The English Department’s Writer-in-Residence program is shifting gears this fall with the introduction of UWindsor’s first Cartoonist-in-Residence, Scott Chantler, who will take his post in September. UWindsor is thought to be the first Canadian university to step into the realm of cartoon study with its Writer-in-Residence program.

“Comics haven’t always been viewed as worthy of critical study but over the last few decades that’s really changed,” says Chantler. “I’ve always been a big booster of the art form and love that it has become academic fare and it’s one of the reasons I wanted to be part of this opportunity.”

The Waterloo, Ontario, cartoonist wrote two highly acclaimed graphic novels, Two Generals, which was long-listed for CBCs Canada Read, named one of Chapters-Indigo’s Best Books of 2010 and selected for Best American Comics 2012, and, Northwest Passage, which was nominated for Eisner and Harvey Awards. His talent extends to writing for a younger audience with his comic series, Three Thieves, which won the Joe Shuster Award for best comic for kids and was listed as a great graphic novel for teens with the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Chantler was in Windsor last year as part of the comics panel moderated by English professor Dale Jacobs at 2014 Bookfest Windsor. Dr. Jacobs, who wrote, Graphic Encounters: Comics and the Sponsorship of Multimodal Literacy, says the department found Chantler an easy choice.

“We wanted someone who understood sequential storytelling and Scott clearly does,” says Jacobs. “No matter his audience, he understands how to tell a story with both words and pictures.”

Chantler’s Two Generals will be part of Jacobs’ Comics Theory course this fall, while Chantler is around to sit in on the class and speak to students.

“We’re really pleased we can have a cartoonist for this round of the Writer-in-Residence program,” says Jacobs. “There’s a good buzz with people across North America excited that this is happening at a university.”

Writer-in-Residence activities include mentoring and reviewing student work, as well as public lectures and workshops. Chantler says he is comfortable giving educational talks to audiences ranging from grade three to graduate students, and wants to convey the unique way comics communicate a story. He says many people blow through comics too quickly, only ingesting the text.

“The text and the art combine into one visual medium where art is text too,” says Chantler. “It’s a visual medium and that is where the real story telling comes through. I like to say you have to read the pictures.”

While in Essex County Chantler also plans to research the war of 1812 for a future project. The Cartoonist-in-Residence position is jointly funded by UWindsor and The Canada Council for the Arts.

Thanks to a UWindsor computer science masters student, China will see more accurate and efficient testing of its high-speed rail system.

Joseph Jiang’s innovative High-Speed Rail collision testing software will soon be used in China. Jiang started work on the software, Real Time Predictive Speed Analysis, as part of a commercial agreement between China Southern Railway Vehicle Crash Test Facility and Anemoi Technologies Inc. in Brampton, where Anemoi designs and supplies a high-speed train crash testing facility to be used in China.

According to Jiang, the software works in conjunction with an overall control system called the Facility Control System (FCS), which monitors the behaviour of testing vehicles in real-time and controls the force release.

“The software inputs the recorded data provided by the FCS and triggers the system to calculate the release speed and location predictively and quickly,” says Jiang. “The two being the key elements to control the testing vehicle to hit the barrier at the desired speed.”

The software is unique in that it implements an algorithm approach to efficiently solve the problem, whereas previous systems estimated release speed and location.

“Previous methods lead to the inaccuracy of crashing speed, compared to the desired one,” says Jiang. “The software is also an efficient one, as its running time is in mini second level.”

Jiang took up work on the project in 2014 under the supervision of professor Dan Wu, who says this software is the first of its kind. It will have huge impact on future crash tests for high speed rail, Dr. Wu predicts.

Human Kinetics masters student Tina Romagnuolo is hopeful that an internship with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), in addition to her experiences as a member of the Canadian Women's National Soccer Team will be keys to an exciting future career.

Romagnuolo, who came to UWindsor in 2014 following completion of a BA at the University of Miami, is interning with the Toronto Football Club (FC), MLS soccer club in Toronto. The UWindsor internship program partnership was established with MLSE as part of a three- year agreement in May 2013.

Beginning at age 15, Romagnuolo was a part of the Canadian Women's national team and participated in the U20 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Chile in 2008. She was also in the running for the recent FIFA World Cup team.

 “I thought working with the Toronto FC would be a perfect fit for me as well as for my academic aspirations,” Romognuolo says.  “Especially after having a career ending injury in a game in my senior year in college.”

