News archive for February 2010

The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science wishes to extend its sincere congratulations to Javad Dargahi, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, for his recent Honourable Mention at the 2009 PROSE Awards.

His book, Artificial Tactile Sensing in Biomedical Engineering, was the runner-up in the Engineering & Technology category of the Professional and Scholarly Excellence Awards, which are known as the "Oscars" of the Association of American Publishers. This year's winners were determined by a distinguished panel of 16 judges. The 2009 PROSE Awards received a record-breaking 441 entries - more than ever before in its 34-year history - from more than 60 professional and scholarly publishers across the USA.

Well over 50 enthusiastic alumni, students, and industry professionals came to visit the EV and JMSB buildings on Wednesday, 17 February, in order to attend a special lecture and tour presented by Dr. Andreas Athienitis, Senior Director of the Concordia-based Solar Buildings Research Network (SBRN).

Athienitis, a professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering and a globally recognized expert on the subject of solar energy, began the evening with a detailed presentation on his research into the subject of renewable energy. He spoke of the SBRN, which has as its goal the development of the solar-optimized building as an integrated advanced technological system that approaches net-zero energy consumption while being cost effective and comfortable. He then detailed some of the projects the Network had undertaken, including the extremely innovative solar wall project atop Concordia's JMSB building (opened in 2009).

Athienitis, with the help of his dedicated undergraduate student James Bambara, then led the assembled group on a fascinating tour of the solar wall itself. He took attendees up to the 16th floor of the JMSB building and showed the inner workings of the cutting-edge installation while answering a host of intelligent questions on the varied applications of solar energy.

The event was organized by the Engineering and Computer Science Alumni Chapter (ECAC). For more on the Chapter and their upcoming events, visit their official website.

For more on the solar wall project, be sure to read the "Spotlight on Solar Panels" article published in the Concordia Journal in October 2009.

For more photos from the event, check out the ENCS Flickr page!

ENCS Professor Georgios Vatistas has proven that engineers can look beyond pure science and, like true "Renaissance men," interact with the arts! There is ample evidence for this in the recent publication entitled "Science and Technology in Homeric Epics" (edited by S. A. Papipetis and published by Springer in their History of Mechanism and Machine Science series).

The book is based on presented at the international symposium "Science and Technology in Homeric Epics," given in Ancient Olypia in August 2006. It features an essay by Vatistas entitled " Vortices in Homer's Odyssey - A Scientific Approach," as well as a paper by fellow Concordian Annette Teffeteller (associate professor in the Department of Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics) entitled "Linguistic Science and Script Technology: The Homeric Evidence."

The book aims to challenge the notion that the seemingly scientific knowledge and admirable technological achievements presented in the Homeric epics should be attributed to poetic inspiration rather than to a solid scientific mind.

ENCS is delighted to report that the master's thesis of Concordia graduate Javad Lavaei recently won the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools Master's Thesis Award for 2009-2010. The competition for this award includes entries from the best universities in the world, including Cornell, Harvard, Yale, McGill, and the University of Toronto. Lavaei's research was funded by NSERC and supervised by Amir Aghdam (Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering).

This award is given to one candidate (selected from the 120 member institutions) every three years in the category Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering.

The Faculty's 'Coffee Break for a Cause' was a successful get-together that raised over $600 for Haïti Relief Effort.

Considering that the event ran for an hour's time, along with the government matching funds initiative, ENCS can be most proud that the Canadian Red Cross will be receiving $1,000 in the name of Haïti Relief Effort.

Many, many thanks for your generous contributions!