A new weekend technology program offered by the University of Windsor is helping local companies meet market demands.

The Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEng Tech) degree, originally designed to create a pathway from college to university, is now available on weekends for working professionals to expand their expertise in mechatronics, industrial automation, robotics, manufacturing, and engineering operational functions.

“Companies heard about this and expressed a great deal of interest,” said dean of engineering Mehrdad Saif. “We thought ‘why not do it on weekends for these types of students and put in place more courses around the theme of mechatronics and industrial automation?’ As an engineering school in Windsor, we have an obligation to meet the needs of the community and industry.”

The program allows skilled trades professionals like Michael Elachkar, a 40-year-old father of two, to complete a degree while continuing to advance their careers. Having graduated from St. Clair College in 1999 with a three-year electronics engineering technology diploma, Elachkar said he jumped at the chance to further his education without disrupting his family life and career.

“We have the practical knowledge and the university is bridging the gap between our work experience and the theoretical aspects of the job. It’s making us very well-rounded and will increase our talent level and make us more competitive,” said Elachkar, director of new business at Zion Robotics and Controls, a local company that specializes in automation programming at a global level. “We decided to invest in our employees and as a result will be reimbursing all of the tuition for full-time employees to complete the program. That's how much we believe in this program.”

The BEng Tech program is open to those with a three-year technology diploma from a Canadian college, an engineering degree from an accredited Canadian university, or a four-year university degree in a scientific or technical subject from a Canadian university. It’s also open to those with the same qualifications from an equivalent overseas institution.

Read more about this program and other developments in UWindsor Engineering’s latest newsletter.

Kristie Pearce

A film project by five UWindsor students has been named a top-five finalist in a national competition.

Selina McCallum, Kassandra Coates, Gabriel Giuliani, Katherine Bryce, and Deborah Iluyemi will find out today whether a panel of industry professionals have selected Marley’s Journey for an Emerge Media Award, which showcase the talent of communications students from Canadian universities and colleges.

Several of the students have made the trip to Toronto for today’s awards ceremony.

“I am so proud of us and happy to represent the University of Windsor and the communication, media, and film program in a room full of well-known journalists, photographers and filmmakers,” says McCallum, who acted as director of photography and helped to edit the documentary.

The short film focuses on Marley Bechard, a three-year-old girl with the genetic disorder Angelman syndrome, which can cause intellectual disability, neurological problems, and seizures.

Director Coates says it’s “fantastic” to show the film to a larger audience.

“This project means so much to me since the Bechard family are good friends of mine,” she says. “Directing the film was amazing and challenging all at the same time. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

McCallum says the film has the potential to touch people who love someone with this condition.

“I am hoping that we win first or second place, but if we don’t, just knowing that we made the top five finalists in all of Canada is such a big accomplishment already,” she says.

Watch Marley’s Journey.

Officials from the University of Windsor, St. Clair College, city and county governments will come together on Friday, March 23, to launch the local community engagement effort in the Smart Cities Challenge, a cross-Canada competition calling on community leaders to design innovative solutions to their most pressing challenges using data and connected technologies.

The federal Ministry of Infrastructure and Communities is offering prizes worth up to a total of $75 million in the search for inspired solutions that will have a real and tangible impact.

Bob Campbell, CEO of Connecting Windsor-Essex, has assembled a working group that has identified poverty, health, and employment as potential themes for a bid from the region.

The public is invited to attend the official announcement of the community engagement at 11:30 a.m. Friday, in the EPICentre on the second floor of the Joyce Entrepreneurship Centre.

Nine UWindsor sport management graduate students gained networking opportunities, education, and golden memories they will never forget on a field trip to historic sites last weekend.

Professor Scott Martyn took students in his “Crises, Politics and Commercialism in the Modern Olympic Movement” class on a five-day Olympic journey to Toronto, Montreal, and Lake Placid, New York.

This annual trip provides students with an opportunity to experience first-hand the modern Olympic movement, network with professionals in the field of sport management, develop contacts for the future, and observe the practical side of classroom learning.

During the trip, the group visited the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) offices in Toronto and Montreal where Sandra Sassine, program administrator of education for the COC in Montreal, offered some advice for the students: “Know yourself, know what your limits are and how hard you can push yourself.”

Attendee Kim Lemon said she appreciated the tip.

“I know that Sandra’s advice will help when I am going on interviews,” she said. “She was extremely informative and helpful in answering questions and giving advice.”

