iron warrior: volume 6, issue 4

8/14/2019 Iron Warrior: Volume 6, Issue 4

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FORUM OR ENGINEERING CONCEPTS

STUDENT FEES INCRE SINGSteve Pitkanen

Mos, Engineering students should nowbe aware of the impending computer feewe will be facing when we return for ournext school term. This fee amounts to anextra $100 to be added to the cost oftuition. When the standard 5% tuitionincrease, allowed by the provincialg o v e r n m e n ~ and all incidental fees areadded to the total, we will all be payingover $1000 to register for one term. Whatdoes all this mean? It means that we, asstudents, are becoming increasinglyresponsible for the funding of oureducation.This in..::reased re ponsibility i not onewhich has been undertaken by thisuniversity alone. MacMaster students arehelping to subsidize the cost of theireducation by contributing a fee of 1 perday. First year Queen's students arestrongly recommended to purchase a$2000 personal computer package uponentry to certain programs. Waterloo isalso planning to require first yearundergraduates to purchase a portable

computer workstation (for under $1000)that can access a central computer viaports installed at several locations oncampus. This project may be realized intwo years time.What has finally caused the Universityto turn to the students to help support theextensive computi ng facilities available atWaterloo? According to Prof. BarryWills, Associate Dean for Com puting , it'sa matter of costs rising more thanprovincial grants to universities. Thesecosts include providing T A's for computer courses, support staff for computersystems or lab areas, and even printerpaper. The main costs, however, involvethe maintenance and enhancements ofcurre nt systems. The W TST R system isgetting old and tired , says Wills. Therewill be an effort to extend it to make itavailable to more students by upgradingand networking the system to severalareas within the Engineering buildings.The increasing costs of maintenanceand enhancements for computer systemscampus-wide has strained the Universityand faculty budgets to the limit. Eitherwe pass that charge (costs) on to thestudents, or we don't do it (upgrade),said Bill Lennox, Dean of Engineering.Waterloo has spent, by far, more thanany other university on computing.Not all of he $IOOengineeringstudems

are to pay, will be ear-marked forEngineering needs. In fact, the Engineering faculty will only receive $30 of that

Fee increase will help pay for purchases of computer equipmentfee; the remaining $70 will be sent directlyinto the central university fund. Ho wever,part of this fund subsidizes the centralcomputing facility (used by many engineering students) and helps financeEngineering computer labs and equipment. What is to be done with the $30 earmarked for the Engineering faculty is upto the discretion of the EngineeringComputing Committee headed by Prof.

In this issue

Wills. No priorities have been set as yet,but plan s to revitalize W TST R and theinstallation of a state-of-the-art microcomputer classroom on the first floor ofthe Engineering Lecture Hall are in theworks.

It seems that in order for students tocontinue benefiting from the addedemphasis on computers in education atthis University, they are going to have tostart paying for it or risk losing it.

o Tuition Increasing ........................ .........................................1,2o Survey of Co-op Awareness ........................... ....... ..................6o Important Dates for Grad Placement.. ...................................4o Scrubbers vs. Pollution ...........................................................7o Amateur Road Racing ............................................................9o Associate Dean of Computing Interviewed ............................. 5


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IRON W RRIOR JUNE 1985FROM THE DEAN S DESK

Deterioration and obsolescence o equip-ment and inadequate maintenance ophysical plant were not only report ed butdisplayed. A particular concern identified nsome o he briefsfrom the corporateseCTorrelated to the adequacy o resourcesavailable for engineering facull ies While,as input measures, none o these factorsactually measures the quality o educationitself. the Commission has come to theconclusion that the foundation or con-tinued maintenance o quality is injeopardy . ..

These comments are taken from TheBovey Commission on The FutureDevelopment of The Universities. Thereare 51 recommendations in the reportresponding to the 51 questions posed intheir working paper. Finally an independent review board, appointed by TheMinister, clearly concludes that thecontinual underfunding has seriouslyjeopardized the universities. Paradox-

EDITORI LTuition is increasing, co-op fees areincreasing and a new computing fee isbeing added. Why is the university

demanding more money from us?

administration at Waterloo would like tomake this about 30%. Yes, that meansdoubling tuition fees.

Another problem that Waterloo faces isthe cost of the standard of quality it wantsto maintain. The government does not

.... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ h ~ h for schools that offer1 quali tyducation; i'nstead it is basedreports have concluded that quality of on ... : 0 students. Maybe this has toeducation is slipping because of in- do Student/Faculty ratios of 22: 1.adequate resources. U n f o r ~ ~ w y money has to come fromprovincial government has done little or so mewhere. t didn't come from QEMFnothing to alleviate this money shortage , but instead will be coming from theexcept allow a 5% increase in tuition. curr ent fee increase . I guess fee increasesBecause the government d'ictates ceilings of this type will continue until govern-on tuition fees, other fees wi.h names like ment funding policies change.Computing Fee and Co-op foee wereneeded to meet operating costs. Why notcharge students more, they only contribute 16% to ope rating costs as it is. The

ically, the more successful you an:, theworse off you are. In my annual report tofaculty entitled The Penalties ofSuccess , illustrate how our successesquality of students, research awards, cooperative education - have, in fact,exacerbated our situation.

Four years ago, the governmentcomm issioned another report - refe rredto as The Fisher Report - which a lsodrew attention to the problems inOntario's universities. At that time, noaction was taken. The Bovey Commissionreported in December. Since that time, wehave had to wait through the leadershiprace and now the election. No definitivestatement as yet has been made by thegovernment. Hopefully this time, therewill be action and less study.

