Engineering Now .: Volume 3 - Edition 2 .: September 2006

Western Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series


Western Engineering hosted two Distinguished Lectures during the month of September: Dr. Howard Stone, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and Mr. Duncan Hawthorne, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Power.

Dr. Stone presented a talk entitled, "Colloidal and Cellular-Scale Microfluidics: (I) Armored bubbles and (II) A high-speed differential manometer," to a group of Mechanical Engineering grad students, and Western Engineering faculty and staff on Thursday, September 14.

His presentation focused on the ability to transport and manipulate fluids on the scale of hundreds of microns and smaller, that have triggered a wide range of scientific investigations and technological applications. During his presentation, Stone explained that "microfluidic devices allow handling of small fluid volumes, fast response times, selective addressing of the cellular scale, and they allow for sensing and flow control."

He then went on to explain two examples of his work in this area. First, the formation of colloidal shells consisting of a monolayer or particles on drops and bubbles. Second, his recent efforts to characterize the mechanical response of cells during continuous flow in microchannels comparable to the cell size, including measuring the extra pressure drop produced by a single cell.

Mr. Duncan Hawthorne visited Western Engineering on September 28 to talk to Electrical and Computer Engineering grad students, and Western Engineering faculty and staff about "Securing our Nuclear Power."

Click here to listen to Hawthorne's entire presentation...


The Distinguished Lecture Series began in January 2004, as an exciting launch for our 50th anniversary celebrations, commemorating the establishment of the Department of Engineering Science at The University of Western Ontario. In our initial year 2003/2004 we welcomed Bjarni Tryggvason, CSA Astronaut to start the series as a joint Anniversary celebration for Engineering and a 125th Anniversary celebration for our University. Our other distinguished guests include: Milorad Dudukovic, Distinguished Professor from Washington University, Robert T.E. Gillespie, Chairman and CEO of GE Canada, Francesc Giralt, Distinguished Professor, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) and Alan Macnab, President of the Geo-Institute, The American Society of Civil Engineers.

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Contact

.: Allison Stevenson
Spencer Engineering Building, Room 2074
Telephone: (519) 850-2917 Fax: (519) 661-3808
contactweATeng.uwo.ca