Drs. Branda, Elliott and Häubl

First Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award-winners

These $15,000 awards recognize new faculty whose work might potentially impact "society at large," and who are in the first eight years of their scholarly careers.

Dr. Branda began his research career at the U of A in 1996 and now has a vigorous research group with seven graduate students. He is part of a materials group that crosses several traditional disciplines such as chemistry, physics and engineering. Branda is known for his outstanding and innovative ideas for the molecular level "construction" of controllable molecular structures whose function can be switched by external forces such as light, photons or chemical potential. More importantly, his work could result in completely new concepts in materials with controllable chemical and electrical properties.

Dr. Elliott joined the U of A in 1996 immediately after completing her PhD research. She is an expert in thermodynamics and is one of the founders of the Statistical Rate Theory. Her expertise and significant contributions have been internationally recognized. Elliott has a knack for developing better theories if the current description of a phenomenon does not fit with the basic physical laws. For example, she found the theory for ultra-filtration was inadequate. With the help of grad student Stephen Peppin, she developed a better theory, which will be used to continue her new research in the measurement and analysis of ultra-filtration data.

Dr. Häubl is the Faculty of Business' "e-commerce" guru, conducting cutting-edge research in the theory and methodology of electronic markets. His latest publication in Marketing Science has established him as a world leader in this field. Currently Häubl is working on a proposed system for collecting data through online experiments, motivated in part by the research he and his graduate students have conducted in e-commerce. The research stream contributes to the theory of decision making and to the practice of marketing in the exploding Internet marketplace. More importantly, the proposed system will be a valuable tool for other researchers interested in collecting data electronically, in such diverse areas such as economic game theory, gender differences in decision making and experimental markets.

The Young Innovator Awards are part of a $500,000 donation Petro-Canada made last year to new researchers in engineering, business and science. Researchers are selected based on academic achievement, overall research promise, proposal quality and the "impact associated with the award."

Unique inter-disciplinary health-sciences course lands national prize

The efforts have not gone unnoticed, as the group responsible for launching the mandatory interdisciplinary course - where students from each health-sciences faculty work in teams to assess patient needs - has received the Alan Blizzard Award for 2000.

Kudos go to Ross Bayne, Moira Bazin, Dr. David Cook, Cheryl Cox, Rosemarie Cunningham, Dr. Rene Day, Prof. Joan Loomis, Dr. Linda McCargar, Dr. Don Philippon, Prof. Jan Pimlott, Prof. Elizabeth Taylor and Dr. Eli Whitney.

The purpose of the course is to provide a comprehensive approach that teaches students from a variety of disciplines how they can best work together to provide better heath care for patients. The course is given in small groups, and students from dental hygiene, medicine, nursing and nutrition work alongside students from occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical and recreational therapy to come with treatments to meet patient needs.

Pre- and post-surveys of the course showed students' perceptions moved towards a more positive view of the other professions.

The award, offered by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and named after its first president, "recognizes and rewards collaborative projects that increase the effectiveness of learning."

Kudos for Faculty of Extension

Archer and his team (Dianne Conrad and Karen Chow) have been selected the new editors of the peer-reviewed Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education. A key component of the successful bid was the vision to put the journal online.

Foth has been elected president of the Canadian Association of University Continuing Education (CAUCE) for 2000-2001 in recognition of his leadership skills and experience in the field.

Recognition for a top campus librarian

Law has been a sessional instructor for the Grant MacEwan Library and information management program. In the past, she was also director of the Parkland Regional Library System and an active member of the SAIT library operation assistants' advisory committee. As the Parkland director, Law was responsible for service to 41 public libraries and 101 school libraries in central Alberta. During that time, she promoted and supported the library technicians and library operation assistants in the system, encouraging them to participate in professional development and other educational opportunities.

Another Librarian Award-Winner

Humphrey has been recognized for his "expert knowledge of data formats, data access and preservation. His knowledge of the scholarly research process enables him to create the vital links between the data needs of researchers and the data products available. He demonstrates an unfailing commitment to the cause of data librarianship and to his colleagues in this field."