One recommendation made involvestuition. Students now pay only 16 percentof the cost of their education. Years ago, it

was 33 percent. The commission recommends increasing this to 25 percent overthe next four years. This year, however,the government recommneded only a 5percent increase. As a result, many programs will begin to charge special fees tooffset costs. Waterloo is considering sucha fee for comput ing. There is no doubt thatwe provide more resources in this areathan any other university. Some of thecosts of servicing and maintaining thisequipment will be covered by such a fee. Itis interesting to note that some schools arealready strongly recommending that allfirst year engineering students buy theirown microcomputer. The costs areestimated to be $2000. I don't believe thatthis is the way to go yet - the micros stilldo not have the computing power,memory, etc. that is needed, but itis probably only a matter of time.

W. C. Lennox

If you have views on the fee increase oranything else for that matter, write a letterto IhcEd itor and leave it with Paula in th eOrifice. Thanx. t : ~ The Editors : Eric Nordin and Gord Strachan

IRON W RRIOR ST FF

EDITORSEric SordinGordon Strachan

WRITERSAudrey ChinSteve PitkanenLynn MadsenDale AndersonBarry Wills

L YOUT

Norm Soley (head)Cassandra NicolaouAudrey ChinBarbray AdeyHarold GrossPeter Heuss

The IRON WARRIOR is a publication of the Engineering Societyat the University of Waterloo. I t s purpose lS to promoteprofessional awareness within the Engineering Faculty awl toinform Dngineers of the society act ivi t ies.

PHOTOGRAPHERSPeter MusgraveEric NordinSimon Leung

STAFF HELPAlan McCann

Mailing AddressIron Warriorc/o Eng. Soc. AUniversity of WaterlooWaterloo, Ontario


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JUNE 1985 IRON WARRIOR 3

From the VP s DeskTo this day , I vividly recall the first timewalked into the "Orifice" (otherwiseknown as the Eng Soc Office). For some

unknown reason, I felt a strange paranoiaof what I might find. Was I reallyweJcometo go in? What was in there? Who were allthose people milling around, askingquestions and generally going in threedirections at once? I overcame the urge toabandon the question I needed answeredand bravely forged in To my greatsurprise and relief nobody laughed at myquestion; I received an answer, and it wasall very quick and painless .

I felt that being the shy frosh I was, myfeelings were somewhat exaggerated andno one else endured the same trepidationas I However, now that I've become moreinvolved with Eng Soc and look back atdie event, I wonder of maybe my initialfeelings were not somewhat indicative ofthe general perception of the EngineeringSociety. Hopefully, this is not the case. Inan effort to clarify the perception of EngSoc, I wou ld like to shar e my views on theSociety.

To begin with, Eng Soc exists soley forthe purpose of serving the Engineeringstudent body. It's available. It's yours. Souse it In the Eng Soc Office (CPH 1327)exists a wealth of useful (and some not souseful) information. You will find oldmidterms and finals, class lists andschedules, housing lists, bursary andscholarship information, copies ofcampus newspapers, copies of universitypolicies, and the list goes on and on. Aswell, the secretary (Her name's Paula. Goin and say, 'Hi') is more than willing toanswer any questions you may have. Ifshedoesn't know the answers, she'll do herbest to find them.

Eng Soc also offers a variety ofservices.Two coin operated photocopiers (onewith reducing capabiliti es) are available inthe Orifice. As well, Eng Soc provideschange, sells novelties (T-shirts, openers,mugs, pencils, clip-boards, etc.) and sells

pub dckets. Eng Soc operates C&D andPOETS (Piss On Everything Tomorrow'sSaturday) Pub. C&D still has the cheapestcoffee and bagels (with cream ch ese,even) 'on campus. POETS is open fordrinking Thursday and r i d ~ y afternoon(with movies and videos) and forsocia lizing at other times. Do you feel likerelaxing between classes? Come down tothe Orifice and grab a frisbee or footba llAre you a photography bum Join the EngSoc darkroom . Or are you a mechanic?Join the garage'and have a warm, dryplace to fix your car. Take advantage ofEng Soc services, because they areprovided for you.

Finally, and I teel most importantly,Eng Soc exists for your participation.Events are sponsored all term (athletic,social, academic) which are designed tooffer something for everyone. FromNautical Events", to football tournies,

from the Scavenger Hunt to Sir SanfordFleming debates, we hope to provide funand interesting activities for all. Not onlycan you participate in these events, butyou can also help organize and plan them.f you've got a new idea, want to see

something happen, or want to help out,come to the Orifice and let us know. Wewant to hear from you, because withoutyou, we wouldn't exist.

Perhaps all my rambling has been tornaught. I hope so. Maybe there aren'tmany like I was; unsure of why Eng Socexisted or what it offered. However, evenif I've cleared things up for just a fewpeople, this article has been worth it.Whatever the cause may 'be, put downyour books, retire your mechanicalpencils, grab your shorts and sunglasses.It's the summer, so come out and havesome fun

P.S. Engineering Week isJune 13-23 sostart preparing now

Kathy Irwin

PRESIDENT S MESSAGEThe 19 0' are a decade of tran ition

and upheaval, of both our value systemand our way of doing busine s. AfterWW II, North America witne sed the eraof heavy indu try, ymbolized by thestrength of the automobile and . teelindustries. Toda y' indu trial giantinclude IBM and North ern Telecom, whorepre ent information processing companies. The economy i shifting emphasisfrom heavy industry to informationproce ing. Thi change will pre entchallenge that will meet or even exceedthose presented by the industrial revolution .

In times of economic change there isusually a great deal of entrepreneurialactivity. This stemsf rom the wealthof newbusiness opportunities pre ented byeconomic change. Associety settles into apost-change economy order is established. As a consequence business opportunities during these periods are reduced.

