News archive for June 2010

Concordia's chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers recently met with great success at an important competition in California.

ENCS Dean Robin Drew was especially pleased by the team's success, noting that "this marks a great finale to a lot of hard-work and dedication by everyone involved, but especially by those who are close to finishing their degrees but have decided to spend a "little time" focusing on SAE activities this past year."

Martin Pugh, Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE), echoed Dean Drew's priase, saying that "it is truly impressive that the team finished the complete event especially the endurance run."

Dominic Ng, Engineering Design Specialist for MIE, accompanied the SAE team to California, and filed this report:

The last point Concordia made in the endurance event of a Formula SAE competition was in 1995. On Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 13:13pm in the dry 32 degree heat of the Auto Club Speedway of Fontana, California, that changed.

After 22 laps [22 km], 32minutes and 38.026 seconds and one very successful driver change, Talullah [the car] and the Concordia FSAE team crossed the finish line and saw its first checkered flag in 15 years! Not only did they finish 'endurance' but the team was also one of ONLY 14 teams to score points in all events [which was acknowledged and received mention during the awards ceremony]!

In this Boston Marathon of student events, where making it to the competition is an enormous feat in itself, Mike Rembacz and his team finished the most difficult event of the weekend, the endurance challenge without so much as a broken clutch pin and with fuel to spare. At the most difficult step in the endurance, when the vehicle must be turned off, drivers changed and the vehicle restarted without any assistance, second driver Andrew Stewart [who remembers seeing the engine temperature at 240F and being 'concerned'] pushed the start button and comfortably drove 11 laps to the finish.

In the three short weeks between their last race in Michigan and leading up to the California Dream, the team spent many sleepless nights. They reduced the vehicle weight from 618 to 580 lbs, tweaked the Engine Control Unit, performed an engine rebuild, designed and built a new muffler, designed and built a pit cart, track tested the vehicle and performed an near endless number of pre-race adjustments and refinements. It paid off.

After three years of effort and as many iterations, what we have now is a solid platform for the team to grow on. We can only imagine what lies ahead for Concordia FSAE.

Congratulations to the FSAE team for the past many years of hard work and determination. Congratulations in your professionalism, poise and maturity. Congratulations in making Concordia proud.

Cheers all around and Thank You supporters and fans for all your help and encouragement ... stay tuned for greater things to come! For official results check out http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/results/

Today, 740 students were awarded degrees in Engineering and Computer Science. Many of them turned up in their gowns and finery at the morning convocation ceremony, held in Place-des-Arts.



Officials from Concordia University and from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science also donned robes and delivered speeches in support of our graduates. ENCS Dean Robin Drew was especially pleased by the turnout of doctoral candidates: out of 27 doctorates being awarded, 24 students attended the ceremony to receive their degrees.


Of note was the presence of Julie Payette, who received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty. She took to the podium with obvious delight after a warm introduction by Professor Marius Paraschivoiu, Director of the Concordia Institute for Aerospace Design and Innovation, and was met by thrilled cheers from the audience. At home in front of a crowd, as evidenced by the fact that she has sung with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Payette spoke with great enthusiasm of her passion for education and for engineering--a passion that drove her to follow her dream of becoming an astronaut. "I remember being 10 years old," she recounted, "and seeing astronauts on TV heading to the moon. I thought 'wow, I want to do that!'" She encouraged our graduates to keep up their own passions for exploration, discovery, and invention, and received a standing ovation from many in the crowd as well as on stage.

Degrees were then awarded as ecstatic parents, friends, and family members showed their support by clapping, cheering, hooting vuvuzelas, and even playing djembés. Sven James (pictured here), the ceremony's valedictorian, took to the stage in this festive atmosphere after the last degree had been presented, and, with great poise and composure, delivered a very thoughtful speech on what it means to be an engineer or computer scientist in today's world.  "We must remain humble," James cautioned while speaking of the bright future that he and his peers could help create.

Concordia's president, Judith Woodsworth, closed the ceremony with kind words of encouragement and with hopes that all our new graduates will continue to keep in touch as they pursue careers and make their way in the world.

On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada announced the recipients of the 2010 Discovery Accelerator Supplements program (DAS). This prestigious program provides substantial and timely additional resources to accelerate progress and maximize the impact of outstanding research programs.

