PNL Winter 2008 30-2.pub

Robert Kok tel: 514-398-7775; fax: 514-398-8387 eml: [email protected] Our Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration All society members are by now probably aware that this summer we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of CSBE in North Van-couver. It will be an important occasion to look back upon five dec-ades of accomplishment and solid contribution to what is probably the single most im-portant sector of the economy: the direct production of food, feed, fiber, and energy from solar input, in a sustainable manner. In all respects, our members have had a truly amazing impact on society over the past fifty years. Although they have perhaps not often thought of themselves as such, by their actions and the results thereof they have proven they were true and very effective activists. It is because of these achievements that resources became available for the development of other segments of society. In short, what we have right now is largely due to the foresight and insight, hard work, in-volvement and deep personal commitment of our members of years gone by. Let us make sure we dedicate part of our celebration to recall our society’s history and thank our older members. Of course, we hope they come in great numbers to the conference to be thanked! The summer meeting will also afford us an opportunity to stop a few minutes and look around to see who we are and where we find ourselves. Many of our members are still involved in traditional areas whereas others work in newer ones, many of which proba-bly evolved from earlier forms. Thus, we still have Soil and Water people, but many of them now rely heavily on computer models and they are as much interested in the movement of nutrients and pesticides through the soil profile as the elimination of wa-ter from the soil. The Machinery area is still very active, but is now leaning more to-wards robotics and mechatronics joined with artificial intelligence. Waste Management is increasingly integrating with energy-generation. What used to simply be called Processing is rapidly becoming a sophisticated set of sub-disciplines concerned with preserving and processing food, creating new foods, optimizing returns, etc. All-in-all we are a multi-talented amalgam whose composition has evolved an awful lot over the last fifty years, with members working in an astounding array of jobs. I strongly encourage you all to participate in the Van-couver meeting to give yourselves the opportunity to network with other members of the amalgam, to share knowl-edge, and to also take a few minutes to think about how we started, where we are, and what is next. And then the future... The meeting is also there to discuss the future! There are so many new developments coming: bio-fuels and bio-products, food safety issues that need to be dealt with, the engineering of organic foods, the proc-

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President’s message Un mot du président

1-3

VP (Membership) Grant Clark’ concern

3-4

Journal Editor appeal for assistance

5

Opportunities for Student awards 2008

6

Manager’s report 7

News from the University of the West Indies

8

News Coast to Coast - Alberta News

9-18 9

Saskatchewan News Manitoba News

10-12 13

Ontario News 15

Nouvelles du Québec 16-18

Atlantic Region news 18

Job notes, Notices, Calls for Papers, etc.

19-23

Coming events 24

CSBE/SCGAB Council for 2007-2008

25

THE NEWSLETTER OF CSBE Winter 2008 Hiver LES NOUVELLES DE SCGAB

Inside this issue: Dans ce numéro:

PERSPECTIVES Vo lu me 3 0 , No . 2 20 0 8

A Few Words From President Robert Kok

PERS PECT I V ES T H E N EWS LETT ER OF CS B E/LES N OU V ELLES DE S CG AB VOL. 30(2)

(suite de la page 1)

essing of new crops, the use of advanced robotics, the possibility to truly engineer biosystems and ecosystems, up-grading the supply chain for rapidly-developing emerging markets... The list is almost endless. Some of the direc-tions in which we will be evolving over the next twenty years are already quite clear and many of our younger mem-bers may be spending a large part of their careers on any one of these topics. If there is anything we do at the meeting, it should be to ensure that the younger members feel their future is being enhanced by being there. We can do that by talking about the future and the opportunities available in our discipline. Of course, we hope the younger members will be there to take advantage of the opportunity! As is obvious from the above, I’m trying to convince as many of you as possible to attend the 2008 meeting. Evi-dently, bioengineering will be a main driver of prosperity and productivity for our society and members from all groups and all work areas have a lot to contribute and a lot to gain. We arrive from a rich past and are heading into a promising future. Come and experience the evolution of our discipline in Vancouver.

Célébrons notre cinquantième anniversaire Tous les membres de la société sont désormais au courant que cet été, nous célébrerons à Vancouver, le 50e Anniver-saire de la CSBE/SCGAB. Nous profiterons de cet évènement pour jeter un regard rétrospectif sur cinq décennies de réalisations et de solides contributions à ce qui est, sans doute, un des secteurs les plus important de l'économie soit la production de nourriture, d'aliments, de fibres et d'énergie à partir de l’énergie solaire. A tous égards, nos membres ont eu un profond impact sur le développement de notre civilisation. De par l’efficacité des actions et des interven-tions portées, nous pourrions même nous considérer comme de véritables militants. C'est en raison de nos réalisations que les ressources ont été et sont toujours disponible pour le développement des autres secteurs de la société. Il m’ap-paraît évident que ce que nous avons à l'heure actuelle en tant que société, est largement due à la clairvoyance, à la perspicacité, à l'ardeur au travail, à l'implication et à l'engagement personnel et professionnel de nos membres années après années. Faisons en sorte que nous consacrons une partie de cette célébration pour réfléchir sur l'histoire de notre société et pour prendre le temps de remercier les membres qui l’ont forgée. Bien sûr, nous espérons qu'ils viennent en grand nombre à la conférence afin d'être reconnus pour leurs efforts!

Notre réunion estivale nous donnera également l'occasion de s'arrêter quelques minutes, de regardez autour de nous et de faire le point. Plusieurs de nos membres sont impliqués dans des domaines plus traditionnels, tandis que d'autres œuvrent dans des domaines plus récents qui sont probablement issus de ces derniers. Nous avons des membres qui s’affairent à la gestion des sols et de l'eau et beaucoup d'entre eux utilisent couramment des modèles informatiques. De nos jours, ils sont aussi bien intéressés par le mouvement des éléments nutritifs et des pesticides que par la gestion et la qualité de l'eau du sol. Le domaine de la machinerie est des plus actifs et il intègre de plus en plus la robotique, la mécatronique et l'intelligence artificielle. La gestion des déchets est de plus en plus intégrée à la génération d'éner-gie. Ce qu’on appelait traitement est devenu rapidement un ensemble sophistiqué de sous-disciplines visant la préser-vation, la transformation et la formulation de nouveaux aliments, l'optimisation des rendements et la rentabilité. Au cours des cinquante dernières années, nous avons su nous adapter et nous diversifier pour devenir l’amalgame multi-disciplinaire que nous sommes aujourd’hui. Je vous invite tous à participer à la réunion de Vancouver et de profiter de cette occasion pour rencontrer d'autres membres et partager vos connaissances. De plus, je vous invite à prendre le temps de réfléchir sur notre passé, présent et avenir.

A l’avenir … La réunion est également là pour en discuter! Il ya tellement de nouveaux développements: bio-carburants et les bio-produits, les questions de sécurité, le génie des aliments biologiques, les nouvelles cultures, l'utilisation de la robotique avancée, la possibilité de véritablement fabriquer des biosystèmes et des écosystèmes, l'amélioration de la chaîne d'approvisionnement de le développement accéléré des marchés émergents ... La liste est presque sans fin. Certains des champs d’action que nous verrons apparaître au cours des vingt prochaines années sont déjà clairement identifiés et je prévois qu’un grand nombre de nos jeunes membres en feront leur choix de carrière. (à suivre en page3)

Un mot du President


(Continued from page 2)

En tant que membre de la CSBE/SCGAB, s'il y a quelque chose que l'on doit faire à la réunion, c’est de s’assurer de faire sentir aux jeunes membres que leur avenir est renforcée par le fait d’être là. On peut faire cela en parlant de l'avenir et des possibilités offertes dans notre discipline. Bien sûr, nous espérons que les jeunes membres seront là pour profiter de l'occasion!

Comme il ressort clairement de ce qui précède, je tente de convaincre le plus grand nombre possible d'entre vous à participer à la réunion de 2008. Il y va de soit que le génie biologique sera l'un des principaux moteurs de la prospérité et de la productivité de notre société et que les membres de toutes disciplines et expertises ont beaucoup à apporter et beaucoup à gagner. Nous venons d’un riche passé et nous nous dirigeons vers un avenir prometteur. Venez vivre l'évolution de notre discipline à Vancouver.