I am confident that Waterloo students,particularly engineering tudents, will fillmany of the holes established by today'seconomic transition. The co-op systemhas provided engineering students with asense of maturity and deep-rootedbusiness sense rarely displayed by other

university students. It is precisely thismaturity and business sense that makesWater 0 students attractive to industry.

The next few ear s will be both difficultand exciting for Canadian society. Forthose who are willing to take the risk ofstarting new busine e and showingleader hip in the unrise industries theopportunities for personal and financialucces are tremendou .

Co-op also encourages entrepreneurs.Expo ure to big bu inc s at an early stagein their careers ha prompted many of myclas mates to seriou Jy consider tartingtheir own bu inesses. Thi may be auniversally romantic notion of beingcaptain of ones own ship. However, I havenever witnes ed the intensity of this beliefin other univer ity students. Heel proud tobe as ociated with a group that will, in myestimation. be the future economic cardplayers in the Canadian and Worldeconomies.

I look forward to working for all of youover the next year and wish all of you thebest of uck in both your co-operative andfuture business careers.

6/S:hn I'ph.M.'


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4 IRON W RRIOR JUNE 1985GR D PL CEMENT SERVICES

Dale Anderson

Most engineering students have athorough knowledge of the Departmentof Co-ordination and Placement. However, there is a segment of the departmentwhich many engineering students are unfamiliar with; The Graduate PlacementOffice. This small group of specialists,known mainly by 4th year engineeringstudents, assists students in finding permanent jobs after graduation. The wordassist is used here because graduateplacement procedures differ greatly fromthose used in co-op placement.

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In the graduate placement process,unlike co-op placement, more onus isplaced on the student. For example, agraduating student is respqnsible forgathering all the information required tosend to employers. Simply stated, employers only receive what students havesubmitted to the Graduate PlacementOffice. Secondly, in the graduate processthere is no computer match-up. The jobyou get is the job you earned. Thereforeyou have to sell yourself hrough the information you submit to be sent out andthrough interviews. Thirdly, interviewsare only conducted in the 4B or winterterm beginning in February. This upcoming year they will commence onJanuary 7, 1986. An effort was made in1984 to conduct interviews for graduating engineering students in the fall aswell as in the winter term. This, however,proved to be unsuccessful. Fourthly, thestudent is responsible for declining orrejecting o ffers as well as arranging secondinterviews.

Grad Placement Coordinators Frank Ruszer and Bob ateyk

Grad Placement also runs the AlumniReferral Service. This is a service a vai tableto all alumni still looking for work. Thesegrads are asked to register before theyleave campus or for alumni, when theyrequire the service. These people areagainasked to supply all inf ormation to be sentout to employers. However in this case, aresume is part of the submitted packageand not a UCPA form as was used before.When jobs come in, the files are search edfor possible candidates and interviews arescheduled by either Grad Placement or bythe graduate. Thesefilesare updated every3 months or as required.

There are some similarities betweenGrad Placement and undergrad placement. There are Want Ads distributedwith all available grad jobs, called TheGraduate, a i with work-term placement. All jobs are either volunteered bythe employer or have been canvassed inboth placement services. There are alsolate postings of grad jobs posted on thebulletin board in Needles Hall (the sameboard as for work-term late postings),much like that for undergrad placement.It is hoped that most grad job late postingswill be produced into a second Want Adsin the future.

Grad Placement creates a new type ofatmosphere. More responsibility is placedon the student and the program is gearedtoward premanent employement ratherthan temporary employment. To learnmore about Grad Placement and how itoperates or for information on starting

RESUME WRITING

RESUME WRITING WORKSHOP12:30, Wed., May 29, with Colleen FoleyII :30, Tues., July 2, with Marlene Bryan12:30, Mon., July 8, with Marlene Bryan

SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW SKILLS WORKSHOPII :30, Thurs., June 6, with Colleen Foley

RESUME CRITIQUING WORKSHOPBring your own resume for analysis. Prerequisite - Resume Writing11 :30, Thurs., July 4, with Marlene Bryan12:30, Wed., July 10 with Marlene Bryan

ORIENTATION SESSIONS FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS2:30 - 4:30, Wed., June 12 Engineering, Theatre of the ArtS

salaries, contact the Department ofGraduate Placement in Needles Hall.They are located in the area of rooms1001-1006 (through the door behind themain receptionist on 1st floor and it s thefirst door on the left).

This is a note to all 4A Engineeringstudents, if you are planning to go throughgraduate interviews, you must registerwith Grad Placement. All information

and guidelines will be given to you at theorientation session on Wed. June 12thfrom 2:30 to 4:30 in the Theatre of theArts. Also several workshops have beenorganized from May 14th to June 10th tohelp develop skills in resume writing, jobsearching, interview taking, etc. finterested, contact Grad Placement orlook in the unclassified section of theGazette for further details or consult thesheet posted in your 4th year study room.

~ l U l c o r n

to mill r , ln


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JUNE 1985 IRON WARRIOR 5TECHNOLOGICAL IMPACT ON SOCIETYAN INTERVIEW WITH PROF. B WILLS

Excerpts from a recent interview withProfessor Barry Wills, Associate Dean forComputing in the FacuItyofEngineering.Dean Wills is responsible for planningandco-ordination of computing activities inthe FaCUlty. This involves projects in theareas of undergraduate education, administrative systems and centralizedcomputer support for researchers. In thisportion of the interview, Professor Willswas discussing some of his views on theimpacts of computers on society.IRON WARRIOR : I understand that you

are interested in how the newtechnologies will affect society.Could you tell usmoreabouthowyou became involved in this areain addition to your many otherinterests?

