view . summer 2012
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In an ongoing effort to support its strategic plan,
Thinking Forward... Taking Action
, the University of
Windsor has committed nearly $2.5 million in 2012/13
funding for new initiatives and programs to improve the
student experience, pursue strengths in research and
graduate education, recruit and retain the best faculty and
staff, and engage in and build community and international
partnerships.
First established as part of the University’s 2009/10
operating budget, the Strategic Priority Fund has an
ongoing commitment to fund new programs that directly
support the vision and values of the institution’s strategic
plan. Among the 30 projects approved for the 2012/13
budget year are:
• A commercial aviation and aerospace leadership
option in the Honours Bachelor of Arts in Liberal and
Professional Studies program. This new option is in
response to a growing demand for university educated
pilots and leaders in the aviation and aerospace
industries.
• The In/Terminus Centre for Research and Creative
Activity will provide for a team of faculty artists and
researchers to develop interdisciplinary, student-led
projects and installations in the Windsor/Detroit region.
• Funding to provide field, laboratory, and
demonstration equipment for enhancing the
environmental science curriculum and community
outreach activities.
• 4Winds, a project facilitating Aboriginal participation
in post-secondary science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. Participating students in grades 6 to
8 will take part in science and technology experiences
that are extensions of Aboriginal cultural practices in
interacting with nature for health, food, shelter and
energy.
• Centre for Engineering Innovation (CEI) Live
Building Portal Development, a project that will
make the building’s innovative live building systems
performance data available on the Internet. Live
building sensors that monitor the building’s bio wall,
green roof, weather station, building wind distribution,
and rainwater distribution systems, make the building
a teaching tool that will be accessible to worldwide
users through the portal project.
• Funding for the position of coordinator for Faculty of
Science outreach activities. This three-year position
will coordinate outreach programs for the faculty,
including school visits, to support the Windsor-Essex
community and raise awareness of UWindsor’s many
research and teaching strengths in the sciences.
Provost Leo Groarke says the Strategic Priority Fund
has provided an outstanding way for faculty and staff to
participate in seeing their creative ideas come to fruition
and encourages every member of the campus community
to take part in building UWindsor’s future.
A full list of this year’s SPF projects is available
at
.
STRATEGIC PRIORITY FUND COMMITS $2.5 MILLION FOR 2012/13
A million-dollar investment through the Automotive
Partnership Canada
will assist in the development of
manufacturing processes to produce lighter-weight car
parts, says UWindsor mechanical automotive and materials
engineering professor Daniel Green.
Green’s project is directed at applying electro-hydraulic
forming to auto parts. Dr. Green hopes the process could
increase design flexibility and decrease production costs,
while reducing vehicle weights and thereby reducing fuel
consumption.
Last March, Federal Minister of State for Science and
Technology Gary Goodyear announced an investment of
more than $1 million in the project.
“Innovation is about taking ideas to market and solving
problems. The Automotive Partnership Canada initiative is
all that and will lead to greener, better-performing vehicles
while creating Canadian jobs and strengthening our
economy,” Goodyear said.
Dr. Green’s project involves collaboration with Ford
Research and Advanced Engineering, Amino North
America Corporation, Novelis Global Technology Centre,
ArcelorMittal Dofasco, and Natural Resources Canada’s
CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory.
He said the new funding will help him to attract
qualified researchers.
“They will be the front runners when the auto industry
wants to use this technology and hire people who
understand it,” he said.
Automotive Partnership Canada is a five-year,
$145-million initiative that supports collaborative R&D
and pushes the Canadian automotive industry to greater
levels of innovation. As this is an industry-driven initiative,
automotive companies provide both financial support
and essential in-kind contributions to ensure the research
projects’ success.
INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH TO PROMOTE AUTO
INDUSTRY INNOVATION
