The local launch for film professor Kim Nelson’s book, Making History Move: Five Principles of the Historic Film, is planned for Saturday, April 13, at Biblioasis.

“I began researching and writing this book in 2016. Although book writing is much more solitary than filmmaking, launching it into the world is so exciting,” says Dr. Nelson, associate professor of film in the School of Creative Arts.

Nelson is thrilled to celebrate the book with everyone, including the community of people who supported it: Leddy librarians, who processed well over 100 of her interlibrary loans; Esther Van Eek in the School of Dramatic Art, who helped Nelson with costuming the cover image; School of Creative Arts alum Brodie MacPhail who provided graphic design; and professors Rob Nelson and Nick Hector, who proofread every word.

The five principles discussed in-depth in the book were covered in a DailyNews article on March 7.

Saturday’s event will be a fun party and all are welcome, Nelson says. It gets underway at 7 p.m. at the bookshop, 1520 Wyandotte St. East.

Nelson also hosts a podcast called Moving Histories where she and fellow film professors Robert Burgoyne and John Trafton discuss historical films, including this year’s Oscar nominees.

Volunteers for Pro Bono Students Canada demonstrate that the law is a noble and caring profession, the Chief Justice of Canada told members of its Windsor chapter last week.

Richard Wagner spoke at the group’s volunteer appreciation event April 4.

“Your work and values are building more confidence in our justice system and the rule of law,” he said. “Ultimately, this helps strengthen our democracy.”

Wagner presented the Chief Justice Richard Wagner Award to Kathleen Kennedy in recognition of her leadership and commitment to the Pro Bono Students Canada mission of providing free legal support to people and communities facing barriers to justice.

Kennedy volunteered with the Youth ID Clinic. In partnership with the Windsor Youth Centre, the project helps clients obtain photo identification documents necessary to access community services.

The Alumni and Student Pow Wow hosted by the University of Windsor and St. Clair College is set for May 9 to 11 in the Sportsplex on the college’s main campus.

The event is open to the public and will feature drumming, dancing, crafts, and traditional foods. Organizers will post a call for volunteers in the coming weeks.

For more information, contact Tina Jacobs at tjacobs@stclaircollege.ca.

What if a material that could protect structures from earthquake damage was widely available all over the world? Niel Van Engelen is exploring the use of scrap tires as a type of shock absorber between buildings and their foundations.

A professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dr. Van Engelen is an expert in structural control and earthquake engineering. The project team includes doctoral student Norouz Jahan and master’s student Tanveer Shaik.

The team has been reforming the tires and testing the resulting designs in the Structure Engineering Laboratory in the Centre for Engineering Innovation. Ideally, such seismic base isolators can reduce the force experienced by a building by up to 90 per cent, enabling it to survive even a very powerful earthquake undamaged.

The material poses both advantages and challenges: they are widely available and relatively inexpensive, but the design and make-up of the tires can be inconsistent.

Find the entire story in the 2024 edition of Windsor Engineering magazine.