WILLS: Well, that's a rather long story ...Let me tell you a little bit of thehow later. Let's start with a bit

of the why . I have a strongfeeling that engineers, in fact allthose who are directly associatedwith science and technology,have a responsibility to understand something about how theirchosen fields affect society andindividuals within society. Infact, engineeringhas a traditionaland important professional roleto fulfill in this regard.

Engineering practice is sometimes referred to as 'science intheservice of mankind'. Engineersneed to make decisions abouthow best to use science and thenew technologies so that thisservice is accomplished.

IRON WARR IOR : but how canengineers know in advance whatthe effects of their work will be?

WILLS: We can't entirely, of course, butwe have an obligation to besensitive to these potential socialeffects and to do the best we can.In fact, I think that's what makesthe engineering profession sochallenging. It's that pragmatism, the need to push forward tothe best of our abilities in spite ofthe uncertainties, the need tomake the best decisionswe can, inspite of the incomplete information.

IRON WARRIOR: Let's return to my firstquestion. How did you becomeinterested in the relationship between technology and society?

V,ILLS: I've had an interest in thesematters for a long time but Ishould make it clear that Iconsider myself very much to be astudent in these matters. I'mcertainly not an expert . . . but I'vetried to do a reasonable amountof reading and thinking aboutthese issues.

My first extended encounterwith the social impacts ofinformation technology was inthe late sixties and early seventies when I was working in thefield of computer-assisted instruction. The use of computersto assist in teaching and learninghas a number of dimensionswhich range far beyond thehardware and software requirements. This technology interactswith one of our major social

institutions and I realized at thattime that there are a number ofimportant considerations to beaddressed as a result of this interaction.

IRON WARRIOR: Could you give me anexample or two?WILLS: Well, the introduction of com

puters into the educational system starts to change the traditional role o the teacher as tbeprincipal purveyor of knowledgeto a more complex role whichrequires different organizationalskills and perhaps much broaderpedagogical skills. If the teacherhas doubts or anxielie. in relatingto the computer technology itselfthere can be a problem.

Perhaps the mo t pervasiveeffect of computer technology onthe educational system is that itraises all the classic issues ineducation again. Such questionsas: what is the optimum balancebetween a strong theoreticalgrounding vs. practical training?" need new discussion andresolution. How do computerschange this balance? Whatchanges should be made incurriculum content and in pedagogical methods? How can technology help us to achieve oureducational objectives without'getting in the way'? .. andsoon.

IRON WARRIOR: How could these ideasactually affect the curriculum,say in Engineering at Waterloo?

WILLS: In many ways some small andsome more profound. One hopemight be that computers and theassociated communicationstechnologies could increaseteaching productivity so thatmore could be accomplishedduring the undergraduate program. This could allow fundamental concepts to e better instilled more quickly and allowmore upper-year attention toengineering practice and design.Perhaps also this increase inproductivity could provide undergraduates with more time to

j

pursue subjects in the humanities and social sciencesandallowmore time to develop skills incommunication, organization,innovation, management, entrepreneurship and so on.

IRON WARRIOR: Do you think this islikely to happen in the nearfuture?

WILLS: Not without some real care andattention to how best to usecomputers for teaching andlearning. Thereislittledoubtthatinformation technology has a lotto offer by its very nature, in theorganization and dissemnationof knowledge . . . but it has to beused with intelligence and understanding.

A friend of mine at U. of T.wrote a paper a few years agoentitled, Computers - A Giftof Fire in which he reviewedsome of the potential impacts ofcomputers on society . . . bothpositive ones and negative ones.The use of fire metaphorically is,of course, a nice thought in thatboth computers and fire can eused for better or for worse interms of society's needs. Some intelligence, and I suppose, goodfortune is required to make thecorrect decisions or at least tomake more good decisions thanpoor ones

IRON WARRIOR: You were mentioningearlier that there is a new course.vailable toengineerlngstudentswho wish to study the effects ofcomputers on society. Could youtell us mor' ahout this'

Will s 1 here is tl new course nllmbered(JE351 which is bClIIg offered inth winter term by Prof SSMKalra of Electrical Engine nngand myself. The title of thisCourse is Information rechnology and Society unci it surveyssome of Ihe major social consequences of computers and Communications systems, such as,unemployment and retraining,security and privacy of information, the quality of workinglife, changes in education and soon. By the waY,theGE351 courseis not just for engineeringstudents, but is open to studentsfrom across the university inthird or fourth year who have hadat least one previous universitylevel course in computing.

IRON WARRIOR: Thank you for yourtime. I've enjoyed our conversation very much.

WILLS: My pleasure and keep up thegood work at Iron Warrior.

FOR [LERnCL 5E[OmFORTRBLEHOU51nCCALL S M THE STUDENT

aCCOMMODATION m N576 8818


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6 IRON W RRIOR JUNE 1985

SURVEY OF CO OP AWARENESSLynn Madsen

The purpose of this survey is to find whatlevel of awareness engineering studentshave of the co-op system and to identifyany problem areas. The questions posedto fourth year engineering students were:1. Is there anyone thing you'd like to say

about Co-op? Praise or complaint?1.The first question prompted a few

comments. Most of those surveyedthought co-op was good, so me wereconcerned about the cost of theprogram, and others offered suggestions.

