University Players will begin its 2012/13 season with Jake’s Women, September 20 to 23 and 26 to 30 at Essex Hall Theatre. This delightful comedy is one of Neil Simon’s most engaging plays.

Jake is a writer who is more successful with fiction than with real life. A series of wildly comic and sometimes moving flashbacks play out in his mind, but are interrupted by reality as he struggles to keep his marriage together. This clever juxtaposition of the real and the unreal will keep you on the edge of your seat as Jake takes the next step to put his past to rest and embrace his future.

“The magic of writing plays lies in the ability to make anyone you want appear on the stage,” says drama professor William Pinnell, the play’s director. “Jake, however, plays this ‘summoning game’ too often, making it difficult for him to know when he’s functioning in reality or in his imagination. The women start to take over Jake’s life… until a revelation cracks like a bolt of lightning.”

Wednesday through Saturday performances are at 8 p.m., Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. On Sunday, September 23, a “Talk Back” discussion with the director and actors will follow the performance.

For information or tickets, call 519-253-3000, ext. 2808, or visit www.UniversityPlayers.com.

Stephen Fields spends most of his working life writing about other researchers’ experiences. Now he has the chance for a scientific adventure of his own, as he sets sail aboard a research vessel for an Arctic voyage off the north shore of Baffin Island.

A communications officer in the University of Windsor’s Department of Public Affairs and Communications, Fields’ job is to promote great research stories. This Thursday, he’ll depart for Clyde River, a tiny Inuit hamlet in Nunavut situated on the shores of the Davis Strait. On September 22, he’ll board the 64-foot government research vessel MV Nuliajuk, and become a working member of the crew for about eight days.

Stephen Fields.

“I’ve never done anything like this on my life, so I’m certain it’s going to be an amazing learning experience,” he said. “This is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many people, so I’m really grateful for the chance.”

Fields will be working alongside Nigel Hussey, a post-doctoral fellow who works in the lab of Aaron Fisk, a professor at the university’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research. Fisk is responsible for the Arctic portion of the Ocean Tracking Network, a $168 million global research initiative that uses state-of-the-art acoustic and satellite systems to track the migratory patterns of a wide variety of aquatic species around the planet. One of the network’s goals is to better understand how climate change is affecting aquatic ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them.

Hussey and Fields will be setting out acoustic moorings in Scott Inlet, just northwest of Clyde River. Those moorings sit on the ocean floor, spaced about a kilometer apart, and “listen” for acoustic tags that are implanted in fish. After setting the moorings, they’ll be catching the fish the research team is interested in tracking and implanting them with tags.

They also hope to catch and tag at least 20 Greenland sharks, a large bottom-feeding dweller that can grow up to 6.5 metres, weigh 1,000 kilograms and potentially live to a 100-years-old. Several of those will be outfitted with satellite tags which record such data as water temperatures, depths and distances, which is all uploaded to a satellite and made available for the research team.

A former journalist with about eight years’ experience in daily newspapers, Fields will be blogging regularly from the vessel and will be periodically available for live interviews from the ship via satellite phone. Upon his return, he plans to write a feature article about the trip.

Read his first blog.

Let the learning begin.

Engineering students will enter their new home today, as labs open for undergraduate instruction.

“It is a wonderful occasion for our students and faculty,” says dean of engineering Mehrdad Saif. “This new facility will set a new standard for the technical sophistication of teaching and learning for any university in Canada.”

Most classrooms will start accommodating lectures September 24; the state-of-the-art instructional technology consoles are already installed. The registrar’s office will contact instructors individually to provide details of their new classroom assignments.
Other elements will be ready for occupancy later this semester, including:

• the 350-seat learning forum;
• the graduate student lab on the third floor;
• offices for faculty and administrators;
• the café providing food service.

Furniture for public spaces, including the atrium, is not scheduled to arrive until October.

The components for the first of two new wind tunnels to be installed in the new Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation began arriving late last week, much to the delight of the researchers who will be working with them.

