MIE - newsletter 10

Welcome Back!
Welcome to the 2009-2010 Academic Year! I trust that everyone enjoyed the summer break and is now looking forward to a memorable year. A special welcome is extended to our new students, both undergraduate and graduate. There are challenges for both new and returning students but with perseverance and a positive attitude, you will do well. Our department has excellent professors who enthusiastically impart their knowledge and experience. Our support staff is dedicated to helping you negotiate the numerous details of student life. We wish you every success in the coming year.

New MIE Seminar Series Launched!

Our new MIE Departmental Seminar Series will begin on September 18, 2009, and continue every Friday from 2:00PM to 3:00PM in MC102. We have an exciting lineup of distinguished speakers from academia and industry. All members of the department, particularly graduate students, are encouraged to attend and be actively involved with hosting these guests in our department.

Many thanks to the Seminar Series Committee, chaired by Axel Guenther, and composed of Chris Beck, Yu Sun, and Craig Simmons, for their tremendous effort in putting together these exciting seminars. We look forward to seeing you next Friday!

Click here for Seminar Series schedule.

Renovation Update
Renovations in the Wallace Room (MC 330) will be completed by Friday, September 18th. We apologize for the delay and inconvenience.

APPEEC Call for Papers
Conference: Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference (APPEEC 2010)
Location: Chengdu, China
Date of conference: March 28-31, 2010

This conference is sponsored by IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), Sichuan University, Chongqing University, State Grid of China and Wuhan University. The proceedings will be published by IEEE and all papers accepted will be indexed by EI and ISTP. The technical areas to be covered are:

Power Generation - Conventional and Renewable
Power Transmission and Distribution
Power System Management
Smart Grid

Click here to visit the website or contact APPEEC for more information.

Professor Commentary Articles Wanted for IBBME Publication
IBBME Proceedings is a student-run peer-reviewed graduate journal for the institute. Our goal is to develop a medium for the academic exchange of ideas, dissemination of preliminary findings, news and views, reviews, techniques and encourage debate and discussion among our students.

IBBME Proceedings will reach over 300 graduate students, 80 principal investigators, post-doctoral fellows and technicians in laboratories across 13 IBBME-collaborating departments at the University of Toronto. It is an ideal medium in which to advertise opportunities for graduate studies, employment, scholarships and upcoming events. For our first issue (October 2009), 600 full-colour copies of IBBME Proceedings will be printed and distributed across the institution. The online version of the journal will be made available on the IBBME Proceedings website at the time of its publication.

Click here to visit our website for more information.

IBBME Proceedings (graduate student journal) is looking for professor commentary articles (approx 1000 words) for publication in our first issue (October 2009). Any article about a specific research area that highlights recent scientific and technical advancements and/or challenges in the field would be appropriate. Professors may wish to communicate their own research work, educate graduate students and perhaps recruit future students to their lab. Articles are due by October 1st.

Please contact IBBME if you are interested in this opportunity.

Funding Available for Clean Technology Projects
Clean-technology developers from across Canada are invited to submit Statements of Interest to the $550-million SD Tech Fund, as Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) opens its sixteenth funding round.

Click here for more information.

Canada-China Call for Proposals for Partnership Development Activities
ISTPCanada is pleased to announce the first Call for Proposals for the Canada-China Science and Technology Partnership Development Activities with the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP).

Click here for more information.

MIE Seminar Series
Dr. John W.M. Bush, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a University of Toronto Alumnus, will open the MIE Departmental Seminar Series this fall. He will present a Distinguished Lecture titled, The Fluid Trampoline: Droplets Bouncing on a Soap Film. Coffee and cookies will be served and everyone is welcome to attend.

Click here for details on this seminar..

Great Canadian Innovation
Congratulations to Industrial Engineering Alumni Kenneth Law (IND 8T9), who has been chosen as a semi finalist in the Great Canadian Innovation Competition with his design of the escMode Wheel Accessory, a safety device that could soon enable wheelchair-bound individuals to take the stairs in an emergency situation.