2. What information is avai lab le to youwith respect to yo ur file?2.Approxim ate ly 1/3 of the studentssurveyed didn't know what wasavailable from their riles. Othersmentioned employer eva lu ations,resumes, work-record summary,

and academic transcripts or acomb in ation of the above. Al o,oneperson even mentioned scholarshipinformation. Another comme nted,We can look at our file? I've only

looked at my resumes."All students can look at their coop files, but as one person sa id, It'savailable, though they may not le tyou copy it. The only items youmay want copies of are yourprevious eva luation . However , thisis not allowed without writtenconsent from your employer, sinceevaluations are cons idered an extensio n of your employer's rile. It'srecommended that student obtaina copy while on their work term.Future evaluation forms will have aline basically say ing, Ca n this bereleased to the stud ent , yes or no' "

3. What information do potential employers have access to?3. Out of the students surveyed ap

proximately 1/3 thought resumes,evaluations and marks were accessible to potential employers. Another l/3 saId just marks. Oneperson said, Employer evaluationsare not gener lly available." It 's afact that employer's evaluations arenot available to prospec t iveemployers from Co-ordinati011 and Placement. Of course, evaluations fromCompany X would likely beavailable for other managers withinCompany X to examine. Employers receive a package from Co ordination and Placement, and thisis the only information they get priorto the interview.

4. What package (marks, resume,etc.) is sent to emplo yers? In whatorder?4. The package includes your work

summary sheet, marks, plu s anyinformation supplied by the studentto Co-ordination and Placement, inthis order . Usually, studenrs justsubmit resumes to the department,but other information may beattached to your resume such asletters of reference. In this survey,one-half of the students said,Marks and resumes (are given tothe employer). Although mostinformation on yourworksummarysheet is repeated on your transcr ipt,updates from the last work term arenot included on your transcript yet.As one student mentioned, while onyour workterm upd ated transcr iptsare sent to employers as well , unlessa student requests otherwise.

Most students didn 't realize theor der. Yourresume'sthela tsheetapotential employer will see (if he getsthat far). Your work sum mary pagestates your nam e, LO. number, a nddiscipline clearly at the top andtherefore speeds the clerical work .Do students want their .first. threelines for their resumes formatted soresumes could be placed on top?Would it be allowed?

5. What's S.A.C.?5, 15: 65% knew S.A.C. stood for

Student Advisory Cou neil (question15 was a big hint) , but admittedlythose surveyed weren't the most representative group since many knewabout S.A.C. through myself.S.A.C. is , the students' voicewhen dealing with co-op . Mee tingsare open to all students and an:: heldevery econd Tuesday at 4:30 inNeedles Hall, Rm . 1 29. Studentrepresentatives from all faculties siton this committee along side one ormore of Co-ordination and Placement's staff. If student representatives from a particular faculty areabsent or if too few attend them, thestudent society is asked to help.

6. Have you ever read the regulationsprocedures?6: The regulations and procedures

booklet for co-op students heenread at some point by approximately 65% of the students ~ u r -veyed, althought most studentsadmit that it has been quite sometime. New regulations and procedures are either unknown orunclear, and the older ones may beforgotten.

7. What are learning objectives'

7: Learning objectives generally wereagreed upon by ha lf of thosesurveyed to be goals setatthestart ofthe workterm by the student and employer. The other half basicallyclaimed ignorance on the matter.

8. Are you aware of the new graduateplacement strategy which took placein the Fall term last year?

8:60% were unaware of the new strategy to start placement foruating students in the fall te rm, likeother universities, which includesstudents both on and off campus.(The body of engineering studen.tssurveyed only included those tnfourth year).

9. Do you feel the co-op system shouldbe computerized, that is, late postings& interview schedules accessible, onthe computer system?9:Slightly more than 60% wanted the

system computerized. This question pro voked a lot of comments,man y of which are repeated below :Too impersonal and away from co

ord in ators. "Not necessa ry (due to high cost)."

" I already have terminal illness."Only if it is conveyed faster."No t urgently necessary. t is st ill

easier to glance at the boards ratherthan bother to log on to the system.""Yes, but it would put up the co-opfee even higher if this were done.No . Not everyone needs o r wants

an account. How ever, this mayeliminate the crowding around theinterview boards in Needl es Hall.Could be beneficial , maybe even

save material resources.""Yes, there should be dedicatedterminals around campus.

10. How many confidential (i.e. not toleave company) reports have youwritten?

10:27% of work reports were confidential. Most students had ,;ither noconfidential reports or had 2 out ofevery 3 or 4 reports confidential.This past term, a new proce dure was timplemented for the handling ofconfidential reports. Now, the employer has a choice of: l)keeping thereport confidential (as before) andthe co-ordinator must visit theemployer to see the report; 2 theUniversity of Waterloo can sign anon-disclosure agreement with theemployer so that the report canreceive the same marking as otherreports, at the University, andtherefore has an opportunity toreceive a grade of Outstanding .The new rules also stipulate that atleast one report of your last threemust be graded at the University foryou to receive.credit.


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JUNE 1985

11. Do you believe there's a weightingfactor in favor of the employers usedin the computer matching?

11:Co-ordination says there isn't aweighting factor, but still halfof youthink there is. One student said"There isn't a weighting factor, bu;the algorithm is such that companypreference is considered one stepahead of students'."

12. Would a collection of studentresumes be useful to you when you'reupdating yours?

12:0ver 75 % wanted resumes to lookat.13. Did you fill out a white address card this term?

13:31% haven't filled out white cards.Filling out these cards puts youruniversity address and phone number on the computer system. Easyaccess for Co-ordinat ion and Placement to thisjnformation saves thema lot ohime t must beupdatedeachterm (even if you don't move) sincethis information is cleared duringyour workterm.

14. Do you believe evaluation forms areappropriate?

, 14:Generally, all of you felt evaluation swere appropr iate. Some mentionedthat these are not always accurate.One person wanted to se.e specificratings (i.e. A-, 8+) shown on thework record summary sheets.Others suggested improvementswere in order.

