UU直播

Faculty accolades

The Board of Governors has appointed Dr. Charles Gale the W. C. Macdonald Professor of Physics, effective January 1, 2006. Dr. Gale is renowned for his theoretical work on relativistic nuclear collisions. He has made detailed predictions for the nuclear equation of state and electromagnetic probes of high temperature nuclear matter in heavy ion collisions. This addresses, for example, phase transitions expected at high energies involving the quark-gluon plasma, giving insight into phenomena not only on large energy scales, but into energetic processes in the early universe.

The Macdonald Chair is the Department of Physics' oldest endowed chair, dating back to 1891, and was once held by Nobel laureate Ernest Rutherford.

Dr. Hong Guo, also from the Department of Physics, has been named a new member of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research's Nanoelectronics program.

For many years, computers and other devices have been packing more and more data processing power into ever-smaller packages; but in the foreseeable future, basic issues in the physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering of silicon will limit further miniaturization. Launched in 1999, the CIAR Nanoelectronics Program supports research into alternatives and complements to extant silicon technology.

Dr. Guo's research lies at the heart of the physics that govern properties of nanometric electro-mechanical systems, and addresses questions such as: How can we predict electric current flowing through a molecule connected to the outside world by metallic electrodes or by other molecules? How can we find the best operational principles of molecular scale field effect on transistors? What is the physics behind these principles? How can we predict the response of a molecular scale circuit?

Dr. Caroline Palmer, from the Department of Psychology, has been awarded Fellow status in the American Psychological Association. Fellow status is awarded on the basis of evaluated evidence of outstanding contribution in the field of psychology, based on special recognition by peers. Fellows must also demonstrate the national impact of their work.

Dr. Palmer holds the Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuropsychology of Performance. Her research program combines two related issues in cognitive psychology: how people remember long sequences typical of speech and music, and how they produce those sequences.

Based in Washington, DC, the APA is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists.

Dr. George Styan, from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, was recently awarded the H. C. Carver Medal of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). This award honours Harry C. Carver, Founding Editor of the Annals of Mathematical Statistics and one of the founders of the IMS. The medal is for exceptional service specifically to the IMS and is open to any member of the IMS who has not previously been elected President. The IMS citation lauds Dr. Styan

[f]or dedicated and enthusiastic service to the IMS and the statistics profession throughout his career; for substantial and innovative editorial achievements in his vitalization of the IMS Bulletin, including founding the International Calendar of Statistical Events, in his role as editor of Chance, and in his longstanding and continuing contributions to the Current Index to Statistics; for exemplary service to the IMS through membership on organizing committees for many international meetings and on its council; and for elevating the taste of the statistical community with 茅lan and savoir faire as a gourmet par excellence.

Student accomplishments

Congratulations to the winners of the Sigma Xi Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award. This new award recognizes outstanding undergraduate researchers in the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The following students from the Faculty of Science are recipients of the award:

Congratulations are also due to the supervisors of these young researchers.

Each award consists of a diploma, a one-year membership in the Sigma Xi UU直播-Montreal Chapter of the Society, and a one-year subscription to American Scientist magazine. In addition, this year the award covered the registration fee of the Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference, which will take place on November 12-13, 2004, at Le Centre Sheraton in Montreal.

Sigma Xi is an honour society of scientists and engineers founded in 1886 to promote research. Among its 70,000 members worldwide, nearly 200 of them have won the Nobel Prize and many more have been elected to academies of sciences and engineering.

The philosophy of the UU直播-Montreal Chapter of Sigma Xi, established in 1921, is to stimulate enthusiasm for scientific research, and to create a community of researchers of various backgrounds who expand their intellectual horizons by exchanging views with colleagues from different areas.

Notable alumni

Congratulations to Dr. Caroline Pukall, from the Department of Psychology, who recently won the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies/University Microfilms International Distinguished Dissertation Award for her thesis entitled Understanding vulvar vestibulitis syndrome through pain measurement: application of multidimensional pain methodologies and development of novel assessment techniques.

Dr. Pukall's research was supervised by Professor Irv Binik, a leader in the field of human sexuality and particularly the sexual pain disorders vaginismus and dyspareunia.

The CAGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Awards recognize Canadian doctoral dissertations that make unusually significant and original contributions to their academic field. There are two awards: one for engineering, medical sciences and the natural sciences; and one for the fine arts, humanities and social sciences. The awards are granted by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) and are sponsored by UMI (University Microfilms International). They include a $1,000 prize, a citation certificate, and travel expenses of up to $1,500 to attend the 2004 CAGS Annual Conference in St. John's, Newfoundland.

The TR100 is Technology Review's selection of 100 top innovators under the age of 35. The fourth TR100 was announced in the October 2004 issue of Technology Review. We are pleased to note that Faculty of Science alumni feature among this influential group. Colin Hill, MSc'98 (Physics), is the CEO, President, Chairman and co-founder of Gene Network Sciences. His company uses "virtual cells" to uncover how drug compounds work, with the goal of more than doubling the success rate in human trials. Maria Petrucci-Samija, PhD'99 (Chemistry), is a Photonics R&D program leader with DuPont. She leads research into integrated photonic circuits, with the goal of making network communications (such as the Internet) faster, cheaper, and more reliable. Photonic circuits have promising implications for the development of superfast optical computers. Technology Review is MIT's magazine of innovation, and its mission statement is "to promote the understanding of emerging technologies and their impact on business and society."

On behalf of the Faculty of Science, congratulations and best wishes.

Alan Shaver
Professor & Dean
Faculty of Science