September 28, 2000
U of S Joins On-Line Community
Posted September 28, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 27, 2000 2000-09-17-OTHER
University of Saskatchewan Joins On-Line Community
SASKATOON, September 27, 2000 - University of Saskatchewan alumni and
students will now have the opportunity to connect on-line. The U of S
Alumni & Development Office has recently launched an On-Line Community
network service for University students, staff, faculty, alumni and
supporters.
The On-Line Community is designed to connect members of the U of S community
with both each other and members from other universities, including
University of Alberta, University of British Columbia and University of
Windsor. Currently there are over 850 U of S people registered, with new
members signing up every day.
Registered members have access to a wide variety of services, including a
job board, an on-line mentoring program, a travel/relocation database, and a
business card exchange.
"The On-Line Community is an excellent way to network and access
information," says Laurel Rossnagel, Associate Executive Director of Alumni
& Development. " It has something for absolutely everybody, whether you
want to look up an old classmate or you need career advice from an expert in
the field. We really hope people will take advantage of this wonderful
opportunity and sign up."
Registration is free and available to members of the U of S community by
accessing the web site at www.usask.ca/alumni.
For more information please contact:
Alumni & Development Office
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5186 or 1-800-699-1907
Alumni.Office@usask.ca
September 26, 2000
U of S Publishes Economic Impact Study
Posted September 26, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? September 26, 2000 2000-09-15-OTHER
U of S Publishes Economic Impact Study
The University of Saskatchewan contributed around $747.3 million to the
local economy representing 20% of the City's gross income in 1998-1999,
according to its biannual economic study released today.
The findings confirm that the University currently has the greatest impact
on the City of Saskatoon compared to any other organization.
The amount includes the total direct impact of purchases made locally by the
university complex, its employees, students and visitors, and the indirect
expenditures stimulated by those direct purchases.
The University complex includes federated colleges, Royal University
Hospital, federal research agencies, Wanuskewin Heritage Park and Innovation
Place, one of the most successful research parks in North America.
A summary of findings for 1998-99 are as follows:
-$137 million paid out in salaries and wages;
-$32 million paid out for goods and services purchased locally;
-$157 million spent locally by U of S students locally;
-$216 million paid out in salaries and purchases by associated
organizations, $101.1 million of which was generated by Innovation Place;
-Attracted $100 million in research funds;
-$10.7 million spent by out-of-town visitors on local accommodation, food
and travel expenses;
-17,650 local full-time jobs generated; 18% of the city?s employees;
Peter MacKinnon, University President, said: "The University is a major
centre for education, research and services and as such plays a vital role
in the economic and cultural life of Saskatoon, the province and its people.
"For every $1 million of provincial grant, the University returns over $4.5
million to the provincial economy. This contribution to the local and
provincial communities makes us a sound investment."
For further information or a copy of the brochure, contact:
Barrie Dubray
University Studies Group
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-7812
or
Tina Merrifield
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2213
September 21, 2000
Biography of Saskatchewan's First Premier Launched
Posted September 21, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? September 21, 2000 2000-09-13-OTHER
Biography of Saskatchewan?s first premier launched
The first ever biography of Saskatchewan?s founding premier, T. Walter Scott
will be launched at Saskatoon?s McNally Robinson Booksellers on September
28th at 7:00 pm. Author Gordon Barnhart will read a selection from the book,
answer questions, and sign copies.
"Peace, Progress and Prosperity" describes Scott?s public life as a
journalist, member of parliament, and finally as Saskatchewan?s first
premier, but it also explores his private life including the secret of his
illegitimate birth, his bouts with depression, and finally his tragic death.
The idea for the biography came about Barnhart?s master?s thesis in 1977. He
became interested in Scott when a growing fascination with the Legislative
Building led him to wonder why Premier Scott was not present at the opening
ceremony of the building he had worked to make a reality. He decided to
write the biography after visiting the former Premier?s burial site and
discovering it was hardly recognizable as a grave, let alone as that of a
great man.
"We are living his vision," said Barnhart. "Yet very few people today even
know his name."
"Gordon Barnhart tells the story of Saskatchewan?s first premier with skill
and humanity," said Peter MacKinnon, U of S President. "The creation of our
province and its magnificent legislature, and the founding of the University
of Saskatchewan are events in which Premier Scott played a central role. But
in spite of his impressive achievements, the story of the premier?s life ?
particularly his later years ? is a sad one. This is an important book about
the early years of Saskatchewan and the life of one of its leading public
figures".