Grant Clark, Vice-President (Membership) tel: 514-398-7784; fax: 514-398-8387 eml: grant.clark@mcgill .ca

Why the CSBE/SCGAB is Irrelevant and What Can Be Done MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT

There have been some revisions under the Membership tab of the CSBE/SCGAB website (www.bioeng.ca), the most notable being a link to an online discussion forum hosted on Google Groups. This online forum allows CSBE members to publicly exchange ideas about the Society and its activities. You can visit the forum, read the postings there, and post your own comments. If you would like to become a formal member of the discussion forum so that you can receive new postings by email, you can do so by contacting the group moderator, as indicated on the Google Group webpage.

The online forum already contains some discussion of the role of the Membership Recruitment Committee and the evolution of the CBSE. As might be expected, it has been pointed out that there is a general lack of interest in the CSBE on the part of industry and government, and a decline in student membership. As might be expected, therefore, some key areas of concern are: increasing value for members in industry and government; increasing value for stu-dent members; and recruitment of members working in emerging areas of bioengineering.

To retain existing members and attract new ones, the CSBE membership must work to ensure that there are relevant advantages to being a member and that those advantages are publicized. One key advantage of CSBE membership that some feel is undersold is the society’s affiliation with the ASABE. Access to codes and standards, links to US and international membership and industry, the online ASABE job posting service, and international student activities are all great advantages.

The development of national and regional meetings to involve more stakeholders is crucial. Meetings can be made more dynamic through increased involvement of students and groups outside of academia. If we can bring together industry and clients, researchers and policy-makers, students and employers in a common and productive venue, eve-ryone would see mutual benefits from their involvement in the CSBE. Tradeshows, dedicated industry sessions, stu-dent competitions, are examples of activities that might help to do this. Organizers could showcase high-profile mem-bers and solicit their help as spokespeople for the society. We might leverage our relationship with the ASABE by inviting high-profile US colleagues from industry, research, and government to participate in Canadian meetings. Many large engineering companies, for instance, are involved with the ASABE, and engineers from companies might be invited to give presentations at Canadian locations.

Industry! Where are you? Why don’t you love us? The development of meetings and conferences as a good place to do business is one way to involve industry. Another is increased involvement in standards development - an excellent

(Continued on page 4)



way to make the society more relevant. It has been pointed out that some CSBE members are already involved in standards development, but that our society does not play the same central role in this exercise as the ASABE does.

Government? If the society shows itself to be relevant to industry, then members in government will take notice. Government will also notice if CSBE takes an active interest in political issues. A strong selling point of the CSBE is its membership in the Engineering Institute of Canada, which places it on par with other professional engineering so-cieties. It is important, however, that the CSBE make itself visible by exercising its voice and fulfilling its obligations as a relevant professional society.

What can the CSBE offer to students? It is advisable to have a student representative on the CSBE council to help us with this area of development. There currently is none. Student representation on council in itself might increase stu-dent interest in the society. The CSBE could take a much more active role in championing student clubs and promot-ing industry-student liaison services in universities. We must reach out to students and professionals in related disci-plines such as food engineering, biomedical engineering, and bioprocess engineering, and help to connect them with industry. Planning of student activities at meetings and conferences should certainly be given greater emphasis, al-though this is difficult if there is no existing local student organization.

How else can CSBE ensure a vibrant membership, and who is to implement these and other ideas? The answer is in the membership itself: the organization of any society should be “by the members, for the members”. We ourselves must take the initiative to become involved in the society and its activities, and to make the changes that we want to see in our organization. We must demonstrate to our employers and colleagues that enrolment in the CSBE is of benefit to us and hence to them. Regional representatives must take a strong lead by promoting the society to local industry and academic institutions, targeting companies and institutions that are not represented, and actually visiting them. Outreach at conferences in related disciplines is also an effective way to raise the society’s profile.

If we are to build the value of the society for ourselves and for others, and if we are to take the sustainability of the CSBE seriously, then we must be willing to invest the necessary resources, both in terms of personal commitment and monetarily. Perhaps a percentage of the society’s budget should be set aside specifically for activities such as ad-vertising, professional website design and maintenance, student activities, and support for regional meetings and ac-tivities. The current model is not overwhelmingly successful by any criterion: let’s re-examine what we would like the society to be and talk about how to implement that vision. Members: Get involved! Light a fire under your re-gional representative, and if you don’t like the job they’re doing, get yourself nominated for the position!

If you have comments on these or other issues, please post them at www.bioeng.ca > Membership > Discussion Fo-rum.

REDESIGN OF THE SOCIETY WEB SITE At a recent CSBE/SCGAB Council meeting it was decided that the Society web site at www.bioeng.ca needed a face lift and some serious updating. Visit the site and see for yourself that the site could freshened up a bit .

Is this a task that you could help the Society with? Do you know a good web designer? If so then contact President Robert Kok, Webmaster Wayne Coates or Society Manager Jim Townsend (email addresses on last page of newslet-ter). Council also approved modest funding for this project. Your role might be to oversee the overhaul of the web site setting the specifications of the redesign and working with a vendor of web design services.

Please consider lending a hand to your Society. Hope to hear from you.


(Ranjan) R. Sri Ranjan, Journal Editor tel: 204-474-9344; fax: 204-474-7512 eml: [email protected]

HELP WANTED Call for members to serve on the "CBE Journal Paper Review Panel" The Canadian Biosystems Engineering journal has relied on the timely response of reviewers to provide quality peer-review of submitted papers. However, to speed up the review process, we are in the process of creating "Review Pan-els" for the seven different focus areas. We are looking for members to serve on the review panel who will be ex-pected review about 10 to 12 papers in a year with a four week turn around time for each paper. The anonymity of the reviewer will be maintained. However, the members serving on the "Review Panel" will be formally acknowledged at the annual meeting and in the Journal. Future selection of Associate Editors will come from those successfully serving on these panels. Those wishing to serve on the panel should email the Editor ([email protected]) indicating their areas of expertise along with keywords. Appel de candidatures pour participer au "comités d'experts réviseurs du journal de la Société". Au fil des ans, le journal de la Société Canadienne de Génie Agroalimentaire et de Bioingénierie s'est basé sur une réponse rapide de la part de sa banque de réviseurs afin d'assurer une publication de qualité des articles qu'il reçoit. Afin d'assurer la rapidité des délais de publication, nous cherchons maintenant à instaurer des comités de réviseurs pour les sept domaines d'intérêts de la société. Nous cherchons donc à recruter des membres pour siéger sur ces dif-férents comités qui seront appelés à réviser de 10 à 12 articles par années avec en moyenne un délai d'exécution de 4 semaines. L'anonymat des réviseurs sera maintenu pour chaque article, cependant la participation au comité réviseur sera recon-nue lors du congrès annuel et dans l'éditorial du journal. La sélection des co-rédacteurs se fera par la suite auprès des membres de ces comités réviseurs. Toute personne intéressée à participer à ces comités est invitée à contacter le rédacteur en chef du journal par courriel ([email protected]) en indiquant leur domaine d'expertise par le biais d'une courte liste de mots clés.

EXCITING CHANGES AHEAD FOR ASABE RESOURCE MAGAZINE ASABE is committed to providing you with the information and industry trends you need to help your business grow. For this reason, we are partnering with Naylor, LLC, for production of Resource magazine, recognizing the company’s 38 years of experience with association publications. We are confident the professionals at Naylor will provide us with a top-quality publication and enhance the growing reputation of ASABE within the industry. We are very excited that the February issue of Resource is currently open for advertising sales. The magazine will remain a source of industry news and trends, as well as an important networking tool. A representative from Naylor will be contacting you about advertising in the magazine, so please consider allocating a portion of your budget to this oppor-tunity. For more information about advertising in Resource, please contact Lou Brandow at 800/369-6220, ext.3399, or at [email protected].

CSBE/SCGAB Undergraduate Thesis Award Eligibility The CSBE/SCGAB Undergraduate Thesis Award is to recognize excellence in undergraduate student research in fields represented by the Society. Each eligible university will identify their recipient of the Award. These names will be sent for recognition at the annual banquet. To qualify, the recipient must:

i) have completed an undergraduate-level thesis at a Canadian University during the 12-month period ending April 30th, and

ii) be a student member of the Society. Award Value: $100 Deadline The name of the award recipient, along with the tit le of the thesis, must be submitted to the Society Manager by June 15th.