This year, Concordia enjoyed unprecedented success with the program, securing six awards--all within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. Congratulations to all our awarded researchers:

• Sofiene Tahar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Ali Dolatabadi, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
• Catherine Mulligan, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering
• Ibrahim Hassan, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
• Osama Moselhi, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering
• Amr Youssef, Concordia Institute for Information System Engineering
  

Each award represents $120,000 over three years, and is given in order to help propel the research activities towards increased productivity. Recipients of the highest quality are selected during the annual Discovery Grants Competition by the NSERC evaluation committees.

The DAS are a new component of the Discovery Grants Program and aim to provide substantial and timely additional resources to accelerate progress and maximize the impact of outstanding research programs. Evaluation Group members nominated candidates for DAS during Discovery Grant competition discussions, and the Executive Committee of each Evaluation Group selected the final winners from their group of nominees.

Robin Drew, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science is pleased to congratulate the following faculty members on their recent accomplishment of being granted Tenure, early promotion to Associate Professor, or promotion to Professor. He notes that, "the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science is a challenging and dynamic environment to work in and these faculty members deserve a sincere 'well done!'"
 
Tenure
Drs. Jessica Mudry, Dongyu Qiu, Rolf Wuthrich and Attila Zsaki

Early Promotion to Associate Professor
Drs. Sheng Samuel Li, Jamal Bentahar, Nizar Bouguila, Lyes Kadem and Lingyu Wang

Promotion to Professor
Drs. Akif Bulgak, Volker Haarslev, Mythukumaran Packirisamy, Marius Paraschivoiu, Yong Zeng and Wei-Ping Zhu

 

The Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering is pleased to announce that Dr. Nizar Bouguila and his collaborators Drs. Mohand Said Allili from Université du Québec en Outaouais , Djemel Ziou and Sabri Boutemedjet from Sherbrooke University won the best vision paper award at the Seventh Canadian Conference on Computer and Robot Vision (CRV 2010) with paper entiteled: "Unsupervised Feature Selection and Learning for Image segmentation"

The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science is pleased to announce that an advisory search committee for a Chair for the General Studies Unit has completed its work and recommended the appointment of Dr. Deborah Dysart-Gale as Chair of the Department effective June 8, 2010. 

Dr. Dysart-Gale obtained her PhD in 1999 from the University of Pittsburg and joined Concordia University in 2006 as Assistant Professor in the General Studies Unit.  She has been Associate Chair of the GSU since 2007. She has great plans for GSU, including coming up with a more appropriate name for the unit, as well as involving it in departmental activities such a capstone and accreditation. Dean Robin Drew was pleased with the announcement, noting that Dysart-Gale's "consultative style and ability to listen to others are just a couple of the many great attributes that she brings to the job."

Dysart-Gale is up for the challenge, pointing out that this faculty has been interested in the social dimensions of engineering since 1968, back before the first Earth Day. "I believe that shows that Concordia was engaged in environmental and social stewardship before many in the general public even realized the seriousness of these issues," she explains. "As these problems have become more acute in recent years, so has ENCS's commitment to educating technically excellent engineers and computer scientists whose work produces excellent social outcomes. The General Studies Unit's teaching, research, and outreach efforts contribute toward that goal by emphasizing the socioeconomic, political and ethical aspects of engineering practice." With a dynamic leader like Dysart-Gale at its helm, the General Studies Unit is sure to take some exciting new directions in the coming years.

A happy crowd assembled in the Norman D. Hébert room on Thursday, June 10, to celebrate this year's Electrical and Computer Engineering capstone projects. Department Chair Bill Lynch opened the ceremonies, praising the students for their hard work and calling the capstone projects the "true engineering experience."



Lynch then invited Nawwaf Kharma to the podium to present awards for the COEN/ELEC 390 Projects. As an instructor of the 390 class, Kharma was pleased to be reunited with some of his former students as he handed out the certificates in the following categories:

Mine Sweeper
1st Place: Mad Men - Michael Hasenfratz, Ashkan Ahmadi, Samuel Fisher, Sri Vengadesa   
2nd Place: DKHY - Da Zhong Huang, Thanh Khiet Pham, Thanh Khiet Pham, Yong Yi Xian           

Line Follower
1st Place: Green light - Diego Czul, Amel Affani, Charles Tessier, Randall Arlitt           
2nd Place: Robo-follower - Andrew Wolczak, Nicky Gandhi, David Cuddihy, Christopher  Derrig         

