UPEI alumnus Jeff MacKenzie received top honours from Lancaster University earlier this month. The recent UPEI business graduate was awarded 'The Lancaster MBA Student of the Year,' 'The Most Useful Contributor to Class Discussions,' and 'The Most Respected Class Member for their Future Leadership Potential in Business.'

The University of Prince Edward Island signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week to formalize an agreement between UPEI's Faculty of Education and Advanced Knowledge Database (AKD) International Inc in China. The agreement will provide opportunities for education students to teach abroad in a K-12 school in China during a six-week practicum.

The agreement was signed by Miles Turnbull, UPEI's Dean of Education; Christian Lacroix, Interim Vice-President Academic; and Andy Truong, Executive Director, AKD International Inc.

'Today, we are very pleased to meet and work with representatives from AKD International in China,' said Lacroix. 'This MOU is an excellent opportunity for UPEI in many ways. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.'

Turnbull agreed with Lacroix. 'The agreement will provide an excellent opportunity for education students who choose to complete a six-week practicum experience in a K-12 school operated by AKD International in China,' he said. 'International education and the opportunity to learn and teach in another country are key features of our teacher education program at UPEI. This opportunity in China will help us to expand horizons for future teachers who will graduate from UPEI.'

'Having the University of Prince Edward Island Faculty of Education interns on our campus in China will strengthen our pursuit for twenty-first century learning for our students,' said Truong. 'These quality UPEI interns will enhance their horizons for endless opportunity back in Canada or around the world. Classroom dynamics and geographics are ever changing and international experience will put these interns at an advantage.'

AKD is a parent company that operates 10 schools in China in the K-12 groups. It includes Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada, Anhui Concord College of Sino-Canada, and Concord College Sino-Canada in Shenzhen. AKD also collaborates with the University of New Brunswick, University of Alberta, and Crandall University.

On Friday, September 28, The UPEI Recital Series presents 'A Treasure of Trios' featuring members of the Island Camerata Players: Morgan Saulnier, flute; Natalie Williams Calhoun, cello; and Frances Gray, piano. The performance will take place in UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall at 7:30 pm. The trio will perform again on Sunday, September 30 at the Trinity United Church in Summerside, beginning at 3 pm.

The repertoire for this combination of three instruments includes an early work by a 13-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven which challenges the virtuosity of the players in its dazzling figurations and tour de force variations taken up by each instrument in turn. The second work entitled 'Aquarelles' by French composer Gaubert depicts three watercolours, the first suggesting a clear morning with ever-rippling arpeggios on the piano, perhaps reflecting sunlight on water, the second more tenderly evoking an evening in autumn, and the third conjuring up a serenade with a distinct Spanish flavor. The final work before intermission is a cheerful trio by the Czech composer, Martinu, who wrote this in the United States shortly after fleeing Europe during the Second World War. The slow movement, in contrast to the other ones, is more reflective with perhaps a hint of nostalgia for his homeland.

The second half of the program opens with a transcription of the beautiful and beloved impressionistic symphonic poem 'Afternoon of a Faun' by Claude Debussy. The concert comes to a close with a brilliant trio by early Romantic German composer, Carl Maria von Weber, who is perhaps best known for his influential operas.

This program gives the audience a rare opportunity to hear music composed or arranged for this particular ensemble. Saulnier is a versatile flutist who teaches the flute majors at UPEI and runs her own busy music studio. Calhoun is a respected teacher of strings and adjudicates for the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in addition to her role as administrator of the PEI Symphony. Gray has had a long association with UPEI as professor of piano and music theory. All three musicians perform in the PEI Symphony Orchestra. The players have been well-received on a number of occasions as a group and now come together for another great evening of chamber music.

Tickets are available at the door beginning at 7 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. The Dr. Steel Recital Hall is wheel-chair accessible. For more information, please call (902) 566-0507. Tickets will be available at the door at 2:30 pm for Sunday's concert at Trinity United Church in Summerside.

Friday:

The University of Prince Edward Island issued a statement today on the passing of UPEI honorary degree recipient Sam Sniderman.

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, 'Mr. Sniderman was a friend to many, including to UPEI, and was a great contributor to arts and culture in Canada. For example, he and his partner, the late Janet Mays, implemented the Sound and Film Archive as part of the Robertson Library collections at UPEI. On behalf of the entire UPEI community, I want to pass on my most sincere sympathies to Mr. Sniderman's family, friends, and colleagues.'

Though the record retailer and colourful personality was a Torontonian through and through, Sam 'the Record Man' Sniderman was a seasonal resident of PEI for many years and considered the Island his second home. Sam Sniderman received the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from the University of Prince Edward Island in 2003 for his significant contributions to the music-in particular east coast music-industry, and for his support of music education and budding talent.

Today, UPEI computer science student Ben Docksteader and a dynamic team of young entrepreneurs launched their new iPad application-StrokeLink-an app destined to positively impact the lives of stroke patients. The team worked over the past eight months to design, build, and test the new healthcare app and is excited today to release the public beta in Canada.

