2006 is the year to celebrate at the University of Calgary as it turns 40. This young university has accomplished much over the last 40 years. Some highlights taken from the publication, U, Spring 2006:
1969: Biomedical engineering burgeons at the UofC
Faculty of Medicine receives a grant from the Medical Research Council for research on gall bladder function.
1972: Young prof computes energy for molecular twisting
A breakthrough in the way theoretical chemists study molecules. The first reliable method for calculating inversion energy.
1970s: Len Bruton gives the signal
Evolution of touch tone phones. Bruton developed the Frequency Dependent Negative Resistance microelectronic filter which blocked out background noise on the phone line. These filters are still used today in integrated circuits, hardware and software, and telecommunications and instrumentations systems throughout the world.
Mid 1970s: Engineers go with the flow
Building of the largest flow facility to transfer oil and gas together. Using the sensor measured flow-through system to stimulate uphill and downhill flow of gas mixed with liquid oil, fundamental knowledge was gathered about the possibilities of long-distance oil and gas transport.
1975: Reading the first novel
What was the first novel? Le Roman de Thèbes.
1878: Bill Costerton's idea that stuck
The father of biofilm microbiology.
1985: John Remmers puts sleep apnea to rest
Developed the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device that would gently push air into a patient's throat in order to keep the airway open. Today it is the world standard treatment for sufferers of sleep apnea.
1985: Roger Butler mines for black gold
Invention of the steam-assisted gravity drainage and an efficient method to extract heavy oil and bitumen.
1986: The windmills of change
John Kentfield's invention of wind powered water pump for the developing world.
In 2004, 26 communities in Cuba replaced electric water pumps powered by diesel engines with this pump which reduces yearly carbon dioxide emissions by 136 tons.
1987: Where art and science converge
Development of the Landwell reed knife for professional oboists around the world.
1988: The fastest ice in the world
The Olympic Oval, built for the 1988 Winter Olympics set world records in almost every event. 2.5 cm thick and made of demineralized water, Mark Messer has watched over the Oval since the Calgary Olympics.
1985-87: Electrochemistry for a cleaner world
Viola Birss's leadership in the research of fuel cells.
1987: Graduate students catch a breath of fresh air
Tang Lee's promotion of health indoor and outdoor environments learning about the chemicals, moulds and social factors resulting in sick building syndrome. Developed the first graduate course in indoor air quality.
1992: Recycle retired tires
Amir Badaksham and four of his students worked on a process to shred old tires and separate the fragments into steel, fibre and re-useable rubber "crumbs" to be used to make rubber mats and tire liners. Badaksham also lead research in tire recycling for diverse uses including rubber-modified asphalt roads.
1993: David Manz's pure and simple invention
Manz designed an effective water purifier that could be built and operated with limited resources. 75,000 Davnor Bios and Water Filters are now used in 60 countries around the world.
1995: Student takes firm grip of business idea
Gription Glove developed by management student Chris Jones. Entrix Sports founded by Jones has grown into an international producer and distributor of innovative sports products.
1993-95: Law professor advocates for human rights
In the aftermath of the Serbian war atrocities, law professor Kathleen Mahony joined an international team of lawyers representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in the International Court of Justice. Co-founder of LEAF, the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, Mahoney has worked to ensure the rights of girls and women in Canada and abroad.
1994: Biotechnologists harvest pharmaceuticals from safflower
Maurice Maloney has become adept at genetically engineering canola and safflower to make useful products and harvesting them from oil droplets in the seeds. Maloney founded SemBioSys where biotechnologists tend plants and harvest a diversity of biotech-crops, from human insulin to biodegradable plastic to non-transgenic personal care products.
1998: The cancer-fighting virus
Reovirus will infect and kill certain types of cancer cells while leaving health cells alone. The Cancer Biology Research Group, Faculty of Medicine discovered reovirus's cancer-fighting potential. Reolysin is now being tested in clinical trials.
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990s: GPS puts UofC on the map
Global Position Systems can be used to pinpoint any spot on Earth. Graduate student Elizabeth Cannon developed a software suite called SEMKIN . Since then Cannon and other award winning researchers have developed hundreds of software packages for GPS applications from landing aircraft to tracking wildlife.
1998: UofC joins space storm watch
A probe, the Canadian Thermal Plasma Analyzer was developed under the leadership of UofC space scientists
to study the Martian atmosphere. UofC became involved in the satellite mission called CASSIOPE, its goal is to investigate violent space storms and associated effects of space weather.
