Veronika Mogyorody, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences has been named among five outstanding post-secondary educators to receive the 2015 Brightspace Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning. 

Dr. Mogyorody was honoured by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and Desire to Learn (D2L), an eLearning solutions provider, for her innovative, thought provoking and impactful teaching and learning practices. Brightspace is an international integrated learning platform provider.

“Dr. Mogyorody’s career is filled with innovative activities that have inspired learning,” says award coordinator Patrick Lyons.

“She has enabled learners, educators, academics and community members to transcend the boundaries that limit their perspectives, actions and opportunities. Her vision and commitment have dramatically impacted teaching and learning across nearly every faculty at the University of Windsor.”

Mogyorody earned her PhD in Urban and Environmental Studies and has trained as an architect and urban designer. She has served as UWindsor’s Academic Architectural Advisor and is a driving force behind the Visual Arts and the Built Environment (VABE) program, which brings together students from UWindsor’s School of Visuals Arts and the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture to approach the design of the built environment as both artist and architect.

“As an environmental and community activist, educator, and trained architect, Veronika’s contributions to the University have been remarkable and indeed unique among Canadian universities,” says UWindsor Provost Dr. Douglas Kneale.

“Her commitments to students, the university, and the city are obvious in everything she does. From program development to technological innovation to campus renewal - and now the downtown campus project - Veronika has been at the heart of transformative change here for decades.”

Mogyorody will be recognized at the STLHE annual conference in Vancouver in June, followed by the Brightspace Global Conference in Orlando, Florida, the following week. 

A team of five mechanical engineering students won the SAE Aero Design West Collegiate Competition, micro class, for designing an aircraft that was required to pass 50 technical inspection and safety rules to be cleared for take-off.

The three-day competition, which was held recently in California, also included a design proposal, an oral presentation and four rounds of flight for 74 teams which hailed from as far away as Japan, says Team Captain Richelle Dolan.

“The plane had to be transportable, compact, modular, easily assembled in 90 seconds, able to carry a payload over a pre-determined circuit, land in a designated zone with a total weight under ten pounds,” she says.

“The first five planes of the competition ahead of us crashed. When we actually flew the whole audience was cheering, it was exciting,”

The team, made up of Andrei Tineghe, Justin Abbott, Mitchell Campbell, Kevin Brooks, Dolan and the team’s pilot David Carrick, was determined to be ranked among the top three competing. Their result exceeded expectations when they ranked third in the overall competition and first for the presentation section.

“Our presentation was quite an accomplishment, we answered all the required questions in it, to the point the judges had nothing to ask,” says Dolan

The team says that the advice of Assistant Professor and faculty advisor Jeff Defoe during a year long preparation for the competition was a driving force in helping the team reach its goal.

Dolan says that because the competition was run according to industry standards, the experience challenged the students to integrate what they have learned throughout their university career.

“Everything was specific, it was similar to submitting a project proposal to a company for a job. All the skills we had learned from various school projects were combined into one.”

UWindsor team holding their successful aircraft deign at SAE Aero Design West Collegiate Competition. From left to right: Andrei Tineghe, Justin Abbott, Mitchell Campbell, David Carrick , Kevin Brooks, Richelle Dolan, and Faculty Advisor Jeff Defoe.

A group of more than 130 guests raised a glass during the recent  Windsor Cancer Research Group’s (WCRG) Cheers to Hope event held recently at the Walkerville Brewery. 

WCRG is a cooperative of local researchers, healthcare professionals and community partners on both sides of border, which aims to build teams to strengthen local cancer research programs.

"It was a wonderful night of celebration and an opportunity to informally meet so many interested in moving cancer research forward in Windsor-Essex,” said Lisa Porter, WCRG’s Translational Research Director, and UWindsor cancer researcher.

UWindsor was lauded at the event for providing significant support to WCRG over the past 18 months. UWindsor researchers comprise the majority of WCRG executive committee, and UWindsor students make up the WCRG volunteer committee.

Other organizations and individuals being honoured at event included Windsor Regional Hospital; UWindsor’s Cross-Border Institute; Caesars Windsor; Bear Construction & Engineering; and Ron Truant. 

For more information visit: http://windsorcancerresearch.ca/