December 2012 Gradzette

GradzetteTHE UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA’S GRADUATE STUDENT MAGAZINEDECEMBER 2012

Gradzette

The UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA’S GRADUATE STUDENT MAGAZINE

Gradzettec/o The Manitoban NewspaperPublications Corporation105 University CentreUniversity of ManitobaWinnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2

General inquiries and advertisingPhone: (204) 474.6535Fax: (204) 474.7651Email: [email protected]: Sheldon BirnieCopy Editor: Ryan HarbyDesigner: Leif LarsenContributors: Fosyer Lyle, Grace Romund, Chinenye Alozie , Beibei Lu Cover: Beibei Lu

The Gradzette is the official student magazine of the University of Manitoba’s graduate student community and is published on the first Monday of each month byThe Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation.

The Gradzette is a democratic student organization, open to participation from all students. It exists to serve its readers as students and citizens.

The magazine’s primary mandate is to report fairly and objectively on issues and events of importance and interest to the graduate students of the University of Manitoba, to provide an open forum for the free expression and exchange of opinions and ideas and to stimulate meaningful debate on issues that affect or would otherwise be of interest to the student body and/or society in general.

The Gradzette serves as a training ground for students interested in any aspect of journalism. Students and other interested parties are invited to contribute. Please contact the Editor for submission guidelines.

The Gradzette reserves the right to edit all submissions and will not publish any material deemed by its editorial board to be discriminatory, racist, sexist, homophobic or libelous. Opinions expressed in letters and articles are solely those of the authors.

The Gradzette is a member of the Canadian University Press, a national student press cooperative with members from St. John’s to Victoria.

All contents are ©2012 and may not be reprinted without the express written permission of the Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation.

Yearly subscriptions to the Gradzette are available, please contact [email protected] for more information.

n the evening of Oct. 25, 2012, over 100 people gathered in the

University of Manitoba’s engineering complex for the Celebration of Engineering

Student Competitions. ! The celebration is held annually by the Friends of Engineering (Manitoba), a group made up of engineers and non-engineers from across the province. Membership stretches across a number of industries, creating a unique and diversified portfolio of knowledge and support. The event highlights the previous year’s work of University of Manitoba Automotive Engineers (UMSAE), giving others within the faculty a

chance to see what has been accomplished.! UMSAE, an organization within the engineering faculty, consists of seven different teams. Team Baja is a team who creates a dune buggy that goes

through rigorous technically tests, before getting the chance to race both in speed and endurance. Team Aero, on the flip side, creates a small, unmanned remote controlled motor aircraft that goes through various flight tests. Team Nano Satellite designs innovative satellites, competing for the chance to actually send their satellite to space. Team Formula and Electric Formula create small sized formula and electric formula cars, which respectfully compete in a number of technical and structural tests. Team Glider designs and

constructs a glider that is put to the test, seeing which is most practical in the air. Finally, and possibly most uniquely, the Quarter Scale Tractor team constructs a one forth scale tractor for competition. All teams have had impressive results, more than a few of them boasting top ten finishes in recent

2

O

Gradzette

Annual engineering students’ competition a successEvent highlighted University of Manitoba Automotive EngineersBy Foster Lyle

years. ! Teams obtain individual funding through corporate sponsors, who attend the event to check out the students’ progress. Sponsors not only aid in financial donations, but also assist students in many of the technical areas. Professionals from Bowing, Magellen, and StandardAero all happily gave students advice on their builds, and provided students time to pick their brains on whatever topics they needed. These professionals also give students an excellent opportunity to network and build a web of contacts within the industry they will one day work in. Needless to say this event is one of the largest networking events that