"Peace, Progress, and Prosperity" is written for consumption by the general
public and will particularly appeal to those interested in politics,
Saskatchewan history, and biographies.
The book will also be launched in a ceremony at the National Archives in
Ottawa March 12, 2001.
Gordon Barnhart holds a Master of Arts (1977) in Canadian Prairie history,
and he earned his doctorate in history from the University of Saskatchewan
in 1998. He served as the Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments
from 1989 ? 1994 and as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
from 1969 to 1989. He was named University of Saskatchewan Secretary earlier
this year.
For more information, please contact:
Gordon Barnhart
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4632
Dolores Reimer
McNally Robinson Booksellers
(306) 955-3599
September 20, 2000
Prairie Horticulture Certificate Program Offers New Home-Study Classes
Posted September 20, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 19, 2000 2000-09-12-EXT
Prairie Horticulture Certificate Program Offers
New Home-Study Classes
SASKATOON - The Prairie Horticulture Certificate (PHC) Program will be
offering four new classes this year: Landscape Construction, Herbaceous
Landscape Plants, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, and Post-Harvest Handling of
Food Crops. These classes are in addition to many other home-study courses
in horticulture offered through the PHC program.
Horticulture is one of the fastest-growing industries in the prairies, yet
most of the information available doesn?t apply to our growing conditions.
PHC is the first horticulture home-study program to focus on conditions
specific to the prairies.
This award-winning program lets students specialize in four areas of
interest - Fruit & Vegetable Production, Greenhouse Crop Production,
Landscaping & Aboriculture, or Nursery Crop Production. Each area of
specialization offers unique and practical courses. We also offer a number
of elective courses which can be used towards any of the certificate
streams.
PHC is for anyone interested in horticulture - people employed in the
industry, those interested in joining the horticulture industry, or taking
practical classes for pleasure. Students can take one or two classes for
general interest, or take enough to complete a certificate.
All courses are available by home study, and course materials are delivered
directly to a student?s mailbox. Students can study on their own time in
the comfort of their own homes. Regular contact with an instructor is part
of every PHC course. Courses have been developed by experts from four
prairie educational institutions - the University of Saskatchewan, Olds
College, the University of Manitoba, and Assiniboine Community College.
Courses are offered in three terms: late October to mid-January; mid-January
to late March; and early April to late May. Fees for a PHC course range
from $250.00 to $500.00 with the average cost per course around $400.
Contact us today for more information on the PHC program:
Prairie Horticulture Certificate Program
Extension Credit Studies
University of Saskatchewan
326 Kirk Hall
117 Science Place
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8
Tel: (306) 966-2226
Fax: (306) 966-5590
E-mail: extcred@usask.ca
www.extension.usask.ca/go/phc
September 19, 2000
The Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Integration to hold conference
Posted September 19, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 19, 2000 2000-09-11-AR
The Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Integration
(PCERII) will be holding their 3rd Regional Conference and Workshop at the
Radisson Hotel in Saskatoon September 21 - 23, 2000.
The PCERII is affiliated with both the University of Saskatchewan and the
Metropolis Project, an international organization that examines issues
related to immigration in urban centres. It will be the first time the
PCERII has held the conference in Saskatoon.
The theme of the conference is "Immigration and Integration: Towards a
Renewal of the Linkages between Research, Policy and Practice".
The conference will begin with a plenary session on policy relevant research
and its role in policy development.
Several government representatives will be participating, including Robert
Vineberg, Director of Prairies/NWT Region Citizenship and Immigration Canada
and Rosaline Frith, Director General, Integration Branch, Citizenship and
Immigration Canada. Meyer Burstein, Executive Head of Metropolis Project,
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, will also be attending.
All media are invited to attend.
For more information please contact:
Terry Wotherspoon
Professor, Department of Sociology
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-6924
Fax: (306) 966-6950
E-mail: wotherspoon@sask.usask.ca
Kelly McKean
Administrative Coordinator
Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration
University of Alberta
Tel: (780) 492-0898
Fax:(780) 492-2594
E-mail: kmkean@ualberta.ca
September 11, 2000
U of S Study Finds Genetic Mutation Linked to Multiple Births
Posted September 11, 2000
2000-09-08-MED
EMBARGOED UNTIL 5 P.M. CENTRAL STANDARD TIME FRIDAY, SEPT. 8/2000
U of S Study Finds Genetic Mutation Linked to Multiple Births
In a study published Sept. 9 in the prestigious British medical journal The
Lancet, University of Saskatchewan researchers report they have found a
genetic mutation potentially responsible for twins and other multiple birth
pregnancies.
