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.July 24, 2009 Vol. 01 // No. 03
Chair's Office
ME and IE Programs Accredited for Four Years
The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board has officially approved accreditation of ME and IE programs for four years untill June 30, 2013. Many thanks to everyone for your effort, particularly to Prof. Greg Jamieson and Prof. Jim Wallace for preparing and hosting the accreditation board visit in November, 2008.
Goodbye to Anna Vanek
Anna Vanek, Director of Administration and Finance, will finish her one-year term at MIE on July 24, 2009. Anna has made tremendous contributions to MIE and has had profound and positive influence on everyone. We greatly appreciate Anna's contributions and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. A farewell party was held on July 24, 2009 in MC331; photos will be posted soon!
Kelly Coburn Returns
Kelly Coburn, Director of Administration and Finance, will return to work on July 27, 2009 following a one-year maternity leave. We are happy to welcome Kelly back to the department.
Social Events Committee Meeting
The MIE Social Events Committee had its first meeting on July 20, 2009, to discuss plans for MIE social events in 2009.
Chair's Office Renovation Completed
Jean Zu and Eleanor Morris have moved to the newly renovated Chair's office, room 136.
Photographer Available
Alice McQuarrie is available to take photographs for events, labs, facilities or any other purpose. If you would like photographs taken please contact alice@mie.utoronto.ca to arrange a photo shoot, a minimum of 24 hours before the event.
MIE Newsletter Entry Deadline
Please note that the deadline to submit entries for the MIE Newsletter is 2:00 PM every Thursday. Information received after that time will be entered in the following week, unless under special circumstances. When submitting photographs for the Newsletter, please send as JPEG files in an email attachment.
Research Activities
Away for Conference
  • Prof. David A. Steinman will be away July 24-31, attending the Gordon Conference on Visualization in Science & Education at Magdalen College, in Oxford, UK.
  • Prof. Mariano Consens will be away July 20-23, attending ACM SIGIR (the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval) in Boston. His graduate student, Sadek Ali will make a presentation at The Future of IR Evaluation Workshop.
  • Prof. Aimy Bazylak will be away July 26-31, 2009, attending the Gordon Research Conference on Fuel Cells at Bryant University, in Smithfield, RI, where she will present a poster.
  • Prof. Sanjeev Chandra will be away July 27-30, attending the International Conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems in Vail, Colorado.
  • Prof. Scott Rogers will be away from July 24-31, attending the IEEE Power and Energy Society’s annual meeting in Calgary, AB. For many years, he has been active in their working groups; Test Systems for Economic Analysis, Equilibrium of Electricity, Market Efficiency, Power System Operations, and more recently in the integration of Wind and Solar Power into Power System Operations.
Canadian Science Policy Conference
Better policies, better science
The Canadian Science Policy Conference will take place October 28-30, 2009, in Toronto. This years’ keynote speaker will be Preston Manning, and the conference will feature 11 panels with over 50 speakers. The early-bird registration deadline is August 15th, 2009. Click here for details.
Awards & Recognition
University of Toronto Arbor Award
Congratulations to Anton Davies (MEC 7T2, MASc 7T4, PhD 7T7) on winning the 2009 University of Toronto Arbor Award. The Arbor Awards were created by the University of Toronto in 1989 to recognize volunteers for outstanding personal service to the university. Anton has been involved with the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department since the early 1990’s, inspiring engineering excellence in our current students. He was a founding member of the MIE Board of Advisors in 2005 and is still an active member. Anton has organized field trips for students to visit RWDI, a wind engineering company for which he is the Vice-President. Under Anton’s encouragement, RWDI actively recruits new graduates from MIE.
MIE Professors Inducted into Canadian Academy of Engineering
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MIE Professors Cristina Amon, Javad Mostaghimi and Chul Park were inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering during the academy's recent annual general meeting in Calgary. The CAE comprises the country's most accomplished engineers, who have expressed their dedication to the application of science and engineering principles in the interests of Canada and its enterprises.
Click here for details.
Best Paper Finalist
Prof. Jean Zu and Alireza Hariri’s paper entitled Design of a Tissue Resonator Indenter Device for Measurement of Soft Tissue Viscoelastic Properties Using Parametric Identification has been nominated as a Best Paper finalist at the 2009 ASME/IEEE International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA09). Presentation will be given at the conference in San Diego on Sept. 1, 2009.
Graduate Studies
MIE TA Requirements - Fall 2009
TA information is now posted on the MIE announcement website. Please click here for requirement details and the application form. Complete applications must be submitted to the MIE Graduate Office, RS214, by 4:00 pm on Friday, August 7, 2009.
Upcoming Deadlines
The deadline to pay tuition fees and submit the Fees Arrangement Form is August 28th.
The deadline for registration and submission of Enrolment Forms is September 11th.

