Newsbites (Page 3)

Capping off centennial celebrations

Centennial celebrations for Royal Victoria College (RVC) drew to a close in November and one of the final events was a speech by Quebec Lieutenant Governor Lise Thibault at the 2000 Muriel V. Roscoe Lecture. Thibault spoke of her experience as a woman in public life and her work with the disabled, particularly recently injured people. Partially paralyzed since a toboganning accident as a teenager, Thibault said she tries to "reach into the hearts of people, and tell them that they are responsible for their own lives, and that they can, in their own way, create their own lives."

After her speech, Thibault presented RVC Warden Flo Tracy with a framed commemorative document in recognition of the College's anniversary. Celebrations marking the opening of RVC began in the fall of 1999.

The College is McGill's only all-women residence. Up until the 1960s, all women undergraduates were also de facto members of RVC, and only those students whose families resided in the Montreal area or who had special permission from parents or guardians could live outside the protective environment of the College during their studies.

The RVC centennial has been celebrated by several public lectures by guest speakers including Eleanor Wachtel, BA'69, from the CBC; former journalist and Hong Kong politician Emily Lau Wai-hing; businesswomen Marie Giguère, BCL'75, Vera Danyluk, BEd'86, and Louise Roy; and a panel of women's health experts. This year's Homecoming in October also marked the centennial with an all-female head table at the Leacock Luncheon, women authors reading from their work at the "Lunch et Livres" series, and a reception for RVC alumni.

Blown away

	PHOTO: Bruce Field

When Professor Tim Lee took over the Aerodynamics Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, it looked, in the words of his son, "like a junkyard." Lee says the description was harsh, but allows that the facility had deteriorated since it was first built. Over the last three years there has been a transformation, says the fluid mechanics expert. "We have been able to completely rebuild the whole laboratory, thanks to a lot of support."

Some of that support came from local companies with interests in the aerospace industry, like major sponsor Bombardier. The attraction for companies is the centrepiece of the new facility, a 79-foot, three-ton subsonic wind tunnel, which can simulate aircraft take-off and landing speeds of up to 280 kilometres per hour.

"We can test drag and lift on aircraft, but the wind tunnel will be used to study a whole range of things in fluid mechanics," says Lee. "Simply put, it's the movement of air around objects."

Lee says the lab really did resemble a junkyard during the reconstruction. He and colleagues designed the wind tunnel, which was built in the United States and shipped to Montreal. It then had to be cut into 35 pieces to be stored in a local warehouse. Once the old wind tunnel, which McGill donated to the National Research Council in Ottawa, was dismantled and hauled away, the new components could be delivered to the McConnell Engineering Building. Newly installed windows had to be removed ("on the coldest day in November," laughs Lee) to get the pieces in. They remained unassembled on the floor of the lab for months while electricians figured out how to power the motor and while a sprinkler system was retrofitted in the lab, lowering the ceiling and causing Lee to fear that the tunnel might now prove too big for the space. Another little wrinkle was the fact that the people who took apart the tunnel neglected to number the pieces, so re-assembly was an extra challenge.

Looking back, Lee says, "It was really a hassle, but the major impact was on my graduate students, whose work was interrupted. We had to calm them down and find other places where they could conduct their tests." He admits to some nervous moments: "You know that everyone is watching you and you'll look stupid if it doesn't work." But all fears proved groundless and McGill's Faculty of Engineering is now home to the most advanced university lab of its kind in Canada.

New look for athletes

The search for a new logo for McGill Athletics has ended and the winner is a traditional-looking "M" incorporating the McGill crest.

The Athletics committee set up to choose the new logo went through 145 submissions and nearly 800 logo possibilities and finally narrowed it down to the neo-classic McGill "M" and crest. The old logo featuring a martlet in flight was apparently not well-loved.

Director of Athletics Bob Dubeau said students and focus groups told them the logo "wasn't dynamic enough to sell McGill athletics to the campus community or the Montreal community."

The new logo will be appearing on publicity materials, stationery and T-shirts, and can already be seen outside the McGill Sports Complex and Molson Stadium, as well as on the uniforms for the hockey, football, soccer, basketball and track teams. It is being introduced gradually for some sports teams who have to pay for their own uniforms.

"We've signed a licensing agreement and the McGill bookstore is on board," says Athletics Manager of Marketing Denis Kotsoros, BA'86, so those fans looking to wear the new team colours can expect to see team T-shirts and caps any day now.