Working on a manual for the hoarding response program of Family Services Windsor-Essex was interesting, says Myriah Diab, so she wanted to present her learning experience in an equally interesting manner.

The fourth-year disability studies major made her project stand out by building a cardboard house to illustrate the problem of hoarding. Sheaves of paper poured out of windows and doors.

“I wanted to be creative, because the material I have is all documents,” said Diab, one of more than 50 students who presented information about their practicum placements with community agencies, Tuesday in the CAW Student Centre.

Diab spent a spent preparing a manual to train volunteers involved in addressing hoarding—everything from being respectful of people’s belongings to appropriate dress. Hoarding can pose dangers, she said.

“The agencies are focused on harm reduction, just making sure residents are safe,” Diab said. “This is more prevalent than you would think. A lot of it doesn’t get reported.”

The students were drawn from three senior courses: Community orientation to disability issues, Practicum in developmental psychology, and Practicum in psychology.

Emma Baker worked with Roots 2 Wings, developing an awareness campaign around Down syndrome. The “Rock your Socks!” theme encouraged people to wear colourful socks on March 21, chosen for signifying trisomy of the 21st chromosome.

“We want to see people with Down syndrome reach their full potential,” Baker said. “My placement really helped me understand how social interaction is a huge component of working with people with disabilities.”

Professor Marcia Gragg said the students gain experience while also providing valuable support to the placement agencies.

“Just the seven students in my class contributed over 600 hours of volunteer time,” she said. The students learn incredible things they can’t learn in the classroom, while making a big difference to the community. It’s really a win-win.”

To ensure his students absorb the material, nursing professor Jason Kiernan has made use of self-edited videos, rap songs, and props—including a giraffe toy and gift wrap string.

That creative approach to teaching has earned him provincial recognition, as winner of the 2016 Excellence in Teaching award from the Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing. He received the honour at a ceremony Wednesday in Toronto.

Kiernan brought nearly 20 years of experience as a nurse and nearly nine as a nurse practitioner to his 2012 appointment as a lecturer in the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Nursing. He says he values teaching, citing the motto that “the highest form of scholarship is a publication in the peer-reviewed journal of the youthful mind.”

The award was one of eight conferred by the council, focusing on four key areas: excellence in teaching, innovation in research, student excellence and partnership support. Read a description of all the winners and their achievements.

“We are proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of this year’s Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing award winners—some of Ontario’s finest nurse educators, scholars, and students,” says Michelle Cyr, director of the Office of Health Sciences at the Council of Ontario Universities. “These individuals exemplify the far-reaching impact of baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in Ontario.”

A team of UWindsor student engineers has devised a plan that can improve the efficiency of hospital porter services and enhance front-line care.

Third-year industrial engineering students Ryley Urban, Brande Norman, Deepaul Chunilall and Ted Thompson proposed a hardwired kiosk and swipe card system as a solution to inefficiency problems facing a hospital in Toronto as part of the inaugural Industrial Engineering Case Competition, held March 26 at Ryerson University.

The team finished second of nine Ontario university teams, missing first place by a sliver—one point shy of the winner’s 86-point finish.

“We live in a world where resources are constantly diminishing, so it’s important for industrial engineers to manage those resources to preserve quality of life or make it better,” said Urban, who is also treasurer of Windsor’s Institute of Industrial Engineers Student Chapter.

The competition challenges industrial engineering students by giving them real-life problems to solve under tight time constraints. The case study used data from a North York hospital that is plagued with porter service inefficiencies and communication issues. Each team received data on the average shifts of 38 porters.

The team learned time was lost when porters had to continuously return to a distribution centre to receive new tasks. If a job was cancelled, porters weren’t informed until they returned to the distribution centre. Fewer than 10 of the 38 porters were ranked as highly efficient.

“It was the best case to apply everything we learned in our education,” Thompson said. “We had no resources and no Internet. All we had was everything we learned in the classroom so far.”

In less than four hours, the team designed a hardwired kiosk system that would provide porters with tasks and Personal Protective Equipment requirements upon the swipe of a personalized card. The kiosks located throughout the hospital also notified porters of emergency calls and secondary jobs including retrieving and delivering items such as medications, syringes or gloves. The system included a built-in inventory, which could notify users when stock is running low.

The students had four hours to prepare a 12-minute presentation for a panel of Ryerson professors and alumni. In addition to receiving a plaque and $150, each member’s resume was provided to the company that provided the case study problem.

“It was so much pressure in such short time,” Chunilall said. “It really showed us what we were made of.”

Public support is the cornerstone of research, says Rosa Marie Ferraiuolo (BSc 2009, PhD 2015), a research associate in biology professor Lisa Porter’s lab.

