Winter’s Tale takes Summer stage
Western Summer Shakespeare (formerly named UWO Summer Shakespeare) presents The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare July 3-7 in the University College (UC) Courtyard.
Directed by Western English professor Jo Devereux, Western’s performances of what is essentially a very spring-like or summery Winter’s Tale will be held at 7:30 p.m. July 3-7 in the UC Courtyard. Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and seniors).
For information, visit uwosummershakespeare.webs.com, or contact Jo Devereux at jdevereu@uwo.ca.
Western projects get internal boost
Five Western projects are one step closer to moving their work toward commercialization with awards from the Western Innovation Fund (WIF).
The awards, launched in 2004 and distributed annually by the Office of the Vice-President (Research), provide incentive for researchers to explore commercial opportunities outside the lab. Applicants can only receive one grant per type of project or technology. Projects are expected to be of short duration (6-12 months). Up to $50,000 in funding is available and is repayable only if there is a positive commercial outcome.
Approximately $200,000 in funding will be shared by the following winning projects:
- Jin Jiang, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, received $25,000 for the project, A wireless backup and validation system for monitoring critical variables at industrial facilities;
- Jayshri Sabarinathan, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, received $25,000 for the project, Novel optical micro-pressure sensors based on photonic crystal waveguides;
- Kamran Siddiqui, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, received $48,850 for the project, Smart and cost-effective dual-axis solar tracking and load bearing system;
- Mark Workentin and Paul Ragogna, Chemistry, Faculty of Science, received $50,000 for the project, Efficient photochemical approach to robust hydrophobic coatings on materials with spatial control;
- Jun Yang, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, received $49,305 for the project, A technique for fabrication of unique high-quality microfiltration membranes.
Professors emeriti Laidler, Parkin named CEA Fellows
Western Economics professors emeriti David Laidler and Michael Parkin have accepted the prestigious title of Fellow of the Canadian Economics Association at the Past Presidents’ Dinner of the association in Calgary on June 7.
Created in 2010, the award recognizes achievements and contributions to the most prominent economists who have spent a significant fraction of their careers in Canada. Both Laidler and Parkin joined Western in 1975.
Summerlee highlights Perspectives lineup
At the Teaching Support Centre’s recent Spring Perspectives on Teaching, Dr. Alastair Summerlee, University of Guelph president and vice-chancellor, delivered the keynote address, Student Engagement: The Key to Deep and Effective Learning.
Summerlee got faculty members excited about engaging students through closed loop re-interative enquiry based learning (EBL) in small groups. His research found first-year undergraduate students put in five times the amount of work into an enquiry-based class than into a traditional large first-year class, but the payoff is worth it; their grades in upper-years are, on average, 10 per cent higher than of students who do not participate in these small, intensive learning groups in first-year.
Quick hits
Team Western’s MS Bike Tour FUNdraising BBQ raised more than $1,300 on June 7 for the MS Society.