A reminder that on Tuesday, March 29th from 2:30 - 4:00 pm, in Main's Faculty Lounge, there will be a Retirement Reception for Roger Cook who is retiring on April 1. Please drop by to wish Roger all the best in his retirement!

Mathew Larade, MSc and Inan Kucukkaya, PhD will each present a seminar on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 12:30 pm. Mathew Larade's presentation is entitled "Quantum Chemistry and Machine Learning: Programming in an Alchemist's Lab" and Inan Kucukkaya's presentation is entitled "Synthesis and Spectroscopic Studies of Organoiron Complexes Containing Novel Porphyrin Dendrimers and Polymers". The seminar will be held in the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre, Lecture Theatre, Room 212. All are Welcome!

SCENT blog post #8 is now up and ready for your reading and commentary. Only a few more to go -- all leading up to the April 27th public talk and workshop by Dr. Len Findlay, University of Saskatchewan; stay tuned for more info about this event very soon. Meanwhile, in this week's blog post, entitled "Students Aren't Coddled, They're Defeated," author John Warner argues that we have divorced school from learning, with the result that students don't see what they do here as applying, for the most part, to the rest of their lives. Go to projects.upei.ca/scent to read more!

For more information, contact Ann Braithwaite, Chair of SCENT, abraithwaite@upei.ca, or Gerald Wandio, Faculty Development Office, at fdo@upei.ca

The UPEI International Relations Office is excited to host and invites you attend an on-campus roundtable on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, David Lametti.   

Thursday, March 31, 2016
3:30-4:30 pm
Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI

Moderated by UPEI Director of International Relations Barbara Campbell, the Roundtable is part of the series of local consultations led by the Government of Canada, with provincial leaders, local industry representatives,  and members of the public on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and on international trade.‎ All members of the University community are welcome to attend!

Biography
David Lametti was recently a Professor of Law at McGill University. He was Associate Dean (Academic) between 2008 and 2011. He is a Member of the Institute of Comparative Law, and was a founding Member of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy (CIPP); he served as its Director from 2009 to 2012. Professor Lametti obtained a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Toronto in 1985, and received his Common and Civil law degrees from McGill in 1989.  He received an LL.M. from the Yale Law School in 1991, and a doctorate in law at Oxford University; his thesis was entitled “Ethical Aspects of the Theory and Practice of Private Property”. Professor Lametti was a clerk to Justice Peter Cory of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989-90. He is an internationally-recognized expert in property and intellectual property, with numerous publications, and has taught or lectured in many of the world’s most well-known universities.

 

In recognition of the outstanding performance and dedication of our faculty and staff, a number of annual awards have been created to acknowledge their efforts and achievements. 

Up to 10 Presidential Awards of Merit for UPEI Faculty, Librarians and Clinical Veterinary Professionals and four Presidential Awards of Merit for UPEI Staff will be awarded in 2016. These awards will be presented during a Celebration of Colleagues to be held on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 from 2:00-4:00 in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre. 

Susan Connolly, Associate Vice President Human Resources & Legal, will lead the process and chair the committee to select award recipients. 

Nominations for both faculty and staff awards close on Friday, April 1, 2016. 

For further details on the awards and the nomination process, please visit: http://www.upei.ca/president/presidential-recognition-awards-merit 

Spin 
Thursdays 6:30 am - 7:15 am
April 7 - May 12
Registration Deadline: April 6

Spin & Strength 
Tuesdays: 6:30 am - 7:15 am
April 19 - May 24
Registration Deadline: April 18

Spin Instructor - Tracey Gairns-Brioux

For each six-week program:
Members $51 + hst; non-members $60 + hst per program.
Registration for Specialty Fitness Classes is required by deadline at Panther Central, UPEI Sports Centre.

UPEI Graduate Studies, along with the UPEI Graduate Students Association, and the UPEI Student Union will be hosting a 3MT (3 Minute Thesis) competition TONIGHT, 7 pm at The Wave. Nine UPEI grad students have just three minutes each to present their graduate research to a lay audience.First place will receive $200 and a trip to Memorial University to compete in the Regional 3MT competition. Second place will be $100.00 and third place will receive $50.00.