Sumo-Bot
1st Place: S.U.M.O.B.O.T - Matthew Harris, Wojciech Galuszka, Mathieu Dubé, Christopher Williams       
2nd Place: Yokozuna Destroyer - Michal Mlek, Michael Bianco, Anthony Tanzer, Ardeshir Shahabi
3rd Place: XYZ - Rizwan Intwala, Radu Oana, Anas Abusalah, Alaa Refaei       

Street Racer
1st Place: NewType_Racing - Nicolas Vicenzo, Korhan Akcura, Seoung-Doo Kang, Ayman Elkhashab

Once the 390 awards had been given out, Dr. Lynch returned to the stage to hand out the 490 awards to the final-year teams of undergraduates. The first award presented was the first place prize, which went to the Qx4 Quadrotor Hovering Robotic Platform team, made up of Zaid Al-Khatib, Hasan Ghazi Al-Khakani, Samer Komarji, Jaime Yu. The project was supervised by Amir Aghdam and is also the winner of the MTT Alive video competition, an international competition that featured short videos generated by students describing their wireless systems-oriented design projects, and organized by the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. (Look at the video on YouTube.)

The second place prize went to the Wireless Gesture Recognizing Human Interface Device project, made by Jesus Garcia, Jordan Blanchard, Radwan Al-Shami, Noran Al-Shami, Aristomenis Tefanis; and supervised by Rabin Raut and Abdelwahab Hamou-Lhadj

Third place went to the Smart Home System by Chamrong Pheng, Zhaoqing Liu, Yue Gao, Guang Jian Zeng; supervised by Christopher Trueman and Dmitry Rozhdestvenskiy

Honorable Mention Certificates were also given out for the following projects:

Digital Video Broadcasting for the Handheld (DVB-H) - Kamal Preet Kaur, Rwan Ibrahim, Morshedul Ahsan Noble, Subathira Kandasamy. Supervised by    Reza Soleymani.

Front Desk Information Board - Valitov Sergey, Brian Rubin, Alan Silva, Jennifer Correa. Supervised by Abdelwahab Hamou-Lhadj.

Congratulations to all the students on their hard work.

Tens of thousands of future scientists descended on Montreal's sun-drenched Old Port over the June 11 weekend to participate in the fourth annual Eureka! science festival.  Always keen to give kids of all ages the chance to experience the wonders of science first hand, Concordia was once again a proud participant in this lively event co-produced by the Conférence régionale des élus de Montréal and the Montreal Science Centre.



This year, Concordia's Faculties of Arts & Science and Engineering & Computer Science both partook in the event. Arts & Science connected with the crowd by asking questions like what do figure skaters, origami and space satellites have in common? Coordinated by Miriam Posner, Technical Supervisor in the Department of Chemistry, the experiments kept kids focused on having scientific fun. "This event is just wonderful," said Posner with a broad smile. "Seeing the expression on a kid's face when something scientific really clicks is what Eureka! is all about."

The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science took up Eureka duties on the Sunday and inspired a host of future building and civil engineers with a hands-on demonstration on the science of bridges. Chris Maloney, coordinator of the 2010 edition of Concordia's Troitsky Bridge Building Competition, did an excellent job of managing the event, which marked ENCS's first time at Eureka! He used the popular K'Nex brand of building blocks to demonstrate the principles of bridge building to hundreds of young participants, who showcased their creativity with their own designs. "I'm already thinking about how we can improve on this for next year," said Maloney, whose team of fellow students from the Department of Buildng, Civil, and Environmental Engineering kept the day run smoothly with their dedication and enthusiasm.

On Tuesday, June 8, Concordia's Office of the Vice President, Research and Graduate Studies held its annual Research Awards. Hosted by Louise Dandurand, the University's Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies, the evening reception honoured some Concordia's most promising and innovative researchers. As Dandurand handed out the awards, she warmly thanked the professors for their "passion for research and dedication to the university and its students."



The Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science was front and centre at the ceremony. Drs. Andreas Athienitis and Rolf Wüthrich were named Concordia University Research Fellows in the "Technology, Industry, and Environment" category: Dr. Athienitis in the "established" subsection, and Dr. Wüthrich in the "emerging." Both were delighted with the award and the recognition, and each will receive a $5,000 research grant and the privilege of holding the title of for one year. The two were honoured alongside their colleagues Ron Rudin and Patrick Lehoux from the Faculty of Arts and Science.

