Supporting entrepreneurship and encouraging business development are the key objectives of a new LaunchPad business incubator at the University of Prince Edward Island.
LaunchPad at UPEI provides a professional setting for students to start a business. In addition to the use of a furnished office space and access to communications technologies, the students benefit from the services of professional mentors at the university's School of Business.
'The introduction of the LaunchPad program to UPEI means that full-time student entrepreneurs will now have access to the infrastructure and support needed to start a business while completing their business degree,' said Hon. Allan Campbell, Minister of Innovation and Advanced Learning. 'My department is committed to partnering with the business community and post-secondary institutions in an effort to strengthen our business community and labour force.'
'The University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to partner with the Province and Innovation PEI to promote entrepreneurship,' said Dr Roberta MacDonald, dean of the School of Business. 'The LaunchPad program complements the philosophy of the University and the School of Business. We believe in inspiring excellence in our students by working together so students can pursue their dreams and realize their ambitions in life and in business.'
Two students have already been accepted as the LaunchPad participants for the 2010 year. They are Nicholas MacLeod and Erica Wagner. MacLeod's Future Web Design provides clients with a complete package of internet options such as web development, e-commerce and IT technical support.
'Business is continually evolving with the advancement in technology and the capabilities of the internet,' said MacLeod. 'My clients' needs range from a basic website to effectively promote their business, up to a site with e-commerce capability.'
Erica Wagner focuses on Social Media Marketing as a business tool and Personal Branding. Services range from logo creation to an affordable, seamless and integrated marketing campaign for small businesses on PEI.
LaunchPad business incubator facilities are also available at Holland College, the Atlantic Technology Centre in Charlottetown, and the Holman Building in Summerside.
For more information, visit www.LaunchpadPEI.ca or contact Joan Fleming at the UPEI School of Business at jofleming@upei.ca about LaunchPad at UPEI.

The UPEI Co-operative Education Office is inviting PEI employers in private-sector businesses to hire talented Co-op students who are available for 12-16 week work terms. These work terms run during the May-August, September-December, and January-April periods.

'Our students are highly motivated, bright, hard working and possess many of the valuable skills needed in today's work place. These students are serious about their education and are keen to contribute to the success of any business and/or organization,' says Ernie Doiron, Coordinator of UPEI's Business Co-op Program. The program began in 1996 and has grown in popularity with PEI employers ever since.

Wage incentives are available for 50 per cent of a student's hourly wage, up to a maximum contribution of $7.50 per hour. Employers are eligible to this receive this assistance for up to 16 weeks.

For more information on this employment opportunity, contact Ernie Doiron at edoiron@upei.ca

The University of Prince Edward Island will confer honorary degrees on four outstanding people during Convocation on Saturday, May 8, in recognition of their leadership and service in public and community life.

The honorary graduands are the Honourable Patrick G. Binns, Canada's ambassador to Ireland; Donald N. MacKenzie, a leader in the PEI potato industry; Judy Bragg, a philanthropist and active participant in rural community affairs; and Harry Snow, a well-known figure in the construction industry who has served as a mentor for young entrepreneurs.

The convocation ceremonies will take place in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Binns will address graduates attending the morning convocation, and Bragg will speak at the afternoon ceremony.

The Honourable Patrick G. Binns was appointed Canada's Ambassador to Ireland in 2007. He served for 11 years as premier of PEI, four years as an MP for the riding of Cardigan, and six years as a provincial minister in various portfolios including industry, fisheries, and community affairs. Before entering politics, he worked with the PEI Rural Development Council.

Donald N. MacKenzie's far-sightedness in the potato industry led to the development of major seed varieties in PEI and improvements in potato handling and transportation. He was named to the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2008, and as an Honorary Lifetime Director of the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts in 2000.

Summerside native Judy Bragg now lives in Collingwood, NS. She has played a strong leadership role in her family and community throughout the development of her family's business, the Bragg Group of Companies. Founded by her husband John, the companies are major players in the processing of wild blueberries and other agricultural products. Through their family foundation, Judy and John Bragg have supported several universities, including UPEI.

The Mawi'omi Aboriginal Resource Centre at UPEI will host its third annual aboriginal festival on March 24 and 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the campus.

