Hans Metz, Technical Services Manager in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, received a 50-year ring at the Celebration of Service on Tuesday, May 12.
Back in 2010 when he was recognized for his 45 years of service at Queen’s University, Hans Metz said he planned on attending his 50-year service dinner as well.
On Tuesday, he did just that.
Mr. Metz (Arts'71), the Technical Services Manager in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, was among the 154 people recognized at the Celebration of Service for reaching 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 years of employment at Queen’s. Mr. Metz was the lone member of the 50-year club while five Queen’s employees reached the 45-year mark – Professor Donald Akenson (History); Perry Conrad (Physical Plant Services); Bonnie McCalpin (Obstetrics and Gynaecology); Frederic Post (Biology); and Arlie Redmond (Stauffer Library).
Mr. Metz arrived at Queen’s in 1965 and since then has been responsible for the technical activities and physical resources of what was then known as the Department of Biochemistry. Some of the tasks he has undertaken to support researchers in their work include maintaining complex pieces of equipment, creating technical drawings, designing a departmental magazine and even glass blowing to create lab equipment.
It has been an ideal job for someone who is always busy working on something, tinkering, keeping busy.
“It’s been total fun,” he says about the work. “Everything and anything, whatever.”
However, one of the keys to his longevity at the university, as well as his youthful outlook, has been his connection with graduate students, even today.
“In the early days I used to go skiing every weekend in New York and loaded a car full of grad students who wanted to go skiing,” he says. “So they’ve always been my comrades. They don’t get older and if you have lots of fun with them, you’re one of them.”
Though Mr. Metz will officially be retiring at the end of May, he says he will be making himself available to help out whenever needed.
Visit the Human Resources website to view a complete list of employees who were honoured at this year’s Celebration of Service dinner.
With the aim of helping faculty, staff and students "Get Your 150" (minutes of recommended exercise a week) to improve health and wellness, the Gazette and Athletics and Recreation will be offering Fit Tips each week.
Make physical activity fun and enjoyable as well as social.
Join a Queen’s intramural team and take advantage of the beautiful outdoor weather Kingston experiences. Instead of going for a walk, run or bike ride on your own, invite a friend or make physical activity a family outing.
Backyards, schoolyards and parks are meant for exploring; trees are meant for climbing; sprinklers are meant for running through; and mud puddles are meant for stomping in.
Remember your childhood fun or help create new childhood memories for you and your children and get outside and play!
After four editions as the editor, Andrea Gunn feels she has put her own mark on the Queen’s Alumni Review. (University Communications)
Andrea Gunn has her dream job.
With four editions already under her byline, Ms. Gunn is the new editor of the Queen’s Alumni Review, the quarterly magazine that helps connect thousands of alumni across the globe with each other as well as with what is happening at the university.
Back in August, when she moved into the editor’s chair, it marked a major career accomplishment that also came with some trepidation.
Ms. Gunn isn’t exactly new to the magazine. She started working at Queen’s in 2008 and a year later joined the QAR as the Keeping in Touch editor.
“I was elated. It really was, and is, my dream job,” she says. “It was a little bit scary because I know the two most recent editors and my immediate predecessor was on the job for 28 years. So I knew I had some big shoes to fill and at the same time I need to carry on a tradition while making my own mark on the magazine.”
And she has already started making that mark.
Under Ms. Gunn’s editorship, the magazine has taken on a more graphic-style of design, employing new ways of delivering information and stories. She also points out that each edition is being centred on a different theme.
“We started a graphic redesign last year that has really started to bloom. We’re focusing a lot of our resources on great graphics, big photos that tell a great story, and illustrations,” she says. “But we’re also being more thoughtful with our stories and our story curation. For instance, our upcoming May edition is focused on mental health and it’s a weighty topic but I wanted to show various pieces of the mental health story – what’s important to talk about, what Queen’s researchers are doing in different fields, what Queen’s students are doing in terms of peer support – so, really telling different aspects of a larger story.”
At the same time there is an increasing use of the QAR’s website but instead of simply posting the stories from the magazine Ms. Gunn is utilizing the strengths of the medium to complement the print version. In the August edition, she explains, she wrote a profile of an alumnus who is a composer and conductor. In addition, exclusive to the website, she published an interview with the alumnus done by a recent School of Music graduate. Those interested could read the printed story, the online interview, or get the full experience by reading both.
