Alex Rockingham & Karianne Matte

Silhouette Interns

The Council of Ontario Universities has honoured former McMaster President Peter George with the David C. Smith Award.

The award is granted to those who have worked to improve education and research.

Bonnie Patterson, the council’s president, described him as “a passionate leader,” who “transformed McMaster University with his focus on excellence in teaching and research and his vision for internationalizing the student experience on campus.”

Patterson also commended him for being a staunch advocate of the advancement of research during his tenures on the Council of Ontario Universities and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.

George, who retired in 2010 after serving three terms as the University’s president, has also been awarded the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario and honorary degrees and honours from numerous universities in Canada and abroad.

At his celebratory dinner, George described the award as a “great honour,” and said that he enjoyed working with the students, and faculty of the University.

The award itself is named after the late Dr. David C. Smith, a Mac alumnus who contributed to both scholarship and public policy regarding university education. Dr. Smith, who passed away in 2000, had a very strong connection to McMaster University.

While completing his undergraduate degree at McMaster in the early ‘50s, Smith served as Marmor Editor and MSU president.

Alex Rockingham

Silhouette Intern

On Tuesday, Oct. 18. McMaster students were invited to take part in the Red Bull Racing Can.

The Red Bull-sponsored event was held in the atrium of the student centre and saw five teams design, build and race cars using only recycled cans of the popular energy drink.

The teams were judged on the creativity of the design, then took part in a race.  The better looking the car, the better the starting position the contestants received at the beginning of the race.

The teams drove their cars individually through a track that was set up in the atrium of the student centre. The three teams that completed five laps through the course in the fastest amount of time were awarded. Although the RC chassis were exactly the same, the cars proved to be very cumbersome and difficult to steer, so a degree of skill was needed in order to complete the race in the optimal amount of time.

After winning the race by approximately ten seconds and being judged as the best looking car in the race, team #2 will be moving onto the national championships.

The victors, Yohann Printer and Jack Murphy, will be bringing their elaborately decorated Red Bull RC car, which was designed to look like a Formula 1 racer, to Montreal to compete in the national championship on Nov. 8.

If the pair wins the national championship, they will move onto compete in the world finals against contestants from 25 different countries in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Second- and third-place teams were awarded gift certificates to the Phoenix.