“None of our work would be possible if we did not have sponsors, donors and supporters for our causes,” she told those gathered in Vanier Hall for a donor appreciation breakfast Thursday.

“Donor dollars fuel research in many ways: from providing scholarships and funding to graduate students working in the field, to the purchasing of new equipment and supplying essential reagents needed to conduct laboratory-based research,” Dr. Ferraiuolo said. “Every effort, both large and small, towards funding research makes a difference and today is a celebration of the difference that each and every one of you has made.”

More than 200 donors to the University attended the event and heard from drama student and scholarship recipient Billy Chandler; Alumni Association president John Renaud; grad Susan Wessel, who spearheaded the endowment of scholarship funds honouring local music teacher Ernie Gerenda and late soldier Andrew Grenon; and UWindsor president Alan Wildeman.

As regulations have begun to kick in to improve the efficiency of traditional incandescent lightbulbs sold in Canada, UWindsor is doing its part to make sure that fluorescent lightbulbs used throughout campus receive safe handling and recycling through the Chemical Control Centre (CCC).

“All fluorescent tubes on campus come to the CCC to be sent for recycling. Many contain small quantities of mercury which can be recycled at their end-of-life,” says Sherri Menard, manager of environmental health and safety.

Menard says the centre recycles various sizes and types of mercury-containing bulbs through a recycling  company which has more than 20 years of experience in recycling lamps and equipment containing mercury.

The company recycles more than 10 million lightbulbs each year and operates an approved mercury recovery and recycling system in Canada.  Recycling rates of nearly 100 percent of the original contents—including glass, mercury, and metal components—has been a major selling point for an institution as large as UWindsor.

 “Mercury-containing bulbs do not go to landfills, which is important to us in terms of environmental responsibility,” says Menard. “We know that fluorescent bulbs help save energy, but they do contain a small amount of mercury, so we have to be sure they are being handled safely.”

Find more information on the centre’s mission and goals on its website.

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles celebrating the University’s environmental stewardship, leading up to Earth Day, April 22.

The newest additions to the academic team at the World Health Innovation Network (WIN) bring with them expertise in numerous disciplines that will strengthen the goal of advancing health system sustainability and economic growth, says dean Allan Conway.

“We are thrilled to welcome the newest members of our growing team of extremely talented and dedicated health care professionals to WIN,” says Dr. Conway. “Through this group of adjunct faculty members and health leaders-in-residence, we are continuing to build bridges between industry leaders, our faculty, and our student—both in Canada and in the U.S.”

Through mentorship and scholarship, the growing WIN academic team will continue to cultivate a field of skilled, specialized entrepreneurs and professionals to build capacity for advancing innovative health products, processes and technologies.

“These groups of experts bring with them unique skillsets and credentials which add great value to WIN’s approach to solving the complex challenges facing health systems,” says Anne Snowdon, the network’s chair. “We are already anticipating the significant contribution these key team members will provide to WIN accomplishing its important mandate.”

The following individuals have joined the WIN academic team:

Adjunct Faculty

• Iris Ko currently serves as a professor in Georgian College’s Research Analyst Postgraduate Program. During her tenure in the Ontario government, she received multiple Ministry of Finance Stella Awards, among other awards of excellence.
• Donald E. Lighter, MD, has nearly 40 years’ experience in the health care industry and currently serves as a professor and core faculty for the Physicians’ Executive MBA program at the University of Tennessee and as director of the Institute for Healthcare Quality Research and Education.
• Tom McGowan, MD, has served on numerous provincial and national committees and currently serves as the managing director of the Cancer Centre Bahamas and of the Cancer Centre Eastern Caribbean.
• Dave Williams, MD, Canadian astronaut and physician, is currently the president of Southlake Regional Heath Centre and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.

Read complete biographies of WIN’s adjunct faculty.

Health Leaders-In-Residence

• Elaine Chin, MD, is a North American leader in personalized medicine and is the founder of Executive Health Centre. Currently she serves as the chief wellness officer at TELUS Communications.
• Sarah Padfield is a health system innovation leader who has built and supported transformational technology, system and quality of care projects both within her organization and across the Erie St. Clair region. Currently she serves as chief operating officer of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
• James Phillips is a businessman and speaker who holds degrees in accounting, an MBA in corporate management and is an honorary doctor of commercial science. He has received numerous awards of distinction and is now president of CAN/AM Border Trade Alliance.

Read complete biographies of WIN’s health leaders-in-residence.

The network’s main areas of focus include supporting world-leading research to provide value for the health sector, helping to ensure that Canadian discoveries and innovations have access to the key enablers necessary for adoption and scalability in health systems both in North America and abroad. For more information, visit www.worldhealthinnovationnetwork.com.