Romognuolo has been working at the Toronto FC Academy to develop individualized programs for 150 soccer players. She is using baseline fitness testing and retesting to determine player needs and assess program effectiveness.

She says her MLSE experience has been “amazing” and has taught her both multitasking skills and has helped her to develop the ability to be professional while maintaining a close connection with each athlete.

“From the first day I started here the staff have been fantastic at welcoming me into their facility.”

Former Lancer and alumna Korissa Williams has helped The Canadian women's basketball team claim the Universiade silver medal after falling 82-63 to the United States in the gold medal final, at the 28th Summer Universiade on July 13.

Canada's silver medal is the program's best result at the games. Prior to this, the team’s highest finish was a bronze medal on two occasions in 1979 (Mexico City) and 1991 (Sheffield, England).

The game started close, but the tables turned in favour of the USA in the second quarter, as Canada struggled with turnovers and rebounds.
Williams logged 32 minutes in the contest and finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds and two assists.

"I am tremendously proud of our girls and their performance at these games," said head coach Fabian McKenzie. "Our first silver medal at the Universiade is a huge step for our program."

Read more at goLancers.ca

The Windsor Cancer Research Group (WCRG) is calling on campus researchers of all disciplines to participate in a five-minute survey which aims at bringing researchers together to facilitate collaborative grant submissions.

The survey is the first step in identifying areas of expertise and organizing productive working group clusters focused around strategically selected topics aligning with the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) signature initiatives (CIHR).

“These research clusters are meant to bring together ideas and expertise from diverse backgrounds,” says WCRG Assistant Director, Karen Metcalfe.

“WCRG’s first goal will be to organize a few multi-disciplinary group projects that will be submitted for funding through the CIHR project competition in January 2016.”

Following this submission, WCRG intends to continue seeking future funding opportunities, and based on survey results, will invite participating researchers to meetings of particular interest to them.

Responses to the survey are requested by July 31.

For more information, please contact Karen Metcalfe at karenmet@uwindsor.ca

Due to wireless network updates, IT Services is notifying the campus community of coming changes to campus WiFi network names, in addition to several short WiFi connectivity outages across campus between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., Thursday July 23.

“The updates to the network aim at expanding the types of devices that can be connected to it,” says Computing Consultant Bodek Frak. “These include display monitors and Apple TVs, Playstations and Xboxes, and Ubuntu devices.”

As of 7 a.m. July 23, campus WiFi network names will reflect the following changes:

1.   UWINDSOR (No Change)

2.   UWINDSOR_SECURE will become known as UWINSECURE, and

3.    UWINDSOR_RESIDENCE network will become known as UWINRESLIFE.

Frak says these changes will require users to update WiFi settings on their mobile devices in order to reconnect to the renamed networks. The UWINDSOR network logon page banner will start using the University’s new logo and colours as well.

For assistance with WiFi setting changes, please contact the IT Services Service Desk at 519-253-3000, extension 4440, or email HelpDesk@uwindsor.ca.

Facility Services has scheduled the demolition of Electa Hall to take place in October 2015.

“The tenders will go out on July 20 and will close on August 5,” says manager of facility planning, renovations and construction, Danny Castellan. “Contractors will be on site starting August 13.”

Located on the west side of Patricia Road north of University Avenue, Electa Hall was constructed in two phases: Electa Main in 1959 and the annex in 1962. The building was originally constructed as a women’s residence for Holy Names College, and named after Sister Mary Electa, a noted educator who became the first dean of the college.

After its transfer to Assumption University and later to the University of Windsor, Electa Hall has been home to many university students with its sixth floor McPherson Lounge used by the Alumni Association for numerous gatherings.

Though many renovations have taken place in the hall, significant deferred maintenance still existed, forcing a shift of limited resources to other campus buildings.

The Campus Bookstore has selected Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? by Timothy Caulfield, as its Book of the Week.

Caulfield is a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. His first book, The Cure For Everything, was a Canadian bestseller. His new book, like his first book, looks at various diet and health fads, in particular, fads that are associated with celebrities.

The book’s list price is $32.00; the Campus Bookstore will sell it for $20.86 through Monday, July 26.

Marketing coordinator Martin Deck reminds patrons that the store will match the price of all books with those offered by amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca. Read more on the Campus Bookstore website