Kudos

The Max Planck Research Award in Engineering Sciences for 2003 was conferred upon Dr. A.P.S. Selvadurai, Professor of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics at McGill University. It was granted in recognition of his outstanding research achievements in applied mathematics, theoretical and applied mechanics, environmental geomechanics and computational geomechanics. The Max Planck Award is named after the 1918 German Nobel Laureate in Physics.

Professor Musa Kamal, a world leader in the fields of polymer engineering and processing, is receiving the Purvis Award by Society of Chemical Industry at the 2004 SCI Canada Awards Dinner in Toronto on February 25. Professor Kamal is being recognized for his pioneering research in polymer science, including the development of models for simulation and control of polymer processing operations. The SCI Canada Annual Awards Dinner acknowledges Canadian business and academic leaders for service and superior contribution in their fields.

Law professor Pierre Deschamps was named Chevalier de l'ordre des palmes académiques, by which France honours those who have shown a remarkable commitment to the advancement of knowledge. Deschamps teaches in the area of human rights, and is also a member of the Order of Canada.

McGill graduate Mary Fowles will be heading to Morocco in late summer for six months as winner of the second annual International Development Journalism Award given by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Currently a Concordia journalism student and occasional writer for The Reporter, Fowles will be working for Le Journal Hebdomadaire as the winner of the $20,000 internship.

Swimmer Heather Bell won four gold medals as McGill finished first of five teams to capture the women's division of the fifth Quebec Cup university swim meet at the University of Montreal's CEPSUM pool on February 7. Bell broke the university women's record for 100m breaststroke set by Olympian Marianne Limpert in 1997.