Though the study involves just one family with a history of multiple births,
a Lancet reviewer says the research paper "could be a breakthrough" in the
search for the gene responsible for twinning or other multiple births.
"This is the first genetic explanation for the phenomenon of twinning in
humans," says principal investigator Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy, a resident doctor
at the time of the study who conducted the research with his supervisor Dr.
Valter Feyles and colleagues Oksana Moshynska and Dr. Anurag Saxena.
The findings could pave the way for a simple DNA test to identify women at
higher risk for multiple birth pregnancies. Multiple birth pregnancies are
one of the undesired effects of infertility treatments and pose a higher
risk for complications both to the babies and the mother. Women undergoing
fertility treatment who test positive for the twinning mutation could then
have their ovulation medication doses adjusted, thereby reducing the risk of
multiple births.
Such a test could also lead to earlier diagnosis of twins in pregnant women,
resulting in improved pre-natal care and reduced risk of complications.
But Al-Hendy cautions further research is needed. "We now have to do further
studies on at least a dozen more families with a strong familial history of
spontaneous (without the use of fertility medications) twinning," he said.
"We also need to do further lab studies to determine the mechanism for these
genetic mutations."
It?s long been known that spontaneous twins and triplets run in families.
But no specific gene has been associated with this phenomenon.
Research has focused on the hormone FSH (follicular-stimulating hormone)
that stimulates the ovaries to mature and produce eggs. Scientists have
wondered whether women with spontaneous twins or other multiple pregnancies
have higher levels of FSH circulating in their blood, but studies have not
found this to be the case in all women with twins.
U of S researchers think the answer lies with the specific sites or
receptors where FSH binds on the ovaries. They hypothesized that if these
FSH receptors are normal, then the ovaries will
respond with normal ovulation, producing one egg every month. But if the FSH
receptor is too sensitive to the hormone due to a genetic mutation, then
that could lead to maturation and release of several eggs at a time, causing
multiple pregnancies.
The team narrowed the search to three FSH receptor gene suspects. They
conducted DNA tests on blood samples from a woman who had given birth to two
sets of twins and who had a family history of multiple pregnancies over two
previous generations. They also took blood samples from other members of her
family and from a control group of 34 women with one baby per pregnancy and
no family history of twinning.
Al-Hendy?s team found two linked mutations in DNA from the blood sample from
the patient who?d given birth to two sets of twins. There were no mutations
in the blood samples of the women from the control group. The mutations were
found in just one of the three FSH receptor gene suspects.
"We suggest that the two mutations together produce a presumably more
sensitive FSH receptor," he said.
He noted this research may also improve our understanding of other
conditions and diseases (such as ovarian cancer and infertility) in which
the FSH receptors are thought to play a role.
"It?s important knowing how these receptors work so that the search and
progress for a solution to several women's health problems can continue," he
said.
The study was funded by a U of S College of Medicine clinical teaching and
research grant obtained by Feyles, former director of the U of S In Vitro
Fertilization Program and now an associate professor at McMaster University.
Dr. Al-Hendy has recently taken up a position with the University of Texas
Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
For more information contact:
Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy
Assistant Professor
Division of Gynecology
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, Texas
Tel. (409) 772-8599
(409) 7726804
(409) 772-3510
Pager (409) 643-1304
Fax (409) 747-0366
E. mail: Ayalhend@UTMB.edu
Dr. Valter Feyles
Associate Professor, McMaster University
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
(905) 525-9140 ext: 22228
FAX: (905) 524-2911
E-mail: feylesv@fhs.mcmaster.ca
Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President Research
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2506
U of S to Host Career Fair
Posted September 11, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 11, 2000 2000-09-09-OTHER
U of S to Host Career Fair
SASKATOON, September 11, 2000 - The University of Saskatchewan is hosting
the Second Annual Campus Career Expo on Wednesday, September 13, 2000. Over
90 employers will be at the event to recruit and network with students.
Included among the many exhibitors will be such companies as Imperial Oil,
Procter & Gamble, and Royal Bank. As well, the University of Saskatchewan
Student Employment & Career Centre will have their booth set up so students
can have their resumes critiqued and ask questions about job hunting and
interviewing skills.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for students and employers to meet and
share ideas," says Doug Rain, Director of the Student Employment and Career
Centre. "Students have a chance to market themselves for full-time and
summer employment, and the employers see first-hand what high-quality
students attend the University of Saskatchewan."
