0 AR

June 8,1990
June 8, 1990 THE ENGINEERING SOCIETY'S STUDENT FORUM

Engineers and Computers:
Made Other
Remember that special moment when you first logged on to W A TST AR? Come with
us as we recapture that feeling in our report on Computers in Engineering.
Also in this issue ...
Talk to a strangely familiar Fed President
Race on Ring Road
Hear reports from the new EngSoc Exec
. . /
Recycle glass, cardboard, and bottle lids
Learn about the most expensive railroad in
.
Page 2 Iron Warrior
I Want To Know
Why do we pay to put ourselves
through this pain? All the hard work and
deadlines to meet - and we pay them. It's
the same idea as hiring a coach to help
you in your sport. Short-tenn you seem
to have paid him to show you new ways
of hurting yourself. In both cases the
benefits are long term, but it's hard to
keep them in sight.
Who named suntan lotion? Is it
suppose to tan you or not?
Why do people who wear glasses look
naked when they take them off?
Why are there so many rabbits in
subdivisions now? Gardens at home and
in Waterloo need to be fenced to protect
them from rabbits. Did a lot of pet
bunnies escape? Do they have no
predators?
Why do girls shave their underarms
and guys don't? Who sets these standards?
Who invented drinking boxes? Don't
they realize that society is becoming more
environmentally conscious and these are
very package heavy? How did we drink
juice before?
Why is it now "cool" and socially
acceptable for guys to wear shorts when it
wasn't when we were in grade five?
Why do people buy CD's when they
don't have a CD player? Isn't this like
buying dog food when you don't have li
dog?
Why
Computers?
"You know, a lot of these article ideas
are about computers. Why don't we get
them written for the same issue, and do a
special computer section?"
A quick math question: if the
difficulty of getLing x articles submitted is
y, then the difficulty of getting x articles
submitted at the same time is kyo Find k.
(Hint: k > 1.)
Oh well.
Almost every undergraduate engineer
on campus arrived here after the
microcomputer became a common feature.
We've all served our time on W ATST AR,
and many of us have had occasion to use
other systems as well. Not every engincer
likes computers, but most us feel
comfortable with them.
This puts us in a minority. While
computers have infiltrated almost every
part of life, a large majority of the
population is uneasy about them. A
significant number of people are actually
afraid of them. There seem to be several
reasons for this.
One is simple technophobia. A lot of
people just don't like complicated devices
of any kind. They find them difficult to
understand, and not worth the effort when
they do. This seems alien to most of us,
but its extraordinarily common.
Another is that computers are often
pointed to as a universal solution to every
problem. They're not. They take time,
skill, and effort to set up properly. They
The Iron Warrior is a forum for
thought-provoking and informative articles
presented by the academic community of
the University of Waterloo. Views
expressed in the Iron Warrior. other than
the editorials, are those of the authors and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
the editors or the Engineering Society.
The Iron Warrior encourages
submissions from students, faculty and
other members of the university
community. Submissions should reflect the
concerns and intellectual standards of the
university in general, and should be
typewritten or neatly written, double-
spaced and on one side of the page only.
The authors name, class (if applicable) and
phone number should be included.
Why was our prez purple? Why
would anyone run a week-long campaign
in order to receive such a "reward"?
What report did the turtle give the
police after being mugged by three snails?
"I don't know, it happened so fast." (So
it's not funny, but it makes a great one-
liner.)
Why docs a city named Waterloo run
short of water every summer? Isn't that
false advertising?
Why does a toaster care which side of
it I put my toast in to?
Where does pink lemonade come
from? If they had to pick another colour,
why pink?
Why is the Meech lake accord named
after the location of the conference? If
they had had it here it could have been
called Columbia lake. Do you think that '
all the publicity is good for tourism on
Meech lake? Would you want to go there?
WIlY do people push baby strollers
from the side? If the stroller restricts the
stride then why doesn't someone invent a
stroller that adults can comfortably walk
behind?
Who won the Stanley Cup? Does
anyone care? (I phoned home last
weekend and my parents told me.) Would
people get excited if another team had
won?
often don't have any way to do simple and
intuitive tasks, no matter how complicated
their software. They break down a lot,
often at the most inconvenient times
(Murphy loves computers). If a computer
solution is implemented improperly, it
will often end up doing the exact opposite
of what was intended. ("This office
system will reduce the amount of paper
used. Really. Trust me.")
Yet another problem is thal a large
number of stereotypes have arisen about
computer users. In the popular media,
there seem LO be exactly two types of
people: computer illiterates, and computer
geniuscs. If a TV or movie character uses
a computer, its usually to show how
incredibly brilliant he or she is. They're
almost never shown as a simple fact of
life.
Another stereotype is that "women
aren',. any good with computers." This
ranks right up there wilh "women aren't
good at math/science": it's just as absurd,
and just as damaging. Hopefully, they'll
both die together one day.
All of this goes LO show that there are
good, understandable, dubious, and
outright silly reasons for the perceptions
people have about computers, and that
those of us who can tolerate computers, or
even like them, have to understand those
reasons. And we should be willing to
help people realize that the darn things can
be pretty useful under some circumstances.
I personally can't imagine trying to
write this editorial on a typewriter. I
shudder at the thought of hand-calculating
some of the formulae I routinely run
through Maple. I occasionally enjoy a
computer game. Painting and drawing
All submissions, unless otherwise
stated, become the property of the lI.sul
WarriQr, which reserves the right to refuse
publication of material which it deems
unsuitable. The Iron WarriQr also reservers
the right to edit grammar, spelling and
portions of text that do not meet university
standards. Authors will be notified of any
major changes that may be required.
All submissions and advertising
enquiries should be forwarded to:
I ~ ~ W .
w a w : ~
Engineering Society
CPH 1327
University of Waterloo
WA TPRU>O, Ontario
(519) 8884762
Why do some breakfast cereals have
the prizes aL the bottom, some on the side
and others next to the cardboard? Why do
I always dig in the wrong place?
PS. Thanks to two friends - Bruce and
Al - for helping me to reach two of my
Someday goals, today.
programs are incredibly valuable to me,
since my artistic skills are poor. I often
use database managers and spreadsheets.
And I even like programming now and
then.
I don't think I want computers to be
my career, but I'm sure that I'll be using
them and thinking of new ways to use
them whatever I end up doing. A lot of
you can say the same.
My point, I suppose, is that whil e we
still don't have a computer on every desk
and in every home, it's getting
increasingly harder to avoid them. As
engineering students, its next to
impossible. And they're useful enough
that I don't see why anyone would really
want to try.
