Welcome to New Trail’s winter issue
Do you know what joy looks like? Joy is the look on the face of Dylan Brenneis, ’16 BSc(MechEng), as he powered up and ran his robot for the first time — and found that it actually worked! Don’t believe me? Here is a clip of the moment of truth:
A big part of the fun here is that Brenneis built his robot out of everyday junk you could find around your house: pencils, the springs from a couple of pens, lids from Snapple drinks and pasta jars. The other part of the fun is that this master’s student spends his days at the BLINC Lab, which creates advanced prosthetics using robotic systems. What a cool way, we thought, to take that high-level research and make it accessible to anyone who drinks Snapple, has a hankering to use a glue gun and has nine-ish hours to spare.
Brenneis was one of 22 experts who lent their brains and talents to the How-To issue of New TrailNew Trail, which lands in mailboxes and around campus in mid-December. It contains practical tips for better living, like how to speak in public and how to keep seniors in their homes longer. It also has some fun things you could try if the spirit moves you, such as how to make a surprising paper airplane or how to see like an artist. But the most out-of-the-box idea was the one that ended with Brenneis gluing ping-pong ball halves onto a tin can and launching it into the nearest wall. (Don’t worry, it was supposed to do that.)
Of course, the life of a researcher isn’t all fun and games — the search for truth can be slow, grinding and painstaking. Successes are, often, the work of generations and those “Aha!” moments can be hard to come by. But the path to understanding involves many steps. For example, even as the people behind the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project search for the “why” behind the seemingly bolder behaviour of coyotes, Colleen Cassady St. Clair, ’88 BSc(Spec), was able to share with homeowners tips on how to keep predators out of your yard. Nicholas Ashbolt spends his days thinking about water system management from a public health perspective, but what he’s learned about the best way to deal with a dirty phone (and sink and airport security bins) is something we can put into action today.
So enjoy the How-Tos. Hopefully you will come away with tips to make your life a little better — and also an appreciation for the ways that asking the big questions can lead to smaller, everyday answers.
Lisa Cook — Associate Director of Communications, Office of Advancement
Lisa is the Associate Director of Communications with the Office of Advancement Communications. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of New TrailNew Trail, and uses this as an excuse to subscribe to every publication she can get her hands on. The collection of magazines building up in her cubicle recently reached Cask of Amontillado proportions.