Made by Industrial Metal Fabricators Ltd. of Chatham, the elevated 12 meter tunnel will run in a closed loop around the walls of a lab in the north-east corner of the CEI. With a 1.2 meter fan and a 30 horsepower motor, the tunnel will be capable of generating wind speeds of up to about 30 meters per second.

Mojtaba Ahmadi-Baloutaki, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, said he’s excited to see the new tunnel being delivered and assembled. His current research is focused on studying the efficiency of vertical axis wind turbines. Unlike the horizontal axis turbines that have been popping up around Essex County, the blades on vertical axis turbines actually spin in a horizontal direction.

The new tunnel will allow him to study the effects of such parameters as velocity, turbulence intensity and turbulence length scale on the “hawk” blade design he’s currently working with, Ahmadi-Baloutaki said.

“In reality, wind has a wide variety of patterns and we want to learn as much as we can about those patterns,” said Ahmadi-Baloutaki, who works under the supervision of professors Rupp Carriveau and David Ting.

Shaohong Cheng, a professor in civil and environmental engineering, was the lead investigator on a successful grant application for more than $98,000 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation that’s being used to pay for the larger of the two tunnels, which should arrive soon and will be installed in a lab right beside the smaller one.

Dr. Cheng said the medium-scale tunnel will be designed to accommodate the needs of research that will address wind-induced environmental, automotive, and structural issues.

“Wind affects our daily lives often more than we frequently aware,” she said. “From the utter devastation that was wrought by Hurricane Katrina, to subtle aerodynamic refinements of an alternatively fueled automobile, it remains apparent that research on the dynamic impact of wind on our environment is of significant concern.”

She said the region’s most critical wind-related issues include developing renewable green energy, improving automotive efficiency, reducing air pollution and designing sustainable infrastructures. The two new wind tunnels will help engineering researchers address all of those issues, she said.

Riding her bike helps Jeannine DeGagne to stay in shape physically and psychologically,

The first-year student of disability studies and psychology says making time to fit in physical activity can be a challenge for her, so her 10-km commute to campus can serve to kill two birds with one stone.

“I find I have better mental clarity if I am able to exercise,” DeGagne says. “A 40-minute bike ride allows me some time to create direction, to review or plan the day ahead. The commute also provides me with a free-flow of thought to brainstorm on upcoming assignments, generate ideas and problem-solving opportunities.”

DeGagne is one of the organizers of Bike to UWindsor Week, with events on campus Tuesday through Thursday. DeGagne points up a number of benefits to bicycling, including a greater sense of connection with the outdoors and the community.

“Just the task of organizing this week has helped to foster connections between various sponsors,” she says.

Besides, she adds, a bicycle is less expensive than a car and much easier to park close to classes. That focus on commuter cyclists is evident throughout the week’s event, with a theme of “Getting Ready for the Road.”

Start on Tuesday, September 18, by getting your body ready, as Campus Recreation offers a free spinning class to demonstrate the health benefits of cycling, noon to 2 p.m. in the Forge Fitness Centre.

Wednesday, learn how to keep your person safe on city streets and your bike safe off them, as the Campus Community Police Service and the Windsor Bicycling Committee provide tips on theft prevention and defensive cycling, from noon to 2 p.m. in the CAW Student Centre Commons.

Finally, let the professionals of Courtesy Bicycles give your ride a free check-up on Thursday, September 20, from noon to 2 p.m. at the CAW Student Centre.

All events also promise swag giveaways, free snacks for cyclists, local trail maps and information on bike maintenance and safety. Learn more on the event Web site.

UWindsor faculty and staff members are invited to participate in the highlight of the academic year by joining the Volunteer at Convocation initiative.

A joint project of the Department of Human Resources and the Office of the Registrar, it offers employees the opportunity to be involved in a tangible way in the culmination of the student experience.