I ~
May 25, 1990
EDITORS
Linda Hachey
John Kingdon
ADVERTISING
Brian Champ
Inge Vangemeren
PHOTOGRAPHY
Lisa Anderson
Kevin Johnson
Pat Ronan
Peter Szakaly
CONTRIBUTORS
AJ. Baxter
Dan Blosdale
Mark Davis
Paul Frattaroli
Lily lung
Katherine Koszarny
Sean Murphy
Arlan Nugara
Sean Richens
Tanya Sagerrnann
TedTimar
Harvey Watson
SPECIAL APPEARANCE
Tom Lee
LAYOUT
Brenda Beal (Manager)
Kim Boucher
Jim Bousquet
Baldwyn Chieh
Jefferson Darrell
Rob Davis
David Dolson
Gerry Keay
AndrewLo
Arlan Nugara
Valerie Smith
TedTimar
Matthlus Wandel
Harvey Watson
TYPESETTING
Jamie Caceres (Manager)
CALENDAR
Kim Boucher
ARTWORK
Kim Boucher
Stuart Cannichael
Rainer Dallarosa
June 8, 1990 Iron Warrior
Less Trash
Dan Blosdale
Lily Jung
Recycling Directors
For all you hard core recyclers, here's
a bit of an update on the recycling
program.
There wi II be changes made to the
recycling center in CPH foyer. The bins
will be separated into individual recycling
stations for glass, metals, paper and
cardboard (yes, cardboard: its new!) .
These changes will address concerns from
Health and Safety. At prescnt the bins are
considered an obstruction under the Fire
Code. If you are concerned about the bins
gelting in your way when you run out of
CPH in an emergency, don't worry: we'll
move them shortly. As for the addition of
the cardboard to the list of the materials
recycled, it is important thaI this become a
part of our recycling system since
beginning in 1991, no cardboard will be
accepted at landfill sites. This is a move
by the city to force people and industry to
take a good look at other means of dealing
with solid waste.
.. , a complete recycling
program on campus is
extremely important.
We have completed our presentation
to the UW Task Force on Waste
Management. The presentation was to
give the Task Force an idea of an
established recycling program on campus.
The task force is taking a hard look at
UW's options for reducing the solid waste
going to landfill sites. It was estimated
by a member on the task force that the
cost of sending 1 tonne of solid waste to
land fill could reach $400 by 1995.
(presently it's around $65.) Establishing a
complete recycling programme on campus
is extremely important.
Please follow these guidelines with
respcctLO recycling glass:
(1) GLASS MUST BE SEPARATED
into the colourless, green and brown glass
boxes. If you have blue glass, put it in
with the brown glass and we'll take care of
it.
(2) THE LIDS MUST BE REMOVED
and they can be recycled. Steel lids may
be placed in with steel and tin cans.
Aluminum lids must be recyded
separately. (We don't know why, SO ask
us only if you want us to look for a
reason.)
Notes on lids:
STEEL lids are your standard food jar
lids. BEER caps are also steel. These
items may be small, but they accumulate
rather quickly, so why not recycle them?
ALUMINUM lids are on the standard
750 mL pop bottles. Koala Springs have
aluminum LOpS. Some tops are plastic,
and these are not recyclable at this time.
(3) LABELS DO NOT NEED TO BE
REMOVED .
If you follow the above points before
depositing your glass for recycling it
would save us time and you would develop
your personal recycling skills. Mark that
down on your resume!
Thanks for recycling!

WSOFF-

The Race is onl
Tanya Sagermann
Ring Road Classic Organizer
So, I guess it's about time I let
everyone know what's going on with the
Ring Road Classic running and cycling
event this summer. It's going to be held
on Sunday July 8, and is open to
anyone. That includes anyone on campus
as well as off campus. There is a $7 entry
fee per participant and $20 per relay team.
The events and times are as follows:
Individual
A: 40km Novice Criterium (9 am)
B: 25km Men's Open Criterium (10 am)
C: 15km Women's Open Criterium-
(11 am)
0: Mountain Bike Race (TBA)
Relays
E: Mountain Bike (4 x 1 lap) (11:30 am)
F: Running Relay (4 x I lap) (12 pm)
Due 10 the nature of the event, Ring
Road will be closed that day until about
2:00 p.m. Unfortunately, this means the
bus routes will have to be changed, but a
schedule will be printed soon.
Anyway, I hope everyone has fun
spending another Sunday totally blowing
away any time that is supposed to be for
homework. If anyone is interested in
helping out as a marshall or at the post-
race BBQ, please leave a note in my box
(in the Orifice) or stop me in the halls.
Application forms for the event are
available in the Orifice or at the Turnkey
desk in the Campus Centre.
Page 3
Engineering Weekend was enjoyed by al1, except perhaps by
those who attempted to defy gravity using adhesives. (B.Y.C.)
OW SPORTS
Braun's
-=-BICYCLE


1<11086'
Page 4 Iron Warrior June 8,1990
VP
Opens
Communication
Katherine Koszarny
Vice President
WOW!! This is my frrst VP column.
Many of you may have seen and heard
me speak in your class during the election
campaign, so you already have a pretty
good idea of who 1 am. For those of you
who know nothing about me ... well here
are the facts. I was born in London,
Ontario, two minutes after my twin sister
Lenna in September 1969. I'm in
Systems Design, in my 3A term. I wear
size nine shoes. I love Haagen-Daz
Coffee, and Honey Vanilla ice cream. I
miss going to see bar bands in Toronto. I
love cottage weekends. I worry about the
workload ahead of me in school (so what
else is new). I love food - period. I want
to travel all over the world some day,
especially the Soviet Union, Australia,
and South America. So there it is,
Katherine Koszamy in a nutshell (no pun
intended).
Katherine Koszarny
in a nutshelL
Last weekend, the entire exec (all four
of us) retreaLed for a few hours. Besides
getting slightly sunburned we came out of
it with a reasonably solid idea about our
mandate as your elected representatives,
about goals and objectives for this term
and the next, as well as generating reams
and reams of ideas for a wide variety of
issues and concerns. Personally, I walked
away from it with a sense of direction and
purpose.
1)0"; E. W IW 'THE PA PGfZ
I wA-N'" "Tl> Leo K. AT
PE/i!SOkJA.J:- ?:.. _ _ _
I
We face certain new challenges as the
prescnt executive, issues that previous
execs just didn't have to deal with. The
unfortunate incident that occurred in
Montreal has resulted in a spotlight
focused on alI engineering schools across
the country. We shouldn't be oblivious to
that. However, I don't think that we
should bear the full brunt of all inquiries
or shoulder the responsibilities of
changing society and its attitude towards
women, gun control, child abuse and the
rest of the issues surrounding the
massacre. 1 don't think that we should be
the scapegoats. The fact of the matter is
that society is turning to us and asking us
what we are doing to combat sexism in
our faculty. That leads me to the
discussion of what I am interested in
pursuing.