CSBE/SCGAB Undergraduate Design Project Award Eligibility The CSBE/SCGAB Undergraduate Design Project Award is to recognize excellence in the development of engineer-ing design skills in solving problems related to biological systems. Individual or team projects are eligible. Each eli-gible university will identify their recipient of the Award. These names will be sent for recognition at the annual ban-quet. To qualify, the recipient(s) must:

i) have completed a design project at a Canadian University during the 12-month period ending April 30th, and

ii) be a student member of the Society. Award Value: $100 if the design project is completed by an individual or $50 per person if the design project is

completed by a design team Deadline The name(s) of the award recipient(s), along with the tit le of the design project, must be submitted to the Society Manager by June 15th.

CSBE/SCGAB Graduate Thesis Award (Ph.D. Category)

Eligibility The CSBE/SCGAB Graduate Thesis Award (Ph.D. Category) is to recognize excellence in graduate student research in fields represented by the Society. The award will be presented in even-numbered years in recognition of Ph.D. the-ses completed in the two-year period ending April 30th of the even-numbered year. Each eligible university will iden-tify their recipient of the Award. These names will be sent for recognition at the annual banquet. To qualify, the re-cipient must:

i) have completed a Doctoral thesis at a Canadian University during the 2-year period ending April 30th of an even-numbered year, and

ii) be a student member of the Society. Award Value: $200 Deadline The name of the award recipient, along with the thesis t it le, must be submitted to the Society Manager by June 15th.

PAGE 6 PERS PECT I V ES T H E N EWS LETT ER OF CS B E/LES N OU V ELLES DE S CG AB VOL. 30(2)

50th Annual Conference/Conférence Annuelle 13-16 July/juillet, 2008

Lonsdale Quay Hotel, 123 Carrie Cates Court North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

CSBE/SCGAB Fifty years of engineering for sustainable food, fibre, and renewable energy production

Cinquante ans de génie pour le développement durable des productions alimentaires, des fibres et des énergies renouvelables

http://www.bioeng.ca/Events/VancouverMtg/Van2008.htm

Arrangements for the 2008 Annual General Meeting & Technical Conference of the CSBE/SCGAB to be held July 13-16 in North Vancouver are progressing, more or less on schedule.

Roughly 70 abstracts have been received to date. Several students have indicated their willingness to participate in the student paper competition. Our local Technical Coordinator Dr. Lau mentioned that there is still room for more poster presentations. He will continue to receive poster proposals (not oral) until the end of April.

A tentative registration fee has been established. The prices may be reduced especially for students depending upon the amount of funding we might receive from sponsors.

Function CA$ Registration, Full Meeting 370 Registration, Student 125 Registration, One-Day 125 Harbour cruise, Regular 55 Harbour Cruise, Student 55 Banquet, Regular 90 Workshops, Regular 60 Workshops, Student 30 Technical Tour 1, Regular 30 Speakers for the three special general sessions (environment, forestry, energy) have been invited. Their names and topics will be listed in the next issue of the Perspectives Newsletter.

Efforts are underway to attract sponsors for the event. If you have any potential sponsors in mind, please pass the in-formation to our Sponsorship Coordinator Staffan Melin.

Long timers or new comers, please send pictures, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, special or landmark papers re-lated to past CSBE/SCGAB activities. The 50th Anniversary Committee will organize a table-top exhibit to show and share related stories on these items during the meeting.

Local Arrangement Committee:

John Morgan, Housing, activities, registration [email protected] 604-987-5142 Anthony Lau, Technical program [email protected] 604-8223476 Staffan Melin – Sponsorship (industry, government) [email protected] 604-9431646 Jamie Stephen – Plenary speakers [email protected] 778-840-7079 Shahab Sokhansanj, 50th Anniversary events [email protected] 604-904-4272


P ER SP ECTIVES TH E N EWSLETTER OF CSB E/ LES N OU VELLES D E SCG AB VOL. 30(2)

James S. Townsend, PEng Tel: 204-233-1881 Fax: 204-231-8282 Email: [email protected]

This is your Newsletter! I am asking for feedback in order to make the Newsletter serve you better. In the past I have re-sponded to suggestions indicating where the newsletter could be improved. Thank you for your constructive criticism. But there is still scope for more improvements.

Is it t ime for a different layout? Would a different color scheme be more appealing? Do we need more pictures? Would a better (larger?) font make the news items easier to read on screen? Are there more news items and notices that would be appropriate to run? Please take time to let me know about improvements that you would like to see. One of the continuing problems that comes up with every issue is bad email addresses. Here is a sample of what I mean. Do you recognize any of the following addresses that were returned as bad email addresses? [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] lnanan@tstt .net.tt [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] If you recognize any of these, let me know and I will make the corrections with ASABE in St Joseph where our bulk emailing is done. Thank you. And here is another area where CSBE/SCGAB is trying to stay in touch! The Society bylaws have a member cate-gory designated, “MEMBER EMERITUS”. Last year the CSBE/SCGAB Council, with general membership ap-proval at the 2007 AGM, changed the definition to bring the intent of the category into the internet age. The defini-tion now reads:

Member Emeritus - A member aged 65 or more who has retired from professional life but who wishes to main-tain professional contact with the CSBE/SCGAB. A member or ex-member in this member category may be in-vited to become a 'Member Emeritus’ of CSBE/SCGAB. Annual fees will be as listed in Paragraph 4. Members Emeritus will receive the CSBE/SCGAB Newsletter in electronic format.

The annual fees referred to above are zero for CSBE/SCGAB but the ASABE fees would still be applicable. For 2009 the fees would be approximately $55 for ages 65-74 and $11 for ages 75 or more. ASABE has agreed to create a new category code to identify MEMBERS EMERITUS. Now this is where I need your help. Please advise me as to members, retired members or ex-members who might be interested in becoming a MEMBER EMERITUS. In this internet age all contact will be by email.

A few words from your CSBE/SCGAB Society Secretary/Manager Un mot du directeur-général/secrétaire de la CSBE/SCGAB


Appointment of New Principal, UWI, St Augustine Campus The University of the West Indies is pleased to announce that after a worldwide search, Pro Vice Chancellor (PVC) Professor Clement Sankat has been recommended to fill the post of Principal of the St. Augustine Campus. The rec-ommendation will be presented for final approval at the next meeting of University Council, scheduled for April 2008. Professor Sankat will replace Professor Bridget Brereton who served as Interim Principal since August 1, 2007. He will act in the position, effective January 1, 2008 until University Council has met.

Professor Clement Sankat is a member of the Executive Management Team of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and is currently PVC for Graduate Studies. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree (First Class Honours) and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from UWI, and a Doctorate from the University of Guelph’s School of Engineering (Canada). He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers (FIAgrE) of the UK and Fellow of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (FAPETT).

A graduate of Queen’s College in Georgetown, Guyana, he was the recipient of a Government Scholarship to pursue his undergraduate engineering education at the UWI. He was the winner of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Award for Best Mechanical Engineering student at UWI in 1972. He received a UWI postgraduate scholarship to pursue a Research Master’s degree, then a CIDA scholarship for PhD studies at the University of Guelph, Canada. Subsequently, he was awarded a NSERC Research Associate-ship in Food Engineering at Laval University in Quebec, Canada.

For nearly thirty years, Professor Sankat has been engaged in Departmental, Faculty, Campus and University aca-demic and administrative activities at the UWI St. Augustine. He is a former Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has also served as Assistant Dean, and was recently Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (2000 to 2007) and Campus Coordinator for Graduate Studies and Research at St. Augustine. Since August 2007, he has been PVC for Graduate Studies for the Regional University.

His teaching, research and development, and professional interests are in the areas of Processing/Storage of Tropical Crops and Food Engineering, Engineering Graphics and Machine Design, and the Management of Innovation. He has published more than a hundred papers, many related to technological innovation in food and agricultural produc-tion and processing in the Caribbean. He was a 2001 winner of the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for achievements in Research, University and Public Service.

Professor Sankat has for many years been actively involved in the application and promotion of science and technol-ogy in Trinidad and Tobago and in the Region. He has previously served as Chairman of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), and Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS). He was Chair-person of the Vision 20/20 Sub-committee on Science, Technology and Innovation for Trinidad and Tobago and lead author of the Committee’s final report. In addition to Board membership of CARIRI, he is serving or has served on the Boards of Directors of the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), the Metal Industries Company Limited (MIC), the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) and the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.

