UNews - high tech

SPIRE earns international award

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 22:20:47 +0000

A ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge physics research team and a Lethbridge-based high tech data processing company are among the collective group of people behind the Herschel Space Telescope's Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instrument, which has been awarded the prestigious 2013 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for academic study and research.

The award is in recognition of the scientific achievements of the SPIRE instrument, which was designed, built and operated by an international team of astronomers, scientists and engineers.

SPIRE was co-developed by Dr. David Naylor (physics and astronomy) and a team of researchers who led Canada's contribution to the Herschel project on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency.

Blue Sky Spectroscopy, a Lethbridge-based, high tech company, is one of the three international Data Processing and Science Analysis Software centres for the SPIRE instrument. The mission, launched on May 14, 2009 from the Ariane Spaceport in French Guyana, almost immediately began to shed new light on stars and galaxies by measuring a level of light called far-infrared.

Over a four-year mission period, Herschel -- the largest, most powerful infrared telescope ever flown in space -- made extraordinary discoveries across a wide range of topics, from starburst galaxies in the distant Universe to newly forming planetary systems orbiting nearby young stars. SPIRE is one of three devices attached to the Herschel telescope system.

"SPIRE detects heat and chemical signals that are not visible by optical telescopes, and turns that data into the amazing images and information we and other scientists are using to learn more about the life and death of stars and galaxies," says Naylor.

In addition to literally 'clearing up' the images people have been using for two centuries to look into space, Naylor said the Herschel mission is confirming the existence of molecules on earth that originated in space.

"With SPIRE we can look at the big picture, or the very tiny picture, and gain a whole new insight into how stars live and die. The reason the imagery is so clear is that the space observatory sits more than 1.5 million km from earth, far from our atmosphere, which absorbs virtually all radiation at which far-infrared wavelengths travel. Since the universe emits most of its energy at these wavelengths, Herschel provides us with our first comprehensive view of the universe."

The data and crisp images come from a device about as big as a large microwave oven that took more than 15 years and $100 million to develop – and has to function at a chilly -270C. Herschel operated until the end of its scientific mission on Apr. 29, 2013.

A multi-year data analysis period is now taking place.

The award was collected on behalf of the team by Tanya Lim, of the UK-based STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

"A lot of people from both science and engineering disciplines have dedicated up to 15 years of their lives of making SPIRE a scientific success," says Lim. "It is wonderful that we can all share in this award and we are very grateful for receiving it."

The UK team is led by Naylor's colleague Matt Griffin, of Cardiff ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Wales.

"Building and operating SPIRE has taken many years of effort by a lot of very talented people in our multi-national team. They are rightly proud of the scientific success of Herschel and SPIRE, and they are delighted to win this award."

The Sir Arthur Clarke awards are presented annually in recognition of notable or outstanding achievements in, or contributions to, all space activities. They are organized by the Arthur C Clarke Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society, and this year were presented during the conference dinner at the UK Space Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

The full list of 2013 winners are available on the British Interplanetary Society website.

This is the second Sir Arthur Clarke Award for the SPIRE team, with Matt Griffin receiving the award for individual achievement in 2010.

Teaching high tech

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:10:19 +0000

Mark Pijl-Zieber (BN '93) doesn't consider himself a technological wizard, but he does say the technology he utilizes works magic with his students.

Pijl-Zieber earned his graduate degree from UBC in 1999 and was employed there until 2002 when he was hired as an instructor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at the U of L. While he has had a long-term fascination with technology and its multitude of applications (he produced a recruitment video for the U of L while still a student here), he has found particular usefulness for technology in his approach to teaching.

Initially, the only technology Pijl-Zieber relied on rested in the palm of his hand – a PDA which he used to help remember significant student achievements and incidents. He would record them as dictated audio clips and written notes, and he also used the PDA extensively as a portable knowledge and text-book database.

But since 2005, he has used the Internet more extensively as a teaching tool, structuring his classes in a way that blends online forums with in-class lectures. The approach has proven extraordinarily successful. Not only are his students well prepared and motivated when they come to class, attendance numbers tend to be higher as well – upward of 95 per cent at every lecture.

"The balance between online and in-class work is what students really respond to," Pijl-Zieber notes. "They like the flexibility of doing much of their learning online, and they tend to interact and contribute more freely in that forum than they do in person."

Up to 50 per cent of course content can be done online in any of Pijl-Zieber's classes – a ratio that he has no plans to decrease. He creates a page for each of his courses where students gather information and access reading material. Group work can also be done online, and a discussion board allows class members to contribute thoughts and ideas about the material.

The feedback that Pijl-Zieber has received indicates that students really connect with this teaching approach.

"This method is one of the best approaches I've ever found to delivering our curriculum, and it makes teaching a pleasure."

New Ingenuity centre takes Alberta’s information technology sector to new levels

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:53:20 +0000

The first of its kind in the world, Alberta's newest Ingenuity Centre is working with entrepreneurs and researchers to use real-time geographical information to address global challenges in resource management.

The new centre, Tecterra, is one of five Alberta Ingenuity Centres for Research and Commercialization that focuses technology and research to build more sustainable industry practices.

Built on a partnership between the provincial and federal governments, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, Tecterra will tap into the research excellence across the province.

It will act as a hub that will allow resource companies to work with innovative technology companies and the research community to develop world-class solutions to industry challenges.

With added investments from the Alberta government, including the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, this research centre plays a major role in the product commercialization commitment made last year through Alberta's Action Plan - Bringing Technology to Market.

"Alberta is taking our large body of resource-based knowledge, along with our environmental sensibility, and combining it with world-class information technology infrastructure," says Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

"With this unique recipe, businesses and governments from around the world are coming to see Alberta as the place where solutions can be found for resource management challenges. We're a leader in applying this expertise in areas such as cumulative effects, land-use management, recreational use, fire management, transportation and countless other areas."

Tecterra brings wide-ranging expertise together to bolster what is widely considered one of the top three geomatics groups in the world.

An important aspect of the new centre is its commercialization capability. It is designed to accommodate the flow of ideas and technology from both Alberta companies and industry-relevant research into the marketplace.

"This centre joins the four other Ingenuity Centres that have been hard at work for the past six years, creating strong collaborations between Alberta's world-class researchers, and with major industry partners, to solve industry challenges that not only benefit Alberta but the rest of the world," says Dr. Peter Hackett, President and CEO of Alberta Ingenuity.

"The centre's program is a vital tool for maintaining the prosperity of Alberta's research innovation system and ensuring we remain competitive on the global stage."

"Commercialization of new technology is a key priority for geomatics research and this new pan-Alberta centre of excellence," says Harvey Weingarten, president of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

"With the support of industry and government, this centre will be the catalyst to develop and commercialize new products and technologies that will drive the economy forward and make a difference to the lives of Albertans and Canadians."

Tecterra represents a model of how partners working together can strengthen Alberta's growing high tech sector. The more than $50 million investment includes: $21.6 million from the Alberta government ($11.6 million from Alberta Advanced Education and Technology and $10 million from Alberta Ingenuity), $11.6 million from the federal government's Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program, as well as a further $20 million anticipated from industry and other end users.

UNews - high tech

SPIRE earns international award

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Teaching high tech

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New Ingenuity centre takes Alberta’s information technology sector to new levels

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