Connecting Aboriginal Cultures: Embracing the Past, Celebrating Our Future will take place in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre and the Main Building Faculty Lounge at UPEI. The festival is free and open to all ages.

Members of the local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities will share their cultures in a mini powwow through dancing, drumming, singing, talking circles, traditional teachings, crafts, artist demonstrations, games, food, and activities for all ages and more. Artists, community leaders and elders will share their wisdom during the festival. Well-known dancer, drummer and singer Garland Joe Augustine from Elsipogtog, New Brunswick, will emcee the two-day festival.

National aboriginal role model Jessica Yee, from the Mohawk Nation, will give the keynote address on Wednesday, March 24, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Yee is founder and executive director of the Native Sexual Health Network, a North America-wide organization working on issues of healthy sexuality, reproductive justice, cultural competency and youth empowerment. She is the 2009 recipient of the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award, and was named one of 20 International Women's Health Heroes by Our Bodies, Our Blog.

Author and newspaper editor Julie Pellissier-Lush will give a writing workshop on Thursday, March 25, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. Pellissier-Lush wrote a book called My Mi'kmaq Mother to pay tribute to her mother but also to preserve in writing her history and culture for future generations. She is editor of the provincial aboriginal newspaper Kwimu Messenger, published by the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island.

Partnering with the Mawi'omi Aboriginal Resource Centre are UPEI, the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, the Aboriginal Women's Association of Prince Edward Island and the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island. The Centre has received funding for the festival from Canadian Heritage's Building Community through Arts and Heritage program.

Established in 2009, the Mawi'omi Aboriginal Resource Centre provides students with the opportunity to celebrate and share with others the cultural diversity of Aboriginal peoples on campus and throughout the community.

For more information, contact project manager Julie Bull at (902) 620-5125 or jbull@upei.ca, or visit the festival website.

The University of Prince Edward Island's Department of Music will present its Wind Symphony in its final recital of the academic year this Thursday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the Dr. Steel Recital Hall.

The center-piece of the program will be a performance of Roger Cichy's Bugs. A six-movement work, Bugs attempts to describe in musical terms the characters of a variety of insects. The Praying Mantis, as its name infers, has a slow religious movement. The Butterfly is depicted with its grace and beauty, while Ants are described in a dissonant March portrayed as savage predators, constantly on the move.

Opening the program is Cathedrals by the young American composer Kathryn Salfelder. Cathedrals is an adventure in neo-Renaissance Music, based on Gabrieli's Canzon Primi Toni, a work scored for two brass choirs and typically stationed in opposite balconies of the church. The work is a synthesis of the old and the new, evoking the mystery and allure of Gabrieli's spatial music, intertwined with a rich color palette, modal harmonies, and textures of woodwinds and percussion.

Concluding the program is Scootin' On Hardrock. Subtitled Three Short Scat-Jazzy Dances, this work is an adventure merging the rock and jazz idioms in a virtuosic display for the modern wind band. Rapid woodwind passage work, brass riffs, and percussion punctuation all combine for a wild ride in this genre.

Under the direction of Dr. Karem J. Simon, the Wind Symphony has been acclaimed for its performance standard and programming. The 53 members of this year's ensemble consist of 24 music majors, other UPEI students, high school students, and community musicians.

Performing for their final recital as students with the Wind Symphony are graduating seniors Philip Kromer and Sara Arsenault. Philip, from Montague, PEI, is principal percussionist and has had a highly active undergraduate career contributing not only to the Wind Symphony but to the Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and a variety of vocal groups. His recent solo senior recital was a musical success.

Sara, from Charlottetown, is principal clarinetist and has had an eight-year career with the Wind Symphony extending for three years prior to her five-year Bachelor of Music Education Degree Program. She has been a frequent performer on the university's recital series, has been soloist with the Wind Symphony, and will perform her solo senior recital next week.

Both Philip and Sara are part of the rich Wind Symphony history for which their leadership and musical contributions have had a far reaching impact.

For information, contact the UPEI Music Department at (902) 566-0507.

Dr. Andrew Cumming of McGill University's physics department will give a public presentation called In Search of New Worlds: The Discovery and Characterization of Exoplanets on Friday, March 26, from 3 to 5 p.m., at UPEI.