Check the MIE Grad website regularly; the 2009 Fall Course Schedule is coming soon.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Doctoral Prizes
SGS invites graduate departments to nominate their most outstanding Ph.D. candidate for the NSERC Doctoral Prizes 2010 Competition. Every year, NSERC offers Doctoral Prizes in recognition of excellence in student research. There are four prizes to be won, two from each of the following categories: natural sciences and engineering; and computer science. Each recipient will receive a framed citation, a silver medal, $10,000 and an invitation to an awards ceremony hosted by NSERC.

Eligibility Criteria:
  • Candidates must have successfully defended their doctoral thesis between September 6, 2008 and September 5, 2009;
  • Candidates must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents in Canada at the time of nomination.
Please contact the MIE Graduate Office regarding documents required for the competition. Nomination materials must be submitted to the office by Monday, August 24, 2009.
For more information, please click here.
Update on Common Room Renovations
The renovation of the Common Room, MC330 begins July 27, 2009 and will likely finish in September, before the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year. Please click here for details.
Ph.D. Qualifying Exam
Brendan MacDonald, will present Stability of an Evaporating Fluid
Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM
Location:Chalmers Conference Room (MC331)
Exam Committee:Professor C. A. Ward (Supervisor), Professor M. Bussmann and Professor S. Morris
Student Affairs
New Equipment in the MC-78 Machine Shop
NewEquipment
The Machine shop has purchased two new Electro Discharge Machines (EDM). The first is an Agie/Charmilles Hole Drilling EDM which can produce holes in any conductive material. The drill sizes range from 0.15mm to 3mm and can drill holes up to 200x the drill diameter in depth. The second machine is a Sodick CNC Wire Cutting EDM. This machine cuts extremely precise parts (resolution of 0.1 micron) by using a wire to electrically machine cut any conductive material. The smallest radius the machine can produce is 0.008mm. It can also cut tapers up to +/-15 degrees, accommodating pieces up to 210mm thick. The machine shop staff members are trained and currently accepting orders for parts made with these machines. Please stop by the shop if you have any questions or would like a quick demo.
Formula SAE Presents: U of T Shootout 2009
The University of Toronto Formula SAE Team will host a one-day Autocrossing Competition, with over $3000 in cash and merchandise prizes for both drivers and teams. Registration is $100 CDN. There is an 18 team limit, so please RSVP to business@fsae.utoronto.ca

Date: Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Location: Mosport International Raceway, Bowmanville, Ontario (www.mosport.com)
For more info: www.fsae.utoronto.ca/shootout
Work Abroad Opportunity
The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience is currently accepting applications for the 2010 exchange. The deadline for receipt of applications is December 10, 2009 for the summer and fall placements and October 15th, 2009 for the January placement. Please click here for more information.
Job Opportunities
Position: Development engineer, with solid background in rotor blades.
Company: EDAG GmbH & Co. KGaA
Location: Fulda, Germany
Click here for further details.
Position: Manager, Safety Assessment
Company/Organisation: The Nuclear Waste Management Organization
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Click here for further details.
Position: Tenure-track Assistant Professor
Company/Organisation: Texas Tech University
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Click here for further details.
Announcement
Oxfam Initiative
Beginning on July 24, Kathryn Poole (MIE’s Financial Assistant) will walk 100km in 48 hours for the Oxfam Trailwalker event. Teams of 4 will begin at Fort Willow Depot in Springwater, Ontario, where people from all over the world will follow the Ganaraska Trail System to Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Donations are accepted until August 31, 2009, and money raised will go towards overseas and local initiatives against poverty in developing areas. Click here for further information.

Habitat for Humanity Initiative
Philip Chen, a second year Engineering Science student, is directing an ambitious initiative to raise $80,000 to build a UofT Engineering Habitat for Humanity House. With over 64,000 families on the waiting list for social housing and 93,000 households living in poverty in Toronto, this project will help build a special University-sponsored home for a low-income family in the community. In the past year, the Eyes of Hope Club, in affiliation with the Engineering Society and the Department of Civil Engineering has raised $4,500 and sent 120 students and staff to volunteer at a Habitat construction site.

Staff, faculty, and students are invited to join together on August 15th, 2009 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at 20 Hainford Street, Scarborough to help build a home for a deserving family. Click here to make a donation or contact Philip Chen directly at phil.chen@utoronto.ca
Engineering Projects Wanted
The Arts and Science Mentorship program links 140 all-star high school students from the GTA with University of Toronto professors from a variety of departments, involving them in faculty-led research projects of all kinds; a series of interactive lectures culminating in a project, independent work in a particular area, small group work, field work, or a combination. The possibilities are endless! Professors can choose to accept one student, a small group, or an unlimited number of qualified students. Click here for more information.

MIE Professor Andreas Mandelis currently offers a project and the program would welcome additional projects from engineering. If any faculty members are interested in mentoring a highschool student, please contact Britt Gullick, at 416-978-8809 or britt.gullick@utoronto.ca
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