Note: This document is hosted here for archival purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the values of the Iron Warrior or Waterloo Engineering Society in the present day. 1 THE NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO ENGINEERING SOCIETY Volume 26 Issue 4 | Wednesday, March 16, 2005 http://iwarrior.uwaterloo.ca/ Entrepreneurial BUS PUSH FOR HEART & STROKE Design Champions at CEC 2005 This year, one individual and two teams passed the initial hur- dle of the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) here in Waterloo to be invited out to QUOC HUY T LE Calgary. 3B Systems Design's 4B ELECTRICAL Jeff Alfonsi competed in the Editorial Communications cate- ach year the brightest engi- gory. My team (including my Eneering students across the buddies Preet Inder Shihn and country gather to see who the Erik Schmidt) competed in the best in Canada is. Usually, the Corporate Design category. And first and second place winners a 4B Systems Design team of each category in the regional (Alice Malisia, Melanie Stern, competitions are invited. This Beth Vary and Matthew Millard) year, three Waterloo groups got brought their project along to to fly out to Calgary, Alberta to show off in the Entrepreneurial participate in the Canadian Design category. Engineering Competition (CEC) Unfortunately, neither of 2005. Alfonsi nor my team placed in From March 3rd through the our respective categories. But 6th the students from the Waterloo did not come home University of Calgary were gra- empty handed as the fourth year cious enough to provide us with Systems team took first place in excellent accommodations and the Entrepreneurial Design with entertaining activities. (If you their computer assisted piano happen to run into anyone that tuner. They beat out stiff com- went, ask them about the risqué petition by the likes of U of T pleasures Cowboy's on Friday with their motion tracking net- night!) work and a fellow from Ryerson As always, corporate spon- who compiled his own compres- sorship provided the competi- sion implementation algorithm. tors with a prime opportunity to After the awards were hand- find out about career possibili- ed out during the Saturday night ties that wait in the west. Not banquet there was a slew of Last Saturday, engineering students braved the snowy weather to pull a bus from UW campus to surprisingly, many companies thank you's and congratulations, Waterloo city hall. This year, over $5000 was raised for the Heart and Stroke Foundation! were of the fuel and energy in the middle of which our hosts business. There were some from U of C distributed white other corporations there as well hats to all the competitors. By including a strong presence doing so, we were all made hon- from the Canadian Armed ourary Calgarians as per the tra- Fire in CPH High-Voltage Lab Forces. dition in Calgary. Yeehaa! Damage estimated at over $1 million ments by four professors in the above it. ECE Power and Energy Systems Fortunately, the fire was large- Group. Research in the lab focus- ly confined. After some initial es on high-voltage insulation for cleanup, students and staff were power transmission, power quali- able to return to classrooms and CINDY BAO ty, electrical technologies for food offices the next day. The EngSoc 3B ELECTRICAL processing, and water purifica- C&D also resumed its operations. tion, among others. Some of the Air purifiers and high-pow- n Monday, March 7th, many long-term experiments run twen- ered fans have been placed Ofaculty members, students ty-four hours a day, seven days a throughout the building to elimi- and staff had come to Carl week, and do not require constant nate the smell of smoke, while all Pollock Hall for work or class, supervision. surfaces, floors, and walls are only to find the building was The exact cause of the fire has being thoroughly cleaned. closed for the day due to a fire not been identified at this point. Reconstruction of the lab is that occurred in the high voltage Nobody was in the lab at the time expected to take approximately lab at about 4 am. and no injuries occurred. The esti- three months, as it must be com- The two-storey lab is situated mated damage is over $1 million pletely rebuilt. However, it may in CPH 1333, across from the in equipment, with another take years to completely replace CEC Entrepreneurial Team members Alice Malisia, Beth Vary, multimedia lab. It serves as the $150,000 in smoke and soot dam- all the equipment and make up for Matthew Millard, and Melanie Stern placed first in their competition. home for the research experi- age to the lab and two offices the lost research. 