Minutes of the Departmental Meeting on March 20, 2006
Present: R. Abhari, P. Aggarwal, J. Bajcsy, B. Boulet, B. Champagne, V. Chodavarapu, J. Clark, D. Davies, F. Ferrie, K. Fraser, W. Gross, K. Johnson, P. Kabal, R. Khazaka, F. Labeau, S. Mannor, L. McKenna, H. Michalska, S. Musallam, D. Plant, I. Psaromiligos, M. Rabbat, M. Rochette, G. Roberts, R. Rose, T. Szkopek, J. Webb, A. Wojciechowska.
Regrets: P. Caines, G. Joos, H. Leib, D. Lowther
The meeting was called to order at 3:04 pm.
- Approval of the Agenda:
W. Gross, seconded by R. Abhari.
Carried - Approval of the Minutes (February 27, 2007):
F. Labeau, seconded by B. Champagne.
Carried. - Remarks from the Chair:
Since our last Department meeting in December, and working with the Departmental Leadership Team of Associate Chairs and the Chairman’s Advisory Committee, we have been focusing on the following issues:
- New offices and work spaces for Ehab Lotayef and his team, and Stan Henry and his team, and four new research laboratories.
- Renovations to Departmental office suit and elevator lobby
- Hiring three new professors
- Teaching Assignments and Teaching Load Committee (TATLC) work
- ECE Program Review
- Graduate student recruitment and financing
- ECE MEDA Weekend
Please allow me to review where we stand on these subjects
Relocation of Ehab Lotayef and his team, and Stan Henry and his team: It is safe to say that we are striving for greater operational efficiency by relocating key departmental assets closer to the location of their core responsibilities and stake holder user groups, e.g. the undergraduate students. The work is progressing well; target completion date is June, 2007.
Four new laboratories are being set-up as follows:- In MC210 and MC213 Vamsy Chodavarapu and Sam Musallam will be creating the Sensor Microsystems Laboratory and the Neuro-Prosthetics Laboratory within the Bioelectrical Engineering Group.
- In MC609 Thomas Szkopek is building the Nanoscale Quantum Electronics Laboratory within the Nano Electronic Devices and Materials Group.
- In MC704 Martin Rochette building the Nonlinear Signal Processing Infrastructure Lab within the Photonic Systems Group.
We are renovating room 633; inspired by renovations to the Student Center, and to the Mechanical Engineering Departmental Offices, we have been given permission to redesign room 633 and the elevator lobby. Debbie Davies is coordinating this effort. I encourage all of you to speak to her with your suggestions. The design is progressing well and we are targeting completion in June, 2007.
Hiring three new professors: as I announced at the February Departmental meeting, we have been allotted three new positions. Working with the Associate Chairs and the Chair’s Advisory Committee, we have identified three target areas and we have formed four target search committees that have been hard at work.- Renewable Energy Committee [Geza Joos, Frank Galiana, Boon-Teck Ooi, Ishiang Shih
- Nanotechnology Committee [Andrew Kirk,/b>, Thomas Szkopek, Srikar Vengallatore]
- Biotechnology Committee [Sam Musallam, Vamsy Chodavarapu, Frank Ferrie, Milica Popovich]
- “Other” hiring Committee [David Plant, Benoit Boulet, Geza Joos, Harry Leib, Martin Levine, Gordon Roberts, Jonathan Webb]
These four committees are now evaluating CVs and identifying potential candidates for short lists. Over the next two months these committees will report to the Chairman’s Advisor Committee, in particular with names of strong candidates worth interviewing. Interviews will be April, with offers being extended in May.
My goal is to have three new recruits in place sometime during the 2007/08 academic year. I am certain if we have more than three strong candidates, we will be able to increase the number of offers; the Dean is extremely supportive of our Department.
Teaching Assignments and Teaching Load Committee (TATLC) work: progress has been exceptional. Prof. Boulet to report on the details. We are pace-setters in the FoE on this portfolio.
ECE Program Review: the work is coming to a close. I would like to thank Jon Webb and Benoit Champagne, and their respective committees for all of their efforts over the past 12 months. Personally, I find this information extremely useful in planning.