Another new step is that there will be an online-only edition of the magazine this fall, which Ms. Gunn says offers her an opportunity to explore new ways of delivering information through video, audio and photo albums.
However, the print version of the QAR is here to stay, she adds.
“I don’t see the print issue going away. People really like having a print university magazine,” she says. “It still bucks the trend of the dying of print magazines. People still like to have the magazine in their hands or on their coffee table.”
From the feedback she has received so far, it is clear that QAR readers remain engaged and are always eager to hear the stories of their university, their community.
“The role of the QAR is, I think, to inform and engage the readers on what is happening at Queen’s today as well as providing a conduit for them to share their news with their Queen’s friends,” she says. “So I want to inform them about research, about student works, faculty work, and keep them excited about what is happening at Queen’s.”
Yet she also doesn’t want to give readers information they already know and that means having her finger on the pulse of life at the university, from new programs and graduate student research to new forms of teaching and the ups and downs of the greater Queen’s family.
The next edition of the QAR will be published May 19. Along with home delivery for alumni, issues are available at various locations across Queen’s.
“Let’s Talk Cancer” will be held on Friday, May 15 in Walter Light Hall from 9 am – 2 pm.
Kingston high school students are visiting Queen’s to talk about cancer.
Together with the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute (QCRI), Let’s Talk Science, and the Kingston branch of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Research Information Outreach Team (RIOT), students will spend the day learning about cancer biology and research.
Organizer Mathieu Crupi hopes the Let’s Talk Cancer symposium will inspire students to take an interest in cancer research.
“Students in high school are often not exposed to the topic of cancer, even though it’s a disease that likely has or will affect them directly or indirectly at some point,” says Mr. Crupi, a PhD candidate in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. “Let’s Talk Cancer will give the students first hand exposure to cancer research and some of the work that goes on locally. It might even inspire them with a possible career path.”
Members of the Kingston RIOT team, from left to right: Saad Islam, Piriya Yoganathan, Dr. Stacy Visser-Grieve, James MacLeod, Kelly Brennan, and Mathieu Crupi.
As part of the symposium, students will hear from representatives of the local Canadian Cancer Society and Queen’s Cancer Research Institute, as well as cancer survivor Emma MacLean. This will be followed by a keynote address on cancer biology and childhood clinical trials from Dr. Janet Dancey, Director of Clinical Translational Research at the NCIC Clinical Trials Group and Professor of Oncology at Queen’s.
In the afternoon, students will participate in sessions focused on cancer subtypes, led by a panel of cancer researchers from Queen’s. Students will also hear about the transition from high school to post-secondary education and a variety of career paths at a workshop, where a panel of researchers with a wide range of experiences will speak. Lastly, students will receive a tour of the Anatomy Museum.
“We want to reinforce to the students that there are many different subtypes of cancer and each one is a different disease in itself which may have different implications and treatments” says Mr. Crupi. “This is also a great chance for students to ask any questions they might have and perhaps get involved in volunteer work. Forming these relationships early on is so important, especially with young researchers.”
Principal Woolf and Vice-Principal (Research) Steven Liss will be travelling to Singapore and Japan in May in order to build academic relationships and foster research partnerships with universities in the region. They will also participate in the opening of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, a research institute at Japan’s Nagoya University, where Queen’s professor Cathleen Crudden (Chemistry) is a Research Professor.
The federal budget contained good news for universities with the announcement of more than 1.5 billion to support research, including over 1.33 billion to the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Queen’s was specifically mentioned in the budget for the impact of its CFI-funded pipe-liner project with the City of Hamilton.
The provincial budget clearly showed the province is commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, especially through Campus Linked Accelerators and other funding. It also announced continued funding to the Ontario Online Initiative.
The Advisory Committee on Divestment of Fossil Fuels continues to seek input from the Queen’s community, and the deadline to provide views has been extended to September 17 to ensure all interested stakeholders have an opportunity to participate.
Consultations on the Richardson Stadium project will continue through the fall, including public meetings.