50th Annual Conference/Conférence Annuelle 13-16 July/juillet, 2008

Lonsdale Quay Hotel, 123 Carrie Cates Court North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

CSBE - Fifty years of engineering for sustainable food, fibre, and renewable energy production SCGAB - Cinquante ans de génie pour le développement durable des productions alimentaires, des fibres et

des énergies renouvelables http://www.bioeng.ca/Events/VancouverMtg/Van2008.htm


Alberta Regional News Len Ring tel: 403-381-5176; fax: 403-382-4406 eml: [email protected] Defining Odour as a Single Parameter A group of 30 participants including, research scientists, engineers, government officials, non-government organization representatives, livestock industry representatives, regulators and consult-ants, met in the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains in Banff, Alberta in early February. The objective of the two-day gathering was to debate the need and potential merits of a single measurement parameter, the "odour index", for characterizing odour emissions from livestock facilit ies. Typically odour emissions are characterized in relation to one of the following parameters, odour concentration, odour intensity, odour persistence, hedonic tone or, combina-tions thereof. In essence, the workshop intended to determine if an "odour index" could be defined as a function of the four measurement parameters listed above. Of equal interest to the group was the applicability of the hypothetical "odour index". The workshop began with a series of presentations on topics such as, the reasoning behind the need for a single pa-rameter to characterize odour; definition of different parameters used to characterize odour and; organizational inter-ests and work conducted on odour characterization and regulation in other jurisdictions. During the workshop, most of the debate centered on how the odour index might be applied in a variety of scenarios. These ranged from establishing acceptable, regulated odour levels downwind from livestock facilit ies, to dispersion modeling, to its ability to adequately represent the response of human receptors (community) to livestock odours and finally, to its ability to reflect changes in quantity and/or quality of odour emissions, as perceived by human receptors in response to the implementation of odour mitigating technologies and practices. In conclusion, the workshop reaffirmed the fact that the debate around livestock odours and its socio-environmental and socio-economic impact is still in its infantile stage in Canada. Several different and sometimes conflicting ap-proaches to addressing odour emissions from livestock operations and, the response of the neighbouring community to these emissions continue to be proffered by regulators, the scientific community and special interest groups. Yet, more often than not, stakeholders on either side of the debate do not deem these solutions acceptable. In essence, every effort should be made to engage stakeholders including, multi-disciplinary experts, in deliberations targeted at defining widely acceptable, long-lasting, promising solutions to livestock odour-related issues in Canada. For more information on the workshop contact: Ike Edeogu, Agricultural Technologies, Alberta Agriculture and Food (Phone: 780-415-2359, Fax: 780-422-9745, Email: [email protected] ) Alberta Regional Director The Alberta Region is looking for a new Regional Director to take over from Len. If you are interested, or know someone who is, contact Len Ring at the Irrigation Secretariat, Alberta Agriculture and Food, 3:28 Provincial Build-ing, 200 - 5th Avenue South, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4L1 (Phone: 403-381-5176, Fax: 403-382-4406, EMail: [email protected] ).

COAST TO COAST/D’UN OCÉAN À L’AUTRE


Saskatchewan Regional News Venkatesh Meda tel.: (306) 966-5309; fax: (306) 966-5334 eml: [email protected] News from ABE faculty On January 17-22, 2008, a delegation of three Professors from China Agricultural University visited the Department of Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering. These are Profs. Decheng Wang, Jiannong Song and Shumin Zhang. The department has two visiting scholars who are Ph.D. stu-dents at China Agricultural University and doing their research under the supervision of Dr. Lope Tabil at the Univer-sity of Saskatchewan. These scholars, Steven Wang and Yang Zhang acted as interpreters for the delegation of Chi-nese professors. The visited the department facilit ies and lab as well as the College of Agriculture and Bioresources facilit ies and lab. They also visited Elcan Forages, Seed Potato Farm, Keg Farms, the Canada-Saskatchewan Irriga-tion Development Centre, all in the Outlook area. They also visited Green Prairie International and Alberta Agricul-ture, Food and Rural Development in Lebthbridge, AB, Bourgault Industries in St. Brieux, SK and PAMI in Hum-boldt, SK. Aside from student exchanges which are now underway, other areas of collaboration were discussed. While the delegation was in Saskatoon, they were also hosted by Drs. Oon-Doo Baik, Venkatesh Meda, Huiqing Guo and Charles Maule .

Dr. Trever Crowe is now the Associate Dean (acting) of the College of Graduate Studies and Research. Congratu-lations to Trever! R. L. Kushwaha, Professor at University of Saskatche-wan, was an invited key note speaker at the International Agricultural Engineering Conference (IAEC – 2007) “Cutting Edge Technologies and Innovations on Sustain-able Resources for World Food Sufficiency” December 2 – 6 held at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. As part of his International visit (November 29, 2007 to February 14, 2008), he visited several Institutions in In-dia including the Asian Institute of Technology in Bang-kok, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in), New Delhi; Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (BCKV), Mo-hanpur, West Begal; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, West Bengal; Central Institute of Agricul-tural Engineering (CIAE), Bhopal, (M.P.); Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, Chi-trakkot, (M.P.); Allahabad Agricultural Institute – Deemed University (AAI –DU), Allahabad, (U.P.)

Dr. Kushwaha also visited in-door soil bin test facility of the ongoing collaborative project on the development of the Soil Dynamics Laboratory at CIAE Bhopal. It was officially opened by the Director General of ICAR, Dr. Man-gala Rai on February 2, 2008. (see photo next page) Mr. Sabyasachi Mishra received the Science Horizons Award (2007-2008): Mr. Sabyasachi Mishra, a Ph.D. student in the microwave–bioprocess engineering research group, has received the prestigious Science Horizons Award (Saskatchewan) for the year 2007-2008. This award is given every year to youth (Continued on page 12)

Visit of China Agricultural University professors to the University of Saskatchewan. Left to right: Ms. Yang Zhang (visiting scholar and interpreter), Dr. Lope Tabil (host), Prof. Decheng Wang, Prof. Jiannong Song and Prof. Shumin Zhang.



working on environment and related topics. Mr. Mishra’s research is based on innovative hybrid-microwave technology for contami-nated-water treatment. He is working under the joint supervision of Dr. Venkatesh Meda (Dept of Ag & Bio Eng) and Dr. Ajay K Dalai (Dept of Chem. Eng) and is collaborating with Dr. John Headley (NWRI, Saskatoon) and Dr. Dena McMartin (University of Regina, Regina). His research project is funded by Communities of Tomorrow (CT), Regina, SK.

Mr. Mishra has also received the Graduate Scholarship for the year 2007-2008 from the College of Engineering, Uni-versity of Saskatchewan. 49th Annual Scholarship and Awards Ceremony: The 49th Annual Scholarship and Award ceremony of College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan was held at the TCU Place, Saskatoon on January 31st, 2008. Many of the undergradu-ate and graduate students of this department (Ag & Bio Eng) were awarded for their academic achievements. The CSBE undergraduate design project award was given to Lyndon Graff and Paul Hilderbrand. The CSBE undergraduate paper award was given to Jeffrey

Ruzicka and Sana Talebi . This year’s CSBE Graduate thesis award for M. Sc. Category was presented to Adefemi Farinu . Kramer Ltd. scholarship was awarded to Joy Agnew. Mr. Eric Veikle received the Oliver Symes Memorial Scholarship for the year 2007-2008 and is currently working towards his Ph.D. program under the supervision of Dr. V. Meda. The University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Phani Adapa, Daisy Asis, Evan Derdall, Olayide Fabunmi, Ryan Georgison, Jason Griffith, Mohammad Izadifar, Sabyasachi Mishra, Eleonor Navia, Rahim Oraji, Dyan Pratt, Anup Rana, Mark Shaw, Majid Soleimani, Kishari Sooriya Arachchilage, Ignaci Victoria Thiagarajan, Eric Veikle and Yuan Yuan Wang. Prof. C. Maule (Assistant Dean, College of Engineer-ing) presented the CSBE awards to the recipients. He is seen with the recipient ABE graduate students (photo).