UMSAE puts on. ! “The purpose of the event is to get together and celebrate all of our accomplishments and show off what we’ve done,” said one member of UMSAE Team Baja. “A lot of our sponsors come, too, so they can see what we’re doing

with their money.” ! And celebrate they did. Each of the seven teams brought last year’s creation, and the array of trophies that they successfully scooped up. Also present was an amazing spread of hors d’oeuvres and a bar of which many of the

students took full advantage. ! “It’s amazing what [members of UMSAE] can do every year,” said an engineering faculty member. “Each year they push themselves one step further, working extra hours, or recruiting different mentors to learn from.” He went on to explain that though they make work hard, sometimes braving long days and cold weather to do outdoor testing, they all do it for the fun, and the chance to

represent their school on the national engineering stage. ! “It’s basically the Olympics of engineering. Except there’s no news

coverage and no one really knows about it.”! When asked about the opportunities for graduate students, UMSAE

members across the board shrugged their shoulders.

! “Honestly, I have no idea about grad students. I assume they could join if they wanted to. Maybe some of the teams even have [graduate students on their

team].” ! The student did agree though that the presence of graduate student would be beneficial, being able to give higher level insight on issues, and

reducing the reliance on sponsors that UMSAE has now. ! For additional information on the Friends of Engineering go to their website at www.friendsofengineering.com. For more information on UMSAE and their design programs go to www.umsae.com.

3Gradzette

INDSOR (CUP) — A University of Windsor professor ’s research into using dandelions to cure cancer is awaiting approval from Health Canada before moving to human testing.

! Professor Siyaram Pandey has been working on a cure for cancer involving dandelion root extract. His work is focused on apoptosis, or

programmed cel l death, a f ie ld that picked up steam in the 1990s.! “Our cells perform their function, and then commit suicide,” Pandey

e x p l a i n e d . ! Damaged cells sometimes forget to die off, become cancerous and then rapidly divide and multiply. Pandey is using natural sources such as dandelions

to find a way to convince cancer cells to die while sparing healthy cells.! Pamela Ovadje, a Ph.D. student in biochemistry who has been working with Pandey since he started this project, explained that finding such a

t rea tment i s the goa l . ! “That ’s the problem with currently avai lable treatments l ike chemotherapy, because they are not very selective so they tend to target non-

cancerous ce l l s a s we l l . ” ! Pandey’s attention was first brought to dandelions by Windsor Regional Cancer Centre oncologist Caroline Hamm, who discovered that two of her

patients with leukemia found positive results while drinking dandelion tea.

UWindsor prof looks to dandelions for cancer cure

4

Flower power

Darryl Gallinger – The Lance (University of Windsor)

Gradzette

W

Photo by waferboard, Flickr Creative Commons

! “Two people mean nothing,” Pandey said of the questionable results. He explained that the cases could have been coincidental with other factors being

respons ib le for i t . “It could ha ve been psychosomat ic , ” he added. ! Despite his skepticism, he was willing to take a chance and look into it.

“The results were astonishing,” Pandey said. “I was not expecting anything.”

! Tests on non-cancerous cells have proved promising. He was quick to caution that despite the fact that just treating cancer in mice has turned out

pos i t i ve re su l t s , i t may not show the same success w i th humans . ! Currently, Pandey is trying to secure permission for clinical trials on humans from Health Canada. Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation has provided over $150,000 in funding for human testing, which Pandey can tap

into a s soon h i s request i s appro ved . ! Pandey has found a lot of support locally, with donations from the

Knights of Columbus, Seeds 4 Hope and the parents of Kevin Couvillon.! “That kid [ . . . ] he was so amazing,” said Pandey, who added that Couvillon had donated blood for Pandey’s research. After Couvillon died in 2010 of leukaemia, his family kept faith in the project and later donated $20,000. In February, 2012, another $20,000 was donated to keep the project g o i n g .! Pandey credits his students for the success he has experienced so far.

“They are the ones who do the experiments — the hard jobs, actually.”