IS. What's the Student AdvisoryCouncil?

15. See question 5.

Comments or suggestions regardin g theco-op system may be dropped in thesuggestion (S.A.c.) box in the ResourceCentre in Needles Hall or better still, dropin on a meeting.

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IRON W RRIOR

THE W TERLOO SCRUBBERACLE N IR ENTERPRISE

Audrey Chin

As the world's resources are depleted,and the overall quality oflife i threatened ,man is becoming increasingly aware of heneed to use our resource withcaution andwisdom. Air pollution has become agrowing concern as many of our industriescontinue to spew contaminants into theatmosphere.

Government, however, is reluctant toplace too rigid a limit on industrial airpollution. Since air pollution control is anexpensive process, such legislation mighthave an adverse effect on the economy.Government , it seems, would prefer not to"kill the goose that lays the golden egg".The Waterloo Scrubber, developed byTurbotak Inc. and the University ofWaterloo, offers a highly efficient andrelatively inexpensive solution to thisproblem . The efficient but expensiveventuri is replaced by a revolutionarysonic nozzle developed by Dr. J. M.Chawla in Germany. Instead of pressurizing water (expensive) and then allowingit to atol11ize by expansion through aventuri, the water is mixed with acompressed gas and then atomized. [t thusachieves the same result, at a fraction ofthe cost.How it Works

In the Waterloo Scrubber, contaminated air enters and is first sprayed withwater to bring the air stream to 100 %saturation. A second spraying is thereforeable to create a dust and water solutionwithout having the water evaporated.. The t ~ t then flows into acentrifugaJfan for mixing. If the dust and waterparticles were the same size, Brownianmotion would take place and both dustand water particles would move in unison,never mixing or colliding. f one particlewere very largein compar ison tothe other,the different relative speeds would causecollissions, but the small particle wouldtend to rebound and mixing would notoccur.

There exists a size relationship thatallows mixing of the particles as well asinelastic collissions wherein the dust andwater particles "stick together". The mass

of these mixed particles increases andwhen a critical mass is reached, theparticle is thrown to thesidesofthecasing.The droplet drain down to the bottom ofthe fan and exit through a drain. Theresult is a fairly concentr ated exit streamof dirty water.Those droplets that escape the fal arecollected by a mi t eliminator. The misteliminator removes all liquids entrained inthe air stream. Thus th e final exit strea m isclean air at 100% humidity but containingno liquid water.

The Waterloo scrubber is notable for itshigh degree of flexibility. By changing theflow rate of water and compressed air, thepercentage of particles removed can beeasily adjusted. A change in a ministryguideline, for example, might raise therequired dust removal efficiency. Whilethis would entail .major equipmentchanges in most scrubbers, all that wouldbe required for the Waterloo Scrubber is adial adjustment.

This adjustability has an even moreuseful applic ation. Since the flow rates canbe easily changed, the scrubber can beoperated at comparable rates to theproduction of contaminants. Since manyindustrial processes are not at a constantrate, it is not necessary to operate thescrubber at the "full-open" position at alltimes. In most scrubbers, efficiency isdrastically reduced if the scrubber is notoperating at design capacity. The Waterloo Scrubber operates at high efficiencyover large range ow rates.Since the scrubber uses less water, theexit stream of dirty water is moreconcentrated (up to 80x's). In conventional >crubbers, the stream is either toolurge to handle or r c q l l i r c ~ additionalequipment.

The Waterloo Scrubber h s no movingparts except for the fun and thereforeservice is minimal.

Another major feoture of the Waterlooscrubber is its adaptability to varyingsituations. The sin: oCthe Willer spray canbe altered simply by changing the gaspres 'ure to the nov e.

The o m p r e s ~ e d gas doc:, not necessarily have to be air. In many plants,superheated steam is cheap and readilyavailable. Using steam can greatlydecrease the C ~ t of operation.

The Waterloo Scrubber is not limited tousing simply water either. In most cases,water is the most economical Ouidthatcanbe used. However, in cases where thecontaminant is acidic or basic, a basic oracid solution may be used to neutralize it.Oxidizing agcnts, such as peroxide andsodium hypochlori te (bleach) may be usedto eliminate odours carried by particulates.

Finally, the efficiency of the WaterlooScrubber is nothing short of amazing. Itconsistently gives a higher efficiency forall types of particulate. Even in extra fineranges where other scrubbers predict zeroefficiency. the Waterloo Scrubber canremove up to 20%.

The Waterloo Scrubber is a remarkableinvention. However. marketing remains aproblem. Manager Ed Spink feels theyareat the "vergefa breakthrou,h" inthe air pollution control field.The Waterloo Scrubber was de veloped by F.A.L. Dullien andE. Spink.

7


8/12

a IRON W RRIORFACULTY HONOURS DISTINGUISIIED ENGINEERS

Audrey Chin

Three distinguished members of theindustrial community were awardedhonorary degrees by the Faculty ofEngineering at the May 25th afternoonsession of convocation. They are: WalterF. Light, chairman, Northern TelecomLimited, Mississauga; Matthew Kuhn,director technical development, BellNorthern Research Limited, Ottawa; andV Roy Duxbury, technical director(retired), 3M Canada, London, Ontario.In add ition, Paul Meincke will become anhonorary member of the university .Mr. Light is a strong supporter of

Canada's high tech industry. He plays aleading role in encouraging co-operationbetween industry, universities and v-ernment, and urges that the quality ofpost-secondary education is vital andmust be maintained.