Cumming's talk will take place in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium (Room 242) in Don and Marion McDougall Hall.

The last decade has seen a revolution in our understanding of planetary systems, with the birth of the new field of exoplanets, says Cumming. Almost 400 planets orbiting other stars have been discovered, with masses from a few times that of Earth to ten times the mass of Jupiter, and orbital periods of only a few days to more than ten years. These discoveries are answering the question of whether solar systems such as our own are common in the galaxy, and the diverse properties of the known exoplanets are challenging our ideas of the physics of planet formation and evolution.

During his lecture, he will describe the techniques by which these planets are being discovered and characterized, summarize the latest discoveries and what is being learned from them, and look forward to the exciting new discoveries to expect in the coming decade and beyond.

Cumming is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at McGill University, working in theoretical astrophysics. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in December 2000, where he worked with Lars Bildsten. He then spent a year as a post doc at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) in Santa Barbara before moving to the University of California, Santa Cruz, as a Hubble Fellow. He joined the McGill Department of Physics in September 2004. He has been a Scholar of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Cosmology and Gravity program since 2004, and was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship.

For more information, contact the UPEI Department of Physics at (902) 566-0491.

Chad Heron, a fourth-year UPEI School of Business student, overcame stiff competition to win a $5,000 first prize and the opportunity to compete for the national Nicol Award in Ottawa on March 30, 2010.

Mr. Heron's winning concept, The Shelf.ca, triumphed over four other entrants who made the UPEI shortlist for the prestigious entrepreneurial competition.

The Shelf.ca helps students connect, share and collaborate. The initial product is an online textbook exchange that offers features for both buyers and sellers, eliminating the need for 'Books for Sale' flyers that are a universal feature of any university bulletin board. With the rising cost of textbooks, the demand for used books is growing. With limited options to buy and sell books, The Shelf.ca is a great opportunity for student engagement and monetization. The Shelf.ca is expandable to provide social networking integration designed to offer an efficient marketplace for students. A beta version of the site was launched to UPEI students over the winter semester.

The Nicol Entrepreneurial local competition held recently at UPEI was judged by Reagh Ellis, President of the Entrepreneur's Forum and owner of Mark's Work Wearhouse, and Sean Casey, QC, Regional Managing Partner of Stewart McKelvey, President of the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce and a former Chairman of First Angel Investor Network. The judges were overwhelmed by both the ideas and the professionalism of the competitors. In awarding the $5,000 first prize to Mr. Heron and his partner Mr. Seaman, the judges were impressed with the concept and the development of the product. Second prize of $2,000 was awarded to Mr. Tyson Gimblett, with the third place of $1,000 being taken by Mr. Danny Murray.

The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, launched in 1997, is unique for its emphasis on the value of the entrepreneurial spirit and the key role it plays in the success of a business. The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award attracts the brightest students from multiple disciplines to encourage the development of the next generation of entrepreneurs who will drive the Canadian economy. No other business award offers as true-to-life an experience or is as inclusive as the Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, which welcomes entries from any undergraduate student with a solid business idea, from any program.

Teams from 14 of Canada's top universities compete locally for cash prizes and the opportunity to be chosen by the national selection judges to be one of six finalists to go head-to-head at the National Award Gala for the National Nicol Award.

The Award will be presented during the sixth annual Nicol Entrepreneurial Award Gala on March 30, 2010, at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa. Richard L'Abbé, co-founder and former CEO of Med-Eng Systems Inc., will be the keynote speaker at this year's event.

For further information about the UPEI competition, please contact:
Prof. Alan Duncan
Tel: 902-367-9929
Email: awduncan@upei.ca

For more information, please contact:

Alison Canavan
Tel: 613-290-4456
Email: alisonc@aceeventmanagement.ca

(Media release from Nicol Entreprenueurial Award)

Jared Gomes, a UPEI business student, was named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Rookie of the Year for men's hockey Wednesday night in Thunder Bay at the All-Canadian Banquet, kicking off the University Cup. Gomes, a native of Brampton, Ontario became the first UPEI winner of the Clare Drake Award since its inception in 1985-86.