! Pandey is researching other areas involving apoptosis, such as inhibiting cell death. “If cells in the brain start dying at a faster rate, we have a problem. With an excess of cell death we end up with neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s,” Pandey explained. “If we understand cell suicide,

can we inh ib i t ce l l death in the bra in? ”! Krithika Muthukumaran, a Ph.D. student in biochemistry, has been

work ing wi th Pandey on th i s next pro ject . ! “I wanted to do someth ing re l a ted to neuro -degenerat ion , ” Muthukumaran said. “We work with a water soluble formulation of Coenzyme Q10, which we’ve shown [ . . . ] could be used in curing Parkinson’s disease.”

5Gradzette

“If cells in the brain start dying at a faster rate, we have a problem. With an excess of cell death we end up with

neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s,”

-Siyaram Pandey

Photo curtesy CUPwire

he relationship between the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) and the U of M Graduate Students’ Association

(UMGSA) has been notably strained in recent months over what the GSA executive claims to be a lack of willingness to communicate and provide information on the status of the UMGSA’s CFS membership. A Special General Meeting, which was called by the UMGSA executive, was held on Oct. 30 for the UMGSA members to ultimately

vote on the UMGSA’s next move. ! This fall’s Special General Meeting to determine the UMGSA’s position on the nature of their relationship with CFS comes after what has

been a year-long process of research and meetings. ! After initial research and discovery as to the questionable validity of UMGSA’s CFS membership the previous UMGSA executive voted Feb. 2, 2012, to continue employment of a research assistant dedicated to investigating the issue further. ! UMGSA Researcher Elizabeth Gonsalves presented a research progress report at the Oct.

30 Special General Meeting that detailed her

findings.! UMGSA president Rotimi Ojo explained, “We had the [Special General Meeting] at both the Fort Garry and the Bannatyne campus. We had posted material online and sent out emails to the students two weeks in advance information about the discussion was going to be about and

had the opportunity to read the materials more.” ! Included in the materials that were sent out by email in the weeks prior to the meeting was Gonsalves’ report ensuring that members had a chance to properly review the 22-page document before voting. ! At the conclusion of months of research, Gonsalves’ stated in the Conclusion/Recommendation of her report, “The contradictory and incomplete nature of information at this time provides a completely non-definitive answer to the question of the UMGSA membership in the CFS/CFS-S and the

CFS-MB.”! Based on the “contradictory and

incomplete nature of the information” it was left to the membership to choose from a number of options for a next step as outlined in the agenda

of the meeting on Oct. 30.

! The options included: voting that from the information gathered by Gonsalves the UMGSA is, in fact, a member of the CFS; voting that the UMGSA is not a member of the CFS; voting to include higher authorities to determine membership; and, finally, voting to continue

further internal research on the issue. ! UMGSA has made no official statement on the outcome of the meeting, but Ojo said that as a result of the vote, “We are not members and that’s

how we’re going to stay.”

GSA’s relationship with CFS worsens after October’s Special General Meeting

6

Defederation on the horizon?

Grace Romund

Gradzette

TAccording to Ojo, the money collected for the

2012-2013 will be added to the money collected from the last academic year and will

remain in trust at this time

! According to the CFS website, the UMGSA is currently a member of the student

federation. ! Ojo mentioned he was pleased with the number of student members that were present at both the Fort Garry and Bannatyne campus meetings, indicating that this was an issue of importance to U of M graduate students and that the vote accurately represents the decision of UMGSA members. ! Also at the Feb. 2 meeting, where it was decided Gonsalves would look into this issue more closely, it was decided that the approximately $44,475 collected from the UMGSA membership for the 2011-2012 year would be held in trust and not be paid to the CFS until which time the UMGSA had reached a

decision regarding their relationship. ! According to Ojo, the money collected for the 2012-2013 will be added to the money collected from the last academic year and will

remain in trust at this time. ! The UMGSA was unwilling to officially release the minutes of proceedings of the Oct. 30 meeting as they are currently in the process of drafting and approving a letter— explaining the motions carried and ultimately decisions made—to be sent to the CFS in the coming months.

7Gradzette

Photo by Sancho McCann, Flickr Creative Commons

Naghmeh Garmsiri is a PhD student and a research assistant at the University of Manitoba’s department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. She is presently working on pneumatic robots.