WI':> ('5 -PULL!.' ..
Let ':> 60 01.11 !>.-Nt:> 1=>0
%MG'TH/NG AMUSING!
First, I want to promote engineering
as a whole, from a number of different
angles. Currently, our image is nOl a very
enviable one. What can we do to improve
it? We're involved in extensive charity
work, various programs, including
initiating the guidance counsellor seminars
and we publish one of the most highly
regarded Engineering Society newspapers
in the country. How can we educate people
about us? That question leads to my next
fact
... severe shortage of
engineers in Canda.
Did you know that experts are
predicting a severe shortage of engineers in
Canada (and allover the world) by the mid
1990's? (Some estimations put the year
closer to 1992.) To make matters worse,
enrollment in engineering allover Canada
has been declining since 1986. It's a
Catch-22 situation.
In my opinion, education and
promotion don't
responding to the mlcroscoplC
examination that we're being subjected to;
it's also letting people know about the
rewarding and exciting profession that
we're entering into.
My second interest is to enhance and
improve all channels of communication,
focusing particularly on the last and most
important link between the Engineering
Society and YOU: your class reps. The
class reps are the foundation, the base
upon which the Engineering Society is
built. In many ways it's an unrealized
potential, which is unfortunate since class
reps are the most crucial link with YOu. I
have a lot of ideas on how that
communication link can be utilized more
effectively.
As I emphasized in my campaign
speeches,1 was elected by YOU, I am here
to represent you the students. I am open
to your suggestions, concerns, and ideas.
Please drop a note in my mailbox in the
Orifice. I've tried to mention some of my
ideas and what I'd like to be involved in,
but YOUR input is crucial.
Monetary Priorities
To the Editor:
The last several weeks have seen a
great deal of controversy regarding the
Engineering Society'S mascot, The Tool.
Most of the concern arose because the
students of this stream had not been
consulted with regard to the changes made.
As well, these same people questioned the
authority of the Joint Executive to make
such decisions (as this decision was made).
My concern is in regard to another
issue. At this same Joint Executive
Meeting, another decision was made to
spend $8800.00 on a patio and furniture
for POETS. No one had previously uttered
a peep about this decision. Granted, the
wHY Ap- wE"
11-\IZOVGH AI..L Tl-\f: 5 E DIRT
OADS? AR. You WJ'S ,
A6AIN ?
patio is stalled somewhere in Plant
Operations, but the fact remains that
people found The Tool changes (as minor
as they were) more important than an
expenditure using their money. It shocks
me that money was earmarked for the
POETS Pub, in which a great deal of
money had already been spenL
A point may be made that
Engineering Students are more concerned
with items that appear to be taken away
from them, rather than when they are
purchased in their name.
Sean Murphy
2B Mechanical
May 31, 1990
RANGERS
( TAkE A.. !R\P ")
LET'S Pl.-Air' THE H-oe66S
FIR"?I./!
l3TCHA 1 C lI.r-J
66Ai You I!
.--------.-..,---.----, .--------. -- - ------:r=---4i'==_;
lttAi wAS F"UN.
WE BE nCR GE.T
f'-1o,.lE.'r'
WuR.E wE::
June 8, 1990
Prez Spews
A.J. Baxter
President
Ok. The rw editors are looking over
my shoulder and telling me that if I don't
write, I die. (Although I'm beginning to
think that death is a preferable alternative
10 being a purple smurf with greased hair).
First, I want to congratulate all the
participants in the EngSoc B by-election
that was run two weeks ago. Everyone
ran amazing campaigns and their efforts
are being directed into the many projects
EngSoc has on the go this summer.
Now, on to the real point of this
column: spewing. What have I been up 10
in the last two weeks? What have I
accomplished? Am I keeping the
promises I made on the campaign trail?
Tradition
To the Editors:
I am heartened to see the generally
positive response to certain symbolic
changes initiated by Eng Soc A. I hope
that the timeliness of the decision to
slightly rename THE TOOL was
important enough to you to make up for
any reservations some may have about
how the decision was reached. I am
concerned, however, to see that the word
"tradition" is still excessively bandied
about in the last Iron Warrior.
There are three sources of human evil:
malice, error, and tradition. Malice is
deliberately doing something wrong for
bad reasons. Error is unfortunately doing
something wrong with good reasons.
Tradition is doing something wrong for no
damned reason at all. If you find this
analysis harsh. think how many times you
have seen something on a work-term
which was blatantly in need of some
simple improvement. You were told "but
that's the way it's always been done,"
weren't you?
Think about how you would do
things if you were to start from scratch
today. You don't have to change
everything, or do it overnight, item two
tomorrow, and so on, but keep working
on it so we can be proud of being an
exceptional engineering school by every
standard possible.
Sean Richens
ChE '88
Graduate Student
May 25, 1990
I
f,
Iron Warrior
The VSC finally has a director, Milos
(god of the Endowment Foundation).
Committee meetings are scheduled for
4:30 every Thursday afternoon. All
interested people are welcome. Swing by
the orifice for more info. The resolution
for the Endowment Foundation will be
presented to the Board of Governors on
June 5th for approval. The EngSoc exec
will be suited up (ugh!!) and cheering on
your behalf. We do not foresee any
problems in obtaining the approval, and
once this has happened, the real work
begins. Check the Info board outside the
orifice for uJHo-the-minute developments.
Next, a big round of applause for the
Special Events directors (Heather, Claire
and Charu). What an awesome Eng
Weekend. It's not every day that you can't
get into your lab because someone is taped
10 the door. Everyone who participated in
the events had a great time. Keep up the
good work.
Last rw I wrote an article concerning
sexual harassment in the work place, and
I've received some feedback on the subjecL
Generally, people say "Engineering
students are 85% male, so why should we
support such an event?". Well, the play is
designed to educate everyone, to enable
Treasurer's Cache
Sean Murphy
Treasurer
Just to keep you up to date with
regard to Engineering Society financial
matters, the Budget for Summer '90 was
tabled at last week's Council Meeting. It
will be voted on June 5th during the
Council Meeting. If you have any
questions or concerns please leave me a
message in the Orifice or come out to the
next Council M lin.
Aside from that, I would also like to
congratulate Andrea (AJ.) Baxter and
Katherine Koszarny as the newly elected
President and Vice President (External) of
Engineering Society B. With Janice
Woods (VP Internal), it will be the first
time the executive has not been dominated
by men. As the sole male on the
Executive, the minority, it will be my
responsibility to keep the women in line.
Alas, the power of the chequebook ...
