UWindsor’s Adapted Physical Exercise (APEX) Research Group in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Living Essex County kicked off the continuation of their exercise program on Wednesday.

The program, titled Fit Together, takes participants with autism spectrum disorder and an intellectual disability and trains them in two, 90-minute exercise sessions a week for 12 weeks.

“This program has done wonders for the people we serve,” said Nancy Wallace-Gero, executive director of Community Living Essex County. “It not only helps to build confidence for people but gives them the physical exercise to develop good health and allows them the opportunity to genuinely feel accepted within the community.”

Nancy Wallace-Gero, executive director of Community Living Essex County and Michael Khan, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology, are pictured at the kickoff of Fit Together on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2017.

The sessions are supervised one-on-one by undergraduate and graduate students and include cardiovascular and strength training as well as sports and games.

The next phase of Fit Together has received Ontario Trillium Foundation funding through 2019 with the goal of continuing to remove barriers to physical activity.

Joshua Palmer is finishing up his third year in the exercise program and said his favourite part is participating in the organized sports.

“I like taking part in activities with the new people I have met,” Palmer said Wednesday, adding his favourite activity is basketball. “Taking part in the program makes me feel happy.”

Kelly Carr, project manager of Fit Together and doctoral candidate in kinesiology, addresses the audience during the Fit Together showcase at the St. Denis Centre on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2017.

This ongoing community-university partnership will provide engaging and interactive resources for people with disabilities, which include an APEX manual and website, educational webinars, workshops, and fitness-related videos.

Kelly Carr, kinesiology PhD candidate and project manager for Fit Together, said participants are encouraged to participate in a physical activity of their choice so they “find fun and enjoyment in an activity that gets them moving.

“We want them to find motivation and enjoyment in exercise that translates to a sustainable, active lifestyle for the participants.”

For more information about Fit Together, visit www.uwindsor.ca/kinesiology/APEX.

Karly Dominato says working independently in an industrial internship has given her a clear path to a potentially viable career, has built up her confidence, and has boosted her productivity exponentially — and she never had to leave campus.

The fourth-year chemistry major is enrolled in a new internship course which allows science students to earn academic credit while gaining real-world experience in the community and on campus.

For her placement, she is participating in oilsands research out of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, with Scott Mundle, assistant professor of chemistry.

“With an industrial project, there is more accountability because my research will be used by an oilsands company to make strategic decisions,” says Dominato. “This has given me a clear path to what I could do one day if I don’t pursue a career in academia.”

Her project involves characterizing migration pathways and the retention dynamics of carbon dioxide in oilsands reservoirs by “fingerprinting” the isotopes of the gases for a public-private partnership study. She says the course requires proof she is developing professional skills that can be transferred into the workforce.

“There is a lot of benefit to being treated as an adult who is responsible for getting work done, and I’ve definitely gained collaboration skills, as well as improved my time-management and communication skills working with a supervisor that came from industry like Dr. Mundle,” she says.

Dominato says she was already volunteering as a researcher, but this course lets her earn academic credit and helps her balance her research and school life.

Mundle says offering undergraduates this new internship course, with targeted industrial experience, will better position them in the competitive job market.

“Karly is an exceptionally talented undergraduate who is getting industry experience that is on par with what I would have PhD scientists complete,” he says. “She is leading projects independently, has already co-authored two technical reports, and did research that was instrumental for a grant application with a major player in the oil and gas sector.”

Third-year physics major Layale Bazzi says a science internship allowed her to share her passion for physics with high school students in a way that she never experienced at their age.

Bazzi had an outreach-focused internship that sent her on regular visits to F. J. Brennan Catholic High School, as well as designing age-appropriate field trips and experiments.

High school physics did not inspire Bazzi, but she says she switched majors after taking her first university-level physics course. Now she wants to encourage younger students to consider pursuing the study of physics.

“I’m not just educating people,” she says. “This is a recruiting tool, to say us physics people at UWindsor do a lot of great things like medical physics, ultrasounds, X-ray applications, and they should come check us out.

“It is more difficult than it sounds because I have to translate my university physics knowledge into something that students will understand.”

Bazzi’s supervisor, physics department head Steven Rehse, says having physics majors interact with high school students is critical for helping them begin to understand the discipline, as well as breaking down the barriers that may exist in their minds between themselves and university students or academics.

“In particular, once they interact with a physicist as approachable and personable as Layale, they can begin to believe that Hey, I think I could be a physicist, too!” says Dr. Rehse.

For more information on enrolling in Winter 2018, contact instructor Michelle Bondy at mbondy@uwindsor.ca.

The Faculty of Engineering has launched its inaugural issue of WE - Windsor Engineering, an annual magazine published for its alumni, faculty, staff and friends. In each issue, you’ll read about just a few of the faculty’s students, researchers and alumni who are making an impact on campus, in the community and around the world.

The first issue of WE starts with a look back at the first graduating class of engineering and the bedrock established by Frank DeMarco, a visionary leader and first dean of engineering. Today, the faculty echoes his vision as it strives to engineer an impact through its student graduates, faculty’s research and discoveries, and engagement in communities both locally and globally.

Read the first issue on the engineering website. To receive WE electronically, email engmag@uwindsor.ca.

Runner Stefanie Smith topped her own Lancer records in two events at the Blue and Gold track and field meet this week in the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.

Smith finished the 3000m in 9:23.89 and the 1500m in 4:22.94; both marks eclipsed UWindsor records she set in 2015 and qualified her for competition in these events at the U Sports national championship meet.

Thrower Sarah Mitton also qualified for the Canadian university national meet, with a 15.72m effort in shot put. Windsor will host the U Sports championships March 8 to 10 at the St. Denis Centre.

The squad will next return to action January 12 in the Can Am Classic at the Dennis Fairall Fieldhouse.