Dr. Sumith Kahanda, EIT , has joined the O’Kane Con-sultants Inc., SK. as a Geoenvrionmental Engineer since February 01st 2008. He is involved with the erosion as-sessment of various landform designs for rehabilitation of mine waste storage facilit ies using numerical models such as SIBERIA, WEPP and RUSLE2. His work also in-volves performing QA/QC checks on data captured from cover system monitoring systems and interpretation of data through preparation of performance monitoring re-ports. He is also currently working with Prof Lee Barbour, Dept. of Civil and Geological Engineering, on Suncor reclamation cover study on Coke. (see photo over) (Continued on page 13)

Dr. Nawab Ali (DDG-Eng., ICAR) R.L. Kushwaha (explaining), Dr. Mangla Rai (DG-ICAR, Dr. M. M. Pandey (Director – CIAE) at the opening of the Soil Dynamics Lab at CIAE Bhopal.



Dr. Venkatesh Meda was an invited speaker at the European Un-ion (4th action policy) thematic network’s (ISEKI_Mundus Food 2) co-ordinators meeting in Vienna, Austria during January 3-6, 2008. He is co-ordinating a working group on International Vir-tual Community of Experts in World Food Studies, with emphasis on Food Safety and Environment. Dr. L. Tabil and Dr. V. Meda represented the ABE Department at the College of Engineering Delegation to India during February 01-21, 2008. The delegation was headed by Dr. J. Kosinski, Dean of College of Engineering and was also joined by the Office of

ILO, Saskatchewan Research Council and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers representatives. The detailed coverage on this delegation will be featured in the Spring edition. Congratulations Dr. Liu!

Dr. Jude Liu has been employed as a tenure track assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Dr. Liu is assuming the Machine Development for Biomass Energy faculty position. He will lead machine systems instruction for both Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Agricultural Systems Management academic programs. He will work on equipment de-velopment in biomass harvesting and processing and conduct innovative collaborative re-search with industries on bio-fuel utilization.

AtlanticBIOEnergy 2008 Coference Saint John New Brunswick CANADA

Delta Brunswick, April 9 - 11, 2008 Atlantic Canada’s energy needs will require participation from agriculture and forestry industry leaders, entrepre-neurs, community groups, government and academia. Building on last year’s successful introductory event, the 2008 conference will focus on moving the BioEnergy opportunity forward for Atlantic Canadian stakeholders. Come par-ticipate in lively debates, action-oriented panel discussions and world class presentations about the latest develop-ments, applications and technologies in the field of BioEnergy. Topics include: STATE OF THE INDUSTRY, GLOBAL INITIATIVES AND POLICY, EMERGING BIO-ENERGY, TECHNOLOGIES, FOOD VS. FUEL DEBATE, CASE EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL, BIOENERGY PROJECTS, CLIMATE CHANGE For more information about ... REGISTRATION, POSTER EXHIBIT, TRADE SHOW go to: www.AtlanticBIO Energy.ca

Three students have completed their degree requirements and will be receiving their engineering degrees in February 2008. Congratulations to Song Ai, Marcus Nolting, and Erica Rex! Undergraduate Biosystems student, Alexia Stangherlin, has been working part-time with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) to promote careers in engineering, science, agriculture and en-vironmental studies. Each year, WISE demonstrators travel to Manitoba schools to talk to students about possible career options. Last year, approximately 200,000 children came in contact with a WISE demonstrator. Digvir Jayas, Biosystems Engineering and Associate Vice-President (Research), is the newest member of the Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI) Council. ARDI is a research and development granting program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. It is funded through the Agricultural Policy Framework. ARDI program information, applications and application guidelines can be found at www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/research/ardi. Frederick Kahimba, Ph.D. student in Biosystems Engineering, won first place at the 2008 Manitoba Soil Science Society annual meeting held in Winnipeg recently with his poster t it led "Modeling Soil Freeze-Thaw and Soil Mois-ture Redistribution using Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) Model" (F.C. Kahimba, R. Sri Ranjan, and D.D. Mann). David Levin , Biosystems Engineering, traveled to India recently with his graduate student Umesh Ramachandran to present at the International Workshop on Biohydrogen Technology meeting at IIT Kharagpur. His presentation was entitled “Challenges for biohydrogen production via direct cellulose fermentation”. One of the outcomes of the meet-ing is a movement to create a global biohydrogen network, which will include research groups from India, Turkey, Malaysia, and Korea. While in India, David also attended meetings at the Institute for Genomics and Integrative Biol-ogy in Delhi and at the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in Nagpur. Researchers at these insti-tutions have received significant funding to conduct a large-scale national microbial diversity program. They will work with David’s research group to isolate novel cellulose degrading microorganisms that are capable of synthesiz-ing value-added products like ethanol, hydrogen, or biopolymers that can be used to make biodegradable plastics. Western Canada Testing, Inc. (WESTEST) in Portage la Prairie, MB received $1.6 million to build an environment-controlled test lab and purchase equipment to provide the transportation-manufacturing industry in Manitoba with specialized testing and certification. WESTEST is affiliated with the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) located in Portage la Prairie, MB. For more details, please contact the PAMI office at [email protected]. IEEQ Update In fall 2007, the Province of Manitoba announced a permanent funding commitment to the University of Manitoba to continue its successful Internationally-Educated Engineers Qualification Program (IEEQ). The funding announce-ment allows the pilot stage of IEEQ to end and the program to expand its capacity in coming years to serve 30-40 in-ternationally-educated engineers annually. To internationally-educated engineers, IEEQ is known as an alternative pathway to meet requirements for an engi-neering license in Manitoba. Over twelve months, newcomers with non-Canadian engineering credentials complete senior-level engineering courses to confirm technical backgrounds, followed by a four-month work term in industry to gain Canadian experience. In addition, IEEQ maintains a strong focus on cultural training, professional network-


Manitoba Regional News Danny Mann Tel: 204-474-7149 FAX: 204-474-7512 Email: danny_mann @umanitoba.ca



ing, and English language support. To employers, IEEQ is gaining recognition as a source of engineering talent. Since the program began in 2003, close to 30 Manitoba firms have provided close to 50 co-op placements to IEEQ participants. Many employers have used the co-op term as a four-month assessment of the individual’s fit for long-term employment, and IEEQ has proven to facilitate not only professional licensing but also career development for many internationally-educated engineers. For more information on IEEQ, please visit www.umanitoba.ca/engineering/ieeq Research Profile – M.Sc. student Nathan Kesler My research is on finite element analysis (FEA) of modern orthopaedic implants used in hip resurfacing surgical pro-cedures in patients with arthritic hips. Hip resurfacing is a bone-sparing technique that consists of two main proce-dures. The surgeon first inserts a cementless thin wall CoCr (cobalt chrome) hemispherical cup into the prepared acetabulum via a series of mallet blows, and subsequently cements a CoCr head over the prepared bone of the femo-ral head. The cup diameter is typically 1-2 mm larger than the prepared acetabulum to achieve initial “press fit” fixa-tion by frictional forces. The long-term fixation is then determined by biological fixation via bony in-growth into the porous backing of the cup. Manufacturers design and fabricate the implants to possess very high tolerances in order to provide a thin film lubri-cating layer between the bearing surfaces through micro-separation. Any changes in the cup geometry can increase frictional forces between bearing surfaces, resulting in increased generation of metal ions that the patient will absorb, as well as potential binding and loosening of the metal cup. The objective of this research is to quantify cup deforma-tions that may occur during surgical implantation with the use of FEA. In order to create a realistic finite element simulation of the surgical procedure, an accurate digital model of the pelvis bone must be used. Such a model can be created through laser scanning of a bone replica, and processing with the appropriate software. Processing involves conversion of the scanned point-cloud data into polygonal data, from which a NURBS (Non-uniform rational B-spline) surface is created. However, because the pelvis is composed of a thin shell of cortical bone that surrounds the interior cancellous bone, NURBS models representing cancellous bone must be created. This is achieved by offsetting the surface of the original NURBS model by a specified amount to-wards the interior. The offset surfaces can then each be combined with the original model to represent the two differ-ent bone types in the pelvis model. Current work is focused on producing such models for use in the finite element program. Under the direction of Dr. Jason Morrison , this project is a joint effort (pun intended) with Martin Petrak , P.Eng; and Colin Burnell , MD, FRCSC; of the University of Manitoba’s Joint Replacement Group at Con-

cordia Hospital, Winnipeg, MB. Upcoming Events The 2008 ASABE/CSBE North-Central Intersectional Conference will be hosted by the University of Manitoba on September 19-20. Several new ideas are planned with the intent of creating a confer-ence of interest to undergraduate students. Details are being final-ized for the ASABE/CSBE North-Central Student Design Competi-tion. The topic for this year’s competition is to design a solar collec-tor. Full details will be sent to the four universities in the North-Central Region in March 2008. Each university will be allowed to enter two, 5-member teams in the competition at the conference in September. Students will be expected to present their designs at the conference; prizes (cash & certificates) will be presented at the con-ference banquet.