Gomes was named the 2009-10 recipient of the A.J. MacAdam Memorial Trophy as the Rookie of the Year in the Atlantic University Sport conference on March 16th, putting him in the running for the national honour.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward had an impressive freshman season for the UPEI Panthers finishing ninth in AUS scoring with 33 points (17-16-33) in 28 games, second in the conference with four game-winning goals, and sixth with seven power-play markers. The 21-year-old freshman, who led his team in goals, power-play goals and game winners, guided the Panthers to a 15-11-2 record good for fourth place in the Atlantic.

Gomes played with the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and Sarnia Sting of the OHL prior to coming to UPEI. Kinkora native Dave Cameron is General Manager and Head Coach of the Majors and played a part, along with former UPEI Coach Dylan Taylor, in Gomes' decision to play for UPEI.

Gomes said, 'I talked with my family and bunch of people and decided UPEI would be a good choice for academics and hockey. And on the ice, we have great coaching and a great group of guys.' He adds, 'When I heard the news about the award, I was super-excited.'

Current UPEI Head Coach, Forbes MacPherson says, "To say that Jared Gomes has adjusted well, in transition from OHL to CIS, would be a dramatic understatement. In just his first year of CIS competition, Jared, tied for second on our team in scoring.'

Jared displays a tremendous level of work ethic, character, and discipline. Evidence of this, exists beyond the ice. Academically, in his initial semester at university, he achieved an 87.2 average while taking a full work load of five courses. MacPherson adds, 'Without a doubt, Jared has had a tremendous impact on the campus of UPEI.'

"Jared Gomes is an outstanding young man who epitomizes the highest standard of CIS Student-Athlete Excellence,' says Ron Annear, UPEI Athletic Director. 'A highly skilled player whose effort both on the ice and in the class room has garnered impressive results, and contributed greatly to one of UPEI's best seasons in several years."

Other CIS major award winners announced were third-year University of New Brunswick forward Hunter Tremblay, who was named CIS player of the year; Marc-André Dorion of St-Hubert, Que., who was named defenceman of the year; Manitoba's Steve Christie of Winnipeg, selected as the country's best goaltender; UQTR right winger Francis Guérette-Charland of Victoriaville, Que., who claimed the R.W. Pugh award as the nation's most sportsmanlike player; UNB's Gardiner MacDougall of Bedeque, P.E.I., who captured the Father George Kehoe memorial award as coach of the year; and Alberta forward Tyler Metcalfe of Headingley, Man., who received the Dr. Randy Gregg award recognizing his excellence in hockey, academics and community involvement.

For more information about the CIS hockey awards, visit the CIS website.

You can't spin a two-litre pop bottle in the modern world without hitting another piece of plastic. Plastics are cheap to produce, lightweight, and are strong and flexible enough to be used in millions of applications. However, most are made from finite oil resources, and at the end of their usefulness are either thrown into a landfill or burned, generating harmful emissions.

Dr. Andrew Dove, Associate Professor of Chemistry and RCUK at the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK, will give a public talk entitled "Biodegradable Plastics: A Sustainable Future or A Temporary Fix?' on Wednesday, March 31, in the Wanda Wyatt Lecture Theatre (Room 104) of UPEI's K. C. Irving Chemistry Building, at 7 p.m.

Poly(lactide) is the leading contender of the new so-called 'green plastics,' made of renewable organic material. As the cost of production of green plastics decreases, chemists such as Dr. Dove are trying to overcome some of their chemical drawbacks, including their tendency to be brittle, and their lack of usefulness in hot or cold environments.

Poet John J. Guiney Yallop will give a public reading from his work on Wednesday, March 31, at 7 p.m., in the UPEI Main Building Faculty Lounge. He will also give a public talk on Thursday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m., in Main Building, Room 220, about his path to poetic inquiry, and how he uses poetry in his learning, teaching, and research. An assistant professor at Acadia University, Yallop is author of Notes to My Prostate (2010) and On place and memory: A poetic journey (forthcoming). These free events are presented by the UPEI Centre of Education Research. For more information, please contact Christine Gordon Manley at (902) 566-6784 or cgmanley@upei.ca.