Rick Mallat, equipment lead technician in the St. Denis Centre, will retire Friday after more than 43 years of service to the University of Windsor, but his legacy will live on. The athletics department has named its Lancer Student Employee of the Year award in his honour.

Jocelyn LaRocque received the award Friday at the Blue and Gold Student Staff Appreciation Luncheon.

An alumna of the varsity women’s basketball team that won five straight national championships, she has worked with Lancer summer camp and intramural programs, and joined the home event staff this year.

Mallat said he couldn’t imagine a more fitting recipient for the first award in his name.

“Jocelyn has been so great here over the last six years,” he said. “It’s really nice to see her get this recognition.”

LaRocque said the feeling is mutual: “I love Rick. I have worked with him for a long time.”

The luncheon honours all student staff who contribute to Athletics and Recreation Services operations, including the St. Denis Centre, aquatics, intramurals and fitness, team managers and therapists, and organizers of varsity events.

Find more information, including a full list of the award winners, at goLancers.ca.

Holding in her hands a book she helped to publish was an “incomparable” experience for Maggie Chan.

A fourth-year student of English and French, she is a student in the editing and publishing practicum course taught by resident writing professional Marty Gervais. On Tuesday, April 5, members of the class will launch three books published by Black Moss Press as a result of their work.

The students edited the work, designed the books’ layouts and covers and will promote sales and distribution.

“This course is unique, especially for undergraduates to be engaged in the process to this extent,” Chan says. “We were able to see all the little things that go into making a book.”

She says it was an “awesome feeling” to open a box of the completed volumes.

“When I brought it home, I was super-excited,” she says.

Tuesday’s event, titled “A Journey through the Pages,” will launch three books:

• How We Fare by poet Mary Ann Mulhern;
• Twelve Miles to Midnight by UWindsor English professor André Narbonne; and
• I’ll Be There Soon comedian John Wing.

The free public reception will run 7 to 10 p.m. at the Water’s Edge Event Centre, 2879 Riverside Drive East. The authors will be on hand to read from and sign their works. The books will sell for $16 apiece or $40 for a collection of all three.

Find more information on the Facebook event page.

United Way Windsor-Essex County has issued a call for nominations for an award named to honour a former UWindsor faculty member.

The Honourable Edward W. Ducharme Award of Distinction recognizes the late English professor, who died in June 2013, and is given to a member of the Windsor-Essex community who demonstrates outstanding contributions to education, leadership and the public good.

Nominations are open until April 15; find details on the United Way website.

Dr. Ducharme was a three-time graduate of the University of Windsor (BA English 1967, MA 1969, LLB 1985). He taught courses in literary criticism and theory and served stints as department head, assistant dean and assistant vice-president before leaving academe to pursue a legal career that saw him ascend to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

A typical day on the job for an engineer often requires using limited resources to find quick and creative solutions to pressing challenges.

More than 60 local high school students got a feel for the demands of engineering when they were tasked with designing and building a wheeled vehicle in less than a day during a competition organized by the Windsor Engineering Student Society on March 29.

“Engineering is appealing because the world is changing and we’re seeing revolutionary changes in technology that can really help society in the future,” said participant Paramjot Gogia, 16, citing nanotechnology—the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale—as an example.

Gogia was part of the Riverside Secondary School team of four that won the competition with a three-second time to complete the 25-foot course. He and his teammates, Eldon Liu, Robert Lupoiu and Joshua Trang, received a plaque at the Windsor-Essex Engineering Month Luncheon on April 1 at the Caboto Club.

The student society hosts the annual competition at the Centre for Engineering Innovation in partnership with the Windsor Essex County Engineering Month Committee, which includes representatives from UWindsor, St. Clair College, the City of Windsor, County of Essex and local firms.

With a small amount of provided materials, including hex keys and a wrench, the Grade 11 and 12 students spent hours constructing and testing their vehicles. Teams were scored on the design and performance of the vehicle—distance and time—and a presentation given to a panel of judges comprised of fourth-year mechanical engineering students.

“The competition is part of engineering month, which is a celebration of engineering and engineering technologies,” said professor Jacqueline Stagner, a member of the engineering month committee. “The competition is also a way for high school students to come and learn more about our campus and the field of engineering.”

View photos from the event in an album on Facebook.

A local publication will produce monthly profiles of researchers under a new partnership with the Windsor Cancer Research Group.

Snapd Windsor is a free community-based publication distributed across the city. Its April edition features a profile of UWindsor computer science professor Luis Rueda.

“My research uses machine learning and bioinformatics approaches to study cancer biology,” he explains. “We design computer algorithms that … help us find relevant indicators associated with progression of prostate cancer and the different breast cancer subtypes.”

Karen Metcalfe, assistant director of the Windsor Cancer Research Group, says its staff is very excited about the new outlet.

“The goal of these SnapdShots is to raise awareness about the cancer research conducted in Windsor-Essex and stimulate new research collaborations,” she says.

Metcalfe encourages supporters to pick up copies of the publication to read each month’s profile.