Jake DeBruyn tel: 519-826-4584; fax: 519-826-3259 eml: [email protected] Growing the Margins Energy Conference - April 1-5, 2008 London Ontario – www.gtmconf.ca This energy conference has proven to be Canada’s premier agricultural energy event. The fi-nal program for the Growing the Margins Energy conference is now posted on the conference website and has strong engineering content. Four concurrent sessions run through 2 days with a strong applied focus on implementing energy generation and energy efficiency projects. In addition, a focus on bioproducts, byproducts, and their integration into agrifood energy systems results in an interesting and innovative program. Program details at www.gtmconf.ca Early-bird registration deadline: February 29, 2008.

Germany/Ontario Networking Forum: Exploring Biogas and Renewable Energy Market O pportunities and Partnerships in the Agriculture and Food Processing Sectors - Ontario’s premier biogas and renewable energy networking opportunity! Tuesday, April 1, 2008 London Convention Centre London, Ontario - Presented in conjunction with Growing the Margins Energy Conference This networking session will be an opportunity for Ontario and Canadian engineering and construction companies to connect with German and EU technology vendors with proven track records in delivery biogas or other renewable energy technologies. The opportunities are clear, and the desire to create partnerships is growing. The Germany/Ontario Networking Fo-rum is an excellent occasion for interested groups to exchange information and network. Specifically, what technolo-gies do German and other EU firms have to offer, what markets are they looking for in the agriculture, food process-ing and/or rural sectors, and what do they need to know? Similarly, what can interested Ontario companies and or-ganizations, including producers in the agriculture and food processing sectors, engineering and consulting firms, fab-rication and construction companies, municipal/rural economic development interests, utilit ies, government agencies and others do to facilitate identified opportunities - - and make things happen?


Ontario Regional News


Stéphane Godbout tel: 418-646-1075; fax: 418-286-3597 eml: [email protected] GreenSys 2009 La ville de Québec City et l'Université Laval accueilleront le prochain Symposium International sur les nouvelles technologies appliquées aux cultures abritées à l'Hôtel Loews Le Concorde du 14 au 19 Juin 2009 (High Technology for Greenhouse Systems (GreenSys 2009)). Le congrès sera axé sur l'ÉNERGIE et l'ENVIRONNEMENT, mais aussi sur le développement durable, la conception et la gestion des serres, les substrats et les cultures hydroponiques, l'agriculture sous environnement contrôlé, incluant la production de plantes dans l'espace. Les pratiques culturales et la protection des cultures ainsi que l'éducation et la formation agricole seront également abordés.

Québec City and Université Laval will host the International Symposium on High Technology for Greenhouse Sys-tems, GreenSys 2009, at the hotel Loews Le Concorde from June 14 to 19. The meeting will focus on ENERGY and ENVIRONMENT, but will also deal with sustainability, design greenhouse and management, substrate and hydroponics, controlled environment agriculture including space cultivation, cultural practices and plant protection as well as education and training. La récolteuse de biomasse canadienne en opération dans le sud des États-Unis. Les étudiants gradués Frédéric Lavoie et Luc D’Amours, inscrits au doctorat à McGill sous la supervision du pro-fesseur Mark Lefsrud, ont opéré une récolteuse de biomasse en Floride et en Georgie du 10 au 18 décembre 2007. La récolteuse a été développée par l’équipe de recherche du Dr. Philippe Savoie à Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada AAC), Québec. Cette machine avait déjà été décrite dans le dernier numéro de Perspectives (automne 2007) lorsqu’elle a servi à récolter des saules et arbustes naturels en Saskatchewan et en Alberta. Cette fois-ci, la récolteuse a travaillé dans une forêt naturelle, Osceola National Forest en Floride, et dans une plantation commerciale de pins près de Valdosta en Georgie. La gestion des forêts aux États-Unis requiert un contrôle régulier de la végétation arbustive. Le but est de minimiser l’accumulation de débris végétaux qui deviennent une source de combustible dangereuse pour les feux de forêt in-tenses. La pratique courante est de faire un brûlage contrôlé de la végétation du sous-bois à tous les 3 à 5 ans. Toute-fois, de plus en plus de zones de forêt sont proches des routes et des habitations qui sont incommodées par la fumée et la chaleur lors des brûlages contrôlés. La récolte mécanique devient ainsi un outil de contrôle de végétation pour réduire les risques de feux de forêt. Les machines commerciales présentement utilisées pour la récolte mécanique des broussailles exigent au moins deux passages (la coupe suivie de la collecte) et parfois une main-d’œuvre coûteuse (opération de débroussailleuses, déplacement de branches). La récolteuse de plantes arbustives d’AAC a la particu-larité de couper et empaqueter simultanément les broussailles. Durant les expériences en Floride et Georgie, le proto-type a démontré la possibilité de récolter 4 à 5 balles de 500 kg à l’heure en forêt naturelle et 10 à 15 balles à l’heure en forêt aménagée avec allée de circulation entre les rangées d’arbres. (Continued on page 18)

Quebec Regional News / Nouvelles régionales du Québec



À gauche, la récolteuse est opérée dans la Forêt nationale d’Osceola, Floride, en décembre 2007. À droite, Luc D’Amours et Frédéric Lavoie discutent avec le directeur de la Forêt nationale d’Osceola, M. Ivan Green.

Left. The woody crop harvester is operated in the Osceola National Forest in December 2007. Right. Luc D’Amours and Frédéric Lavoie discuss with the ONF Ranger, Mr. Ivan Green. The Canadian Bio-baler harvests woody crops in Southern U.S. Graduate students Frédéric Lavoie and Luc D’Amours, registered in the Bioresource Engineering Ph.D. program at McGill under the supervision of Dr. Mark Lefsrud, went to Florida and Georgia to harvest forest understory biomass between December 10 and 18, 2007. The willo w and brushy biomass harvester was developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) under the leader-ship of Dr. Philippe Savoie. The machine was already described in the previous issue of Perspective (fall 2007) when it was used in Saskatchewan and Alberta to harvest willow and natural brushes. This time, the machine was operated in a natural forest, Osceola National Forest in Florida, and in a commercial pine plantation near Valdosta, Georgia. Forest management in the Southern Unites States requires regular control of brushy crops. The goal is to minimize the accumulation of woody residues which can become a dangerous fuel for intensive forest fires. The current prac-tice is to do prescribed burning of understory vegetation once every 3 to 5 years. However, more and more of the for-est area is close to highways and new housing developments where smoke and heat can be a nuisance and even a dan-ger. Mechanical harvest of this biomass therefore becomes an important tool in forest management. Present com-mercial machines require at least two passes (cutting and collection) and sometimes considerable labour (hand opera-tion of chain saws, transport of branches). The woody crop harvester developed by AAFC cuts and packages the woody crop in a single passage. During experiments in Florida and Georgia, the prototype was able to harvest 4 to 5 bales weighing 500 kg each per hour in the natural forest and as many as 10 to 15 bales per hour in the plantations with alleys between the trees. Yves Choinière a réalisé des expertises d’étables et de porcheries pour établir les causes des problèmes de détério-ration excessive des toitures et connecteurs métalliques. Une des principales sources d'humidité des entretoits est liée aux systèmes de ventilation. L'air vicié est dirigé dans les entretoits par les corniches et les entrées d'air plafonnier. (Continued on page 19)


Bonnie J. Robertson tel: 506-453-3018; fax: 506-453-7406 Email: [email protected] NSAC and the Bio-Economy The Department of Engineering at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) is focusing its growth and research on the bio-economy. Recently, four new positions have been added to the Department in this pursuit . Dr. Qamar Zaman, Machine Systems Research Chair, studies precision agriculture methods to improve production of local blueberries. Dr. Gordon Price, the Innovative Waste Management Chair, is looking at the degradation and envi-ronmental impact of a wide range of organic bio-products. Both Dr. Zaman and Dr. Price are in the process of devel-oping research labs within the Department of Engineering. Dr. Alex Martynenko and Dr. Aminesh Dutta have joined the Department this year in faculty positions. Dr. Mar-tynenko, whose specialty is Bio-electronics and Bio-instrumentation, is investigating imaging technology and the ef-fect on magnetic fields on plant growth. Dr. Dutta is the latest addition to the Department. His expertise is in bio-mass conversion. NSAC Engineering is also a joint partner in the Bio-Environmental Engineering Centre (BEEC), located in Agri-TECH Park, a few kilometers from campus. This research and demonstration site is home to a variety of projects including alternative energy, composting and waste management, and water resources. Long-time faculty member and former Department Head, Kevin Sibley has just accepted a shared position with the Atlantic BioVenture Centre (ABVC), also located is the AgriTECH Park. Headed by Department member Dr. Rich-ard Ablett , ABVC looks at value-added products from bioresources in Atlantic Canada. Mr. Sibley will be heading up a project to test a movable micro-processing center. This strategic focus builds on the current strengths of NSAC Engineering, while exposing our students to the impor-tance of reducing their impact on the world.

