Mirza Faisal Beg (above) from the School of Engineering Sciences receives a meritorious achievement award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. He is developing computational tools for the analysis of brain images that can be used in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Faisal Beg climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010 to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society of B.C.
Pat Frouws (left), executive director of the
SFU Childcare Society, receives the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. She is recognized for her efforts in the design and implementation of the UniverCity Childcare Centre that opened in 2012.
Chemistry professor George Agnes (above) is the developer of the academic curriculum used by eight youths who ran 400 kilometres through the Kalahari Desert researching science-related subjects connected to the theme of water availability. The project is part of the impossible2Possible (i2P) World Expedition Series.
Teeny Ted from Turnip Town makes it into Guinness World Records as the world’s tiniest reproduction of a printed book. It was produced in SFU’s NanoImaging Lab in 2007 and measures a mere 0.07 mm x 0.1 mm. The book is tinier than the two previous tiny books: the New Testament of the King James version of the Bible (5 x 5 mm) produced by MIT, and Chekhov’s Chameleon (0.9 x 0.9 mm).
Andrew Sixsmith, director of SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre, is one of a trio of researchers developing intelligent, interactive sensors for seniors’ homes to encourage independent living. The sensors will remind seniors to exercise, take medication, turn off the stove, and do other essential activities. The project, Ambient Assistive Living Technologies for Wellness, Engagement and Long Life (AAL-WELL), is jointly funded by the federal government and European groups, under the initiative European Research Area on Ageing. <www.aal-well.org>
A study co-led by Mario Pinto, vice-president research, discovers that intestinal enzymes responsible for processing starchy foods in the stomach can be turned on and off. The process, called “toggling” could lead to several solutions for type 2 diabetes, a disease that is on the rise with an aging, overweight population.
The Sierra Wireless Mobile Communications Laboratory places B.C. at the forefront of wireless communication research and education. The lab is capable of high-speed antenna pattern mapping, a process that speeds up the mapping from 48 hours using conventional methods to minutes or hours.
A “tree of life” for birds, mapping the relationships of all 9,993 known species, shows that the evolutionary rate of birds appears to be accelerating. The research- ers, including SFU biologist Arne Mooers and post-doctoral fellow Jeff Joy, write in Nature, “We find birds have undergone a strong increase in diversification rate from about 50 million years ago to the near present.”
Archaeologist David Burley (above) and colleagues at the University of Queensland in Australia have significantly narrowed the time frame during which the last major chapter in human colonization occurred. Burley and his group argue in an article in PLOS ONE that the first boats arrived in the Polynesian triangle between 880 and 896 BC. This 16-year window is much smaller than the 178 years previously believed. <www.plosone.org>
Listen to David talk about his research
Astronaut Chris Hadfield has a little bit of SFU with him in space. Hadfield is running an experiment for physics professor Barbara Frisken investigating how colloidal alloys react away from gravity. Colloids are microscopic particles suspended in another material such as a liquid. The research may help in designing new plastics.
Melanie O’Brian is the new director of the Teck, Audain, and SFU art galleries. She says there is a huge opportunity to expand on the work done by outgoing director Bill Jeffries in making the galleries even more prominent in their communities.
Charter faculty member Ed Gibson died late last year. He was associate professor of geography, associate of the School for the Contemporary Arts and the School of Natural Resource Management, and director of the SFU and Teck galleries.
SFU’s newest student centre is named for Thelma Finlayson (above) , the 98-year-old former biology professor who spent 40 years after retirement advising students. It is estimated that as many as 8,000 struggling learners were helped by Finlayson, so it is fitting that the centre will be devoted to student success.
The School of Communication, that’s who. To celebrate, it is holding a conference on Communication and Global Power Shifts in Vancouver, June 7–9, and an international summer school on the same theme, June 3–14. In September this year it is inaugurat- ing a new MA program in global communication, jointly with the Communication University of China. For information go to <www.cmns.sfu.ca/graduate/admissions/master-of-arts-double-degree>.
The SFU men’s soccer team makes history as they reach the semifinals in their first NCAA season. They have a great run, including a profile in the New York Times, before they lose to Saginaw Valley State of Michigan in the NCAA Division II Final Four. Head coach Alan Koch is named coach of the year Far West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and coach of the year by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Daktronics All-American team names Matt Besuschko to the first team, Michael Winter to the second team, and Ryan Dhillon to the third team, while Carlo Basso receives honourable mention.
There’s an app for that. SFU researcher Jay Olson creates a jet-lag prevention app by developing an algorithm to determine when a traveller should seek or avoid light. <JetLagRooster.com>
SIAT student Michael Cheng (above) of Witty Cookie, a low-cost web design company, is racking up the accolades. Nurtured by the SFU Venture Connection Incubator program, Cheng is crowned SFU Entrepreneur of the Year, named to the Surrey Board of Trade’s Top 25 Under 25 list, and awarded the title of Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Surrey Board. <www.wittycookie.com>
SFU’s Philosophers’ Café is recognized by the 2012 Best Practices in Higher Education Award from the World Universities Forum. The 15-year-old Continuing Studies program demonstrates how new approaches to conversation and scholarship can invigorate inquiry and engage the community. More than 70,000 people have attended the Philosophers’ Café since it was founded by Yosef Wosk.
