Super College Engineer Promoted to LCol
Photo credit: Lt Cynthia Kent, article: Cdr Darren Rich
On a recent Friday afternoon, just after the CF said farewell to one Lieutenant-Colonel, the Commandant made up another. Major Julia Atherley, who has been the College Engineer for four years, was recognized for all her hard work by a well-deserved promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel. Commodore Bill Truelove, assisted by Julia’s daughters Briana and Dana, corrected the error in her dress of the day. LCol Atherley has been at the centre of some major infrastructure changes at the College these past number of years. The ongoing Sawyer-Girouard project has profited from her expertise as has the ongoing renovation of the showers in the OCdt dormitories. She was also pivotal in the implementation of the access control system that now provides a much-improved security posture for RMC. Other noteworthy projects have included the renovations to the Senior Staff Mess, the Mackenzie basement renovations and Hewitt House.
Unfortunately for RMC, Julia will be leaving us mid-February to assume duties at the CF Joint Support Group HQ located on the base. Her relief has some big shoes to fill indeed.
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“The Cowan Prize for Research Excellence.”
By: Kevin Brushett – Photos by: Roger Pensom
On Tuesday February 1 2011, Dr Dhamin Al-Kahlili, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, took faculty, staff and students at RMC through a journey of his professional life working, researching, teaching in the field of microelectronics. Entitled — My Journey: Vacuum Tubes to Nano Tubes – Dr Al-Kahlili presented a fascinating account of the changes in electronic technology over the last half century beginning with his student days at Baghdad University and finishing with the most recent research he and his students have been conducting at the College.
The presentation was held to celebrate his award of the 2010 Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research. The award, established by Principal Emeritus, John Cowan in 2000, is presented every year to honour RMC’s top research professor. Winners of the award are chosen by a panel of their peers as well as by external scholars in their field according to the quality, originality, and impact and of their scholarly work.
Past winners have included the Principal Dr Joel Sokolsky and Dean of Arts, Dr Jane Errington.
Dr Al-Kahlili has been a member of faculty at RMC since 1987, and a Full Professor since 1990. He has degrees in Engineering from the University of Baghdad, and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Before arriving at RMC, he held various academic positions at University of Technology, Iraq. He has served as a director of research at various government programs and in private industry such as Ontario Centre for Microelectronics, the Canadian Semiconductor Design Association, and Northern Telecom. Currently, he is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal.
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Helmut Schmidt University Delegation Pays a Visit…
A delegation of the Helmut Schmidt University, composed of Professor Klaus Beckmann, Vice-President, Lieutenant Colonel Ulrich Hegner,Commanding Officer Cadett Battalion BRAVO, and Dr Martin Nassua, Director of International Office, has visited the Royal Military College of Canada (RMCC) 3 & 4 February to strengthen bilateral institutional relations.
The Royal Military College of Canada and the Helmut Schmidt University (Bundeswehr, Hamburg) have an exchange program for several years.
The agreement allows the HSU students to spend one academic term at RMCC. In recent years the College has hosted three students from the HSU in Fall terms.
The RMCC team who received the HSU delegation was composed of Commodore William Truelove, the Commandant, Professor Joel Sokolsky, the Principal, Lieutenant-Colonel Susan Wigg, DCdts, CWO Tony Slack, College CWO, and Professor Houchang Hassan-Yari, Special Assistant to the Principal for national and international liaison.
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Table ronde sur le Sud Soudan
Le Comité des Séminaires sur la recherche en sciences sociales a organisé, le jeudi 3 février 2011, une table ronde portant sur les enjeux du référendum au Sud Soudan, s’étant déroulé du 9 au 15 janvier 2011. Sous la présidence du Dr David Last, Directeur du Département de science politique et économique, quatre participants, tous professeurs au Collège militaire royal du Canada, ont pris la parole au cours de cette table ronde : Le Dr Georges Labrecque a d’abord procédé à l’examen du concept d’uti possidetis dans l’établissement des frontières d’un État naissant et a montré l’évolution de cette norme de droit international dans la pratique internationale à travers les époques.
Le Dr Abdelkérim Ousman a poursuivi avec une présentation des enjeux de l’organisation du référendum sur l’indépendance du Sud Soudan, dans le contexte du processus de paix mis en place en 2005, suite à une guerre civile qui a déchiré le Nord et le Sud Soudan pendant une vingtaine d’années. Dans un cadre comparatif, le Dr Pierre Jolicoeur s’est pour sa part posé la question du dilemme de la reconnaissance étatique pour la communauté internationale en cas de sécession.
Enfin, la Dr Rebecca Tiessen a approfondie la notion des rapports entre genres et la situation de la femme dans le développement du Sud Soudan après l’indépendance. L’événement, qui s’est déroulé sur l’heure du dîner, est considéré comme un succès. Plus d’une vingtaine de personnes ont assisté à la table ronde, en plus des participants.