Fall Convocation will be held in two sessions on Saturday, October 13, at the St. Denis Centre. Each session requires about 12 volunteers to assist with greeting guests, providing them with directions and information. The application deadline is October 1.

Find more information, including a sign up form, at www.uwindsor.ca/volunteer/convocation/volunteer-opportunities.

For Tiffany Lu, the English language is more than a means of expression. It is a key to making more friends and getting better career opportunities.

The first-year accounting major is one of 300 international students starting the English Language Improvement Program this month. The Centre for English Language Development welcomed the students Friday with a free barbecue luncheon to meet their classmates, instructors and staff.

“English is very important in the professional world today,” Lu said. “This knowledge will open more doors for me back in China.”

She came to Windsor following a suggestion by her sister’s friend, who has lived in the area for many years. She had heard good things about the business school and decided that the quiet border city best suited her.

“I really like it here,” she said.  “The people are nice, and the teachers I have met are so kind. I am very excited.”

Following Friday’s lunch, both old and new students met their professors and picked up their class schedules and textbooks, said the centre’s director, Jennie Atkins.

“It is ideal for our students meet each other as well as their instructors and other University of Windsor staff in a more social setting,” she said. “The students really appreciate it, and we hope to help them ease into the environment this way.”

Students this year are from a diverse group of countries including Brazil, China, Iran, Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia.

The students have already begun exploring the local region, trying their hands at bowling and making sightseeing trips to Pelee Island.

—photo and story by Chantelle Myers

The Marketplace food court in the CAW Student Centre has expanded its services to better meet the needs of residence students, says Dave McEwen, head of Food Services.

“We have introduced a number of changes, expanding our hours, our menus, and even our seating capacity,” McEwen says. “It’s all aimed at providing the best experience for our patrons.”

The cafeteria boasts an additional 90 seats and has extended its hours Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Homestyle station features many items that have proven popular, including turkey dinner with all the fixings, chicken parmesan with pasta, roast beef, and fish and seafood dishes. It operates on a five-week menu cycle for lunch and dinner.

The outlet offers four different soups each day, and the Marche Pasta station has added a weekly feature and signature sauce.

Special diets are a concern, says McEwen, and Food Services offers vegetarian and halal options at each meal. Bernie’s Grill now serves more items in these categories, including a new spinach and mushroom quesadilla. The pasta station uses halal beef for its meat sauce and serves whole wheat and gluten-free noodles.

“We want to be able to serve everybody and have all our students feel comfortable,” McEwen says. “Residence students who want to stay in Vanier Hall can grab a late breakfast or a quick lunch right there.”

The department has extended the hours of Vanier’s Crocodile Grill to serve breakfast from 7:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., adding lunch items at 11 a.m. Patrons can also relax or eat in a new 60-seat annex just down the corridor, in the space formerly used as the Mini Mart.

“Extending the hours at the Croc gives our residence students more options,” says McEwen. “They can avoid lunchtime crowds at the Marketplace.”

Find more information, including outlet locations, hours, and daily menus, on the Food Services Web site.

The Marketplace food court in the CAW Student Centre will take on an Indian flavour Tuesday, celebrating the cuisine of South Asia.

The Homestyle station will offer dishes on the theme all day, including:

• lunch entrees of baked samosa with mango coriander chutney, chicken keema with naan and basmati rice, chana and cauliflower masala, or vegetarian biryani;
• dinner entrees of tandoori chicken, curry beef, pasta with chana dal, or butter chicken—all served with a choice of basmati rice or naan bread.

With almost 130 student groups on campus, there is something for everyone during Club Days, says clubs coordinator Curtis Makish of the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance.

Tuesday to Thursday, September 18 to 20, representatives from all sorts of clubs—promoting activities, academic disciplines, cultural groups, or political and religious perspectives—will set up outside the CAW Student Centre.

The event takes the form of an information fair, with each group staffing a table to discuss their objectives and recruit new members. It runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.