The Campus Career Expo will be held at the Field House from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00
p.m. and is expected to attract over 2000 University of Saskatchewan
students.
All media are invited to attend the event.
For more information, please contact:
Doug Rain
Director- Student Employment & Career Centre
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966 - 5097
rain@duke.usask.ca
or
Shari Chudy
Communications Assistant - Office of Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966 - 6204
sjc118@duke.usask.ca
September 08, 2000
Canada Research Chairs Program Strategic Plan Drafted
Posted September 08, 2000
A Strategic Research Plan has been drafted to address the requirements of the Canada Research Chairs Program. The Plan reflects the University of Saskatchewan's commitment to the research enterprise as articulated in "A Framework for Planning at the University of Saskatchewan" (1998) and "Increasing Research Intensiveness at the University of Saskatchewan" (2000).
To read the plan, please visit the web site at http://www.usask.ca/vpacademic/policies/strategic.shtml
To read the summary of the plan visit http://www.usask.ca/vpacademic/policies/summary.shtml
Book explodes myths surrounding genetically modified foods
Posted September 08, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? September 7, 2000 2000-09-06-OTHER
Book explodes myths surrounding
genetically modified foods
SASKATOON SK ? One of the most hotly debated issues of our generation has
been that of genetically modified foods. On September 14th, McNally Robinson
Booksellers will host the Canadian launch of a book that explodes some of
the myths and explores the genuine risks of genetic modification (GM)
technology.
Pandora?s Picnic Basket explains, in clear and direct language, the
technologies underlying genetically modified food, comparing them with other
"natural" methods of plant breeding and production. Author Alan McHughen
evaluates the safeguards in place from regulators around the world and asks
whether these are sufficient.
"There are valid concerns about genetic modification of our food. There are
pros and cons, but we?re unable to get to them because of the abundance of
urban myths out there," said McHughen, a University of Saskatchewan research
scientist.
Alan McHughen has helped develop Canada?s regulations covering the
environmental release of plants with novel traits. He is currently acting
chair of the International Society for Biosafety Research and serves on a
U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel reviewing the U. S. regulatory
framework for genetically engineered plants
"The public has been deprived of a good debate on this subject because of
the poor quality of information available to them," said McHughen. "As a
public scientist involved in this area, I have a responsibility to provide
meaningful, relevant information so that the real issues can be discussed.
It is not my job to tell people how to think, but it is to provide
information so they can be well informed when they make up their own minds."
This book will be of interest to anyone interested in food and food safety.
McHughen uses understandable, consumer-friendly language that will appeal to
the non-scientist.
Alan McHughen is a professor and senior research scientist at the University
of Saskatchewan. A molecular geneticist with an interest in crop
improvement, he is the inventor of Triffid, a genetically modified flax seed
that allows farmers to grow the crop in soil contaminated by herbicide
residues.
Pandora?s Picnic Basket was released in Europe in June and will have its
American launch in New York on September 20th.
For more information, please contact:
Alan McHughen
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4975
Dolores Reimer
McNally Robinson Booksellers
(306) 955-3599
U of S Researchers Awarded $83,000 to Study Diabetes
Posted September 08, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? Friday, September 8, 2000
U of S Researchers Awarded $83,000 to Study Diabetes
Two University of Saskatchewan researchers will use a total of $83,000 from
the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) to study new drugs and therapies
that could improve treatment for people with the disease.
Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce or properly
use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into
energy needed for daily life. There is no cure for diabetes. Many patients
discover they have the diseases only after developing life-threatening
complications.
Bill Roesler, of the U of S department of biochemistry, recently received
$60,000 from the CDA for a project that could result in more effective and
safer drugs for diabetes patients.
Roesler?s research is focused on a gene expressed in the liver that has a
major role in sugar production in the body. Poor control of sugar production
eventually leads to heart, kidney, circulatory, nerve and eye damage. One
cause of high blood sugar is the overproduction of sugar in the liver.
Roesler is studying a new class of drugs that regulate sugar production. He
will also monitor the effect the drugs could have on the liver.
Jay Biem, of the U of S department of medicine, has been awarded $23,000 for
a project that could give diabetic patients better control of their blood
sugar with fewer complications and shorter hospital stays.
