U of S wins $484,000 from CFI for First-in-Canada Wind Tunnel Instrument and Innovative Computing Lab

Posted October 23, 2000


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? October 20, 2000 2000-10-15-OTHER

U of S Wins $484,000 from CFI for First-in-Canada Wind Tunnel Instrument and
Innovative Computing Lab

A total of almost $484,000 will be awarded to two University of Saskatchewan
scientists for new high-tech equipment and lab facilities in leading-edge
areas of engineering and computing science, the Canada Foundation for
Innovation (CFI) announced today.

The awards are among 41 announced today for 17 universities under the CFI
New Opportunities program. Total value of the investment nationally is $6.5
million.

"The fact that we got five per cent of the national awards and both our
applicants were funded is a testament to the calibre of these young
innovators and the quality of their projects," said Michael Corcoran, U of S
Vice-President Research.

Projects funded by the New Opportunities Program are selected on the basis
of their contribution to Canadian innovation. The CFI provides up to 40 per
cent of total project costs, with the remaining funds coming from the
universities and their funding partners in the public and private sectors.

Julita Vassileva and Ralph Deters, both of the department of computer
science, will receive $358,275 to help create a new type of computing
laboratory where they and several colleagues from the department will do
research related to the next generation of computing devices and
applications.

David Sumner, an assistant professor in the department of mechanical
engineering, will receive $125,292 towards the $313,230 cost of a powerful
new tool for investigating fluid mechanics problems. This research could
lead to advances such as new drag reduction mechanisms for aircraft and
automobiles, improved heat exchangers, and new ways to disperse
environmental contaminants in a moving stream.

Vassileva says that in future computing will be everywhere ? not just
something done on desktops and laptops, but on palmtops, cell phones and
other mobile devices. People will interact with computing devices in
vehicles, in meetings, on public transport, or while shopping, eating or
cooking, to cite a few examples. They?ll even interact with computing
devices in their eye glasses, watches and home appliances.

"Since in the future computing will be ubiquitous, all traditional
environments for working, learning, or entertainment will be distributed
geographically and interconnected," she says. "We hope our work will help to
create software for these environments that is reliable and meets best the
user needs."

She also thinks animated on-line helpers (like Microsoft?s paper-clip
wizard) will be a lot smarter, smaller and more helpful. These software
?agents? will be like personal butlers who can fetch and install software
applications, anticipating your every need. Your software ?agent? could go
out and get the right kind of help in cyberspace from other agents by
matching your user profile with that of other users on the Web who have
encountered a similar problem.

"A lot of research is needed to ensure that the behavior of software agents
is predictable and desirable, that systems work reliably and that the users'
needs are met," she said.

She thinks U of S could become an international leader in this emerging
field of "agent-based, mobile and ubiquitous computing." She expects that
the lab will attract many new graduate students to the U of S in this high
demand area of computing.

The new computing lab will be temporarily be housed in the Animal Science
Building but will be later moved to renovated space in the Thorvaldson
Building. Total cost of the project is $895,687.

Sumner says the new "stereoscopic particle image velocimetry" or S-PIV
instrument will help create a Western Canadian centre of excellence in fluid
mechanics research at the U of S.

The will be the first instrument of its kind in Canada and will place U of S
researchers at the leading edge of experimental fluid mechanics measurement
technology. It will also benefit researchers in government and industry.

Comprised of a high-power pulsed laser, a pair of digital cameras, a
dual-processor computer, and computer software, the S-PIV will transform the
U of S low-speed wind tunnel into a state-of-the art tool that can
simultaneously measure velocity, turbulence, pressure, temperature and
aerodynamic forces in a given flow.

The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit organization established by the
federal government in 1997 to address the infrastructure needs of Canada's
research community.

For more information, contact:

Prof. Julita Vassileva
Assistant Professor
Department of Computing Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2569
(306) 966-4884
jiv@cs.usask.ca

Prof. Ralph Deters
Department of Computing Science
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4886
(306) 966-4884

Prof. David Sumner
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5537
(306) 966-5427
David_Sumner@engr.usask.ca