UBC Reports | Vol. 47 | No. 03 | Feb. 8, 2001

Honour Roll

The Dept. of Mechanical Engineering is honouring Prof. Emeritus Geoff Parkinson for his contributions to the department throughout his 40-year career at UBC by naming a wind tunnel after him at a ceremony on campus today.

The "Parkinson Wind Tunnel," located in the Aerodynamics Laboratory, serves as recognition for Parkinson's devotion to teaching and research in fluid mechanics during his tenure in the department from 1952 to 1992.

Parkinson is a respected authority on aerodynamics and made extensive use of wind tunnels in his research at UBC. He helped designed two wind tunnels in the department more than 30 years ago that are still in use today, including the one now named after him.

English and Women's Studies Prof. Sneja Gunew has been selected as one of six directors of the international Transculturalisms Project. Sponsored by the International Council for Canadian Studies, the project involves six groups of 10 researchers.

Together with a sister-team based in Brazil, Gunew's team will define and clarify the research program titled "The intermingling of cultures and its impact on Canadian or foreign national identity: past, present, and future."

She hopes to shed light on the cultural implications of the growing tensions between the increasingly blurred boundaries of the nation state in an era of globalization and, on the other hand, the growing chorus of voices within the nation asserting ethnic and indigenous distinctiveness.