Congratulations, as well, to the
Special Events Directors for an
exceptional job during Eng Weekend.
Great job, guys!!!
Back 10 business. The Poets Patio
Proposal is still mired in the annals of
Plant Operations. We may see it before
you to deal with harassment if it happens
to you (this applies to both men and
women) and it enables you to help anyone
else. The play is designed to educate,
make us aware of the many foms of
harassment and allow us to put a stop to
it. 1 put forward a motion at Council on
May 28th to support this play and the
response was very positive. The sexual
harassment office is counting on this
support 10 advertise and promote the play.
In addition, Dean Lennox and 1 have
contacted other faculties and organizations
10 financially support the endeavor. If you
have any questions, please see me in the
Orifice.
On June 2 an Alumni dinner was held
for Eng grads of 85,80.75 etc., and the
BNAD and TOOL were out in full force.
The BNAD was excellent and other than a
few alumni shouting "R1DGlD", the event
went off without a hitch. Thank you to
all those musical engineers who made it to
the Valhalla.
That about sums up the spew session
for this issue. If you have concerns ,
questions, or tips on getting purple finger
nails LO go away, please talk to me, to any
of the exec members, directors or your
class reps.
the end of summer. If not, it will be here
when we return in the winter. Who said
life was fair?
Currently, A & B Societies are
working on a proposal to jointly run the
C & D. This will mean an easier turnover
from tenn to tenn, and each society will
be able to benefit from the cash flow at
the beginning of every term. For more
information, please sec me in the Orifice.
The treasurer's repon is at its end. If
there are any questions regarding Eng
Soc's finances please sec me or leave me a
message in the Orifice. As always, the
books are available for anyone to see at
any time.
PageS
Sizzling
Summerfest
Shakedown
'90
Whal's your idea of the ultimate
summer weckend? Party under a tent?
Great music? Or a game of slow pitch?
Whatever your ideals, the First Annual
Summerfest '90 weekend continues the
tradition of Winterfest and Homecomming
and is on June 8,9, and 10.
Friday night the tent opens at 8pm
featuring an airband contest hosted by Dan
Gallagher of Test Pattern. The tent
reopens Saturday at non. Later, at
approximately 3pm, The Razorbacks with
Mike Something perform a free concert
Other events include the slow pitch
tournament on the Village Green, and
weather-permitting, the First Annual
Tanning Invitation which continues
Sunday when prizes for the best tans are
awarded. When night falls. comedy night
begins hosted by a professional M.C.
from Yuk Yuk's, the sponsor of local
talent. If you would like to perform a
thrce to five minute act within limits of
good taste (no racism please) then call the
Fed Office for an audi lion time.
Summerfest winds down Sunday from
11am. Also featured on Sunday, the slow
pitch finals and party on the patio.
Tickets for Friday and Saturday nights
are $2 Fcds and $3 Nop-Feds and Me
selling in the Fed Office (CC 235),
society offices, and the Village I booth.
If you would like to volunteer, to register
for the airband contest, tanning invitation,
slow pitch tournament, and comedy night,
or need morc information contact Mike
Wolfe or Tc's Sliwinski in C 235 or at
888-4042.
Just how hot is Summerfcsl?
According to the Summcrfcst coordinator
"It's red hot ... cao'ltouch this."
,SIZZLING SUMMER SHAKEDOWN!!
!' ( ,: 1 ) ',' summer:fest '90,,-'\ / ) ""
1 ( \ ( ? ) 'J 1 ' ( ( , -, :
AJrband Contest
hosted by
DAN GALLAGHER
frOlIl Tcst PalleTl1
TOilS '0' Door 1'1 izcs
friday
I UEE UIfI1)OOU /\f'IEIINOON
THE RAZORBACKS
&
MIKE SOMETHING
S low Pitch T01lrnamcllt
C()lIIccly Nighl
saturday
Wind dow" tll( \'11('["1' 11<1
Oil Oil r
OUTDOOR PATIOI
Slow Pitcll Fillals
ticket ,registration info:
VlSll Ute Fed Office @ CC235 or call
Mike Wolfe or Tess Sliwinski. 888-4042
June 8, 9, 10 ,
on the Village Green
Page 6
Iron Warrior
June 8,1990
EERC:
Innovation
.1
D
c
Mark Davis
18 Computer (off stream)
Tom Lee
Former IW Type Guy
There is an organization in the
Faculty of Engineering at UW that
investigates innovative ways to improve
undergraduate engineering education: the
Engineering Education Research Centre
(EERC).
One of the areas of concern for the
EER C is the appropriate use of com puters
to help engineering students learn difflcult
concepts . To mcct its goals, the EERC is
currently involved in several interesting
projects. The results of these projects will
make the educational process more
relevant and meaningful.
Project BEACON
One of the more visible outlets of the
EERC is the Project BEACON lab.
Project BEACON is a network of
powerful graphics workstations which are
currently used in conjunction with several
courses in the Engi neering program
including courses in Civil. Electrical,
Computer, Mechanical, and Systems
Design. Students in these courses benefit
from the use of powerful system
simulations (e.g. electrical circuits.
control systems. structures. etc.). With
the aid of computer simulations, a student
can quickly construct a model of a system
and get a good feel for the way in which
different parameters affect its operation.
In this way, the student learns to
appreciate some of the ideas at the heart of
enginccring without getting discouraged
by the tedium of time-consuming physical
construction. For example. BEACON
facilities running a powerful CAD system
called J-DEAS helped the Midnight Sun
team design a better car.
Project LIBRA
A more recent venture for the EERC
has been the development of the LIBRA
Laboratory. Located in the old
MacAnnex room and not fully operational
yet, LIBRA consists of 15 Apple
Macintosh II series computers (JIx, Hcx,
and IIci). These machines offer good speed
The Sandford l e m i n ~ Foundation
Waterloo Campus ActIvity
Room 4366, Carl Pollock Hall, U. of W.
Waterloo, ON., N2L 3Gl, (519) 8884008
Sandford Fleming Foundation
Silver Medal Winners
Thirteen silver medals were given to students
from across the eight branches of engineer-
ing, during the May 1990 Convocation.
Academic Achievement
Annette Lynn Burke, Chemical Engineering
Sarah Stewart Wells, Civil Engineering
Minh Tue Vo, Computer Engineering
Niall Jason Sexton, Electrical Engineering
Stanley Reitsma, Geological Engineering
Mark Ivono Zeni, Mechanical Engineering
Peter Tu, Systems J)esign Engineering .