The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Working Group has held ongoing consultations, including a campus climate survey. The working group is preparing a progress report for final policy and procedures.
Principal Woolf encouraged faculty members to attend this spring’s ceremonies.
Provost’s report
In addition to his written report, the Provost provided the following updates:
As of April 24, Queen’s had received 31,000 applications, an increase of 1% over the same date last year. There has been strong growth in applications from international and aboriginal students.
The first class of the new, four-semester consecutive B.Ed. program is underway.
Committee motions and reports
Senate approved:
Enrolment Targets for 2015-16 and 2016-17, as contained in the Strategic Enrolment Management Group report and recommended by SCAD
The amalgamation of the Schools of Drama and Music in the Faculty of Arts and Science, to create a School of Drama and Music, effective July 1, 2015, subject to ratification by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of SCAD
A major modification to the Bachelor of Science General in Life Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Science, on the recommendation of SCAD
A motion to encourage the Faculty of Arts and Science to develop an intensive laboratory course that, in conjunction with CHEM 113 and 114, would be equivalent to CHEM 112.
Renmin University, Beijing, China, as a location to deliver the Queen's Master of Finance Program, on the recommendation of SCAD
Significant changes to the faculty delivering the Queen's Master of Finance program at Renmin University, Beijing, China, on the recommendation of SCAD
The renewal of the Centre for International and Defence Policy for an additional period of five years, effective May 31, 2013, subject to ratification by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of the Senate Advisory Research Committee (SARC)
The renewal of the Centre for Studies in Democracy and Diversity for an additional period of five years, effective January 20, 2014, subject to ratification by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of SARC
The renewal of the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations for an additional period of five years, effective September 9, 2014, subject to ratification by the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of SARC
Amendments and additions to sections 1a, 5, and 17 of the Senate Policy on Student Appeals, Rights, and Discipline, as recommended by the Senate Committee on Non-Academic Discipline
Amendments to the Orientation Week Policy Manual, on the recommendation of the Senate Orientation Activities Review Board
A notice of motion to approve the proposed changes to Senate's Rules of Procedure regarding the obligatory leave and removal of senators and Senate committee members, from GNC
Praveen Jain is the Canada Research Chair in Power Electronics and Director of the Queen's Centre for Energy and Power Electronics Research (ePOWER). (University Communications)
Praveen Jain’s success is due in no small part to the opportunities he has received throughout his education and research career.
The Canada Research Chair in Power Electronics and Director of the Queen's Centre for Energy and Power Electronics Research (ePOWER) repeats time and again that he wouldn’t be where he is today without the work, support and generosity of others.
And that is a big reason why he has donated all his patent royalties to Queen’s.
It’s no small sum. Dr. Jain is responsible for more than 50 patents and has started up two companies through PARTEQ Innovations, whose role it is to commercialize intellectual property arising from university-generated research, such as Dr. Jain’s.
One of his start-ups, CHiL Semiconductor, was sold in 2011 to a U.S. company for $75 million. Dr. Jain developed and patented the technology that formed the basis for CHiL’s success. All the funds he received from the patent royalties were directed back to the university.
With his current start-up, SPARQ Systems, he intends to do the same.
“It gives me great career satisfaction to be involved in a start-up company as a founder,” he says. “The research work that makes a start-up possible is done here at the university, so I feel it’s only right that the royalties that I receive as a result be directed back to the university, to be put to good use to allow students to develop their research knowledge, skills and experience.”
It’s simple for Dr. Jain, as he feels that the best use of the funds is to direct it to education, where it will create opportunities for others to realize their potential.
“I was welcomed in Canada and have benefitted from a number of opportunities. People in the past made contributions that provided me with valuable chances to learn and contribute,” he says. “I appreciate their generosity, and want to ‘pay it forward’ to support the next generation of researchers and inventors.”
A key to Dr. Jain’s groundbreaking work – with the aim of creating new energy-efficient, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly power electronic technologies – is trying different approaches.
As he explains it, there are two key steps to innovation – identifying the problem that needs to be solved and understanding the solutions that are already out there.
“Then the question to ask is: how can you create a different solution? So you start looking at things from a very different angle. When you do that, you may find two or three potential solutions,” says Dr. Jain. “Then your job is to evaluate the potential solutions and decide which one makes more sense.”