Click here to read the full article on CanadianBusiness.com

New Graduate Studies Office Hours
Please note the change to Graduate Studies Office hours beginning September 8th:

Monday to Friday
10:00AM to 12:30PM
1:30PM to 4:00PM

Ph.D. Thesis Seminar
Tianqiao Tang will present Failure Finding Interval Optimization for Periodically Inspected
Reparable Systems
Date: September 14, 2009
Time: 2:00PM
Location: Clarice Chalmers Conference Room (MC331), 5 King's College Road
Exam Committee: Professor A.K.S. Jardine (Supervisor and exam chair), Dr. D. Banjevic
and Prof. B. Balcioglu

Ph.D. Thesis Seminar
Hadi Ghasemi will present On the effect of Adsorption at Solid-Liquid Interface on Contact Angle
Date: September 18, 2009
Time: 10:00AM
Location: BA8119, Bahen Centre of Technology, 40 St. George Street
Exam Committee: Professor C.A. Ward (Supervisor and exam chair), Professor J.K. Spelt
and Professor K. Sefiane

Ph.D. Qualifying
Shoshana Hahn-Goldberg will present Chemotherapy Outpatient Scheduling Tools and Simulation Modeling
Date: September 16, 2009
Time: 5:00PM
Location: Clarice Chalmers Conference Room (MC331), 5 King’s College Road
Exam Committee: Professor M. Carter (Supervisor), Professor C. Beck (Exam Chair),
Professor D. Frances and Dr. M. Trudeau

MASc Oral Exam
Flora Wan will present Reverse Engineering of Content as a Task for Finding Usability Problems: An Evaluative Case Study Using the Wikibreathe Tool for Online Creation of Asthma Action Plans
Date: September 18, 2009
Time: 10:00AM
Location: BA8256, Bahen Centre of Technology, 40 St. George Street
Exam Committee: Professor M. Chignell (Supervisor and Exam Chair), Professor S. Straus
and Prof. D. Fels.

NSERC Workshop for Engineering Students,
Run by SGS
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009
Time: 10:00AM - 12:00PM
Location: Medical Sciences Building Rm. 3154

NSERC and OGS Application Deadlines
NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships (PGS/CGS) - Monday, October 5, 2009
Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) - Monday, October 12, 2009
NSERC and OGS applications are submitted to the MIE Graduate Studies office, RS214.
Applications for postdoctoral fellowships are submitted directly to NSERC.

Doctoral Thesis Completion Grant for 2009-2010
The Doctoral Thesis Completion Grant is awarded to domestic and international doctoral students who are registered full-time, paying full-time fees, and currently in their 5th or 6th year of study. Students can receive the grant in both their 5th and 6th year of study and need to apply each year.

Click here for the application form, available on the SGS website.

Enter 5th/6th year of Doctoral Studies in May 2009 - Application deadline: September 30th 2009
Enter 5th/6th year of Doctoral Studies in September 2009 - Application deadline: September 30th 2009
Enter 5th/6th year of Doctoral Studies in January 2010 - Application deadline: January 30th 2010

Please click here for details.

Registration 2009/2010
Deadline for registration and submission of Enrolment Forms to the MIE Graduate Office:
September 11th.

Click here for Registration information.

Please click here to see the Fall 2009 and Winter 2010 Graduate Course Schedule, now available on the MIE Graduate website.

Master Tuition Bursary for 2009-2010
Tuition fee bursaries are awarded to master's students who still have a small amount of work outstanding. These students will have registered full-time from the beginning of their programs and their minimum period of registration (i.e. program length) will have ended by or before either August or December of current year. Students receiving tuition fee bursaries will not be eligible for fellowships, scholarships and other awards. Essentially the bursary allows the recipient to pay the part-time fee for one term.

Click here for details.

