From location analysis to computer mathematics

There is plenty to celebrate this holiday season, with prizes, honours and grants going to Concordia’s community of students and scholars.

Here’s a roundup of our most recent bragging rights:

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Ivan Contreras, an assistant professor, was awarded the Chuck ReVelle Rising Star Award during the INFORMS 2015 meeting in Philadelphia. This award is given every other year to a person within eight years of receiving his or her PhD who has made a significant contribution to location analysis research and displays the potential to continue to do so.

Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Cheng-Chun Lin and Leon Wang won the Excellent Poster Award at the 10th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and Technology (AOSFST 2015) held on October 5 to 7 in Tsukuba, Japan.

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Students and faculty won six best paper awards:

• Ons Seddiki (MASc), Cvetan Dunchev (post-doctoral fellow) and Sanaz Khan Afshar (PhD) - Intelligent Computer Mathematics (Conference on Intelligent Computer Mathematics 2015)
• Ibtissem Seghaier (PhD) and Mohamed Zaki (research associate) - Microelectronics Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society Annual Symposium on VLSI 2015)
• Mathieu Nayrolles (PhD), student of Wahab Hamou-Lhadj, associate professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering (International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and Reengineering 2015)
• Valdivino Alexandre de Santiago Júnior (visiting scientist from Brazilian Space Agency) - Formal Methods (Simpósio Brasileiro de Métodos Formais 2015)
• Mohamed Atef Kamel (PhD student) - Best Conference Paper (2015 IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering)
• Yu Ma (MSc student) - Best Paper in Automation (IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation)

Faculty of Arts and Science

Staff, faculty and new research chairs were celebrated at the Dean’s Reception to Honour Excellence on November 30. “I am pleased to congratulate each of tonight’s honourees, and salute their success in the company of their colleagues,” said André Roy, dean of Arts and Science.

Department of History
Max Bergholz, an assistant professor, recently won a First Book Subvention Award from the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). These awards provide funds for first-time authors who have secured publishing contracts and whose book manuscripts have been judged by experts to have the potential to make a substantial scholarly contribution to the field. His forthcoming book, Violence as a Generative Force: Identity, Nationalism, and Memory in a Balkan Community, will be published in 2016 by Cornell University Press.

Rosemarie Schade, an associate professor, and Frank Chalk, a professor, are the recipients of the Vice President, Research and Graduate Studies’ (VPRGS) Aid to Research Related Events grants. Schade’s project will support Concordia's participation in the 11th Annual International Concordia-Siena Conference on Globalization, Social Action, Biodiversity and Sustainability. Chalk’s grant will help support a Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) conference, Eradicating Difference: A Concordia Conference on Extremist Movements and their Assaults on Cultural Heritage.

Department of Political Science
Anju Dhillon (BA 02, Political Science) has been appointed as a Member of Parliament for Dorval–Lachine–LaSalle. She was chosen by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women.

Peter Schiefke (BA 07, Political Science) has also been appointed as a Member of Parliament for Vaudreuil–Soulanges, and was chosen by the prime minister as Parliamentary Secretary for Youth.

John Molson School of Business (JMSB)

Five individuals were honoured at the annual JMSB Dean’s Awards on November 30. The group included three staff and two faculty members. “Each one of this year’s recipients goes above and beyond what is expected of them and contributes to JMSB being the incredible place that it is,” said Steve Harvey, former dean of JMSB.

For the second year in a row, a delegation from JMSB has won the largest student HR competition in Eastern Canada. Over 300 students participated in the HR Symposium, hosted by the Université du Québec en Outaouais between November 20 and 22. “All of the coaches and competitors worked so hard,” said Mark Haber, head coach and advisor to the Undergraduate Competition Program. “This win is a testament to their dedication.”

JMSB has released its annual Research Bulletin, which shines a light on many of the awards garnered by JMSB researchers over the course of the last year.

Faculty of Fine Arts

Department of Contemporary Dance
Philip Szporer, a part-time instructor, presented the world premiere of Inquiry Into Time and Perception, a video projection installation, at the Light Moves festival of screendance in Limerick, Ireland, in November. He made the shortlist for the 2015 Festival Prize. Also of note, Szporer’s feature article on Elizabeth Langley, founder of Concordia's Contemporary Dance program, appears in the current edition of Dance Collection Danse. Finally, Cru, a three-part web series that Szporer co-created with Marlene Millar, produced by Mouvement Perpétuel, was launched on La Fabrique culturelle online platform in November.

Libraries

University librarian Guylaine Beaudry has been elected to the board of the Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas). Beaudry has contributed to different Acfas projects, including the print to digital transition of Acfas' magazine, Découvrir, and the organization committee of the 2014 conference. Acfas was founded in 1923 to promote scientific endeavours, stimulate research and facilitate the dissemination of knowledge. Each year, the Quebec-based association brings together some 6,000 researchers from all sectors.

Facilities Management

The associate vice-president of Facilities Management, Michel Nadeau, was recently recognized for his stellar career in project management. He was awarded the Elixir Prize by the Project Management Institute on November 6. Read more about the award.

Know an exceptional Concordian? Submissions are welcome at now@concordia.ca.