Elena Canzona, Systems Design Engtneertng
(Management Science Option)
Co-operative Proficie ncy
Michael Reid Martin, Chemical Engineering
David Alvin Farrish, Civil Engineering
Andrew Sterian, Electrical Engineering
Dean A. McGuire, Mechanical Engineering
Lloyd Smith, Systems Design Engineering
An organtzation devoted to the advancement 01 engineering education
as well as an intuitive user interface that
may be more suitable for engineering
education. Like BEACON, LIBRA is
intended for use by undergraduates in
specific courses in which they may benefit
from the use of special educational or
commercially available technical software.
The first class to use this facility will use
it for designing complex digital circuits.
In all endeavours. a primary concern
of the EERC has been the human aspect
of computer use. Considerable attention
has been paid to the physical environment
in the computer rooms. Both BEAC6N
and LIBRA feature specially designed
furniture and work areas to help students
fully benefit from their interaction with
the software.
Software development
The EERC is al 0 involved in the
development of in -house computer
software with specific engineering
education applications. Many professional
applications have considerable power but
proficiency comes too slowly to be
practical in a twelve-week time frame.
... concentrate on ideas
rather than details.
With this in mind, the EERC has
developed software for student use which
retains much of the capability of
professional programs but can be learned
quickly by the student. These programs
inch.:de ZAP! (Zeros And Poles) for
conlfol systems, VIPer (Visual Image
Processing) for interactive image
processing. and SIMILE for discrete event
simulation of queuing systems (e.g.
manufacturing system models). All of
these programs run on BEACON
workstations. However, the programs
mimic the operation style of Macintosh
programs, making them easier for students
to use and learn.
'Algebra systems
Algebra systems are powerful
programs thaI allow users tD ='1anipulate
mathematical expressions on the computer
symbolically. This allows variables to be

[ gJ
kept as variables, and does not require
numerical values for all variables and
constants. Maple, developed at UW, is an
example of such software. Introduced
appropriately, Maple can perform
lengthy, tedious, and often mechanical
calculations, freeing the student to
concentrate on ideas rather than details.
The EERC hopes that algebra systems
such as Maple will help engineering
students use math for design tasks rather
than be afraid of it, or worse yet , only
consider math as something thal has to be
... often bewildering
details and equations ...
learned for an exam. Students in control
systems and dynamics courses currently
use Maple as part of their course work.
Non-computer research
Members of the EERC staff are also
look at ways of improving education
without the use of computers. An
example is the investigation of different
learning styles among students. For
example, some students learn better from
abstract theory while others prefer hands-
on practical approaches. Using accepted
psychological questionnaires, the EERC
has, over the years, encouraged both
students and faculty to be aware of such
di fferences.
More recent work involves the use of
concept maps . The EERC has been
investigating ways of helping students
think about the interelationships among
essential concepts in difficult courses. By
being aware of these concept maps, the
students may find it easier to place the
often bewildering details and equations in a
course in better perspecti ve.
Final comments
The EERC is just one of several
organizations on campus that tries to
make the educational experience at
Waterloo more meaningful and rewarding.
The Teaching Resources And Continuing
Education (TRACE) group often helps
facuIty members develop their teaching
skills through seminars and other vehicles.
Groups within engineering such as
Engineering Counselling help many
students with study skills. The
Engineering Society also plays a vital role
(e.g. course critiques). And, of course,
there are individual faculty members who
are good teachers, or genuinely want to
become good teachers. The fundamental
purpose of the EERC is 10 encourage and
support their efforts.
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June 8,1990
Iron Warrior
The man behind the machines
Ted Timar
IW Staff
On Friday, June I, Dr. William
Wilson beeame the new Associate Dean
for Computing. Dr. Wilson is a professor
in the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering. and has served on
the Engineering Computing Committee
for six years. On May 29, he was kind
enough to talk to a reporter from the Iron
Warrior.
On Comput ing in Engineering
Dr. Wilson Slated that computing "is
playing an ever increasing role [in
engineering education]. This must be
acknowledged." Computer applications
arc used by engineering students both for
their specific disciplines and as general
purpose tools. Applications such as word
processors. databases, MathCAD and
Maple can be used by all engineering
students, while specialised simulation and
computer aided design packages are
becoming increasingly important in most
engineering disciplines. Students should
have all of these tools available to them
when needed.
Dr. William Wilson
Associate Dean for Computing.
In order to do this, we must have up-
to-daLe hardware, relevant and up-to-date
software, an accessible environment, and
we must integrate computing 'into course
work.
Computing tools do not replace the
student's need to learn underlying
theoretical concepts and analysis methods.
Engineering is about understanding the
fundamentals and applying them. The
curriculum should be refined to
accommodate technological changes, but
not watered down. Some things can be
replaced, but most changes should be in
finding new ways to apply the same
theories.
Computing can also be used more
directly in education, with Computer
Aided Instruction (CAl) and Computer
Aided Learning (CAL). Furthermore,
computers can be used by professors to
prepare belt.er classroom material.
On Accessible Computing
Accessibility of the computing
environment includes both physical and
user interface aspects. The Watstar facility
is very accessible, because of its location
and the number of PCs connected to it.
The environment in the Beacon Lab is
very pleasant. and it would be nice if such
an environment could be provided
everywhere. The facilities should be
managed with the user in mind.
Associate Dean for Computing
The Associate Dean's task is to see
that hardware, software and support are
provided to effectively meet the
requirements. Sources may be within the
Faculty of Engineering, central to the
University. or possibly from outside the
university.
Dr. Wilson stated that Engineering
Computing focuses on computing for
undergraduate edu alion, not or r arch.
"Researchers have been finding their own
resources. "
He will have to look into the future,
and provide direction and planning. We
should be trying to stay on the leading
edge, instead of trying to catch up to it.
This will require "creative fiscal
management"; finding money will
definitely be a role.
The Associate Dean for computing is
responsible for Engineering Computing.
including the Watstar facility, the Beacon
Lab and the Libra Lab. and the
Engineering Education Research Centre
(EERC) . The focus of the EERC is on
finding new applications for computing in
Engineering education, instead of just
supplying facilities for common
applications.
Recent reports within the faculty have
shown that the Watstar network is still the
best solution for the needs of the facuIty.
"We must look for the future
requirements, not always the latest
equipment. We must search for new
approaches to computing in engineering
education." Some areas would be
interactive video disk. Compact Disk
ROM (CD ROM), Computer Aided
Learning, and computer graphics. More
immediately, the PCs on Watstar need to
be upgraded.
"WatsLar is the workhorse, for general
purpose uses. The Beacon and Libra Labs
arc focuses. Each term can be seen as an
experiment." Networked workstations
have been proving themselves to be the
best solution for problems in the
Engineering environment.
SAN FRANCESCO
Page 7
D
How would he like students to look
back at his term? "Students should feel
that they have had an education that keeps
them at the forefront" with respect to
computing. When a student graduates.
they should feel that they are "at the top of
the ladder."