The event also honoured faculty members who had been awarded grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's Leaders Opportunity Fund. Rodrigue Hurtubise, Manager of Public Affairs for CFI's Communications office, was on hand to give out the certificates. These grants are designed to help universities attract and retain the very best of today's and tomorrow's researchers, and offer universities the opportunity to acquire infrastructure for their leading research faculty to undertake cutting-edge research. The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering saw three of its professors--George Vatistas, Lyes Kadem, and Hoi Dick Ng--receive LOF grant for a project on which Kadem serves as team leader and Vatistas and Ng act as co-investigators. Xavier Ottenwaelder and Alexandre Champagne, professors in the Faculty of Arts and Science, also won LOF Grants; as did the JMSB's Bianca Grohmann.

Dean Robin Drew was on hand for the evening reception and was all smiles when speaking of what the awards meant to ENCS. "Groundbreaking research is one of the pillars of this Faculty, so I'm very proud to see our professors so well represented at the University Research Awards. It's especially pleasing to see our younger faculty members having their work recognized alongside that of more established research like that of Drs. Athienitis and Vatistas. Even though Drs. Wuthrich, Ng, and Kadem have only been with ENCS for a few years, their work is already leaving its mark."

The University has presented these awards in order to recognize their exceptional contributions, both within their respective fields and to the Concordia community as a whole. Through their continued success with substantial and sustained funding, their impressive records of publication and their dedication to graduate student supervision, they have emerged as our very best leaders and ambassadors. These awards are an acknowledgment of their accomplishments and an expression of thanks.

The University Research Awards were first created in 1998, to recognize and promote excellence in research and creative activity at Concordia University.

A recent issue of Les Affaires (June 5-11, 2010) featured a quotation from ENCS's own Suong Van Hoa, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Written by Marie Lyan, the piece focused on how new composite materials are helping to create lighter airplanes, which in turn means greener flights.

Want to know more? Read the entire article here (in French only).

On Monday, May 31, a crowd of well-wishers gathered in the Nabil Esmail Faculty and Staff Lounge to honour Thiruvengadam Radhakrishnan, who will be stepping down from his position as Chair of the General Studies Unit after four years of valued service.



The morning event was opened up by Associate Chair of the GSU, Deborah Dysart-Gale, who warmly thanked Radhakrishnan (or "Krishnan," as he is more affectionately known) before giving the floor to Jessica Mudry, an Assistant Professor with the GSU, who then presented him with well-deserved gifts from the Unit. Christopher Trueman, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, praised Radhakrishnan on behalf of both Dean Drew and the entire Faculty "for all that he's done for ENCS." Trueman also noted that a special bursary has been established in the name of this professor who has dedicated so much of himself to this Faculty.

Radhakrishnan himself then delivered a brief speech of thanks to his colleagues, explaining how his time with the GSU had been like a second life to him and expressing his sincere hopes that the Unit would continue to expand and grow once a new Chair has been chosen. He was careful to single out Dr. Nabil Esmail in particular, citing him as the individual who had truly championed the creation of the General Studies Unit. Esmail was pleased to say a few words to the assembled crowd about how much "the Ghandi of the Faculty" had contributed during his years of service.

Congratulations to Drs. Andreas Athienitis and Rolf Wüthrich, who, along with two professors from the Faculty of Arts and Science, have won the 2010 University Research Awards.

Both won the awards in the "Technology, Industry, and Environment" category: Dr. Athienitis  in the "established" subsection, and Dr. Wüthrich in the "emerging." Dr. Athienitis is part of the Department of Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, and Dr. Wüthrich is part of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

The University has presented these awards in order to recognize their exceptional contributions, both within their respective fields and to the Concordia community as a whole. Through their continued success with substantial and sustained funding, their impressive records of publication and their dedication to graduate student supervision, they have emerged as our very best leaders and ambassadors. These awards are an acknowledgment of their accomplishments and an expression of thanks.

The University Research Awards were first created in 1998, to recognize and promote excellence in research and creative activity at Concordia University. Each awardee will receive a $5,000 research grant and the privilege of holding the title of "Concordia University Research Fellow" for one year.