Daily News

November 19, 2001

Students enrolled in McMaster University's Certificate in Writing Program fulfilled some of their dreams last night at the book launch for the fourth volume of . . .

November 16, 2001

FACT SHEET What is SHARCNET? SHARCNET (Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network), based at The University of Western Ontario, is a network of high-performance Beowulf . . .

November 16, 2001

Astrophysicist Hugh Couchman likes to look deep into the cosmos. Powerful computers help him explore galaxies millions of light years away. Now he will have even more power behind his research when SHARCNET links his 112 Alpha computer processors at McMaster with 285 computer processors from other universities across southern Ontario. "SHARCNET, an acronym for Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computer Network, is a distributed network with a hierarchy of clustering," says Couchman. Working in parallel, university computers at McMaster, Western, Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier and computers at Fanshawe and Sheridan colleges, will give researchers the opportunity to perform high-speed calculations. Representatives from McMaster and the participating universities and colleges, government, industry and SHARCNET are celebrating the official launch of the new super computer network today in London. Click on SHARCNET fact sheet for more information about the project. Couchman is trying to understand how galaxies formed billions of years ago. He uses computers to simulate galaxies in a cosmic three-dimensional environment. "I use numerical computations to provide a bridge between the cosmic theorist and the observer who uses a telescope," says Couchman. "I simulate a physical system on the computer and then perform experiments on the system. Numerical simulation allows us to experiment with the universe." Super astrophysicist: Numerical computations and super computer processors connect McMaster astrophysicist Hugh Couchman to galaxies millions of miles away. Photo by Ron Scheffler

November 16, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Forks.jpg” caption=”The Secret Life of Forks”]Freshly painted showrooms. New labels. A new exhibit. There'll be plenty new to see when the McMaster Museum . . .

November 15, 2001

Three McMaster researchers studying fish physiology, silver chemistry and water geochemistry have won a national innovation award recognizing outstanding university-industry research and development partnerships. Biology professor Chris Wood, Canada Research Chair in Environment and Health, and professors emeriti Russell Bell and James Kramer are winners of the Synergy Award. Bell, who contributed research on silver chemistry, is a professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Kramer, who studies the area of water geochemistry, is a professor emeritus in the School of Geography & Geology. The trio won for their multidisciplinary partnership with researchers from Universiti du Quibec and Wilfrid Laurier University and Kodak Canada Inc. They contributed to collaborative projects measuring silver released into the environment during the photofinishing process and researching the effects of silver on aquatic organisms. This research will help set criteria for new water quality guidelines for metals in the environment. Click on Kodak and Canadian universities develop better water quality guidelines to read more about the partnership and projects. The Synergy Award, sponsored by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Conference Board of Canada, includes $25,000 research grants for the university partners. The prize-winning partnerships were selected from 37 entries in this year's competition. The Synergy conference and awards dinner takes place Nov. 20 in Montreal. (End of story)

November 15, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/enemy.jpg”]Students, faculty and visiting artists at McMaster University's School of the Arts are about to unveil their fall major production of Henrik Ibsen's . . .

November 15, 2001

John Kelton, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, officially opened the new Maternity Centre of Hamilton recently. The centre is a partnership between the . . .

November 14, 2001

The tradition of the annual Children's Christmas party will continue this year thanks to the work of several members of the McMaster community, including President . . .

November 14, 2001

Recipients of this year's McMaster Scholar Awards - the University's top scholarships - were honoured and welcomed to campus recently at a reception held at the President's Residence. University President Peter George, Faculty deans and about 20 previous award winners welcomed the 18 first-year award-winning students. The students received scholarships which range from $12,000 to $25,000 over four years. This year more than 1,000 applicants from across the country vied for the awards. The McMaster Scholar Awards, the University's most prestigious entrance scholarships, are given to students with an average of 90 per cent or higher and who have strong academic achievements as well as extracurricular activities. Congratulated and honoured with certificates were: Front (l-r): Ian Anderson, Oriana Ly, Matthew Schmidt, Jonathan Della Vedova, Joanne Ditschun, Middle (seated l-r): Calli Armstrong, Rebecca Ross, Barbara Kuziora, Elaine Cheng, Adelicia Yu, Nicole Del Bel, Kristen Koopmans, Back (l-r): Christian Kurtz, Stephanie Wong, Carly McKinnon, Peter George, Aaron Orkin, Geoffrey Wilkin and Jon Little. Photo: Jack Hourigan