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Page 8 Iron Warrior June 8,1990
What DCS
Can
Paul Frattaroli
DCS Consultant
Many of the facilities and services
provided by the Department of Computing
Services (DeS) are provided free of charge
to all students, faculty and staff of the
university, and most are relatively easy to
take advantage of. Many engineering
students at UW are not aware of these
services. This is not to say that some
Engineers do not take full advantage of
what DCS offers, but these services are
under-utilized by engineering students as
a whole.
The Department of Computing
Services maintains five consulting offices
on campus. The main office is in MC
2015A, with other offices in HH 243,
ES2 190A and BMH 2116B. Also, most
importantly to engineers, there is a
consulting office in CPH 2367B (at the
back of the Eng. I/O room and adjacent to
the MacAnnex). The DCS consultant in
the CPH office can answer computing
questions about all of DCS's computing
systems, as well as the MacAnnex and
Watstar. If you are having a problem with
some of the software on Watstar, for
instance, the consultant can answer your
question, refer you to someone who can,
or let you reference a manual. The
manuals for most of the software on
Watstar and the MacAnnex are available
for reference in the engineering consulting
office.
The main consulting office in MC
2015A also provides many other services
in addition to the ones provided in the
engineering office. The freeware servers
Do For You
(both PC and Mac) which used to be in
MC 2018 (the Computer Information
Centre) are now In MC 2015A. These
machines allow users to bring in low
density floppy diskettes (of either size for
PCs) and download free software for their
own use. In the near future, this service
will be extended to support high density
floppies as well. There is also a disk
copying machine (which, like the freeware
server, does not yet support high density)
that allows copying of IBM PC data and
software from 3.5" to 5.25" diskettes or
vice versa.
If you have ever had trouble finding
magazine articles to use as references for a
workterm report, you may find one of the
DCS services .extremely helpful. DCS
has an on-line database of journal and
magazine articles called MicroDB. This
database is available to the public in the
math consulting office. MicroDB includes
information on the date and issue of a
particular article, as well as an abstract
that describes what the article is about.
Some of the magazines or journals
contained in the MicroDB database are
available in the math consulting office.
Some of the other services that will
be provided in the near future are a
machine for transferring files from PC to
Mac diskettes, and a PC for generating
PostScript files from MS Word or
WordPerfect for subsequent printing on the
laser printer in the main I/O room, MC
1063.
The Department of Compllting
Services provides facilities and services to
the entire University - take advantage of
them.
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Co-op
Update
Harvey Watson
4A Chemical
Have you ever stood in line to check
the interview board? If you're in a Co-
operative program then you have had the
undeniable pleasure of fighting a crowd of
other students just to find that you don't
have an interview. What's more, you get
to do it every day for a few weeks. This
dubious pleasure will soon cease to be.
The cO!Tlputer system for the co-op
department was designed in 1975 for 6000
math and engineering students with 4000
industry contacts. There are now 9700
students in a large variety of disciplines
and 12000 industry contacts all operating
on a system that hasn't changed much in
the last 15 years.
... co-op could save
$26 000 a year.
"In '86 we were planning to do the
system for interview scheduling." said Bud
Walker, Director of Data Processing.
After a short review it was decided that the
entire system needed to be overhauled to
implement some new features and remove
some bugs. A study was done to
determine what new features were desired.
The study was completed in October 1989,
but the programming was put on hold
because the university had "other
priorities" for the Data Processing
Department the government had passed
legislation that required changes to
existing programs.
In January 1990, a Co-op student was
hired to work on the project full time.
There will be one co-op student working
on the project every term until it is
complete. The only other resources
allocated to the project are one "full time"
data processing staff member who has
other projects which take priority.
The new system will be loaded with
features. Five of these will directly affect
students.
a) On-line scheduling will allow students
to log onto their co-op account from
anywhere on the university to se<. when
they will have interviews.
D
I f-=::r
n
i If
..
b) Job descnptJons Will be avaIlable
line to allow computerized sorting, and
to reduce the number of copies of Want
Ads printed.
c) Student workterm evaluations will be
available on-line to show students what
others thought of the job and the
company.
d) Ranlcings will be entered directly to the
system, reducing the amount of
processing required before matching can
begin.
e) Resumes will be submitted in electronic
form and then printed by the Co-op
department on a laser printer as desired.
There are still problems, however.
Most of th.ese are minor: deciding the best
way to allow access to the system, and
which format to require for the resumes.
The most disconcerting problem is
relatively easy to solve. The Co-op
Department wants to reduce the amount of
paper sent to each employer. Presently,
they send your resume (1-2 pages), a
Work term Evaluation Summary (1 page),
and a photocopy of your Student
Examination Report, which is that list of
marks you get at the end of every term
that isn't an official transcript (up to 4
pages by the sixth workterm). They
would like to combine the Work term
Evaluation Summary and the Student
Examination Report to a single page. The
result would be 2-3 pages sent to each
employer per student instead of the present
3-7. Enormous amounts of paper would
be saved, not to mention the savings in
postage because the packages would be
significantly lighter.
There is only one hitch. The
Registrar's Office has not so far met with
the Co-op department to agree upon the
content of the marks summary. When
asked about the possibility of creating a
summary format, the Registrar, Trevor
Boyes, said "1 don't think there is any
reason we couldn't do that." Considering
that the Co-op department could saVe" 330
000 pages a year or about $26 ()()() a year,
it would be time well spent.
Until the full scale program is
implemented, there is a temporary
solution that is now in use so that the
search for interviews is less tedious.
Those of you going through interviews
will now find them listed by your last
name on the postings in Needles Hall and
elsewhere.
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The Best In The LAN
Arlan Nugara
WATST AR Consultant
W ATST AR. There was a time (long,
long ago) when that word would bring fear
into the heart of the average Waterloo
engineering student. It was a time when
the original IBM PC was a hot litlle
computer and the CP/M world was fading
quickly. The year was 1984 and
W ATST AR was born. Its mandate in life
was to fulfill the academic role of a
general purpose network computing
facility.
Six years later, the WATSTAR
network has become the engineering
faculty's primary computing resource and
is considered one of the major computing
systems on campus. It is also the
campus' largest microcomputer network
with nearly 400 stations and
approximately 5000 accounts during peak
periods, and it still continues to expand in
size as greater demands are placed on it.
Typically, the upgrades and additions to
W A TST AR are done in small increments,
such as the recent upgrade of the 108
server from a TURBO XT (10 MHz and
640K of RAM) to a '386 computer (20
MHz and 1MB of RAM) and the upgrade
of the CIVIL ring disk drive from 474 MB
to 824 MB which brings the total hard
IS capacity of W A TST AR to over 7
gigabytes.
