Daily News

Posted on April 14: Funding boosts high-tech research

McMaster's Mark Lawford was given a $205,000 boost for his research in software development, design and management from Communications and Information Technology Ontario (CITO). The assistant professor of computing and software engineering, received $100,000 from CITO, plus $100,000 from Ontario Power Generation and $5,000 in-kind support for his two-year project entitled "Reverse Engineering of High Level Requirements from Assembly Code." The majority of the money will be spent on support for graduate students working on the project. The group also has applied for an additional $38,000 per year in matching funds from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. CITO has provided more than $9 million in funding to support high-tech research projects at eight Ontario universities. In the latest round of funding, CITO is providing $5.373 million and industry sponsors are contributing $3.730 million in matching cash or in-kind support. McMaster's project also involves computing and software engineering professors Jacques Carette, Wolfram Kahl, Ridha Khedri and Alan Wassyng, who are members of the recently formed Software Quality Research Lab.

Posted on April 14: Student surge prompts building boom

A local developer is hoping to cash in on the double cohort McMaster University will face this fall by providing decent affordable student housing located halfway between the University and the downtown core. The six new 2 1/2-storey homes on Dundurn Street, between Main and King streets, will feature a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot apartment on the main floor with four lodging rooms and a common area upstairs to house a total of 36 students. Construction began last month and is expected to be finished the beginning of August, in time for the thousands of students who will descend upon Hamilton this fall. Click here to read the story in today's Hamilton Spectator.

Posted on April 14: Neuroscientist loves to study great minds

The brain of one of the 20th century's most gifted mathematicians is in the hands of McMaster University neuroscientist Sandra Witelson. She now has the chance to study the great mind of Donald Coxeter, internationally renowned for his work in geometry and the discovery of four-dimensional figures called polytopes. Coxeter, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and Companion of the Order of Canada, died at 96 in his Toronto home on March 31. For Witelson, it's a second opportunity to study one of the greatest minds of our times. Earlier, in 1995, an unexpected invitation allowed her to examine the preserved brain of Albert Einstein, 40 years after his death in Princeton. This research was possible because of the extensive brain bank she had developed at McMaster. Read the complete story in The Hamilton Spectator. Also read, Mathematic mind explored, in The Toronto Star

Posted on April 11: Tuberculosis health notice

This notice is to advise the McMaster community that a McMaster student was recently diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). The part-time student is now on medication under a physician's care and is no longer infectious. The student does not live on campus. The City of Hamilton's public health and community services department is notifying those persons who may have had exposure to the individual and advising them to attend the public health TB skin testing clinics that will be held on campus. Details about the clinics will be provided to people who were contacted by the Hamilton public health department. The testing procedure is a precaution as there is a low risk that anyone contracted the disease. TB is not easily spread and those at greater risk must have had close, prolonged exposure to the individual. Any students, staff and faculty who have not been contacted by the Hamilton public health department but are concerned about tuberculosis should consult the Hamilton public health department at 905-546-2063. For further information, contact the Campus Health Centre at 905-525-9140 ext. 27700. For more information on tuberculosis, please go to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care public information Web site at http://www.health.gov.on.ca:80/english/public/pub/disease/tuber.html or the Health Canada public information Web site at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/iyh/diseases/tuberculosis.html.

Posted on April 11: Medical radiation sciences program partnership meets needs of students, Ontarians

McMaster University and Mohawk College are today celebrating a $2.2 million award from Ontario's Strategic Skills Investment Program to launch a new collaborative healthcare program in medical radiation sciences. Beginning in September 2004, the fully integrated Diploma-Degree Program in Medical Radiation Sciences will provide students with the training they need to pursue careers in the field of medical imaging. Students in the collaborative program will study in one of two program options to become either medical radiation technologists (radiography), or diagnostic medical sonographers. The first group of students in September 2004 will graduate in April of 2008 with both a Bachelor of Science degree from McMaster University and a diploma in Health Sciences from Mohawk College. This is the first diploma-degree program offered in Ontario for diagnostic medical sonographers. The start-up costs for the collaborative project are estimated at $5.7 million, with $2,214,000 coming today from the Ontario Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation through the Strategic Skills Investment (SSI) Program. Industry partners are contributing about $1.4 million to the program. McMaster President Peter George said: "This partnership is another example of our focus on students and how best to meet their needs. This innovative program is a model for future successful fully-integrated university-college programs in medical radiation sciences. It will offer students a thorough scientific education through our Faculty of Science combined with experiential learning that will help them excel. In turn, this collaboration will also address the critical and growing need for medical imaging professionals in Ontario."