Dr. Jain’s research these days is focused on increasing the efficiency of power conversion in electronics.
The primary source of energy used in the world is electricity – in its many forms – from computers to jets, from cars to household appliances. However, different products use different forms of electricity.
For example, the standard power frequency in North America is usually 50 Hertz, but a plane that lands at Pearson Airport may use 400 Hz power, so power frequency conversion is needed for the ground power unit used to power the plane while it is at the gate. And when any power unit receives one type of electricity and converts it into another form, a lot of power is wasted.
Even a slight reduction in electrical energy lost in conversion could have a massive result.
“Almost two-thirds of electricity throughout the world is processed through electronic devices,” Dr. Jain says. “So if you can improve the efficiency even by 1 per cent you can imagine the impact – you can save an enormous amount of energy.”
At ePOWER, Dr. Jain and his team of researchers are working to make this a reality. However, it’s far from a simple task, as many of the electronics, Dr. Jain points out, are used in consumer goods. As a result there is a need to make them cost-effective as well.
“So to meet the needs of industry and people who buy its products, at ePOWER we have to do this conversion in the most efficient manner and at the lowest possible cost, ensuring as small a device size and as low a device weight as possible,” he says. “Successfully balancing all these considerations creates technologies that meet the needs of companies and consumers.”
The School of Nursing will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2016. (University Communications)
The role of nurses within health care systems across Canada continues to change and the education programs responsible for training the next generation nurses, such as the School of Nursing at Queen’s University, must keep up with this transformation.
Nursing Week this year is marked May 11-15 and as Jennifer Medves, Director of the School of Nursing and Vice-Dean Faculty of Health Sciences, points out, it is an opportunity for those in the profession to receive a bit of recognition for all their efforts.
“Nursing Week is about, we hope, people stopping and recognizing the contribution of nursing to the health care systems,” she says, explaining that there is not just one health care system but many at the provincial, territorial and federal levels. “What nurses have in their scope of practice varies from one province to territory and the scope of practices for nurses is increasing.”
One new development announced earlier this week by the Government of Ontario is that nurse practitioners will be able to refer patients directly to a specialist, when before they had to first refer to a family physician. The result is a more efficient system of referrals.
“That really was an added step that costs the system money and really is not required,” Dr. Medves says. “That was a very nice announcement that came out (Monday).”
While many people still tend to think the main role of nurses is working at the bedside in acute care hospitals, Dr. Medves says that there is an increasing percentage of nurses working in the community care sector, where patients are cared for in their own homes. As a result, the School of Nursing needs to provide education to meet these future needs.
“Looking into the future we need to be thinking about what those roles could look like and we, in an education program, are always looking to make sure that the practice for our education program is congruent with where the nurses will be working in the future,” she says.
Yet change is not a reason for concern. Instead, Dr. Medves sees it as a time of growth and the School of Nursing is in the midst of setting out its future course for the next five years.
“It’s exciting times because we are thinking about where we want to go in the future,” she says. “We’re in the middle of developing a strategic plan to last us until 2020, which obviously lines up with the strategic plan of the university and aligns with the Faculty of Health Sciences.”
In the shorter term, the School of Nursing is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2016. Dr. Medves says there are four special events planned throughout the academic year, including a pair of conferences.
This summer the school will also be celebrating two new graduate scholarships, funded by alumni of the School of Nursing, while the first Sally Smith Chair in Nursing, named in honour of Edith “Sally” (Carruthers) Smith, the wife of local philanthropist A. Britt Smith, who died in June 2012, will be named in the coming weeks.
Queen’s undergraduate student intake will increase this fall, as planned, and hold steady over the following two years, according to the enrolment targets for 2015 and 2016 that were approved by the university’s Senate, and the enrolment projections for 2017.
The target for the 2015 first-year direct-entry undergraduate class will increase to 4,422 students, as previously approved by Senate in 2014, compared to 4,109 in 2014. That number is forecast to remain unchanged in the 2016 enrolment targets approved by Senate at its April meeting and the 2017 enrolment projections. At the graduate level, a total intake of 2,027 students is expected in 2015, which includes off-campus programs.