Besides providing users with the
essential software packages required for
courses, such as spreadsheets, compilers,
and CAD programs, as well as simulation
and mathematical (eg. MAPLE) packages,
W ATST AR provides additional software
for general purpose use. Two of the more
popular packages that fall into this
category are WordPerfect and COREL
DRAW.
*Watstar
Network Topology
May 17, 1990
WordPerfect on W A TST AR
WordPerfect was upgraded from 5.0 to
5.1 during the previous winter term.
WordPerfect 5.1 offers several new and
improved features designed to make work: a
Ii ttle easier and tasks less time-
consuming. With the new Equation
Editor built into WordPerfect 5.l, you can
display and print mathematical equations
by choosing from over 300 commonly
used symbols and commands. WP 5.1
also supports context sensitive Help (F3),
the ability to import and link spreadsheet
files to your WP document, and a more
convenient Table feature that provides a
quick and efficient method of compiling
and organizing tabular data. One of the
most noticeable enhancements has been
the addition of pull-down menus and full
mouse support in WP 5.1 There are also
several changes planned for WordPerfcct
support on WATSTAR. Starting Monday
June 11, WordPerfect 5.0 will no longer
be available on W A TST AR and the new
March '90 (bug fix) release of WP 5.1 will
replace the current 5.1 version. This new
version can be loaded by simply typing
WP' at the OOS prompt. This version of
WP 5.1 is configured somewhat differently
to make the new features more prominent,
but all the old command keystrokes were
left intact.
COREL D AW on WA S A
The software package with the fastest
growth in demand is COREL DRAW. It
is a high quality graphics program which
is both powerful and easy to use and yet
unlike any other graphics package
available for the IBM PC. It provides
such features as 50 professional typefaces
and styles, WYSIWYG display, the ability
to cditletter shapes, fixing text to a curve,
powerful curve editing tools, special
Oconl Rooma:
EL-I08
BZ-1302
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CIwmbJ
BI-1529
CtvD:
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Page 9
D
effects, and calligraphic pen shapes. Il
supports PostScript effects, colour
separations, and colour output. It also
allows versatile import and export
formats; such as the ability to import
PIC, EPS, TlF and PCX file formats or to
export to programs such as WordPerfect.
The TIF and PCX file formats are very
convenient since the Engineering
Photographic Deparunent, which provides
scanning services, can save a image in one
of these two formats for later enhancement
in COREL DRAW.
To allow greater accessibility to
COREL DRAW and other software that
supports a mouse, the '386s in EL 108
and E2 1302 will have mice permancntly
auached to them.
Reaching Out from WATSTAR ....
Moving on to communication
packages, you can now "reach out from
WATSTAR" with the aid of programs like
1ELNET and FIP. They allow people to
have terminal sessions with other
computer systems, such as CMS, VMS
and UNIX on campus as well as off-
campus.
There are some final features and
changes on W A TST AR that are worth
mentioning. The first is that the
W A TST AR e-mail message size limit has
now been increased to 16K from 4K. You
will fmd ths useful, if you have large
ASCII files or messages to mail to
someone on campus or somewhere in the
world. To those that are unaware of the
latter fact, you can send electronic mail to
anywhere in the world from WATSTAR
as long as you know the person's e-mail
addrcs '. People use iL LO mail to
locations in the U.S., Germany,
Nctherlands and even such exotic and
distant destinations as Japan. The
W ATST AR mail system is currently
going through an upgrade process in order
lO betLCr fill the growing needs and greater
sophiticaLion of the WATSTAR user. An
extra benefit of this will the availabiiLy of
UNIX mail.
For Lase'r Lovers
Finally, for people who love to laser
print, here is small bit of information that
you might find interesting. If you have
several PostScript files on disk that you
would like to laser print in one job, you
can use the 'COPY' command to combine
all the output files inLO one new file for
laser printing. For example, you have
three files called DRAWING l.PS,
DRA WING2.PS and WREPORT.PS.
Typing, 'COpy ".PS NEWFILE.PRN',
will then combine these three files with
the ending '.PS' and save it under the
specified file name. If the files have
different names, you can use the command
'COpy SourceFile 1 +SourceFile2+,..
NewFile' to combine the various
PostScript files into one new file. You
can then laser print this new file by
typing: 'LASER filename.ext'. This can
save you the cost of a few banner pages.
A Final Note
If you have any questions with regard
to anything discussed above or other
aspects of W A TST AR, fee) free to drop by
my office in EL 108 (x6814) or mail me a
message (ARLAN@ 108). In my next
article, I will explain a little about the
role of the WATSTAR Consultant as well
as the results of the Fall Term
WATSTAR survey.
Page 10 Iron Warrior June 8,1990
John Who?
Harvey Watson
4A Chemical
Most of you know the name John
Vellinga. For me he was just that: a
name that I had heard onee in a while.
Last February the person to whom that
name is attached was elected to the
position of President of the Federation of
Students of University of Waterloo.
For this interview I was trying to
answer the question "Who is John
Vellinga, and what makes him tick?"
In the election, John received the
majority of votes from engineering
students. When I asked how this affects
his mandate he said that his background
was in EngSoc and engineering so he,
expected a large number of votes from
engineering students, but as far as he was
concerned it was only the group that he
knew. This group only offset the group
that his opponent Mark (the head Don in
village) knew. Because of his engineering
following he was on an even basis with
Mark. From this starting point they both
had an equal opportunity to win the
election.
Who is John Vellinga
and what makes him
tick?
John is no stranger to student
politics. He started in grade 12 as
President of the student council of WCI
(Waterloo Collegiate Institute) and then
went on to be 6raduation Committee
Chair in grade 13. In 1 A he came to
Systems Design Engineering at UW. The
very next term he was Publicity Director.
Fearing a tough term in 2A he IOned down
his activities and didn't hold an official
office. In 2B he ran for the position of
Vice-President of the Engineering Society
in a by-election. He won and was Vice-
President for 1 term. He started his term
as President of EngSoc in 3A (September
1988) and held the position for the normal
two terms, ending in December 1989.
That's when he decided to run for
Federation President
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He works very hard. Just trying to
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week and a half of telephone tag. He
spends most of his time during the day in
meetings and can only work on his own
projects in the evenings. He says that he
thinks the job is "Great!"
There arc a large number of
similarities between EngSoc and the Fcds.
They have a similar structure with a
President, two Vice- Presidents (One of
them is the treasurer in EngSoc) and a
whole host of other positions. They also
have a very similar mindset. As John
says, they both try to "create an
environment which encourages the
individual .