He held senior management positionswith Bell Canada prior to his appointment as president of Northern Telecom in1974. He is presently chairman of thecompany.Matthew Kuhn is the first UW alumnusto receive an honourary degree from thisUniversity. He completed both his MASc

and PhD in electrical engineering at

Sandford leming oundation

Waterloo. After working with the BellTelephone Laboratories in New Jersy hereturned to Canada to join Bell-NorthernResearch as manager of new technologies.Kuhn's expertise is in the fields of opticalcommunication and solving design andproduction problems relating to integrated circuits.

A great deal of 3M's success may beattributed to Roy Duxbury. He was afounding member of the first Canadianfacilities in London, in 1951, andestablished a research and developlnentstructure within the new organization. As3M's first director of R&D, he masterfullycombined scientific advances with thedevelopment of ne , products for newmarkets. When he retired in 1983, he wastechnical director.During the same session of convocation, the University will also honourPaul Meincke, the man who delivered thefirst lecture to the first class when UWstarted, in the summer of 1957Prof. Meincke, who taught in thesystems e ~ i g n engineering department,retired in 1977 after 20 years of service. Heis the second person t be granted thedistinction honorary member of theuniversity.

For more information about the Foundationor any of its programmes, please contact:The Sandford Fleming FoundationRoom 4332,Carl Pollock Hall888-4008 or 885-1211 ext. 4008

Registered Charitable OrganizationNo. 0462275-21-15)

At the Engineering Convocation on May 25, 1985 the Foundation presented 11 silver medals for excellence in eitherCo-operative Programme Proficiency or Academic Achievement. Congratuations to the winners.

Co Operative Programme Proficiency Medal cademic chievement Medal

Ronald Bochard, Chemical Engineering Gary Schleicher, Chemical EngineeringKevin Shipley, Civil Engineering David DuQuesnay, Civil Engineering

Mario DiGiovanni, Electrical Engineering Henry Li, Electrical EngineeringAlao Werker, Mechanical Engineering Peter Myshok, Mechanical EngineeringBrian Puppa, Systems Design Engineering Peter Keeler, Systems Design Engineering

John Smith, Electrical Engineering(Management Science OptIon)


9/12

JUNE 1985 IRON W RRIORM TEUR RO D R CING IN C N D

There are a lot of car enthu iasts outthere. Often , they limit their hobby tomagazine subscriptions and a et of magwheels for their car. For people who liketomodify their cars for improved efficiencyand overall performance and whoalso likeperformance driving, many options existwhich do not involve traffic tickets.

The available options are: off-roadracing, drag racing, rallying, kaning, iceracing and road racing. Since my particular involvement is with the variousaspects of amateur road racing, the otherforms of motor vehicle racing mentionedabove will not be considered further.

The amateur road racer can participatein many different events, most sanctionedby the Canadian Sports Car Club (CSCC).These events can be SLALOMING,SPRINTS, RACE, ENDURANCE, andVINTAGE.The most inexpensive event, and a goodchoice for beginners is SLALOM racing.Slaloming is within the reach of anybodywith a vehicle. It is a matter of drivingaround a course defined by pylons ,usually in a large parking lot. The object isto follow the course exactly and completeit as fast as possible, one competitor at atime. The Engineering Slalom is anexample of this event. It is verychallenging and increases the driversability to control his or her car. It alsopermits the driver to gain experience withthe setting up procedures such as tirepressure, engine tuning, etc.

One can also compete in sprints. Therace takes place in a closed race track. It issimilar to the slalom races since on ly onecompetitor is allowed on the course at onetime and the object is to beat thedock. Thetravelling speeds are higher than duringsla loming.

The other types of road racing (Race,Endurance and Vintage) involve competition of more than one vehicle at a time ona closed racing circuit (not the open road),and require special vehicle preparationand a competition license. Typicalvehicle preparation consists of roll bars orcages, good racing seat belts and anelectrical kill switch which disconnects thebattery in case of emergency.

Under the RACE category, there areopen and closed wheel classes. The openwheel cars are formula cars and vary fromthe driver intensive Formula Vee classbased on the VW Beetle engine and suspension (least expensive) to the FormulaFord 2000 series which is based on raceprepared chassis with 2 litre OHC Fordengines (most expensive).

The closed wheel cars are divided intoStock Production, Production (GrandTouring) and Sports Racing classes. TheStock Production cars are off the showroom sedans with the addition of a rollcage for protection (you have probablyheard of he infamous HONDA races). TheProduction sedans and sports cars aresimilar to the TRANS-AM or IMSAAmerican series (not stock cars) and aresubdivided in groups (GT-I, GT-2,GT-3)depending on engine displacement. TheSports Racers are basically the ultimateclosed wheel cars and are based onformula carchassisand havesmall fenders(similar to CAN-AM cars).

Endurance are long distance races on aclosed course which may last up to 3hours. Closed wheel cars compete and aregrouped depending on engine displacement. Often up to three


10/12

10 RON WARRIOR JUNE 1985

JUST WHAT S IEEEIW) What is the I.E.E.E.?

SPIKE) The I.E.E.E. stands forthe Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers Inc., an internationalinstitute. The IEEE publishes thelargest number of papers per yearof any technical institute in theworld. The best way to summarize it would be to let mequote: "The technical objectivesof the Institute are to advance thetheory and practice of electricaland electronics engineering, including activities in the fields ofpower, electronics, communications, computers and alliedbranches of engineering and therelated arts and sciences. Theseobjectives embrace the spectrumof engineering from research anddevelopment, design and production, to test, installation,operation, and service." Toaccomplish these objectives theIEEE has Technical Societies(such as Computer Society, theMicrowave Theory and Technique Society, etc.),holds generalmeetings and conferences, publishes Transactions, developsstandards, recognizes excellence(FELLOW GRADE MEMBERSHIP) and has Society ChapterMeetings. The Chapter Executive like those of the tudentBranch Executive are volunteerswho actively participate in holding local activities to advance"theory and practice". Theseactivities can be talks, tours orshort courses. The talks andtours all have free admission tomembers and non-members . Theshort courses usually have amember to non-member differential in the fee structure.Presently the K- W CHAPTER isplanning a DATA COMMUNICATIONS course early in 1985.