November 2009 Convocation: M.A.Sc. and M.Eng. Students
M.A.Sc. and M.Eng. students planning to graduate in November 2009 must complete all degree requirements by Wednesday, September 30, 2009. Please send your graduation request to Brenda Fung by Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Click here for details.

November 2009 Convocation: Ph.D. Students
PhD students planning to graduate in November 2009 must complete all degree requirements by October 2, 2009.

Click here for details.

University of Western Ontario Offering Special Graduate Course
The Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at The University of Western Ontario is offering a special graduate course on optical methods in fluid mechanics this semester. The course will be taught by Dr. R. Gurka, from the Ben Gurion University, Israel. The course will be taught in a modular fashion to permit students from out of town to attend. Dr. Gurka has contributed to the development of optical methods and thus students will have opportunity to learn about the basics and the current innovations of these methods. All interested persons should contact Dr. Gurka.

Click here for the full course description.

Student Affairs

Welcome New Undergraduate Students

The MIE Engineering Department welcomed 196 new students to first year Mechanical and Industrial Engineering this week. The students participated in a fantastic week of orientation activities organized by Engineering Society Orientation Director, 4th year Industrial student Ines Fernandez Valdivieso. First year students had the opportunity to meet faculty and administrative members from the MIE community at the First Year Lunch, held Wednesday September 8th. Welcome to all our new students, we look forward to getting to know you as you progress through your education here in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Leaders of Tomorrow
Leading >From the Inside-Out: LOT Co-Curricular Certificate Program
All Mechanical and Industrial Engineering undergraduate students are invited to the Leaders of Tomorrow Kick Off Lunch on Monday, September 14th. This is your chance to learn what the Leaders of Tomorrow program is, what sort of events will be happening during the year, and how you can take on a leadership role in organizing these events. Lunch will be from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in Mining Building, Room 123. All MIE students are welcome, but please RSVP so that the correct amount of food can be ordered. To RSVP tol Shannon Osborne by Friday September 11.

Leadership Opportunity for Undergraduate Students
This highly interactive 5 week program is designed to help you step more fully into your potential as a leader. By participating in the second LOT Co-curricular Certificate you will be challenged to deepen your self-awareness, practice risk-taking, and connect with an authentic vision of your future.
The registration deadline is September 16th and space is limited to 30 people.
Click here for information on the application process.
Sessions will take place on Wednesday evenings from 5:00 to 7:00PM from September 23 to
October 21.

MIE Mentorship Program
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering offers a mentorship program for first year undergraduate students. This exciting program matches first year students with upper year MIE mentors to create networks and share the important things upper years wish they had known when they were in first year.
Registration is now open for both mentees (1st year students) and mentors (2nd, 3rd and 4th year students).

Please click here to visit us online and get involved.

Tutoring
Faculty of Engineering students have to opportunity to receive one ½ tutoring appointment every week for help with communication assignments, such as a written reports, oral presentations, essays (for elective courses), cover letters or resumes. The service does not provide correction or editing, but helps the student find their own strategies for improvement. Appointments may be booked online.

Job Opportunities

Position: Writer for the INFORMS Annual Meeting Daily E-News
Date: October 11 to 14, 2009
Location: San Diego, California
Number of Positions: 3 OR/MS students or graduates
Details: INFORMS seeks 3 OR/MS students or graduates to conduct on-site coverage of sessions, events, and breaking news during the 2009 INFORMS Annual Meeting. The writers are expected to produce content for a daily electronic newsletter throughout the 4-day meeting, and should have experience regularly publishing news articles in professional or collegiate news outlets or equivalent experience. They will be provided with a daily stipend of $100 and reimbursement for local transportation/parking costs, if necessary.