November 13, 2001

It's billed as technology that uses geography to change the world. Geographic information systems, or GIS, will be showcased to hundreds of high school students tomorrow (Nov. 14) who will take part in GIS Day 2001. The Faculty of Science's School of Geography & Geology sponsors the 3rd annual GIS Day celebration as part of its high school outreach program. John Drake, acting dean of the Faculty of Science, said the outreach program serves to teach, improve, strengthen and promote GIS and science to high school teachers and their students. "GIS Day exposes many high school students to new and interesting applications of science and assists teachers in adopting new technology to bring to their students in the classroom," said Drake. "This also assists in fulfilling the new Ontario geography and geomatics curriculum and encourages high school students in further scientific study." In September 1999, the Ontario Ministry of Education introduced GIS and geomatics into the geography high school curriculum. The day's events include hands-on workshops in GIS and geomatics and a map gallery featuring GIS multidisciplinary applications in the local area. A GIS poster competition will also be held.

November 12, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Haussler.David.Redmanfinal.jpg”]A leading scientist involved in the area of analysis of the human genome using biology, computer science and mathematics will deliver the 2001 . . .

November 11, 2001

For the eighth time in nine years McMaster has been named Canada's most innovative "medical doctoral" university in Maclean's annual rankings of universities. The University also improved its standing in the three other categories of the reputational survey, placing fourth in the "best overall" category and fifth in both "highest quality" and producing the "leaders of tomorrow". In the "medical doctoral" category McMaster is ranked with 15 other Canadian universities, all of which have a medical school and a broad range of doctoral and research programs. (It is not a ranking of the medical school alone.) In this group, McMaster ranked eighth overall. In 2000 McMaster was ranked seventh. "Our number one priority is ensuring that our students receive the best possible education," says McMaster president Peter George. "We have consistently achieved a high ranking in the Maclean's survey and every member of the McMaster community should be proud that together we have reinforced our national reputation as an innovative leader that prepares students for the known and unknown challenges that lie ahead." George acknowledges that the University's overall ranking dropped one place, but says the distinctions between each ranking are generally very small. He's also confident that the University's commitment to developing new programs, offering new scholarships and bursaries, integrating research with teaching, attracting top faculty from around the world, and completing new facilities such as the University Centre will make McMaster even more attractive to students and will continue to see it placed among the country's leading universities.

November 11, 2001

The McMaster Marauders won the 103rd Yates Cup Championship on Saturday defeating the Ottawa Gee Gees 30-22. In front of a roaring crowd of nearly . . .

November 11, 2001

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November 11, 2001

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November 11, 2001

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November 9, 2001

About 20 students – including five women – will shave their heads at Saturday's half-time show of the Yates Cup championship game in a bid . . .

November 9, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Ritchie.Leslie.DNews.jpg” caption=”Leslie Ritchie”]The recipient of the Governor General's Gold Medal for the academic year 2000-01 is a true interdisciplinary scholar. In addition to . . .

November 9, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Kassam.Alisha.DNews.jpg” caption=”Alisha Kassam”]Alisha Kassam entered her fourth year in electrical engineering this September having garnered a remarkable academic record. She has consistently earned . . .

November 9, 2001

Interests in medicine, electrical engineering, women's literary history and music are the areas of study that helped send this year's two student award winners to the podium today at Fall Convocation. Alisha Kassam, an electrical engineering student who wants to become a doctor, won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for 2001 for her high academic achievement and volunteering. Click on Chancellor's Gold Medal winner: Alisha Kassam for a profile of Kassam. Leslie Ritchie, who obtained her PhD in the Faculty of Humanities and is now in the Department of English at Queen's University, is the winner of the Governor General's Academic Medal. Click on Governor General's Academic Medal winner: Leslie Ritchie for a profile of Ritchie. More than 760 graduands from McMaster's six Faculties will receive their degrees today during Convocation Fall 2001. Undergraduate and graduates degrees will be conferred on students from the Faculties of Business, Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts & Science Program during the morning ceremony. In the afternoon, undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred on students from the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Health Sciences.