When patients taking medicine for Type 2 diabetes are admitted to hospital
with acute illness (ie. heart disease or infection), the associated stress
can cause poor blood sugar control. The usual diabetes medication is often
replaced with rapid-acting insulin. But long-acting and rapid-acting insulin
adjusted on a daily basis could better control sugar levels for such
patients. Biem hopes to come up with the optimal strategy for blood glucose
control.
This year the CDA awarded $5 million in Charles H. Best Research Fund
research grants across Canada.
The cause of diabetes is unknown but both genetics and environmental
factors, such as obesity and lack of exercise, appear to play a role in the
disease. There are currently two million Canadians living with diabetes.
For more information, contact:
Bill Roesler
Biochemistry
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4375 Phone
(306) 966-4390 Fax
roesler@duke.usask.ca
Jay Biem
Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-7951 Phone
(306) 966- 2383 Fax
biem@skyway.usask.ca
Kathryn Warden
Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President Research
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2506 Phone
(306) 966-2411 Fax
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
September 07, 2000
U of S Dean of Medicine Announces Resignation
Posted September 07, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- September 6, 2000 2000-09-04-MED
U of S Dean of Medicine Announces Resignation
Dr. David Popkin, dean of the University of Saskatchewan College of
Medicine, has announced his resignation as dean effective June 30, 2001. Dr.
Popkin will continue to serve the University of Saskatchewan as professor of
obstetrics and gynecology.
Dr. Popkin became dean of the College in 1993. In 1998 he began a second
five-year term. During his deanship, he supervised the revision of the
undergraduate curriculum and put in place a structure to help faculty
improve the quality of medical education. Under his leadership the College
also made significant progress in moving programs into the community.
The President of the University, Peter MacKinnon, expressed his warm thanks
to Dr. Popkin for his years of service: "David Popkin has worked tirelessly
for the College of Medicine and the people of Saskatchewan. All of us owe
him a debt of gratitude." Michael Atkinson, Vice-President Academic,
described Dr. Popkin as "an effective dean who cares deeply both for his
College and for the University as a whole."
Dr. Popkin joined the University of Saskatchewan as professor of and head of
obstetrics and gynecology in 1982. He served as head of his department, and
head of gynecologic oncology at Royal University Hospital, until 1991. In
1991 he became associate dean of postgraduate medical education and clinical
affairs.
Dr. Popkin has served as a member of the Saskatoon District Health Board,
the Board of Directors for the Saskatchewan Cancer Foundation, the Task
Force on Saskatchewan Health Research Collaboration, and is a Founding
Member of the Medical Council of Saskatchewan. Since 1995 he has been chair
of the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges Committee on Accreditation
of Canadian Medical Schools.
Dr. Popkin was named honorary president of the Student Medical Society in
the College of Medicine in 1984 and 1993. In 1995 he was named honorary
professor of the Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences in Changchun,
Jilin, People's Republic of China.
For more information please contact:
Dr. David Popkin
College of Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6149
September 06, 2000
U of S Microgravity Scientists Invited to Join European Space Agency Flight
Posted September 06, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ?Tuesday, September 5, 2000 2000-09-03-OTHER
U of S Microgravity Scientists Invited to Join European Space Agency Flight
University of Saskatchewan engineering researchers have become the first
Canadians invited to conduct a microgravity experiment aboard a European
Space Agency (ESA) simulated space flight.
During the week of Nov. 20, the U of S Microgravity Research Group will use
the near-weightless conditions aboard the Sogerma-Socea Airbus A300 Zero-G,
the world?s largest microgravity aircraft, to test a new prototype heat
exchanger that could fly on the International Space Station when it starts
operations in 2004.
The ESA is paying for the cost of the zero-gravity flights and the Canadian
Space Agency will pick up the tab to send a U of S graduate student and the
testing apparatus to Bordeaux, France.
"The fact that the ESA has invited our group to fly on this campaign is a
tribute to the respect and recognition that our group has acquired," said
the group?s director Kamiel Rezkallah, who will outline the plans at a
luncheon today organized by the Saskatoon and District Commerce and the
Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority Inc. (SREDA).
"Our new way of transporting heat in the space environment has been proven
sufficiently that NASA has already selected it to be used in the future
space flights to Mars."
The ESA airplane flights will provide testing conditions of one-hundredth
the gravitational pull on Earth by flying in a series of parabolic
trajectories, each lasting 20 to 25 seconds. The U of S experiment will fly
on three flights of up to 30 parabolas each.