2 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Letter from the editor It is only by embracing education produce a budget which would placate that the quality of our lives and the the opposition parties so as to avoid The Newspaper of the University of strength of our economy can continue the collapse of the government, the Waterloo Engineering Society to grow. However, significant invest- Liberals tabled a budget high on ments must be made to bring the stan- promises but low on substance. Editor-in-Chief JAMES SCHOFIELD dard of Ontario universities up to the Although on the surface, there James Schofield EDITOR-IN-CHIEF national average, and even more to appears to be considerable new invest- bring it in line with the North ment (notably, for the Canadian mili- Assistant Editor Since February, there have been American average. Rae implores the tary), much of the money consists of Dan Arnott two significant events which will have provincial government to commit itself funds that were previously announced, the potential to change the course of to education, and makes several ambi- and funds which will be distributed Photo Editor postsecondary education for some time tious recommendations. over a five-year period. As minority John Olaveson to come: The Rae Review on First, he recommends an increase in governments go, Paul Martin's govern- Postsecondary Education released its base funding to colleges and universi- ment will be fortunate to survive Layout Editor final report in early February, and the ties of $1.3 billion by 2007-08, with another year in parliament, let alone Gabriel Chan Federal Budget was tabled a couple of the majority of the money to be direct- five. After the next election, most of weeks later. ed towards quality improvements. He these five-year commitments will in all Technical Editor The Rae Review was headed by for- also recommends that funding should likelihood be brushed under the rug [Vacant] mer premier Bob Rae, and was com- be guaranteed for any qualified student and forgotten. missioned by the Government of who wishes to attend postsecondary The budget was severely criticized Webmaster Ontario to provide recommendations education, regardless of the family's by the FEDS for providing no relief for Cindy Bao on the design and funding model of income. In addition, he recommends a students graduating with debt, and for postsecondary education in the major reorganization of OSAP, by failing to implement the Liberal's cam- Advertising Manager province. It took into consideration the increasing funding for lower-income paign commitment of creating a dedi- [Vacant] accessibility of education, the quality students, and making more middle- cated education transfer, which was of the education provided, the overall income students eligible for loans. promised to eventually provide $7- to Distribution Manager design and coherence of the entire sys- Engineering students will probably $8-billion in new funding for educa- Richard Li tem, the funding required to provide a be happy to hear that Rae recommends tion. The NDP, unsurprisingly, was high-class education, and the account- continuing the tuition freeze until the also vocal in expressing their dissatis- Offstream Editor-in-Chief ability of the colleges and universities new funding is put in place. Thus, the faction with the lack of funding for David Yip to the government and to taxpayers. two-year tuition freeze will likely postsecondary education. Prior to releasing the report, there was remain in place for the coming year. In the end, while the Rae Report an extensive consultation process While he does not completely demand offers some hope for improved post- Staff which received submissions from uni- an end to tuition deregulation in pro- secondary education in Ontario, and an versity administrators, industry, and fessional programs like engineering, end to the ridiculous tuition hikes over Katherine Chiang students groups, among others. he does suggest that tuition should be the past decade, the provincial govern- Neil Damgaard In the report, Rae champions the subject to a provincial framework ment will likely move slowly in imple- Francis Hope benefits of higher education, whether which should provide more pre- menting these recommendations Chun Lam provided by colleges or universities. dictability and fairness than the 15% because of budgetary constraints. The Quoc Huy T. Le He writes, “People have a right to annual tuition hike which Waterloo federal government, however, has no Ian Leung develop to their full potential. engineering students have endured excuse for the pathetic budget which Richard Li Learning is a value in itself. The from several years. was recently tabled. As it rakes in bil- LowRider capacity to be curious and reflective is The response to the report has gen- lions of dollars in surplus ever year, Christine McCullough what allows us to grow as individuals. erally been positive. The University there is certainly room for at least Kevin Quan To be moved by an eloquent passage or administration and FEDS have both some investment.