Atlantic Regional News


Yves Choinière carried out some expertises in dairy barns and swine buildings to determine the causes of the excessive dete-rioration of the metallic roof and connectors. One of the prin-cipal sources of moisture in the attic is related to the ventilation system. The exhaust air is directed in the attic by the cornices and the air intake ceiling.


JOB OPPORTUNITIES Technical Advisor (Bioengineering) Incentive Access Group (IAG) is a growing consulting firm located in Surrey, British Columbia, which specializes in assisting companies obtain funding for Research and Development. Our team is a multidisciplinary group of tax, ac-counting, and science professionals. We are seeking a professionally minded individual to fill the position of Techni-cal Advisor. This position involves identifying research activities, drafting technical documents, and working with both clients and tax authorities to settle SR&ED claims. The position suits those individuals who are seeking to use their technical knowledge in a progressive business environment. Applicants must have at minimum an undergraduate degree in a bioengineering discipline. As this position involves communication and presentation, candidates must also demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication abili-ties. Extensive training on incentive programs will be provided to the successful candidate. Interested applicants should submit a resume and covering letter by email addressed to the The Hiring Manager at [email protected]. Job Opportunity—McGill University Engineering, Bioresource - McGill University. The Department of Bioresource Engineering (http://www.mcgill.ca/bioeng/) is seeking outstanding individuals for a tenure-track position at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. The intent of the position is to address a number of closely-related fields in the discipline, the overall target area be-ing composed of the following: GIS and precision agriculture, mechatronics, agricultural robotics, machine design, automation, instrumentation and control, remote sensing, satellite imagery, and hyperspectral analysis. Candidates should have expertise in at least one or more of these fields, are expected to have an earned Ph.D. in an appropriate, related discipline, and should have an excellent publication record for their level of experience. The successful candi-date will develop a strong, independent research program supported by external research funds, will collaborate with other researchers, and teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Applicants must be eligible for member-ship in a Canadian professional engineering association. The following materials should be included in the applica-tion: curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching and research interests, the names of three referees, and copies of rele-vant publications. Applications should be mailed to: Dr. R. Kok, Chair, Bioresource Engineering, Macdonald Cam-pus of McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Blvd, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada. Deadline for appli-cations is April 15, 2008; an actual start date of June 1, 2009 is foreseen for the position.

McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilit ies, women, persons of minority sexual orienta-tions and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. All qualified candidates are en-couraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Cana-dian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.


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MEMO TO : OGVG Research Stakeholders FRO M: Cheryl Trueman, OGVG Research Coordinator DATE: February 1, 2008 RE: Research Funding Update: Two Request for Tender (RFT) O pportunities Approved by OGVG Board of Directors The OGVG Board of Directors, upon recommendation by the OGVG Research Committee, has recently approved two RFT documents for circulation to research stakeholders. The RFT application process is now open, and the clos-ing date for applications is April 1, 2008. The research opportunities both involve improving management methods for viral diseases in cucumbers. The first opportunity involves development of new pruning technology, and the second opportunity involves development of new disinfectants for use during the production season. If you are interested in viewing the full RFT document for either opportunity, please contact Cheryl Trueman at the OGVG office. Please note that for these RFT projects, you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to receiving full details on the project. For future RFT opportunities, the need for confidentiality will be determined by OGVG on a case by case basis. We expect future opportunities to become available later in 2008. For general information on OGVG or research at OGVG, please view our website page ‘ Information for Research Stakeholders’, under the Industry heading, or contact Cheryl Trueman at the OGVG office. Contact: Cheryl Trueman, M.Sc. Research Coordinator [email protected] Ph. (519) 3262604/18002656926


CALL FOR PAPERS International Conference

Nutrient Recovery from Wastewater Streams May 10-13, 2009 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Closing the loop for nutrients in wastewaters (municipal sewage, animal wastes, food industry, commercial and other liquid waste streams) is a necessary, sustainable development objective, to reduce resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Chemistry, engineering and process integration understanding are all developing quickly and new processes are already coming online. A new “paradigm” is emerging, globally. Commercial marketing of recovered nutrients as “green” fertilizers, or recycling of nutrients through biomass production to new outlets such as bio-fuels, is starting to happen. This conference will bring together the various waste stream industries, regulators, researchers, R/D and proc-ess engineers and commercial managers, to develop intersectorial understanding and joint projects for phos-phorus and nitrogen recovery and reuse from waste waters. Abstracts are solicited in particular in the following areas: Phosphorus and nitrogen recovery from different waste-water sources, Process design and plant integration, Marketing and use of recovered nutrient products, Struvite, K- Struvite and calcium phosphate precipitation, Ion exchange nutrient recovery processes, P-recovery from biosolids incineration ashes, Leading-edge research and innovative technology. In addition, there will be an Open Session, devoted to “new thinking” for this emerging paradigm, in concert with an expert panel discussion. Dr. James L. Barnard (2007 Clarke Prize) will be the Keynote Speaker and will address the audience during the Plenary Session, on the opening day of the conference. The Conference Programme will also offer visits to phosphorus recovery installations (Ostara/UBC struvite recovery process) recently commissioned in municipal sewage works in Edmonton, Alberta. ABSTRACT DEADLINE: March 28th, 2008 Please send abstract submissions to (2-page single-spaced maximum, with additional 2 pages of tables or figures): Venue West Conference Services Ltd. Conference Secretariat – Nutrient Recovery, 2009 #100-873 Beatty Street - Vancouver, B.C. - V6B 2M6 - Canada Fax: 604 681-2503 - E-mail: [email protected] This conference is hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of British Columbia (UBC) and chaired by Dr. D.S. Mavinic, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UBC. Sponsors include: The University of British Columbia (UBC) http://www.civil.ubc.ca/pcwm/ Global Phosphate Forum www.phosphate-forum.org The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) www.ciwem.org Ostara Research Foundation (ORF) www.ostara.com


International Conference on Agricultural Engineering & Industrial Exhibition AGENG2008

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS!

of the South African Society for Animal Science and the 5th All-Africa Conference on Animal Production. The World Conference on Animal Production is a trend-setting conference that examines the scientific progress in live-stock production and the effects that these have on the environment, economies and the quality of life of people. The theme of the conference, New World; Future World, takes in the philosophy of the World Association for Ani-mal Production, conceptualising the place of animals in our daily existence. Go to: www.wcap2008.co.za

Invitation of Interfood China 2008, June 3-5, 2008 Currently with: Interwine China 2008

Venue: China Foreign Trade Center (Liuhua Complex, Guangzhou, China) Faircanton is delighted to inform you that Interfood China 2008 will be held in Canton, China from June 3-5 , 2008. With a total area of 15,000sqms,the fair act as a fairly large-scaled and influential show in South China . Sponsored by CFNA (The China Chamber Of Commerce for Import and Export Of Foodstuff and Native Produce and Animals), organized by Canton Universal Fair Group Ltd , the 5th event will make it an impact in history. About 500 exhibitors from 38 countries and around 23,000 professional visitors are expected to join. China has the largest population in the world, it is obviously the most potential food market. With the rapid develop-ment of economic and growth of the living standard , the average income of city & town dwellers reaches 11,759 in 2006, which increases12.1% compared with 2005. Demand of imported food in China market grows even rapidly in recent years , in 2006, China imported 20,273 million tons of food, worth US$13,396 billion, up 37.94 % and 25.11 % year on year, respectively. The 2008 Olympic Games will be held in China next August, so it can be forcasted that more and more international brand foods will enter China market soon. The growth of the food exhibition convinces you of the continuous success. Compare to Interfood 2007, 06, 05 , In-terfood 2008 will have 500 exhibitors from 38 countries, and 23,000 professional visitors. It is an ideal platform for import and export business and attracts high quality visitors such as importers, retailers, wholesalers, catering, restau-rants and hotels from all over China. Here ,we cordially invite you to participate in Interfood China 2008--the great event of food in China. We will do anything we can to assist the exhibitors to enter into the food market of China.. Any inquiries, please feel free to contact us. Or visit http://www.faircanton.com/interfood Thomas Pan Project Representative Canton Universal Fair Group Ltd. Tel: +86-20-34072597 / 34072598 / 34072599 Fax: +86-20-34072596 E-mail: [email protected] MSN: [email protected]