Qualifications:

Current or recent enrollment in a college-level OR/MS program and/or equivalent experience is required. Must be proficient with Microsoft Office (Word and Excel)
Laptop with wireless capabilities is required
Experience with digital photography and ownership of a digital camera is required
Must be able to attend the conference all 4 days

To apply please forward a resume and two writing samples (approximately 500 words each) to
Ms. Mary Leszczynski, Managing Editor,

Click here for more information on the meeting

Position: MIE221S Course Instructor
CUPE 3902 Unit 1 - Course instructor needed to teach a portion of

MIE 221S - Manufacturing Engineering
Date: Winter 2010

Click here for more information.

Announcement

Participants Needed for Trauma Study
If you have ever experienced a traumatic event, such as bullying, assault, accident, robbery, injury, or been witness to a trauma, and this event still causes you distress, you may be eligible to take part in this study.

Participants must meet the following criteria:
Between the ages of 18 and 65
Able to speak, write, and read English fluently
Have not written in a personal diary for at least 12 months
Do not identify the death of a loved one as the traumatic event
Not currently involved in psychotherapy
Not currently taking any psychotropic medications (i.e., antidepressants)
Not currently at risk of harming yourself or another individual

Qualifying participants will be compensated $40 and have the chance to win an additional $100 upon completion.
Please call 416-978-0702 if interested.

Habitat For Humanity
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering staff, faculty, undergraduates, and graduates are invited to in the U of T Engineering Habitat for Humanity Campaign and Sandwich Run for the Homeless. Click here to learn more about these events, go to eyesofhope.skule.ca, or come to the general meeting in Galbraith 217 on Wednesday, September 16, from 5:00PM to 7:00PM.

Volunteer Opportunities are available for the following events:

1. Habitat for Humanity Campaign
This is an ideal time to get involved with the UofT Engineering Habitat Campaign. There are three ways that you can participate;

A - COME TO THE BUILD EVENT
This is your opportunity to go to a construction site to learn how to build a house, and then help build it! No experience necessary and there are three upcoming build events:

Saturday September 26th, 2009 @ Morningside & Lawrence in Scarborough
Saturday October 3rd, 2009 @ Weston & Jane in North York
Saturday November 7th, 2009 @ Weston & Jane in North York

Participants are required to fundraise a minimum of $35 to cover the cost of construction materials (fundraising goal is $50). Free coffee, breakfast, pizza lunch and t-shirt are provided.

Click here to sign up.

B - HELP FUNDRAISE
Click here , to create an account, join a team, and then get your friends/families to sponsor you!

C - COME TO UPCOMING SEMINARS
Please come to our upcoming seminars in which we invite guest speakers from Habitat for Humanity Toronto. The speakers will present a detailed description of Habitat for Humanity projects, and how you can get involved in their exciting and meaningful work.

Seminar 1: Habitat for Lecture! How does Habitat select build sites?
Date: Monday September 21, 2009

Time: 11am - 12pm

Location: Bahen Center (BA) Lecture Room 1130

Click here to sign up

Seminar 2: Habitat for Humanity 101 Info Session

Date: Monday September 21, 2009

Time: 12-1pm and 1-2pm (identical sessions)
Location: Galbraith Building Lecture Room 119
Click here to sign up.

2. Sandwich Run Volunteer Opportunity
During sandwich runs, we walk around downtown Toronto to deliver meals to people in need, to check up on the homeless and to let them know that someone cares.

You can help in two ways:

A - PACKING MEALS
Before each run we prepare meals of bologna and cheese sandwiches, apples, juice and cookies.

B - ATTENDING RUNS
Experienced volunteers from Project 417 (a registered charity that works with the homeless) will train us and accompany us on the sandwich run to show us how to do it and how to stay safe.

At the end of the event, you can enjoy a free diner with all participants

Date: Friday, September 18th and 25th, 2009
Time: 4:00 PM - 10:30 pm
Cost: $10 (to purchase food and support Project 417 programs)
Location: Civil Engineering Graduate Lounge (129 Galbraith Building)

Event Dates:
Click here to sign up for the September 18th Sandwich Run.

Click here to sign up for the September 25th Sandwich Run.

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