1998 and beyond: Designing the worlds largest telescope
Geomatics engineers from the UofC and across Canada unveiled Canada's design concept, the Large Adaptive Reflector. This novel and cost-effective design uses a balloon to help steer the giant radio telescope's receiver. The International SKA steering Committee will decide which design concept to use by 2009.
1999: Astronomers witness the birth of stars
UofC astronomers viewed the initial stage of a star formation. Steven Gibson and Russ Taylor's ongoing research is part of the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey, an international effort to map the Milky Way.
2000: Gene therapy for type 1 diabetes
A Calgary research team lead by Ji-Won Yoon and colleagues in Korea showed that gene therapy can cure type 1 diabetes in rats and mice. A virus is injected into the insulin gene in the liver. Insulin produced by the liver cells successfully controls blood sugar levels in animal models.
2000 Calgary students help rid the world of land mines
Undergraduates from the mechanical engineering program, Jason Thomas, Aparna Verma, Can Rankin, and Michael Hand, designed a battery recharger for recharging land mine detection equipment which is portable, simple, reliable, and nearly indestructible.
2000: Gene discovery sheds light on night blindness
A UofC-led international study pinpointed the gene for night blindness.
2000: Patient simulator visits doctors far and wide
Greg Powell (president and CEO of the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS)) conceived the STARS human patient simulator which visited emergency care workers from the Northwest Territories to Montana. "Stan the Man", a computerized mannequin, was the first mobile medical simulator of its kind in North America.
2000: Olympic shoe in for Human Performance Laboratory
The UofC's Human Performance Laboratory designs running shoes which minimize vibrations and fatigue in leg muscles. The research is ongoing and provides insight into the biomechanics of movement.
2001: The light that spread across the world
Dave Irvine-Halliday, a professor of engineering resolved to bring efficient, affordable lighting to the developing world with the durable dioide plastic bulb the size of a corkboard pin. With his team, he built a lighting system that would connect the diodes to a renewable power source. Ken Robertson, who was attracted to this concept, established Light Up the World as a foundation under the UofC. This foundation has brought light into thousands of homes from Sri Lanka to northern British Columbia.
2001: David Hodgins helps problem gamblers kick the habit
Becoming a Winner: Defeating Problem Gambling: 30% of those who completed this program beat the odds and quit gambling entirely.
2001: Unearthing the Queen of Sheba's temple
50 years after the American Foundation for Study of Man were interrupted by an attempt to excavate the temple, Bill Glazman, earth science professor, and Brian Moorman, and their team located the temple using ground penetrating radar.
2003: Stem cell research smells great
Sam Weiss and his research team at the Faculty of Medicine discovered that prolactin triggers stem cells in the brains of mice to develop into neurons which become part of the olfactory bulb of the brain. This discovery could lead to treatments to repair stroke-induced brain damage.
2002-04: Calgary students help design "uptown" Portuguese city
Graduate students in the Faculty of Environmental Design participated in Europe's largest urban renewal project: convert run-down quarters of Portugal's capital into "Uptown Lisbon".
2005: Susan Lees-Miller gets break in DNA research
Lees-Miller and her team in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology discovered how a human protein helps to repair damaged DNA. This could lead to more effective cancer treatments.
2005: Lost 17th century play resurfaces
The tale of starcrossed lovers, Christopher Spruce and Constance Thrifty was tucked away in UofC special collections. Apollonia Steel brought the play to the English department's Mary Polito and Jacqueline Jenkins. They narrowed the date of the composition to 1620-1640. The discovery of this s play changes theatre history.
2000s: Latvia moves into new housing agency
Sasha Tsenkova, UofC professor of international development helped several Latvian cities make the transition into the free market. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, Tsenkova assisted state governments to monitor the housing market and municipal governments to plan housing management strategies.
2005: Social service delivery for Middle Eastern communities
Dealing with social service workers is unfamiliar for ancient cultures. Social work professor John Graham working with Arab communities has learned that helping professionals first need to learn from the people they are trying to assist. Cultural sensitivity turns oppressive interventions into useful ones.
2006: Engineer puts out the garbage
Civil engineering professor Patrick Hettiaratchi has designed the bio-cell, which combines old technologies in a unique way in order to treat 85,000 tons of residential and commercial waste.
2006: The eye-catching symmetry of plants explained
An animated computer model to simulate the growth of plants from single seeds to spiral arrangement of organized structures was used by Professor Przemyslaw Prusinkiewcz, doctoral student Richard Smith, and international collaborators.
This model helps botanists understand the process of plant growth.
