1986-02-14. MUN Gazette, vol. 18, no. 10

              Newfoundland energy minister William Marshall looks on as Pat Carney, the
federal minister of energy, signs project agreements that give Memorial University $26 million for a new building and a new computer system.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Running sensation — Paul McCloy is named provincial male athlete of the year
for the fourth time, and on the same day he wins the Canadian cross-country
championships for the third consecutive year. p. 3
Campus editors — Faculty members are editing a growing number of national
journals in a variety of disciplines, pp. 6/7
Readership survey — The Gazette wants to know what you think of your
university newspaper. All opinions welcome, p. 12
Vol. 18      No. 10
February 14, 1986
$26 million for Memorial
Federal energy minister Pat Carney and her provincial counterpart.
William Marshall, have announced that Memorial University will
receive $25 million for the construction of a new building to house the
Centre for Earth Resources Research (CERR), as well as $1 million for a
Computer Aided Design (CAD) facility for the engineering faculty.
The projects are among the first to be approved under the Canada-
Newfoundland Offshore Development Fund, which was provided for in the
Atlantic Accord of February 11, 1985. The ministers made the funding announcement in St. John's on the anniversary of the signing of the agreement. Also approved was a $5 million offshore survival centre adjacent to
the Marine Emergency Duties Centre at Little Soldier's Pond, and a $3
million skills training project to be introduced at colleges and vocational
schools throughout the province.
Dr. Leslie Harris, Memorial's president and vice-chancellor, said the
university is extremely pleased and excited with the announcement. He
pointed out that Memorial's already excellent reputation in the field of
earth resources research will be enhanced, and that a new CAD facility will
further establish the university's position as a world-class centre in ocean
engineering research.
The Offshore Development Fund provides for $300 million to be spent on
projects "that will enable the province to capitalize on both the long and
short term benefits from offshore oil and gas development", according to
Mr. Marshall. The minister also said the agreement, funded 75 per cent by
Ottawa and 25 per cent by Newfoundland, will give Newfoundlanders the
opportunity to obtain training for offshore and onshore jobs.
Ms. Carney referred to the first four projects as "first-class", and said their
approval was an indication of the commitment felt by the federal government towards developing an offshore infrastructure in Newfoundland. The
minister also signed a federal-provincial agreement on conservation and
alternate energy programs which will see $7.5 million spent over the next
two years. A further $4 million will be provided over the next four years to
assist with the $3 million skills training project.
CERR gets
new building
Computer facility will
boost ocean engineering
The Centre for Earth Resources
Research, which was formed
within the Department of Earth
Sciences in 1983, will receive $25
million for the construction of a new
100,000 square-foot building on campus. The structure will house
classroom and laboratory space, as
well as a natural history and earth
resources museum.
Dr. Christopher Barnes, head of the
earth sciences department and acting
director of the CERR, says the
building will help accelerate research
and development in earth resources,
as well as enable the university to
undertake contractual and grant
research for Canadian industry and
government on a commercial basis.
Other benefits include substantial
employment opportunities in construction, equipment purchase and
laboratory and field programs. The
facility, according to Dr. Barnes,
' will create a superlative environ
ment for training in the earth
sciences disciplines". After five years
it is expected that over 40 students
per year will graduate from
undergraduate programs and another
30 per year from graduate programs.
In addition, about 20 research
fellows, 45 faculty and 40-60
technical and administrative staff will
be employed.
The size and scope of the new centre
will also encourage the development
of small companies in St. John's to
undertake specialized research and
service projects.
The CERR was established as a result
of several independent events, including the discovery of the Hiberia
and Venture hydrocarbon fields and
the problem of maintaining the traditional high per capita return from
mineral exports. Together, the centre
and the earth sciences department
form the largest single Canadian
university geoscience institution.
The new $1 million Computer
Aided Design facility for the
Faculty of Engineering and Applied
Science will provide the capability to
further educate and train engineering
graduates and professional engineers
for work in offshore and ocean
engineering.
The invaluable use of Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided
Engineering (CAD /CAE) has been
well recognized by the offshore industry and the techniques are
routinely used in the design of offshore ships and structures. All of the
countries of Europe participating in
North Sea oil development have
established CAD/CAE centres exclusively for offshore applications.
The new facility for the engineering
faculty will be the only one of its
kind in Newfoundland, the closest
being located in Halifax.
The lack of a CAD/CAE facility at
Memorial has been a major gap in
the expertise in ocean engineering
that has gradually developed over the
past 15 years. With the development
of the Hibernia oil field, the acquisition of the system is timely and
necessary in order to allow the
highest level of training in the
design, maintenance and operation of
offshore structures and infrastructure.
The typical CAD facility consists of a
processor with adequate capability
for computation and graphics,
systems hardware, communication
support, graphics terminals, plotters,
printers, graphic tablets and applications software. The acquisition of
such a system by Memorial is expected to help maintain its position
as a pioneer in ocean engineering
studies and research.