advocacy work with campus partners, levels of government, and have a key role in stakeholder communications. His appointment, which takes effect Nov. 28, 2005, concludes an extensive search that attracted more than 50 candidates from across Canada and beyond.

November 14, 2005

Einstein's theory of gravity has given us a remarkable understanding of the evolution of the universe, from the quark soup that existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, through the formation of the galaxies, stars and planets to the present - a span of some 14 billions years. Einstein's start has given rise to many more questions. The two that pose the greatest challenges to cosmologists are these: What happened before the Big Bang? What is our cosmic destiny?

November 11, 2005

McMaster is now home to 58 Canada Research Chairs with a national announcement that includes one new Chair and four Chair renewals and represents a $2.5 million investment for the University. McMaster respirologist and assistant professor of medicine, Parameswaran Nair, has been named Canada Research Chair in Airway Diseases. His work, conducted at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, will focus on understanding cellular biology and measuring airway inflammation in clinical practice to improve treatment of airway diseases such as asthma and Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary Diseases (COPD).

November 11, 2005

Three champions of McMaster's philosophy of medical education and a renowned child psychiatrist have been recognized for their significant contributions to the development of the Faculty of Health Sciences. James Anderson, Howard S. Barrows, Barber Mueller, and David (Dan) Offord were inducted today into the Faculty of Health Sciences Community of Distinction.

November 11, 2005

Every week, more than 20,000 images of child porn are used on the Internet. Sixty per cent of all website visits are sexual in nature. Annual worldwide porn sales total $57 billion. There are more adult bookstores in the United States than there are McDonalds. These staggering statistics have been appearing all over campus this past week and they have been generating a lot of discussion and speculation. This is exactly the kind of response the posters are meant to invoke.

November 10, 2005

Cancer patients who need radiation therapy and students who want a career in providing that care are the beneficiaries of a unique program being offered by McMaster University, Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, and the Juravinski Cancer Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences. The three institutions have joined together to offer students the radiation therapy stream of study in the collaborative medical radiation sciences program. Until now, the fully integrated diploma-degree program, the only one of its kind in Ontario, offered students specialization in either medical radiation technology (radiography) or ultrasonography.

November 10, 2005

High Performance Computing (HPC) is a vital component of a diverse range of research initiatives that have already made an impact on Canadian society. If you've turned on the Weather Channel to see when the rain will end, done a Google search on a computer or picked your stock portfolio according to the latest economic forecasts, you've benefited from HPC.

November 10, 2005

Women with some heart problems are almost one-third less likely to receive invasive treatments compared to men with the same conditions, according to data from an international study of more than 12,000 people. Consequently, women are about one-sixth more likely than men to suffer additional chest pain or other recurrent heart problems. Sonia Anand, associate professor of medicine for the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, is the lead author of the study to be published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

November 9, 2005

Two mathematicians, one from McMaster University's Faculty of Engineering the other from the Faculty of Science, will lead Canada's first graduate school dedicated to study in the rapidly growing field of computational engineering and science. Tam

November 9, 2005

Canada now has its first school dedicated to graduate study in the rapidly advancing area of computational engineering and science. The McMaster School of Computational Engineering and Science was officially launched in Hamilton, Ontario today. It brings together 50 faculty from engineering, science, business and health science to collaboratively conduct research and advance education involving simulation, modeling and optimization. Study in this area is helping to advance understanding of a wide range of issues and opportunities from pandemics, to weather patterns, to improving automobile safety, to the design of computer chips.

November 9, 2005

McMaster neuroscientist Margaret Fahnestock's research into Alzheimer's disease will be propelled forward thanks to a $35,000 donation from the Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada. Fahnestock, who studies proteins essential for nervous system function, focuses her research on the regulation and biosynthesis of neurotrophic factors and their role in Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.

November 9, 2005

New automated banking machines (ABM) will be installed across campus over the next few weeks. Led by Terry Galan, director of purchasing, and Nancy Gray, director of finance, a user group of representatives from across campus, including the McMaster Students Union, selected Swytch as the successful supplier of automated banking services.

November 8, 2005

Aspiring engineering and science entrepreneurs are invited to hear Mark Chamberlain, president of Trivaris Ltd., and former CEO of Wescam, as he recounts his career as an engineering entrepreneur. Chamberlain's talk is hosted by the School for Engineering Practice on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 5:45 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Gilmour Hall 111.

November 8, 2005

McMaster thespians will cast an Arabian spell on Hamilton beginning this Friday. In the upcoming production The Arabian Nights, seven McMaster students and employees will take to the Waterdown Village Theatre stage to present Arabian Nights - a play that involves a selection of historical tales, love stories, tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques and Muslim religious legends.

November 8, 2005

More than 150 business, government, community and education leaders are gathering in Hamilton today (November 8) to investigate opportunities for increasing collaboration between McMaster University and Mohawk College in providing technology education. Led by McMaster's Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Engineering Technology at Mohawk, the Community Think Tank will focus on the potential of providing joint programs in technology and management. Participants will provide insight and advice on matters related to curriculum and desired graduate knowledge. They will also explore the capabilities needed to generate future economic and technological productivity and prosperity.

November 7, 2005

The DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University offers the highest return on investment for MBA students in Canada, according to the annual MBA Guide published by Canadian Business Magazine. DeGroote MBA students enjoy a 131 per cent return on investment according to the study, which compares students' average salaries upon entering the MBA program with their average starting salaries upon entering the workforce upon graduation.

November 7, 2005

He led IBM's efforts to advance supercomputing and now is leading the company's efforts to help businesses and governments utilize its power. She worked in industry discovering ways to optimize systems through mathematics and now is an academic leading efforts to teach and equip students to do the same. Bill Pulleyblank, vice-president, Center for Business Optimization, IBM Global Services and former director of IBM's Deep Computing Institute and the Blue Gene Project, and Margaret Wright, chair of the Department of Computer Science at New York University will be the keynote speakers at a public lecture discussing how advances in computational engineering and science are advancing our daily lives.

November 7, 2005

A gigantic ape, measuring about 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds, co-existed alongside humans, a geochronologist has discovered. Using a high-precision absolute-dating method (techniques involving electron spin resonance and uranium series), Jack Rink, associate professor of geography and earth sciences, at McMaster University, has determined that Gigantopithecus blackii, the largest primate that ever lived, roamed southeast Asia for nearly 700,000 years. Rink has confirmed the time range for Gigantopithecus as being from one million years ago to 300,000 years ago. This occurred during the Pleistocene period, which lasted from 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago.

November 7, 2005

For the second year in a row, McMaster University has been named the most innovative university in Canada. Maclean's magazine's annual rankings measures and compares universities in three peer groupings. McMaster is ranked in the intensively competitive medical doctoral category, a category of those universities that offer a broad range of PhD programs and research in addition to having a medical school. In the reputational survey section of the rankings, McMaster University was listed in the top five in Leaders of Tomorrow, and Best Overall.