IW) HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN THE IEEE?SPIKE) As a student, I became involvedin helping out at the Bi-annual

Conference held in TORONTO,settingup the paper sessions backin 1968. Ih avebeen involved withthe K-W SECTION. I was SectionChairman in 1975. IservedontheInternational Membership Development Committee representing Canada (Region 7) forabout six years. The activities involved six to ten weekends a yearmeeting engineering types fromcountries like Argentina , Germany, Brazil and Japan .IW) I UNDERSTAND THAT YOUWERE THE RECIPIENT OFAN AWARD?

SPIKE) Yes, the Centennial Medal.

THE INSTITUTE OFELECTRICAL AND10t l.1 e, E , L, ELECTRONCSoar- ENGNEERS. INC.

AnnouncementsThurs June 20, 1985Student-Faculty Night withElectrical and Systems DesignEngineering FaCUlty.

Featuring the IEEEJilmTHE MIRA CLE FORCEUniversity Club - 7 p.m.Tickets on sale Monday June 3at the Engineering Society Office

IEEE Members $1.00non-Members $2.00

IW) WHAT WAS IT FOR?SPIKE) Let me quote it. "NAME, is hon

ored for extraordinary achievement and is deserving of specialrecognition by the Insti.tute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. and is hereby awardedthe IEEE Centennial Medal,1984." I said NAME to point outthat there were four otherdeserving presentation made to K-WSection members. The Recipientswere:

THE@IW)

PETER FORSHAW, ConestogaCollege of Applied Arts andTechnologyKEITH CAMPBELL, NCR WaterlooDAVID HOGG, Ontario CADICAM CentreAll of these gentlemen and manymore people deserve our thanksfor their efforts in helping toadvance the "theory and practice" of electrical and electronicsengineering.

INSTITUTE OELECTRICAl: ANDELECTRONICSENGINEERS INC.

IS THERE ROOM FOR NEWPEOPLE ON THE EXECUTIVES?

SPIKE) YES By all means. On campusthere is the UW Student Branch,and there is also a K-W Section.Many of our faculty and industrial members sit on variousStandard Committees, or PaperReferreeing Committees, just toname a few. New people bringfresh ideas and stimulation ... thewhole idea is to let everyonedevelop organizational and management skills in a very rewarding environment. The professional contacts at all levels ofactivities are a very big plus tostudents . I have received myshare of job offers via IEEEcontacts, and have also putgraduating students in contactwith potential employers.

IW) HOW WOULD YOU SUM UPYOUR IEEE LIFE?SPIKE) REWARDING Besides tense,informative, helpful,educational

and exciting I must emphasizethe fellowships I have established. The students whom I havetalked with in the hallwaysusually realize my enthusiasm forIEEE activities.


11/12

JUNE 985 IRON WARRIOR

RESULTS OF ENGINEERING WEEKENDPoker Tourney:

Bicycle Race:

Bed Racing:

Paper Airplane:Loft TimeDistance

Accuracy

Cup Inverting:

Cap Flicking:Distance

Accuracy

Boat Racing:GuysGirls

Sandford Fleming FounoaltOn

1st John Lee2nd Eric Sundin3rd J. P. Guy1st Grant Eshpeter2nd Mark Wieskowski3rd Dave Taylor

1st Mechie Mouse Club (2B ME)2nd Engeneric3rd 3B Dance

Ist Arnold Estra villo2nd Peter Pfouger1st Edmond Tang2nd Todd Crick3rd Andrew Ehrat1st Ken Downe2nd Boris Lukezic3rd Jim Donahue

1st Arnold Estra villo2nd Andrea VonSchwer in3rd Jim Kee1st Jim Kee2nd Glenn Brannen3rd Ron Brooke1st Ron Brooke2nd Mike James3rd Mark Simpson

1st Knigh ts of Chemalot2nd 3B Dance1st Ladies of the Knights of Chemalot2nd Pink Flamingos (Math)

DEBATESWAS GOD AN ENGINEER? Sample Topic)DEB TES RE FUNOFF TOPIC

4A EE2BGEO4A EE2B EE4AME4AME

3A EE4AME

2BME2BME2BME2BCH2BCHIB EE2BME3ACI

2BME2BCH2BCH

2BCH3A SY4A EE' BME3A EE

3ACH4AME

L ST 30 MINUTES1st Prize $1002nd Prize $50RULES POSTED IN THE ORIFICESIGN UP IN ORIFICE. (two per team)

Sub Eating:

Broomball :

Engineering Weekend Parade

1st Dave Peck/Andy Huctwith2nd Vic Buehler/Ed Slapsys3rd Scot Hardy/Kevin Grangermixed 1st S\t've Munro/Nancy Mariu7

lSI Ellgcncric2nd 33 Dance3rd Knights of ' h ~ malo

I CI4A EEIB MEI B C T

3AH'4A Ml3A ('II

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EATO 'J'S TRAVEL in I he Soul b Campus HallT R V E L O N Y O U R E T O N ~ C C O U N T


12/12

2 RON W RRIOR JUN 985

lU lcorn

iron warrior: volume 6, issue 4

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