1993 ISU STUDENT BIOGRAPHIES

 

NYKA ALEXANDER

Nyka is currently pursuing a Master of Journalism degree at Carleton University. Her focus is science journalism. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from Concordia, where she began science writing, and has studied political science at the University of the Philippines. She also lived in China for two years and speaks some Mandarin, and Filipino as well as fluent English and French. In addition to reporting science for the school newspaper, Nyka relaunched the physics journal for the department. She believes the pen is mightier than the sword and is an avid fencer.

 

NICHOLAS AUDET

Nicholas has a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Laval University and is now studying at University of Victoria for his M.Eng. He came first in his class at Laval with a G.P.A. of 5.0. He received the 1992 NSERC Award, the B.C. ASI Fellowship, the Scholarship of Graduate Studies and Award of Excellence from L'Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec, the 1991 AUCC Industrial Scholarship, the 1990 Bombardier Award in Design of Mechanical Systems, the 1989 Hewlett-Packard Award of Excellence and was a Canada Scholar, from 1988 to 1992. Last summer, he was a research assistant at E.N.S.T.I.M.D. in France working in mechanics of fluids and energetics. He has been a member of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute since 1989. Space has amazed Nicholas since he was a boy.

 

REMI A. CABANAC

Rémi lived in France for 15 years and speaks French, English and Spanish. He has just completed a Master of Science degree in Astrophysics at Laval University, where he received his B.Sc. in Physics, attaining a G.P.A. of 5.0. He has studied and worked on Liquid Mirror Telescopes. He plans to continue his studies to the post-doctoral level and is beginning his Ph.D. in Astrophysics. He was on the 1991 Faculty of Science Board of Honour and in 1990 he was the Laureate of the Faculty. With regard to development of observational sciences in space, he believes the best is to come. His vision and enthusiasm will contribute greatly to ISU 1993.

 

PETER F. McGUIRE

Peter is working on his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto, where he received his B.A.Sc. with Honours. He is one of the few graduate students at the Institute for Aerospace Studies to transfer to the doctoral program with just a B.A.Sc. He holds an NSERC scholarship and made the Dean's Honour List for five terms. He has been a member of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute since 1991 and is a member of the Canadian Solar Sail Project researching materials for the project. Peter is also a member of the Aerospace Students Association. His Space Robotics knowledge and leadership abilities will be valuable to ISU this summer


UNA-MAY O'REILLY

Una-May is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Carleton University. Within her research field of Artificial Intelligence she has interests in Expert Systems, Machine Learning and Genetic Algorithms. She has held a number of awards, including: NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (1992 to 1994), Bell Northern Research Postgraduate Scholarship (1988 to 1992), Carleton University Postgraduate Scholarship (1988 to 1991), 1983 Data Processing Management Association Scholarship, 1982 University of Calgary Merit Award and the 1980 Carleton University Scholarship. Her knowledge of Artificial Intelligence will be an asset to ISU.

 

PATRICK J. SULLIVAN

Patrick has both an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Kinesiology from Simon Fraser University. He studied Environmental Physiology, and focussed on thermophysiology. He plans to continue to the doctoral and post-doc level. He received the British Columbia Science Council Graduate Research Engineering and Technology Award, from 1986 to 1988 and the Simon Fraser University Open Scholarship in 1985. He has been working for the Canadian Space Agency since 1989 and is currently with the Astronaut Program Office. He coordinates a project which investigates venous compliance changes in spaceflight as well as the development of an experimental g-suit associated with the IML-1 Shuttle mission (Jan. 1992). The study is in its final phase. He brings valuable experience and a love of research to ISU 1993.

 

HEDLEY J. RICHARDS

Hedley lived in South Africa, the United States and Belgium before finally settling in Canada. He has an M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from École Polytechnique, where he also obtained a B. Eng. His M.Eng. was a co-op program, giving him the experience of computer modeling and testing of space environment simulation apparatus at the Canadian Space Agency. He is working at the CSA now as a Junior Materials Test Engineer in the Materials and Structures Group, Space Mechanics Directorate. His main interest is researching engineering and physical science aspects of materials design. He brings valuable experience and computer skills to ISU this summer.

 

NICK VAN STRALEN

Nick is working toward completion of his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at McMaster University, where he studied for his M.Eng. and B. Eng. He speaks, English, French and Dutch and has worked in Australia. He is working on digital communication systems, focussing on the synchronization of Trellis Coded Modulation. In addition to his studies, Nick is pursuing an industrial career in satellite communications. He has been working for several years as an engineer for Juch-Tech Inc., designing and prototyping a receiver for a digital audio satellite system. He is also interested in communication theory.

 

RONALD A. DICKE

Ronald has a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Academically, he consistently ranked in the top ten. He graduated with first class honours and was awarded the 1990 NSERC Industrial Undergraduate Award and the 1987 Engineering Entrance Scholarship. The co-op program gave him a variety of practical experience in satellite communications. He is currently employed as a communications hardware engineer at Newbridge Networks designing interfaces between voice and data communications equipment for connection to telecommunications networks. He speaks English, French and Dutch and has worked in the Netherlands. Ronald has also submitted a patent for a boardgame.