Pneumatic robots use pressurized air to create mechanical motions. ! Naghmeh was born and raised in Iran where she also completed her undergraduate degree majoring in Computer Engineering at Shiraz University. ! “When I started university, I did not have much idea around engineering fields. I just had passion with building something like a machine, which can

work properly. This dragged me to engineering,” Naghmeh told the Gradzette.! Naghmeh completed her undergrad and worked as a control engineer for two years before she felt like she missed the university, returning to pursue her MSc in Mechatronics Engineering, a field quite different from her first degree. ! “Working as a control engineer, I developed interest for mechatronics

engineering,” Naghmeh said.! Naghmeh started her MSc research on rehabilitation robots. These robots can work or act exactly like a physiotherapist and are able to help

disabled people meet their daily needs. ! “I was really motivated when I heard the testimony of a patient who has lost his motor functionality after a brain stroke. He said the rehabilitation

robots worked softer and easier comparing to a human physiotherapist.” ! Naghmeh started working to optimize the performance of these robots by improving the robots’ co-operation with patients. She used an intelligent

controller, called BELEIC. BELEIC is a bio-inspired controller that mimics the

emotional learning of a mammalian brain. ! Naghmeh is now employed at the University of Manitoba where she works as a research assistant under Dr. Nariman Sepehri`s supervision. She hopes to build a rehabilitation system using the pneumatic robot originally built by her fellow research members. ! “The most important decision to make when building a rehabilitation setup is the robot actuation method. Robots have different methods of actuation. Among them, the only one which provides gentle, stiff motion and also safety for humans is called pneumatic actuation. This is obtained by injecting air into a piston, which transfers the movement to the robot arm,”

Naghmeh told the Gradzette.

! The rehabilitation setup also consists of a haptic device and a control system. A haptic device is one that makes physical contact between the computer and the user through an input/output system such as a joystick. By using a haptic device, the user can not only feed information to the computer but can receive information from the computer in the form of a sensation on

some part of his body.

8

Chinenye Alozie

Gradzette

RESEARCHER PROFILE

Naghmeh Garmsiri

T

Naghmeh experienced a lot of setbacks at the onset of her research. One of her biggest challenges was

developing a controller for the setup.

! In this system, the haptic device is manually operated by a doctor. The doctor moves the haptic device and the movement data is transmitted to the control system. The control system is the central processing unit of the setup which runs the control software. It communicates with the entire system through a data acquisition board and communication channels. It uses the transmitted data from the haptic device to move the pneumatic actuator accordingly. The pneumatic actuator is connected to patient depending on the desired application. ! The pneumatic actuator moves the patient disabled part and measures the reaction force of patient’s body part. This force is sent back to the haptic

device, which then reflects it to be felt by the doctor. The disabled body part of

the patient could be the limbs or the hands.! Naghmeh experienced a lot of setbacks at the onset of her research. One

of her biggest challenges was developing a controller for the setup. ! “Air is compressible and nonlinear. It makes the control work really

challenging,” Naghmeh explains. ! Naghmeh has developed two control systems for this setup. Using them, the actuator can provide the desired position and desired force. Then she

combined them to achieve a more human-like performance. ! In the face of challenges, Naghmeh was motivated by her highly experienced supervisor who has always encouraged and stood by her side. She might never forget her wonderful lab mates who provided her with a welcoming

and conducive atmosphere for her research. ! “I can’t wait to get to school and see my lab mates; they are the best friends I have ever had.”! “My ultimate goal is to have a robotic system that can be efficiently applied to rehabilitation treatment. Furthermore, this robot can also be used

inside MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) for rehabilitation assessment where a

lot of existing robots are not capable of working,” said Naghmeh. ! MRI of the brain is a safe and painless test that uses a magnetic field and

radio waves to produce detailed images of the brain and the brain stem. ! “The loveliest fact about my thesis is that it will be used to serve our society, our grandparents and sometimes ourselves.”

9Gradzette

Photo by Author