Engineer prized for innovation

Engineering science professor Albert Leung won the Ernest C. Manning award, worth $100,000, for a revolutionary accelerometer microchip deemed to be socially and economically beneficial to Canada. The accelerometer measures acceleration, motion and vibration, and is applicable to such household items as game consoles, air bags, and car alarms. Now it has caught NASA's attention as the only technology strong and sensitive enough to enable a probe to penetrate the surface of Mars and measure its volcanic activity.