A University of Windsor engineering professor will be featured in a Japanese science show for his investigation into the source of the infamous Windsor Hum.

A camera crew from Japan’s national public broadcaster NHK made a special trip to campus April 16 to interview and film Colin Novak, an associate professor in the mechanical, automotive and materials engineering department.

Production co-ordinator Takayo Nagasawa said the segment will run as part of an episode focused on the sound of the cosmos and people who make data from sound.

“We found out about the Windsor Hum and we couldn’t tell the story without interviewing Dr. Novak,” she said during a break from filming in the university’s Centre for Automotive Research and Education.

The film crew also interviewed local residents who have been plagued by the hum for the past seven years. In 2013, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade contracted Dr. Novak and Western University to conduct a joint acoustic study.

Novak’s Noise Vibration and Harshness-Sound Quality Group set up low-frequency noise monitoring stations across the city’s west end. The university’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) even lent Novak’s team a research vessel so they could drift up and down the Detroit River with portable infrasound arrays to record noise within the hum’s frequency range.

“What was unique about the Windsor hum was not only the low-frequency nature of the sound but the fact that it could be heard by people over an area greater than 10 km,” Novak said.

Six months’ worth of fieldwork followed by four months of post analysis revealed the hum’s likely source was a blast furnace on Zug Island on the Detroit River.

“Based on all the data that we collected, we determined there's no danger of the sound other than the fact that it’s very annoying and if you're highly affected, it can affect your sleep, etc.,” Novak said. “That brought a lot of relief to people, however, at the same time, people still want it to go away.”

Novak said since then, the hum’s intensity has decreased and fewer people report hearing the disruptive rumbling.

“I can speculate that perhaps those who are a part of the cause of the sound … are taking appropriate process changes to minimize and hopefully eventually eliminate the propagation.”

The segment will air July 5 on NHK’s television show Cosmic Front Next, a program that works to “unravel the universe and the mysteries concerning earth.”

Kristie Pearce

Spending four months in a practicum placement with the Therapeutic Learning Centre was an incredible learning experience, says Sarah Jichici.

A fourth-year disability studies and psychology double major, she was one of about 50 students presenting posters documenting their placement experiences, Tuesday in the CAW Student Centre.

“I gained relationships with the staff and clients and I was able to learn methods of therapeutic intervention,” Jichici says. “I was also given the opportunity to implement therapy under the supervision of instructor therapists.”

She was inspired by seeing the practice of Applied Behavioural Analysis in an Intensive Behavioural Intervention setting, and says the experience has given her the confidence to pursue graduate education and a career in the field.

“It is such a great form of intervention, but there needs to be more services offered because it truly does help the children,” says Jichici. “Not only do the children progress in many activities of daily living, but it also gives parents excitement, joy, and encouragement to continue the therapeutic intervention at home.”

Projects presented Tuesday explored volunteer work by students in three courses: “Community Orientation to Disability Studies” by professors Jijian Voronka and Shelagh Towson, “Practicum in Psychology” by Ted Vokes, and “Practicum in Developmental Psychology” by Marcia Gragg.

Dr. Gragg’s 13 students alone put in a total of more than 1,000 hours of volunteer service to seven agencies, she noted.

“They make a connection between the community and the University, working with children with autism, teen immigrants learning to read, or children with medical issues at the hospital,” she said. “And as a capstone to their undergraduate studies, it is wonderful to have a class of 13 students learning as much from each other as they do from the instructor or their own placements.”

An independent feature directed by a UWindsor film professor with the help of dozens of students will enjoy its world premiere next week.

Mike Stasko also shares writing credit and stars in the science fiction thriller The Control. It will be shown April 26 at the 51st WorldFest-Houston Film Festival, following with screenings April 27 at Detroit’s Motorcity Nightmares Film Festival, and May 10 at the Nice International Film Festival.

The Control is nominated for four awards in Nice; Stasko is up for best director and best screenplay.

The film was shot entirely in Windsor in 2015, with more than 25 UWindsor students and another 15 Windsorites on crew.

Erik de Paulsen served as gaffer and said he couldn’t have asked for a better internship placement.

“The new skills I learned, the equipment I used, as well as the creative practical effects all helped me to learn more about my position on set,” he said. “This hands-on experience was my best way to learn.”

Christina Bresolin agrees, saying she is “beyond grateful” for the opportunity to help as an associate producer and second assistant director.

“The three weeks I spent on set provided me with valuable experience and lots of great memories,” Bresolin said. “Working on this film has allowed me to gain the on-set experience I need to prepare me for a career in film.”

Stasko said the production company is hoping to show the film to Windsor audiences later this year. Watch the trailer here:

Graduating students in the BFA visual arts and Visual Arts and the Built Environment programs are displaying their most recent works in a variety of media and styles in the exhibition “Adaptation,” through Friday in the SoCA Armouries’ gallery.

Participating students include:

• Barry Dai;
• Emily Conlon;
• Kaylyn Pickering;
• Leena Bourne;
• Alexandra Loebach;
• Max Pecoraro; and
• Myah Robillard.

A closing reception Friday, April 20, is free and open to the public. It will run 6 to 10 p.m. in the gallery, located at 37 University Avenue East. Learn more on the event Facebook page.