StrokeLink is a venture of The Next 36, an organization with a goal to increase Canadian prosperity by developing Canada's next generation of high impact entrepreneurs. Docksteader and his team of Anne-Marie Paquette, Morgan Moe, and Simon Jalbert, were all selected as four of the top 36 graduates from across Canada to be a part of the 2012 cohort of The Next 36.

StrokeLink, a free app that uses a patient-focused interface, empowers stroke survivors by providing them with the necessary tools to regain their independence. The app's comprehensive toolkit of health- reference material and its powerful tool for rehabilitation was created to guide and actively engage stroke patients as they recover, using accessible design and rich media content. These self-care tools include rehabilitation programs with exercises ranging from fine motor skills to full body movements, and are presented as text, pictures, or videos, accompanied by audio cues.

The accessible and engaging design seamlessly guides stroke survivors through their daily rehabilitation programs and allows for custom exercises to be created using the iPad's camera. Users can also enter the number of sets and repetitions for each exercise, just like a gym workout, and a calendar tracks the user's progress. The purpose is to help stroke survivors regain not only functional independence, but also confidence.

As StrokeLink's chief technology officer, Docksteader was eager to put his technology skills to good use, but credits the nature of the app that made him truly passionate about the work, with special motivation from his grandfather who suffered a stroke more than 15 years ago. 'Almost all of my memories of him were after his stroke, and seeing how it had serious impacts on him, my grandmother and mother,' he said. 'He is one man that I sincerely look up to and respect to the utmost, and I hope that what I am doing would make him proud.'

Although Docksteader and the other company co-founders will be graduating from The Next 36 program later this month, their involvement with the product is far from over. Docksteader hopes to see StrokeLink become a standard in Canada and in the US, in hopes that it will impact the lives of many stroke survivors, ultimately leading to improvements within the healthcare system.

For more information on StrokeLink, visit http://strokelink.ca/.

Selvi Roy, a PhD student in UPEI's Faculty of Education, has been awarded a prestigious Strategic Training in Health Research (STIHR) fellowship by Knowledge Translation (KT) Canada. As part of the two-year fellowship, Roy will work on a study which aims to identify knowledge translation strategies to improve the health of indigenous women from the Mi'kmaq community of Prince Edward Island.

'We know that the health of indigenous women in Canada continues to be poorer than that of non-indigenous people,' said Roy. 'That's very consistent to what I saw growing up in India. Marginalized communities have poorer access to health services, and have a different perception of their own health.'

Roy plans to meet with Mi'kmaq chiefs, elders, and women to examine these perceptions, and make connections with health-care providers. Her study will provide reliable, current, community-level data that reflects the health needs of the Mi'kmaq community for policy development and program planning to promote health.

'The project at this point is just taking shape and is akin to a lump of clay on a potter's wheel,' said Roy. 'There is much to be determined about how to best move forward. It is most important that I speak with members of the community to learn their needs and concerns before proceeding to identify KT strategies to best meet those needs.'

'I'm very proud of Selvi and of her successful application for this fellowship,' said Dr. Barbara Campbell, Associate Professor in UPEI's School of Nursing, and Roy's PhD co-supervisor. 'As a member of KT Canada myself, I know this provides excellent opportunities for her, including mentorship in the area of knowledge translation. It's especially exciting knowing she is UPEI's first-ever STIHR fellow.'

KT Canada is a network of Canadian experts in knowledge translation joining forces to tackle the greatest challenge in health care today-the fact that, although there is a great deal of health research being conducted, there is a gap in applying the results at the patient's bedside and in everyday health decisions.

Jan Zwicky is not only one of Canada's finest poets, she is also a distinguished philosopher, an influential writer on the intersection of ecology and poetry, and an accomplished violinist. Dr. Zwicky will read from her new poetic work on Tuesday, October 2, at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building.

Zwicky emerged as an intellectual and lyrical force on the national poetry scene after publishing three poetry collections in the 1980s, including Wittgenstein Elegies, where she first merged her philosophical and poetic concerns. Then, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth, a book she initially handmade in her kitchen as a gift for friends, won the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 1999. It has been praised for its eloquent attention to the material/natural world and its emphasis on music and philosophy as lyrical forms.

Zwicky's subsequent writing, such as Wisdom & Metaphor (2003), has explored unique, polyphonic forms, merging poetry, philosophy, ecological and musical meditations, and even algebraic equations. In 2004, she published Plato as Artist, a non-specialist celebration of Plato's talents as a writer.

The poems in her new book, Forge, a finalist for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize, are immersed in music, and through music, in the natural world and human relationships. Forge also explores themes of spiritual catastrophe, transformation, and erotic love.

Zwicky has taught philosophy and creative writing at several universities, including Princeton and the Universities of New Brunswick, Western Ontario, and Victoria, and served on the faculty of The Banff Centre's Writing Studio. She lives on Quadra Island, B.C. Her reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.