Following the tour of the Canadian Olympic Committee office, the group ventured to the World Anti-Doping Agency where they were met by Michèle Mercier, manager of relations with national and regional anti-doping organizations. She delivered an informative presentation and led the group on a tour of the office.

The last stop on the journey was Lake Placid, site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Students stayed at the United States Olympic Training Center, where Olympians also live and train to prepare for the Games.

The city is the only Olympic host city where each of the venues is in sight of the others.

To top it off, the students toured Herb Brooks Arena, home of the 1980 Miracle on Ice, and watched a university hockey game that evening.

Student Maggie Veitch said the learning experience helped her to apply knowledge she gained in the classroom.

“We have spent a great deal of time in class studying doping and the evolution of the Olympics,” she said. “However, it is not until you visit first-hand the World Anti-Doping Agency and the sites of the 1932, 1976, and 1980 Olympics that you can truly understand the modern Olympic movement.”

Her classmate Giulia Barile says the trip also provided an opportunity to bond with fellow students.

“It was awesome to get to know everyone better and now have those tight-knit friendships within our program,” Barile said. “I now know that these people will be my friends for life.”

UWindsor alumna Susan Blight (MFA 2007), an interdisciplinary artist working with public art, site-specific intervention, photography, film, and social practice, will discuss her practice in a free public presentation Friday, March 23, at the SoCA Armouries.

Blight will discuss her ongoing work with the Ogimaa Mikana collective, which she co-founded in January 2013 during the height of the Idle No More movement. Through public art, site-specific intervention, and social practice, Ogimaa Mikana asserts Anishinaabe self-determination on the land and in the public sphere.

Blight is an Anishinaabe member of the Couchiching First Nation. Her talk will begin at 2 p.m. in room B31, SoCA Armouries. Learn more on the event website.

A luncheon Wednesday for UWindsor employees who are also graduates of the institution was a chance to say thanks to some of the University’s most dedicated supporters, says Patti Lauzon, director of alumni and donor communications.

“It’s always a nice opportunity for us to come together and celebrate our lifelong connections to the University,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have so many alumni working on the campus, with a history and appreciation of the place.”

About 130 faculty, staff, and retirees enjoyed lunch along with remarks from alumni association board president Jean Wright and UWindsor president Alan Wildeman.

“The University of Windsor is indelibly intertwined with you,” Dr. Wildeman told those assembled. “You have personally invested yourself in the mission of the University.

“You have not only worked here, but you have donated, volunteered, commiserated, debated, laughed, cried, maybe married, maybe divorced, celebrated babies, complained about administrators and snow … all with the University of Windsor as the backdrop.”

See more photos from the event on the UWindsor Facebook page.

More than 140 students will share what they have learned during the two-day UWill Discover conference, opening today in the CAW Student Centre.

Undergraduate students in all academic disciplines will engage in oral presentations, visual presentations, art installations, film productions, and performances through the event.

Novelist Nino Ricci will deliver a keynote address at 1 p.m. in Alumni Auditorium and about 30 poster presentations will fill the Commons area starting at 2:30 p.m.

Organizers say they hope to encourage students to connect with fellow researchers, scholars, entrepreneurs, and the broader community to address real-world challenges.

“This year’s conference seeks to refocus on discovery in a broad sense, spanning traditional and non-traditional research and creative fields,” says conference chair Phillipe Wernette. “We offer our students the opportunity to express their excitement about what they have discovered and we hope you will share the experience with us.”

Find more information, including the complete program, on the conference website. Follow the two days’ activities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Vocalist Shahida Nurullah and pianist Tad Weed join forces Saturday for a concert of favourite songs from classic movies coupled with selections by Duke Ellington.

“Favourite Songs from the Movies” is set for 7:30 p.m. March 24 in the Performance Hall, SoCA Armouries, located at 37 University Avenue East.

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased in advance on the secure Buy Tickets website. Admission is also available for cash purchase at the door.

Find more information, including a full program and performer profiles, on the concert website.

Pianist to offer workshop for musicians

Weed, a piano soloist, collaborative artist, lecturer, arranger, and teacher, will also lead a workshop for aspiring music professionals, Friday in the SoCA Armouries’ Performance Hall.

He will cover:

• the business of music and how to make a living doing it;
• harmonic study and how it helps you learn to improvise; and
• the importance of learning music composition.

Weed’s discography contains over 50 records and CDs, which feature his playing as well as his arrangements and compositions. His workshop will begin at 10 a.m. and is free and open to the public. Learn more on the event website.