Daily News

Posted on March 18: McMaster’s newest Canada Research Chairs delve into papermaking biotechnology, pure mathematics

McMaster University's newest Canada Research Chairs will study advances in biotechnology to improve papermaking chemicals and mathematical logic. Chemical engineering professor Robert Pelton has been named a Canada Research Chair in Interfacial Technologies. His research involves using emerging biotechnological developments to produce new papermaking chemicals that are less harmful to the environment. Pelton's research group is considered the world's largest, most prolific academic research group working in the area of polymers in papermaking. Pelton, founding director of the McMaster Centre for Pulp and Paper Research and scientific leader of the new Canadian Network of Pulp and Paper Researchers, is a Tier 1 chairholder. His appointment is worth $200,000 a year for seven years and is renewable. The second new chairholder is mathematics professor Patrick Speissegger, who comes to McMaster June 1 from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Speissegger's research involves the discovery and study of new o-minimal structures and applications to real analytic geometry and differential equations. Speissegger, who has been awarded a Tier 2 chair, will hold the Canada Research Chair in Model Theory. His award is worth $100,000 a year for five years and can be renewed once. McMaster University now has 37 Canada Research Chairs. The two newest awards are part of the latest round of awards to 106 new Canada Research Chairs at 36 universities.

Posted on March 18: Conference helps refugee women reclaim their identity

After learning the horrific story of one of her students on a CBC documentary about "Victims of Torture", something became acutely clear to Alison Miculan, sessional lecturer in the departments of philosophy and health studies. "As we proceed through our busy lives, we rarely take account of the circumstances of those around us," she says. Her hope is a three-day conference beginning tomorrow on refugee women's lives and identity will open eyes to the experiences of refugees, who may be students, teachers, neighbours or friends. Canada, she says, admits more refugees per capita than any other country in the world three quarters of whom are women and children. "Many of these people have suffered persecution, rape, torture, physical and mental intimidation." Hosted by McMaster's Women's Studies Program and the Settlement and Integration Services Organization, the conference "Saying "I" Is Full of Consequences: Refugee Women Reclaim Their Identity", will focus on identity, research, education and policy. The conference takes place March 19-21 in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business. The initiator and academic organisor of the conference, Maroussia Ahmed, spent a year researching and preparing for this event. Ahmed is an associate professor of French and women's studies at McMaster. Other key organizers include Vera Chouinard, acting director of Women's Studies; Madina Wasuge, director of programs at SISO; Patricia Young, administrative co-ordinator, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies; Georgina Al-Hallis, McMaster graduate; Claudia Montan, program co-ordinator, SISO; and Miculan, administrative co-ordinator of the conference. The timing of the event could not be better, Miculan says. "In the current climate of international instability, Canada's refugee population is bound to increase," she says. "We need to be thoughtful and responsible in our policy and decision making with respect to refugees. We hope that this conference will give a listenership to the voices that need and deserve to be heard."

Posted on March 18: McMaster community celebrates diverse campus culture

Students and employees from McMaster residences are launching a pledge and button campaign in a bid to honour the diverse nature of the McMaster community. The launch of the Mac in 3D - Diversify, Don't Discriminate campaign takes place Tuesday, March 18 at 12 p.m. in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace. There will be speeches by McMaster President Peter George and Noah Gano, first-year residence student and committee member, followed by a facilitated roundtable discussion. Students and employees from the Residence Life Diversity Committee, formed in the fall, have joined together to promote diversity with the launch of the pledge campaign and a discussion on diversity. The committee was formed to take a proactive and educational approach to raising awareness. "The idea of the diversity pledge and button is that people will wear the button and send a message that we're a diverse campus and we celebrate it," said Michele Corbeil, residence manager-educational programs, housing & conference services. "We also want to discuss how our diversity can contribute to peace." Participants will take part in roundtable discussions following the launch of the pledge and button campaign in a process called Conversation Cafi. The idea started on the west coast following the events of Sept. 11. Conversation Cafis are lively, hosted, drop-in conversations among diverse people where everyone can share thoughts and actions. Traditionally, Conversation Cafis are held in public cafis.

Posted on March 17: Minds of the future bring ideas to McMaster

The future of science and engineering will be on display in McMaster's Burridge Gymnasium April 2 to 5. Close to 500 of the Bay Area's top brains from Grade 7 to OAC are participating in the 43rd annual Bay Area Science & Engineering Fair (BASEF). This is nearly double the number of students who participated in the event last year. Students from 65 schools located from Halton Hills to Dunnville will take part in the fair, which will offer more than $70,000 in prizes, including cash awards, scholarships and trips. There will also be a $250 prize donated by the McMaster Engineering Society. The top winners will qualify to compete at both the Canada Wide Science Fair in Calgary, Alberta May 10-17 and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Cleveland, Ohio May 11-18. McMaster students and employees are among approximately 200 volunteers that will judge 329 projects. The fair takes place over the course of four days, starting with project set-up on the first day, judging on the second day, trips and activities on the third, culminating in the award ceremony on Saturday.

Posted on March 17: Mystic Women of the Middle Ages premieres tonight

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live in the Middle Ages? To eat medieval food, take medieval medicine and listen to medieval music? McMaster researchers Kathy Garay and Madeleine Jeay do. The creators of Mystic Women of the Middle Ages II, a six-part documentary series premiering tonight on Vision TV at 8 p.m., wrote most of the scripts, supervised the location filming throughout Europe last summer and also appear in the series. They are excited about presenting the medieval period to the public. It has been an area both have researched, published and taught for 30 years. "It is a period which is sufficiently different from our own to be fascinating, but at the same time it has enough similarities to help us understand our own time," Garay says. "We are keenly aware that our contemporary culture has its origins and roots in the medieval period." The series explores the lives of extraordinary women, including spectacular location footage from Eastern and Western Europe: France, Germany, Hungary and Italy. The music, composed especially for the series, was inspired by authentic medieval music. There are descriptions of each episode on the Vision TV Web site.