MEMBER NEWS
GOOD ENGINEER, GOOD CRIMINOLOGIST These two academics partnered up to learn more about monitor- ing and crime prevention. Left Dr. Gérard Lachapelle, P.Eng. Right Dr. Gibbs Van Brunshot. Many factors cause people to reoffend. “You can’t simply put a monitor on and expect them to not reoffend,” says Dr. Gibbs Van Brunshot. But Dr. Lachapelle notes that wearable sensors have merit beyond tracking offenders. How about in sports? Or for monitoring seniors with health issues? “Think about someone with Alzheimer’s who wanders, or the senior living alone worried about falling. A GPS unit augmented with sensors could pick up where they are and what they are doing.”
Here are a few other lasting consequences. Two academics gained a heightened appreciation of each other’s expertise — and the complexities of cases facing the police and justice communities. “This was the first time I worked so closely with someone in the Faculty of Arts,” Dr. Lachapelle says. “Erin was a wonderful collaborator. We had some quite incredible experiences working with various law enforcement agencies.” Adds Dr. Gibbs Van Brunschot: “I loved working with Gérard and his group. I think it opened up (all of) our eyes to different elements we weren’t used to seeing.”
PROGRAMS EARNS HIGH MARKS Two University of Alberta programs related to the APEGA professions — petroleum engineering and geology — rank fifth in the world in their subject areas, says the Center for World University Rankings. The centre’s Rankings by Subject 2017 names the top 10 of 1,000 degree-granting institutions in each of the areas it looks at. U of A also landed a third in paleontology, a fifth in forestry, and a sixth in medical transplantation. The University of Calgary landed two top-10 rankings in the centre’s list, sixth spot in petroleum engineering and ninth in education, scientific disciplines.
38 | PEG SUMMER 2017
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker