NSERC’s Commitment to Gender Equity: Pursuing research excellence Anne Webb, Program Officer, Scholarships and Fellowships Women in Science and Engineering NSERC is conscious of and concerned about gender equity and diversity in natural sciences and engineering research. For decades, we have been implementing initiatives to increase women and girls’ participation in these fields. These initiatives are now being complemented by additional institutional commitments and a Council-wide action plan to increase gender equity as an element of research excellence. Our current strategic plan, NSERC 2020, has as one of the five strategic goals “Building a Diversified and Competitive Research Base” which includes gender equity as a key priority. This presentation addresses the current participation of women in science and engineering in Canada, what some of the equity issues are as NSERC understands them, and presents the initiatives and actions NSERC is committed to undertaking to increase gender equity in science and engineering research. Tea and coffee will be served Please rsvp to Lisa Sanderson, lmsanderson@upei.ca by Tuesday, August 16.

On October 21st, the Catholic Studies programme and the Canadian Catholic Students' Association will host the Second Annual Blessed John Henry Newman Dinner. Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, CEO of Salt and Light Media and English-Language Attache to the Holy See Press Office at the Vatican, will speak on "Cardinal Newman and Pope Francis: Restoring Citizenship to those in Exodus." Held in the SDU Class of 1954 Lecture Hall, School of Sustainable Design Engineering. Reception is at 6:00 pm with dinner to follow at 7:00 pm.   Tickets are $80/each of a table of ten is $750. For tickets, please visit SDU Main Building, room 293; call 902-566-0774; or email rdennis@upei.ca. Proceeds support joint educational initiatives of Catholic Studies and the CCSA -- partial tax receipt provided. Please join us for this special evening!

Molecular & Macromolecular Science Seminar - Tuesday, August 16 Dr. Ian Manners, Professor of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry, University of Bristol will present a seminar on Tuesday August 16, 2016 at 1:00 pm.  The presentation is entitled, "Living Crystallization-Driven, Seeded Growth Approaches to Functional Supramolecular Materials".  The seminar will be held in the Kelley Memorial Building, Room 237.   All are Welcome!

Tuesday, August 16, 3-5 in the AVC Commons Please come and view the posters of the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research at UPEI. A great way to find out some of the research happening at UPEI.

The public is invited to attend the Atlantic Veterinary College’s 28th annual Open House on Saturday, September 24, from 10 am until 2 pm.  A free event hosted by students, faculty and staff, AVC Open House offers the community an opportunity to get an inside view of a busy veterinary college. There is something for everyone including family-friendly activities, exhibits, live animal demonstrations, a parade of dog breeds, farm animals, community organizations, and much more. Come walk through a cow’s stomachs, dress like a surgeon, and tour the hospital. Children are encouraged to bring their stuffed animals to be examined by a veterinary student at the teddy bear clinic, get their faces painted, or take home a balloon animal. Families and children are invited to pick up an AVC Open House passport and collect stamps from the various stations as they tour the college. Once their visit is completed, children can visit the passport office to receive their AVC Open House certificate. Everyone is welcome, but please do not bring personal pets to this event.

Members of AVC's Class of 2020 officially start off their first year on Friday, August 26, at the AVC-CVMA Blue Coat ceremony, a special event to mark the beginning of their veterinary education. Welcome, Class of 2020!

Members of the University and PEI sports community are invited to join Mr. Sean Casey, Member of Parliament for Charlottetown, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency; the Honourable Richard Brown, Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning; Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island, and Mr. Mike O’Grady, Vice-President, Innovation and Strategic Development at Holland College for a special announcement regarding an infrastructure upgrade on the UPEI campus.    

Ms. Izumi Nonaka will defend her Master of Arts Island Studies thesis entitled "Niche and off-island strategies for island business:  Case studies from Prince Edward Island". The defence will take place on Friday, August 26th, 11:30am, in Rm. 409 Dalton Hall. Given limited space, please RSVP to jarandall@upei.ca if you wish to attend.

Are you a first-year Arts student? Come enjoy coffee and chocolate and meet some profs and fellow students at this orientation event. There's even a table with free second-hand books for you to browse through.

We are very pleased to announce that the UPEI Executive MBA program will be hosting a special guest speaker event with Matt Marx on Thursday, August 25 from 4:30 to 6:00pm at Marc's Studio, 125 Sydney Street. Most entrepreneurs focus on writing a business plan, prototyping their product, and raising capital. But they often ignore—or postpone—critical organizational issues that may have as much or more impact on their eventual success. Who should be on the founding team? How do we allocate rewards including equity? What should everyone’s roles be? Unfortunately, the “obvious” decision can be dead wrong…but the entrepreneur doesn’t realize this until it is months or years too late. Matt Marx is an Associate Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management and Mitsui Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management. Drawing on his experience working in both Silicon Valley and Boston startups, Marx studies the systematic and institutional barriers to the growth of new ventures. He holds seven patents, and was previously an inventor and an executive at multiple startup companies in the speech recognition industry. As vice president of professional services at Tellme Networks, he led a team of 75 in growing annualized revenue from $5 million to more than $100 million. Marx holds a BS in symbolic systems from Stanford University, an SM in media arts and sciences from MIT, and an MBA and a DBA in business administration from Harvard University.