What Is 3 Minute Thesis? The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a skills development activity which challenges thesis-based graduate students to explain their research project to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes.

Would you know what to do if a cut on your dog's leg was bleeding badly or your pet was having a seizure? Do you know what common household items and foods are toxic for your pet?

The Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI will hold a public workshop called “Basic First Aid for Your Pet” on Tuesday, March 29, from 7-8:30 pm.

Dr. Kathy Ling, a veterinarian in AVC’s Community Practice Clinic, will provide information about recognizing and dealing with injuries and illnesses in dogs and cats. Topics will include primary assessment, handling an injured pet, bleeding, shock, common toxins, and recognizing signs of pain and distress.

The workshop will take place in Lecture Theatre A at AVC. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.

Small group training offers training sessions that focus on individual progression and skill development. A six-week, two times per week small group of seven - ten working with a certified personal trainer. Twelve sessions. Fee: $135 + taxes per person. Mondays and Wednesdays, 12:05 pm – 12:50 pm Trainer: Lyndsey Paynter

Start Date: March 30.

Registration deadline: March 29

Please register at PANTHER CENTRAL Desk at the UPEI Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. Payment required at registration!

The UPEI Rainbow Alliance is co-hosting the Provincial High School and Jr High Gender & Sexuality Alliance Conference in April at UPEI. On Wednesday March 23 from 11:30-1:30 we will be having a bake sale in the concourse of the W.A. Murphy Student Centre to help fund raise to get additional prizes and goodies for the students. Bake sale items are by donation, and we will have vegan and gluten free options in addition to non-vegan and non-gluten free options. Contact rainbow@upeisu.ca with any questions.

Time flies by... and another SCENT blog post is up for your reading pleasure. This one is by Mark Mercer (at SMU) who refuses the idea that there are or should be limits on academic freedom, especially externally imposed. Join the conversation and tell us what you think! We're over at projects.upei.ca/scent 

for more info: Ann Braithwaite, chair of SCENT, abraithwaite@upei.ca or Gerald Wandio, FDO, fdo@upei.ca 

 

Jennifer Vacon, MSc student will present a seminar on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 12:30 pm. The presentation is entitled "Using Bioautography for the Discovery of Bio-protectants". The seminar will be held in the Regis and Joan Duffy Research Centre, Lecture Theatre, Room 212.

 

The UPEI Student Union is currently accepting nominations for both the Faculty of the Year and Staff of the Year awards. Staff and Faculty may only be nominated for these awards by students. 

Faculty of the Year award is aimed at recognizing a faculty member who contribute to the campus community with actions that consistently go beyond the requirements of their position. Their effectiveness as a professor, accessibility both in and out of the classroom, contributions to campus community, and dedication to educating their students should be considered when submitting the nomination. 

Staff of the year award aims to recognize the University staff member that s the most dedicated to enhancing the student experience at UPEI. This staff member goes out of their way to ensure that students' interests are the University's top priority. 

Students are asked to please submit nominations through the link below on Google Forms. The deadline for submissions is March 18, 2016.

https://docs.google.com/a/upeisu.ca/forms/d/1DJZ4GVOXmdEOK7Ft25HpSt6OIw…

Title: Explicit evaluations of the polynomial solutions of differential equations with polynomial coefficients                                   

Speakers: Five undergraduate students (Andrew, Keegan, Kyle, Nikita and Patrick, each will take a part in the presentation)

Wednesday, March 23, 2016,  3-4 pm

Where: AVC 287N

Abstract: Second order linear differential equations with polynomial coefficients arise in many fields of physics and engineering. For example the Hermite, Legendre, and Laguerre equations are all discussed during any introductory study of quantum mechanics. It is well known that these equations possess polynomial solutions, which are a requirement for states that are bounded and physically realizable. The conditions under which more general equations possess polynomial solutions have been the subject of extensive study in recent years. In the present work, differential equations with polynomial coefficients of arbitrary degree are considered. A power series method is employed to obtain a general recurrence relation which generates polynomial solutions and the conditions for the existence of such solutions. In addition to presenting a Mathematica algorithm developed to find these polynomial solutions, some applications of where this method may be employed are discussed.