McGill and ice hockey go way back--in fact, this university has the oldest continuous hockey club in the world. So it seems particularly fitting that McGill should be the site for an international ice hockey research project. A $250,000 gift from Canstar Sports of Montreal is helping to target that research--specifically, to develop equipment and techniques that can prevent injuries, or at least lessen their impact. Dr. David Montgomery, co-director of the Seagram Sports Science Centre and graduate program director of the Department of Physical Education, is particularly enthusiastic about the prevention focus of the new research program. "We have a great relationship with Canstar staff, and their involvement will accelerate projects and provide professional feedback," he says.
Research will cover all sorts of subject that fans of Hockey Night in Canada may have speculated about--everything from the performance parameters of hockey sticks to the way skates (both ice and roller skates) perform in accelerating, turning and stopping the athlete, to developing improved head protection.
There's a special synergy at work in sports research, notes Tom Thompson, deputy director of The McGill Twenty-First Century Fund, similar to the synergy in McGill's new Athletics Complex. "The Seagram Sports Science Centre is adjacent to the McGill Sport Medicine Clinic, which in turn is near the Weider Varsity Weight Room, which in turn is near the Winsor Varsity Clinic. All the components facilitate research and follow-up. The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone, in other words." Thompson adds with a smile, "This research will bring new ways to enhance sports at all levels--from players whose heads don't reach the boards yet to players of NHL calibre."
Since the undergraduate minor in Environmental Engineering program was developed in the 1989/90 academic year, it has become far and away the most popular of the Faculty's minor programs. Now, thanks to a generous gift from the General Electric Foundation, a Master of Engineering Program in Environmental Engineering, designed for graduates who in many cases have acquired industrial experience, is being developed. The program will be interdisciplinary and interdepartmental. Outside the Faculty, students may select courses on a number of subjects related to this complex field, including ecology, earth and planetary sciences, epidemiology, engineering law, political science and management.
GE is donating $150,000 (U.S.) over three years to fund the General Electric Environmental Engineering Fellowships and the General Electric Environmental Engineering Program Director. The fellowships will help attract top students, including professional engineers who are currently in practice but wish to acquire specialized training in the environmental area. The program director will co-ordinate new and existing course offerings, advise students, co-ordinate interdisciplinary research projects, and facilitate co-operation with industry.