Automation and communication were the order of the day Monday, as fourth-year students of electrical and computer engineering presented their capstone projects in the Centre for Engineering Innovation.

Among the projects were a device that can open or close a garage door from across the globe, a smart door that can respond to the presence of visitors, and a wireless monitoring system for solar panels.

The last could prove a boon to green energy production, say team members George Kyrtsakas, Sheldon Tracey and Shahab Tran. Their system reads data from individual panels and sends daily notification on the results, alerting management to any deficiencies.

“The advantage of our system is that it can determine which unit is underperforming,” says Kyrtsakas. “That allows the technician to identify the problem more efficiently.”

Their prototype draws operating power from the solar array and communicates wirelessly through e-mail as well as a graphing function updated at 15-minute intervals. According to Tracey, there remains room for improvement and the group will hand off the project to a new team next year.

“The difference with the capstone project is that we really applied our learning to a real-world situation,” he says. “There are so many different ways to approach the challenge, and live testing is the only way to find out what problems will arise.”

Graduating students in other engineering disciplines will present their capstone projects on Friday, August 1. Room 1100, Centre for Engineering Innovation, will host students in the mechanical, automotive and materials programs from 8:40 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students in civil and environmental engineering will present across the hall in room 1102 starting at 9 a.m.

See a full list of Friday’s presentations.

Canadian art has changed since the Group of Seven, and a gallery in the ancient Chinese city of Xi’an hopes a UWindsor visual arts professor emeritus can help give an update.

Iain Baxter& is heading to China this weekend to participate in the group exhibition “Transformation of Canadian Landscape Art” at the Xi’an Art Museum. He will recreate his Television Works: 10, 2014 and One Canada video work.

The museum’s director, Yang Chao, called Baxter&’s work “important for showing the diverse narratives of contemporary Canadian perspectives and uses of landscapes.”

He says the curators have chosen contemporary artists who have used the language of landscape to create significant works.

Baxter& is a conceptual artist who integrates photography, installation, sculpture, painting, drawing and performing aspects into his work. An officer of the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, the Order of British Columbia, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also a finalist for the 2014 Premier’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts.

Watch Baxter& and his partner Louise Chance-Baxter discuss their piece One Canada:

The new Campus Bookstore is a big improvement, said shoppers checking out the merchandise during its sidewalk sale Wednesday.

“The space is open and airy,” said Lori D’Andrea. “It’s beautiful.”

She and her husband Claudio D’Andrea (BA 1986) were looking for some UWindsor apparel to send away with their daughter. Just completed studies at Windsor Law, she will be heading to Toronto soon to begin articling.

“We just want her to have a reminder of home,” said Claudio D’Andrea.

Jacqueline Mellish, residence life coordinator for Macdonald and Electa halls, purchased a couple of shirts to show her Lancer pride and promised to direct students to the store.

“They have a lot of nice items here I think our students will appreciate,” she said.

Bookstore marketing coordinator Martin Deck said the sale did a brisk business.

“We are very pleased with our first week in our new home,” he said. “We’re enjoying sort of a soft launch before the start of fall semester.”