Last chance to submit: ORION FutureFlick Contest
The January 31 submission deadline of the ORION FutureFlick Contest has students all over the province busily wrapping up their digital short films. The contest, which offers $5,000 in prizes, asks students to show, in digital video format, their visions of student life in the year 2020. Entries will be adjudicated by a judging panel drawn from both academic and industry circles. For more information, visit www.orion.on.ca/futureflick.

U Windsor gets $5M boost for new research institute
It was recently announced that a $5-million investment from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation will help establish the new Institute for Diagnostic Imaging Research at the University of Windsor. The institute will focus on developing commercially viable products, working collaboratively with leading private-sector partners to develop new acoustical imaging technologies for use in the automotive, health care and public safety sectors. University of Windsor president Dr. Ross Paul said the institute has the potential to diversify the regional economy and meet industrial applications. Read more at www.mri.gov.on.ca.

OCAD offers distance learning to Dawson City art school
The Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) in Toronto began delivering its art history classes via videoconference to the recently established Klondike Institute of Art and Culture's (KIAC) School of Visual Art in Dawson City, Yukon. KIAC offers a foundation year program in studio based visual art which is transferable to a first year of a Bachelor of Arts program. However, with its limited resources, the school was not able to devote staff to teach an art history class. OCAD was in the position to offer distance instruction by videoconference link. According to Andrew McAllister, manager of OCAD's digital studios, the Toronto university has been looking for other institutions to partner with for similar types of projects. For more information, visit www.ocad.ca.

CANARIE announces Cover to Cover contest
CANARIE announces its 2008 Cover to Cover contest for students. Open to all students across Canada whose school is connected to CANARIE, the contest invites original submissions for the cover design of CANARIE's annual report. This year's theme is "Unleashing the potential of science and technology." The contest winner will be chosen on artistic impression and how it relates to this year's theme. The winner will receive a $2,500 prize and credit in the 2007-2008 CANARIE Annual Report. To learn more, visit www.canarie.ca/contest.

U of T e-learning project wins Mellon award
The University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) was recently awarded a prestigious Mellon Award for Technology Collaboration and a $50,000 prize for its ATutor project. ATutor is an open source web-based learning content management system that allows educators to quickly assemble, package, and redistribute web-based instructional content, easily import pre-packaged content, and conduct their courses online. The Mellon Awards honour not-for-profit organizations for leadership in the collaborative development of open source software tools with application to scholarship in the arts and humanities, as well as cultural-heritage not-for-profit activities. To learn more about ATutor and the ATRC, visit http://atrc.utoronto.ca and www.atutor.ca.

U of T scientists make quantum computing leap
Physicists at the University of Toronto are part of an international team that has made the first execution of a quantum calculation, a major step towards building the first quantum computers. "Quantum calculations are important," said Professor Daniel James, the Canadian lead on the project. "It is the computational difficulty of factoring very large numbers that forms the basis of security in such things as widely used Internet encryption systems." By manipulating quantum-mechanically entangled photons - the fundamental particles of light - the team was able to calculate the prime factors of the number 15: 3 and 5. Simple as it may be, calculating the prime factors of 15 is a major step to calculating much larger numbers, which could be used to crack cryptographic codes that are unbreakable using conventional computers. These codes form the basis of all banking and computer security and have implications for how successfully we can keep all data secure in the future, says James. "Functional large-scale quantum computers may be many years away, and it is hard to know how exactly they will change the world - but change our world they will." To learn more, visit www.news.utoronto.ca.

Lakehead hosts Research and Innovation Week
Lakehead University's 2008 Research and Innovation Week will take place at its Thunder Bay campus from February 25 - 29. The event will celebrate and showcase research excellence at Lakehead by raising community awareness about the university's research and how it benefits society; providing information about research funding opportunities; and providing networking opportunities for faculty, students, and funding bodies. The event's week-long activity line-up includes guest speakers, panel discussions and debates, a Graduate Student Conference, poster presentations, funding opportunity displays and information sessions, a showcase of Lakehead’s published book authors, and a celebration of the University's 2007 Distinguished Researchers. For more information, visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

Seneca videoconferences New World Symphony concert
Once again, Seneca College collaborated with the New World Symphony in Miami for another live transmission of a performance on January 11. The College received a multi-camera perspective of the orchestra performing on stage along multi-microphone audio. Seneca sent a videoconference link of world-renowned Toronto composer, Michael Colgrass, who participated in a live conversation with percussionist Michael Israeliavitch and his father, for whom the piece was written. The event was broadcast (unicast) using DVTS at the data rate of 30Mbps in each direction. For more information, visit www.senecac.on.ca.

MaRS Landing videoconferences FFNHP workshop
MaRS Landing, Nutri-Net Canada and PEI BioAlliance present a regional workshop on Functional Foods and Natural Health Products (FFNHP) on January 23 that will be connected by videoconference between Guelph and Charlottetown. The purpose of the workshop is to enable an inter-regional exchange of expertise, and will include updates on emerging markets, investment vehicles and regulatory outlooks. Also to be included will be an update and input into the Nutri-Net Canada strategy for development of the FFNHP sector in Canada. To learn more, visit www.marslanding.ca.

Registration now open: ELEVATE 2008
ELEVATE 2008 is an international conference that will explore the use of videoconferencing and related technologies in teaching and learning over broadband networks. Taking place in Banff, Alberta, the conference will feature leading edge keynote speakers, live educational videoconferencing demonstrations, and the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with educational technology and distance learning leaders from around the world. The conference dates are August 24 to 27, 2008. The deadline for the Early Bird registration rate is January 31. For more information and to register, visit www.vcalberta.ca/elevate2008.

Museums and the Web conference
Registration is now open for Museums and the Web, an international conference for culture and heritage online, taking place April 9-12, 2008, in Montreal. It addresses the social, cultural, design, technological, economic, and organizational issues of culture, science and heritage online. Taking an international perspective, senior speakers with extensive experience in Web development review and analyze the issues and impacts of networked cultural, natural and scientific heritage. Topics include creating museum spaces in Second Life, online museum portals, designing game-based learning and other e-learning initiatives, museums and social networking sites, mobile computing, search techniques, and user-generated content. For more information, visit www.archimuse.com.

People News
George Ross was recently appointed Deputy Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, replacing Dr. Alastair Glass. Dr. Roseann O'Reilly Runte will become the next President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University, effective July 1, 2008, succeeding Dr. Samy Mahmoud, who had served as Acting President.