September - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Student CentralWelcome back to all our returningand new students for the new academicyear. I would also like to takethis opportunity to welcome all thenew faculty members joining us thisterm - Dr. Ward Wilson, Dr. JulianaLeung, Dr. Yaman Boluk, Dr. MarwanEl-Rich, Dr. Ming Lu, and Dr. JeffBoisvert. With a growing departmentlike ours, faces are always changing,therefore, I encourage everyone tostop by their offices and say ‘hello.’Students who are new to the Departmentand the Faculty of Engineeringhave many events to look forwardto this year. Coming up shortly, theDepartment will be hosting its annualGraduate Student Mixer, Hard HatMessage from the chairCeremony for second year students,and the mining games.As we begin to settle into our newroutines and classes, I encourageall of you to get involved with thenumerous student clubs we have. Notonly will this help make your educationalexperience more enjoyable, it’sa great way to meet new people andmake new friends.Always remember, faculty and staffare here to ensure you get the mostout of your education. While thereare excellent resources available toyou through the University of Albertastudent centres, our doors are alwaysopen and we are here to assist you inany way wecan as well.Should you findyourself struggling,havequestions orneed guidance,please stop byour offices. Weare a valuableresource andwe will offerassistance inany way we can.Welcome back undergradsDr. Roger ChengDepartment ChairAgain, welcome back and I wish youall the success for a great and challengingyear.As the Associate Chair, UndergraduateStudies, it’s my pleasure to welcomeyou back for what I hope willbe a rewarding academic year for youin the Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering. AlthoughI’m new to this position, I’ll do mybest to provide you with assistance insorting out the various quirks of yourprogram and help you get the mostout of your education here. I’m veryfortunate to have Jessica King, theUndergraduate Student Advisor, onthe team. She is already well-knownto a good number of you, as she tookup her position over a year ago andhas helped many students navigatethrough what can be a daunting list ofuniversity rules and regulations. Sincethe Mining and Petroleum programsare quite different from those inCivil and Environmental Engineering,Profs. Askari-Nasab (Mining) andNouri (Petroleum) are continuing inthe roles of undergraduate advisorsfor those programs.Although the academic aspects ofuniversity life require a lot of timeand effort, I encourage you also toseek out opportunities outside theclassroom. If you are new to ourdepartment, a good place to startmight be the various student clubs.Within the department, you may wishto drop into the headquarters of theCivil and Environmental EngineeringClub (NREF 2-039), the MiningEngineering Club (NREF 2-047),or the Petroleum Engineering Club(NREF 2-048). Active members ofthese clubs are often the best peopleto provide you with ideas for extracurricularactivities, whether they beDr. Bob DriverAssociate Chairrelated to yourstudies or justfor letting offsteam. A wealthof informationis also availableon the departmentwebsite,and this newsletterattemptsto provide keyinformationsuch as importantdates that have a tendency tosneak up on you.Sometimes the only thing standingbetween you and the relaxed versionof you is a lack of timely informationor assistance. Jessica and I are here tohelp!Engineering NEWS - September 2010 - Page 3