Undergraduate students entering the University of Windsor in the Winter 2021 semester will benefit from attending a virtual orientation program just for them on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

The Student Success and Leadership Centre hosts Winter Orientation online starting at 10:30 a.m. Incoming undergraduate students who register for Winter Orientation will receive an email with a link to their online session. The event will answer questions incoming undergraduate students may have about their transition to their studies at UWindsor.

Winter Orientation will give new students the opportunity to:

1. Learn about the tools and resources UWindsor students utilize throughout their university careers;
2. Discuss some of the common challenges facing University students;
3. Discuss strategies and tips for tackling online learning;
4. Virtually tour campus buildings and facilities; and
5. Meet with other new students and current upper-year students.

Virtual breakout sessions will address the particular concerns of mature or part-time students, transfer students, and students coming directly from high school.

Stay tuned for resources and information for parents and family members about their student throughout their university experience on the Winter Orientation website.

Register through the Student Success and Leadership site.

Windsor and Essex County have moved into the Grey – Lockdown Level of the provincial COVID-19 response framework. This change will have little immediate effect on students or employees working remotely and will impose greater restrictions governing on-campus presence for essential staff.

The St. Denis Centre and study space in Alumni Auditorium and Leddy Library are now closed; the library and Campus Bookstore will maintain pick-up services. Find more details in a message for the University community.

In celebration of an entrepreneur who had a passion for mentoring students and an appetite for innovation, a memorial scholarship will support students at the forefront of electric vehicle research.

The Dr. Voiko Loukanov Engineering Scholarship has been established at the University of Windsor by D&V Electronics in honour of its founder, who has guided many engineering students in research projects to develop advanced technologies.

Dr. Loukanov was an entrepreneur who led D&V Electronics in pioneering and developing scientific testing technologies and expanded the test equipment company’s reach to thousands of customers in more than 90 countries.

In addition to taking co-op students under his wing, Loukanov spent more than a decade advancing electric vehicle research with Narayan Kar, a UWindsor professor who leads the Centre for Hybrid Automotive Research and Green Energy (CHARGE) Lab. D&V continues to work closely with Dr. Kar and is developing cutting-edge testing methods for electric motors in collaboration with UWindsor and Ford Motor Company on a $4.3 million project.

In honor of Loukanov’s longstanding commitment to research collaborations and student mentorship, D&V Electronics has donated $125,000 to endow the scholarship, which will provide an annual award of $5,000 to an engineering graduate student or exceptional undergraduate who is contributing to electric vehicle research at UWindso.

Brad Sato (BASc 2019), the first recipient of the scholarship, is a research intern in the CHARGE Lab who completed a co-op placement at D&V, which he says was a highlight of his undergraduate experience.

“The one thing that stood out to me the most was the quality of people employed there, not just in terms of intellect but also in character,” he says.

“Through my time there I was able to work with state-of-the-art technologies and witness first-hand the applications of the many things I learned in my classes. Collaborating with the brilliant minds and working with the advanced technologies at D&V were some of the driving forces that inspired me to pursue a post-graduate degree working with electric machines.”

Read the full article in the latest issue of WE, the Faculty of Engineering’s annual magazine.

—Kriste Pearce

UWindsor professor and alumna Sandra Muse Isaacs (BA 2000, MA 2002) won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award from the Western North Carolina Historical Association for her 2019 book Eastern Cherokee Stories: A Living Oral Tradition and its Cultural Continuance.

The award has been presented annually since 1955 for printed works that focus special attention on Western North Carolina.

In Eastern Cherokee Stories, Dr. Muse Isaacs explores the Eastern Cherokee oral tradition, explaining how storytelling in this tradition — as both an ancient and a contemporary literary form — is instrumental in the perpetuation of Cherokee identity and culture.

The association will host an online reading by Muse Isaacs and the other finalists:

• Leah Hampton, F*ckface and Other Stories
• Susan E. Keefe and the Junaluska Heritage Association, Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community
• Courtney Lewis, Sovereign Entrepreneurs: Cherokee Small-Business Owners and the Making of Economic Sovereignty
• Rose McLarney, Laura-Gray Street, and L.L. Gaddy, editors, A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia
• Dale Neal, Appalachian Book of the Dead

at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16. Register at wnchistory.org/events.

DailyNews is pleased to offer readers a diversion in the form of a few trivia questions to ponder as the holiday break approaches.

1. Bruce Springsteen’s rendition of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town features a saxophone solo by what late musician?
2. Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night is also known by what alternative title?
3. What is the name of the character who kidnaps Santa Claus in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas?
4. In the Northern Hemisphere, the 2020 winter solstice falls on which date?
5. Which Michigan county is home to Frankenmuth?
6. The 12 days of Christmas begin on which date?
7. Which British band sings of Christmas Eve in the drunk tank?
8. What is the group of Jewish rebels who purified the temple after the victory over the Greek Syrians in 165 BC?
9. Kwanzaa means “first fruits” in what language?
10. What toy does Alvin ask for in the Chipmunk Song (Christmas don’t be late)?

Answers here.

To show appreciation to its startup clients, community members, and partners, the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre) is hosting an online holiday party Wednesday, Dec. 16.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. and will feature a networking opportunity, trivia competition, and prizes — including for ugliest holiday-themed sweater.

The event will be hosted on the Zoom videoconferencing platform; register here.

Acquiring a license for a web-based application to build and manage online research projects is a game-changer, says Lisa Porter, executive director of the WE-Spark Health Institute.

The institute purchased Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), used around the world to support clinical and translational research studies.

“With the number of collaborative, cross-institutional research projects growing across our region, we needed to have shared tools available to all health research stakeholders to enhance collaboration and reduce redundant systems” Dr. Porter says. “REDCap is a game-changer and puts us on the map with other world-class research institutes.”

The app will enable researchers across Windsor-Essex to collect, store, and share de-identified health research data with collaborators under one platform. Its flexibility and customization will allow users to increase the quality of their research data and increase efficiencies in the data lifecycle management.

To be granted a REDCap account, individuals must be members of WE-Spark Health Institute and belong to one of its partner organizations: Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, St. Clair College, University of Windsor, or Windsor Regional Hospital. For more information, click here.

Assumption University will confer its Christian Culture Award Gold Medal on Luke Willson, a player in the National Football League, in the spring.

Willson, a native of LaSalle, currently plays tight end for the Baltimore Ravens after stints with the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks, with whom he won a Super Bowl in 2014.

Assumption principal John Cappucci called Willson “an inspiration to Christian youth” in a statement announcing the award.

“Luke is a faith-filled Roman Catholic who openly expresses his faith,” Dr. Cappucci wrote. “He oftentimes has referenced and credited his Catholic faith as his major reason for his success and navigation through his career.”

The award ceremony will begin with the formal presentation of the medal followed by a special lecture from Willson, at a date to be set.

Thursday, Dec. 17, will be the final day of operation for Mare Nostrum, the Mediterranean restaurant adjacent to the Education Building, owner Adam El-Dika announced last week.

He has launched a new venture, Whamburg, which offers burgers, fries, and shakes for pick-up or delivery. In January, it will open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We want to take this time to thank anyone and everyone who has ever supported us,” El-Dika said. “These past five years have been some of the most formative years of our lives and for that we are forever thankful.”

He plans to continue delivering signature Lebanese foods through the Leila’s Kitchen subscription service.