Graduate student recruitment and financing. I would again like to congratulate the department, including Benoit Boulet and his committee, and Prema Menon and members of the Graduate Programs office. ECE is the only engineering department to have successfully received, evaluated, and ranked all applicants to the Ph.D. program by the March 5, 2007 deadline established by the FoE for the McGill Engineering Doctoral Awards (MEDAs). As a result of our efficiency, the MEDA weekend has been scoped back and is now being tailored to ECE. Benoit Champagne will report.
Ken Fraser asked when the renovations will start and if there will be a need for staff relocations. Dave Plant replied that the renovations were still in the design phase so when they would start and what they would require was not known yet. Benoit Boulet asked how many MEDAs were eventually allocated to the department. Benoit Champagne replied that, in total, the department got 18 awards. Jim Clark added that in the beginning the department was given 8 awards but, in the end, the number increased as some departments were late in providing their lists of nominated students.
- ECSE 703: Proposal for PhD Research Seminar Course
Benoit Champagne proposed the new course ECSE 703 – PhD Research Proposal (Addendum 1). G. Roberts made a Motion to approve the proposal. The Motion was seconded byT. Arbel. In response to a question by G. Roberts, B. Champagne clarified that only new PhD students starting in Sep. 2007 will be required to take this course. R. Khazaka raised a concern that students might start worrying too much about this new course which would result in delaying their research. B. Champagne replied that students can fulfill the course requirements by submitting a conference or journal paper so extra work is not required. J. Clark remarked that we have to be careful because GPSO has a “two-strike and you are out” policy. From the students point of view this course represents a new opportunity to fail. B. Champagne remarked that this issue is not considered critical. Special cases can be handled at the department level as there is some flexibility in the system. R. Rose asked if this new requirement will be easier to apply and enforce than the already established progress tracking mechanism. B. Champagne replied that the current system is complex and requires a lot of effort from the advisor and the Graduate office; the new system will be simpler to administer. S. Mannor asked if there is really a need for another course. It should be the advisor’s responsibility to track the progress of his students. In addition, arranging for the presentation would require a lot of effort from the advisor. B. Champagne replied that this course is needed and that it should not be a lot of extra work for the advisor as the Graduate office could help to set up the meetings. D. Plant added that the department is looking into ways to provide more services to the professors for research and teaching. Finally, P. Kabal remarked that students are not familiar with the McGill IP policy and they should be informed of that policy.
Carried. - Financial Procedures Update
A. Wojciechowska gave a brief update on financial procedures. (Addendum 2). The faculty requires that the PCard bills are sent to them. Researchers not associated with a center (CIM, SytaCom, etc) should send the paperwork to A. Wojciechowska, the rest should send the paperwork to the finance person in the center they are affiliated with. On the back of the bills the researcher should write what and why was purchased (unless an item is self-explanatory). Researchers should also contact that same person if they want to place a Purchase Order (for purchases greater that $2.5K) and in case they are audited by the PCard Administration Group. In emergencies, researchers can use their personal credit card and get reimbursed later. However, they should have everything delivered at McGill. A. Wojciechowska added that the most common reasons for claims to be returned are fund availability and lack of original receipts. If a receipt is lost then a memo from the supervisor (or the Chair) is required. In response to a question by R. Khazaka, A. Wojciechowska stated that not any book can be purchased with NSERC funds. H. Michalska added that dictionaries are eligible purchases. - Update on the teaching assignments process. (Addendum 3).
D. Plant congratulated B. Boulet and the Teaching Assignments Committee for their work. He added that next year the department should be able to kick off the process earlier so there would be more time to discuss modifications. - MEDA Weekend.
The MEDA weekend will be on March 29th and 30th. This year, it will be a “mini-MEDA” event just for our department. The awardees from North America (it is expected that around 10 people will attend) will be in Montreal on March 29th. Their supervisors will also be invited. On Friday they will visit the department. The event will start with breakfast, followed by an address from the Chair. Around 11:30-12:00 the awardees will go for lunch with their supervisors. - Other Business
K. Fraser congratulated all those who attended the ceremony and received the Iron ring, and encouraged those who don’t have an iron ring to apply. D. Plant reminded the department that the next meeting will be on April 25th , 2007. At that meeting there will be a Wine and Cheese. He added that he wants to create a strong sense of community in our department and that he would like to combine each meeting with a celebration. Since there are a total of 1,250 people in the department somebody should do something significant every month that would be cause for celebration.
Motion to adjourn:
K. Fraser , seconded by D. Plant at 4:10pm.
Carried
I. Psaromiligkos, Secretary