“Demand for the university’s programs remains strong, with a growing number of prospective students selecting Queen’s as their first choice university,” says Daniel Woolf, Principal and Vice-Chancellor. “That demand is reflective of Queen’s reputation for quality, and an increase in our student intake in 2015 will help the university continue to deliver the support services that promote student success, while maintaining its exceptional student learning experience.”
Undergraduate applications to Queen’s have increased over last year, while the total number of undergraduate applications to all Ontario universities has remained nearly unchanged.
Examples of student service enhancements at Queen's
Two new residence under construction will result in 445 net new residence spaces in 2015
Establishment of SOAR, QSuccess and Bounce Back to help ensure academic success for first-year students
Eight embedded counsellors in faculties and schools, up from three in 2011-12
Increase in the number of advisors in the Disability Service Office
Student Academic Success Services supports 40 per cent more students over 2011-12
Career Services introduced new initiatives such as major maps, majors night and the co-curricular opportunities directory
New programs and increased support for Aboriginal and international students
Half of incoming undergraduate students receive a scholarship or bursary
Enrolment targets consider institutional capacity
Alan Harrison, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), is chair of the university’s Strategic Enrolment Management Group (SEMG), which recommends short-term enrolment targets to the Senate Committee on Academic Development, for approval by Senate. The SEMG consults directly with faculties, schools and student service units to ensure sufficient capacity exists when setting targets, to ensure that the quality of the student experience remains high.
“The SEMG worked with academic units to ensure that the modest growth in the 2015 student intake will occur in academic programs where additional capacity exists,” says Provost Harrison. “The group also consulted closely with student service units on campus and the university’s residences to ensure that they continue to be able to meet students’ needs.”
Adding capacity in residences, student services
To help accommodate additional students, two new residence buildings are currently under construction. At the same time, a number of common rooms in other residences that were temporarily converted into bedrooms will revert back to common space. This will result in a net increase of 445 new residence spaces in fall 2015. In addition, the university has added capacity and introduced new programs in key student services, such as academic learning and transition supports, health and wellness resources, and services for Aboriginal and international students.
Each year, Queen’s reviews its three-year, rolling short-term enrolment projections as part of its strategic enrolment management process. The process is informed by the university’s long-term strategic enrolment management framework and takes into account many factors, including student demand and institutional capacity. The university is committed attracting greater numbers of Aboriginal students and increasing the proportion of international undergraduate students on campus.
Total enrolment at Queen’s for 2015-16 is projected to be 22,019, compared to 21,649 students in 2014-15. This includes all undergraduate and graduate students, including those not residing in Kingston, such as students in online professional master’s programs and those studying at the Bader International Study Centre.
As a testament to her leadership in military and veteran health research and her unique ability to enact change, Dr. Alice Aiken has been appointed First Unit Honorary Commander of the 33 Canadian Forces Health Services Centre of Kingston.
Dr. Aiken is the director of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) – an organization that aims to maximize the health and well-being of Canadian military personnel, veterans, and their families. Since its inception in 2009, CIMVHR has partnered with 36 universities and, since November 2014, has received more than $21 million in grants and donations.
A veteran herself, Dr. Aiken enrolled in the Naval Reserve in 1984 and was in the first training class of maritime surface officers that included women in a combat role. During the Gulf War, she worked for the Navy at the Maritime Command Headquarters in Halifax. After graduating from Dalhousie University’s physiotherapy program, Dr. Aiken was posted to the base hospital at CFB Kingston. She left the Canadian Armed Forces in 1998 and joined Queen’s to manage the physiotherapy clinic while pursuing her master’s and PhD in rehabilitation science. Dr. Aiken became a faculty member in 2006.
![[Hans Metz]](/gazette/sites/default/files/assets/Hans%20Metz%20WEB.jpg)
![[Praveen Jain]](/gazette/sites/default/files/assets/Praveen%20Jain%20WEB.jpg)
![[Nursing Week]](/gazette/sites/default/files/assets/Nursing%20Week%20WEB.jpg)
![[Gazette May 12, 2015]](/gazette/sites/default/files/assets/15-0057%20Gazette%20issue%209%20May%2012%202015%20%28Page%201%29%20THUMB.jpg)