NOTICES TO MEMBERS From time to time various agencies request that the CSBE/SCGAB office supply the list of members for the distribu-tion of certain products. Your Secretary, James Townsend, is reluctant to do so since we all have too much spam as it is. My approach will be to list the agencies, and their products, in each Perspectives Newsletter so that members can make personal contact with the agencies if they so wish. • International Center for Scientific Research (CIRS). Check out this organization at www.cirs-tm.org • Check out some continuing engineering educational opportunities at www.epic-edu.com

Notice for the latest CIGR Newsletter You can view the latest CIGR Newsletters at: www.cigr.org/CIGRNewsletters.htm CHECK THEM O UT!

FreeFind Search Engine on CSBE/SCGAB Website Readers are reminded that there is a search engine on the website (www.bioeng.ca) for their use. The FreeFind search engine is very efficient and is there for your use. Just look to the right hand side of your screen while on the website homepage. Good hunting!

For members of the Canadian Society for Bioengineering/ La Société Canadienne de Génie Agroalimentaire et de Bioingénierie

Today's Urban Agriculture News is available as a live feed on our website. A review of the day's news is posted hourly on our site. Access to this news service is 100% free. We hope that you will visit our new site at: http://www.urbanagriculture-news.com. See latest newsletter at www.urbanagriculture-news.com/urbanagriculture/archive/2007.09.html

Send in your news for Perspectives! The next deadline for news from members will be the 2008 06 02. Nevertheless you can send any news item as soon as ready to your regional directors: Atlantic [email protected] Manitoba [email protected] Québec [email protected] Saskatchewan [email protected] Ontario [email protected] Alberta [email protected] British Columbia [email protected] Outside Canada: [email protected] Looking to hearing from you.


• 2008 • Atlantic BIO Energy Conference 2008, 2008 04 09-11, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 2B2. More

information at [email protected] • AgEng2008 International Conference on Agricultural Engineering & Industry Exhibition, 2008 06 23-25,

Hersonissos, Crete, Greece. More information at www.ageng2008.com/index.html. • ASABE Annual International Meeting, 2008 06 29 to 2008 07 02, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. More in-

formation at www.asabe.org. • CSBE/SCGAB AGM & Technical Conference, 2008 07 13-17, North Vancouver BC. More details to follow

at www.bioeng.ca. • The 9th International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA), 2008 07 20-23, Denver CO, USA. For

more information contact www.icpaonline.org • CIGR International Conference of Agricultural Engineering, 2008 08 31—2008 09 04, Rio2008, Brazil.

More information at www.acquacon.com.br/icae/ • 10th International Conference on Mechanization and Energy in Agriculture, 2008 10 14-17, Antalya, Tur-

key. More information at: www.akdeniz.edu.tr/ageng2008 • 2009 • International Conference on Nutrient Recovery from Wastewater Streams, 2009 05 10-13, Vancouver, BC

Canada. More information at www.civil.ubc.ca/pcwm/ • 2nd CLIMATE CHANGE TECHNO LO GY CO NFERENCE/2e Conférence sur les technologies du change-

ment climatique May 12-15 mai, 2009 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. More information at www.cctc2009.ca • ASABE Annual International Meeting, 2009 06 28—2009 07 01, Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, Nevada. More

information at www.asabe.org. • CSBE/SCGAB AGM & Technical Conference, Date TBA, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. • 2010 • The XVII CIGR World Congress 2010, 2010 06 13-18, Quebec City , QC Canada. More information at www.

bioeng.ca/Events/CIGR/index.htm. • 2014 • The XVIII CIGR World Congress 2014, 2014 09 ??, The Beijing International Convention Center, Beijing

China. More information to follow.

CIGR Newsletter (BULLETIN DE LA CIGR) CIGR publishes a quarterly Newsletter in English and French. It is also available in Arabic, Chinese and Russian translations. The Russian translations of CIGR NL have been available from CIGR NL 75. A quarterly publication that is sent to all members, the CIGR Newsletter contains information on member associa-tions, members, sections, working groups, future events such as congresses, seminars, symposia, workshops, etc. Fur-thermore it highlights new publications, lists publications that are available from CIGR and publicizes vacant posi-tions. View the latest newsletters at: www.cigr.org/CIGRNewsletters.htm

Coming Events


Volume 30, No. 2 2008 CSBE-SCGAB 23101 RPO MCGILLIVRAY WINNIPEG MB R3T 5S3 CANADA Phone: 204-233-1881; Fax: 204-231-8282 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bioeng.ca

Coming Events

CSBE/SCGAB Council 2007-2008

President: Robert Kok McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue QC H9X 3V9 tel: 514-398-7775; fax: 514-398-8387 eml: robert.kok@mcgill .ca

Vice-President (Regional): Benoît Lacasse A et A Canada, 430, boul. Gouin St-Jean-sur-Richelieu QC J3B 3E6 tel: 450-515-2105; fax: 450-346-7740 Eml: [email protected]

Past-President: Shahab Sokhansanj 350 East 20th Street North Vancouver BC V7L 3A7 tel: 604-904-4272: fax: 604-822-6003 eml: [email protected]

Vice-President (Technical): Stefan Cenkowski Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB R3T 5V6 tel: 204-474-6293; fax: 204-474-7512 eml: [email protected]

President-elect: Stéphane P. Lemay Centre de Recherche, 2700 rue Einstein Québec QC G1P 3W8 tel: 418-646-1073; fax: 418-644-6855 eml: [email protected]

Vice-President (Industry): Dennis Hodgkinson DGH Engineering, 12 Aviation Blvd St Andrew MB R1A 3N5 tel: 204-334-8846; fax: 204-334-6965 eml: [email protected]

Secretary: James S. Townsend 446 Kingston Crescent, Winnipeg MB R2M 0T9 tel: 204-233-1881; fax: 204-231-8282 eml: [email protected]

Treasurer: John Morgan 979 Shavington Street, North Vancouver BC V7L 1K6 tel: 604-987-5142; fax: 604-987-5143 eml: john_morgan@telus,net

Vice-President (Membership): Grant Clark Bioresource Eng’g, McGill U, 21111 Lakeshore Road Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue QC H9X 3V9 tel: 514-398-7784; fax: 514-398-8387 eml: grant.clark@mcgill .ca

Webmaster: Wayne E. Coates Office of Arid Land Studies, University of Arizona, PO Box 506, Sonoita AZ 85637 tel: 520-455-5050; fax: 520-455-5533 eml: [email protected]

Editor and Regional Directors

Journal Editor: (Ranjan) R. Sri Ranjan tel: 204-474-9344; fax: 204-474-7512 eml: [email protected]

Manitoba: Daniel D. Mann tel: 204-474-7149; fax: 204-474-7512 eml: [email protected]

Atlantic: Bonnie J. Robertson tel: 506-453-3018; fax: 506-453-7406 eml: [email protected]

Saskatchewan: Venkatesh Meda tel: 306-966-5309; fax: 306-966-5334 eml: [email protected]

Québec: Stéphane Godbout tel: 418-646-1075; fax: 418-286-3597 eml: [email protected]

Alberta: Len Ring tel: 403-381-5176; fax: 403-382-4406 eml: [email protected]

Ontario: Jake DeBruyn tel: 519-826-4584; fax: 519-826-3259 eml: [email protected]

British Columbia: Anthony K. Lau tel: 604-822-3476; fax: 604-822-6003 eml: [email protected]

PNL Winter 2008 30-2.pub

Documents

Transcript of PNL Winter 2008 30-2.pub