There are also differences. As Fed
President, John feels much further
removed from the everyday happenings of
the university. In EngSoc he was the
President, but he was also saddled with the
responsibilities of chief administrator and
full-time student. EngSoc.'s smaller size
makes this survivable.
The Feds are also much more formal.
John used to say in EngSoc "I don't care
how it gets done just do it." Now he has
to be careful that he doesn't step on any
toes when he asks for something to be
done.
The only goal of the
Feds is 10 improve life
for students.
Just about everything he has done has
helped him in SQme way with his position
as Fed President. His participation in the
Sanford Fleming Foundation debates
helped with public speaking and gave John
a working knowledge of Robert's Rules of
parliamentary procedure. His experience
in promoting the Voluntary Student
Contribution (VSC) should help him in
the upcoming referendum for the Student
Life Building. Being EngSoc President
gave him an introductory course in the
"Principles and Pitfalls of leadership." He
says that "EngSoc was a good microcosm
of students." He learned a lot there and is
applying it now.
Even his Engineering education is
helping but in a much more abstract way.
Engineering helped by teaching the
methodology, the approach to solving
Dean Honoured
"This dean, above all else, was loyal to the students.
I would like to thank you [Dean Lennox] for that."
problems, and the value of having a level
head. He has Laken some organizational
behaviour courses that have helped, and a
general understanding of engineering
principles has been valuable when
reviewing the plans for the new Student
Life building.
"Learning leadership
skills is like riding a
bike."
In the area of relations with the
faculty societies, John remembers how he
felt that the Feds were a disjoint, far-off
bureaucracy. He wants to bring the
societies closer together. Most people
know that there is a committee of
presidents in which the Fed President
meets with all the society presidents, but
there are also several other connections.
The Social Director from each society is
invited to sit on the Board of
Entertainment Committee. There also are
other links to the Creative Arts
Committee and the Publicity Director i ~
invited to help with another Committee.
While interviewing John, a former
EngSoc President, and with all the
discussion about The Tool recently, I had
to ask about his views on the subject.
His views are basically as follows: Very
few engineering students have a problem
with The Tool. It's the people outside
engineering that have the problem with it.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a bubble
and we have to worry about how other
people pereeive us. As solutions we could
call it the "Wrench". We are called
Plummers so it is somewhat appropriate
to have a wrench as our mascot. The
mascot has also been known as "The
Sacred Spanner". Both of these names are
without the phallic connotations of "The
Ridgid Tool".
The best thing that I heard John say
on the subject of the Engineering Image
though was that at the last Canadian
Federation of Students (CFS) meeting he
was bragging about aJl that Waterloo
Engineering students are doing 10 improve
that image. So it seems that we're doing
it right.
If you are thinking of a position like
this, John has a couple of suggestions to
pass on: First you learn to delegate 95%
of what has to be done. You can't
possibly do it all yourself so let other
people do it
- Dr. Tom Brzutowski
Second, delegate authority, not jobs.
If you delegate authority then you
empower the person to do a good job.
They have the authority to take novel
approaches and try different routes 10 solve
the problem. They feel good because they
have accomplished something. and because
they know that you have faith in their
ability You don't have to make as many
decisions and people are more loyal when
they are treated properly.
Third, you should read a number of
books on leadership. A good one to start
with is "In Search of Excellence" by Tom
Peters and Robert Waterman Jr. Others
are "Thriving in Chaos" by Tom Peters
and "Leadership Effectiveness Training" by
Gordon.
As John says "Learning leadership
skills is like riding a bike: you never
forgel."
"/ don't know and 1
don't want to know. "
John sees his role as president as the
person who should articulate the vision.
In movies by Tom Peters they talk about
treating the customer like gold. In the
Federation of Students the customer is the
student. The only goal of the Federation
of Students is to improve life for students.
This view seems high and idealized but it
does have visible results. For instance:
take the people serving tables at Fed Hall.
Their job isn't to serve alcohol to some
people at a table. Their job is to show the
people at the table a good time. This is
done by being considerate, friendly, and
maybe even by joking with the people
while they serve drinks. The job of the
doormen is not to throw out unruly
people, though that's part of it: their job
is to show people a good time. They
greet people when they come in, and are
friendly and helpful.
When asked about what lies in the
future, John said "1 don't know and I don't
want to know." He figures that he will
solve that problem when he gets there.
, is inspirational message goes like
this. You can work very hard for that
extra three percent. If you feel fulfilled
doing this, then do it. but there are a lot of
other things to learn at university. Keep
your eyes open and learn things that will
enhanee your education.
In the end, what makes .John tick?
The answer is simple: you and me.
June 8,1990 Iron Warrior Page 11
Engineering Rogers Pass
CP Rail's new $SOO-million,
35-kilometre Rogers Pass line through the
heart of the towering Selkirk Mountains
of British Columbia was completed on
time and under budget. It may well be the
most ex.pensive section of railway track in
the world.
The project involved some of the
most advanced engineering techniques, but
it is also a showcase for environmental
responsibility. It was construct.ed largely
within one of the most environmentally
sensitive areas in the country: Glacier
National Park. The project was planned,
monitored and studied in conjunction with
Environment Canada and Parks Canada,
and when finished was lauded by
environmentalists and national park
administrators as a model of how to Pv
things right.
Engineering challenges included:
avalanches, tunnels, ventilation shafts,
work camps, surface routes, retaining
walls, bridges, culverts and viaducts.
The work took four and a half years of
construction - the single biggest
construction and n g i n ~ r i n g effort by the
railway since the original line was buill
more than a century ago. Nearly five
years after the construction began, the
completed project was officially
inaugurated on May 4, 1989. Its
completion ensures that CP rail has the
capacity to provide Canadian shippers with
an effective, high capacity railway route to
the W cst Coasl.
"Challenge" will be introduced by Mr.
Bill Krestinski, Chief of Unit Engineering ,------------------------------,
Int.ermodal Freight Systems, CP Rail.
Mr. Krestinski is a graduate of the
University of Saskatchewan but is a very
special friend and supporter of the
University of Waterloo's Faculty of
Engineering. For the past six years he
has served as a member of the
Waterloo Advisory Council Engineering
Subcommittee.
Mr. Krestinski will be available to
answer questions afl.Cr the presentation of
"Challenge". When shown last term, it
had an audience of about 300, and
questions wenl on until the Theatre staff
asked everyone to leave.
!CHALLENGE!
90-minute feature length film
The story of the largest Candian railway
engineering project since construction
of the original transcontinental line
Covers construction of the $500 million
Rogers Pass line through the
Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia
Time:
Date:
Location:
7:30pm
Tuesday June 19
Theatre of The Arts
Sponsored by: Sandford Fleming Foundation
Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo.
Page 12
Iron Warrior June 8,1990
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