For the graduate student chosen for the flight, it?s a "giant rollercoaster
in the air," says Rezkallah, adding that such flights are sometimes dubbed
"vomit comets." Still, the students "line up for it partly because of the
sensation of flying in space," he says. In preparation, there?s a medical
exam and training in a depressurized chamber.
Microgravity, or extremely low gravity, is key to developing new products
(such as drugs or new forms of glass and ceramics) and to understanding
processes such as fluid dynamics which can be distorted by gravitational
effects, Rezkallah says.
His seven-member research team is interested in testing the behavior of
heating and cooling systems in space, work which not only could pave the way
for heat exchangers and refrigeration systems designed for space travel, but
could also have applications here on Earth.
For instance, by studying fluid dynamics and heat transfer in a
near-weightless environment, scientists can better understand these
phenomena without the masking effects of gravity. This new knowledge can
then be used to improve the design of technologies related to, for instance,
pipeline transport of oil and gas.
"On average, 30 per cent of the crude oil in Alberta is sitting at the
bottom of the wells because our models for oil recovery don?t fully take
into account the impact of surface tension, the force that determines the
flow of fluids and which can be masked by gravity," he said.
But he stresses Canadian scientists in both academe and industry need quick
and cheap access to a ground-based testing facility before sending their
experiments on costly shuttle or space flights. Such a facility is critical
if Canada is to make the most of its $1.2-billion investment in the
International Space Station, he said.
He proposes to convert the abandoned Patience Lake potash mineshaft just
east of Saskatoon into Canada?s first microgravity research centre to be
called CMORE ? the Centre for Microgravity Research and Education. He says
the concept, now being developed into a detailed business plan, has support
from the Canadian Space Agency and the Saskatchewan government.
The CMORE drop shaft would provide free-fall time of up to 12 seconds, the
longest in the world. A recent study by U of S MBA graduate students points
out that the longest drop shaft in the U.S. is only a five-second drop. The
study, which involved a survey of the microgravity research community,
concludes that the proposed $15-million CMORE project would fill a global
market niche.
Rezkallah notes Saskatoon is already on its way to becoming a Canadian
centre for new materials research with the construction of the U of S
Canadian Light Source synchrotron project
(http://www.usask.ca/research/synchrotron.shtml ) and new mass spectroscopy
facilities on campus. The CMORE project would also boost Saskatoon?s growing
reputation as "Science City", attracting researchers from around the world
and providing local jobs and business opportunities.
Note to editors: Visits to the proposed drop shaft site, 16 kilometres east
of Saskatoon, can be arranged upon request.
For more information, contact:
Prof. Kamiel Rezkallah
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5453/5440
kamiel@engr.usask.ca
or
Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President (Research)
(306) 966-2506
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
September 01, 2000
$1-M Canadian Light Source Contract Awarded to Saskatchewan Firm
Posted September 01, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? August 31, 2000 2000-08-07-OTHER
$1-M Canadian Light Source Contract Awarded to Saskatchewan Firm
The University of Saskatchewan has awarded a $1-million contract to
Regina-based PCL-Maxam, A Joint Venture for the installation of the main
experimental hall floor slab for the Canadian Light Source synchrotron
project.
The contract was approved August 18 by the U of S board of governors. Three
bids were received, all from Saskatchewan-based companies.
The PCL-Maxam contract includes the installation of 92 cast-in-place
concrete piles, supply and installation of reinforcing steel, and placement
and finishing of the concrete floor slab.
CLS project construction contracts to date total about $49 million, of which
70 per cent has gone to Saskatchewan-based companies.
This is the last major contract for the CLS building. Tenders for
landscaping, sidewalks and furniture remain to be issued.
Construction of the $173.5-million national facility is on time and on
budget. The building that will house the synchrotron will be completed by
the end of December. The facility will begin operations in January of 2004.
A synchrotron is a huge, high-tech machine that accelerates a stream of
electrons and manipulates them to create a beam of light billions of times
brighter than the sun. The light can then be used by industrial and
university researchers as a revolutionary new tool to observe structures and
chemical reactions at a molecular level.
The CLS is owned and controlled by the U of S. CLS construction is mainly
funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian government, the
Saskatchewan government, the Ontario government, the University of
Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon and SaskPower.
For more information contact:
Barry Hawkins
CLS Project Manager
(306) 966-6065
or
Kathryn Warden
Communications Officer
Office of the Vice President Research
(306) 966-2506 Phone
(306) 966-2411 Fax
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
