UFC 111

By Mike Garvie

UFC 111 is this Saturday, and while the main card is stacked with plenty of need-to-watch matchups, most Canadians will be watching the title fight between Quebec fighter Georges St. Pierre (GSP) and Englishman Dan Hardy.

St. Pierre has won his last six fights including three title defences against Jon Fitch, B.J. Penn and most recently Thiago Alves at UFC 100 in Las Vegas.

NAIT and Ledcor Create First Ever Research Chair at NAIT

By Lauren Jarman

NAIT and the Ledcor Group have teamed up to create the Ledcor Group Research Chair in Oil Sands Environmental Sustainability.  It’s the first Chair of its kind at a Canadian college or technical institute and the first ever research chair for NAIT.  Each group contributed 1.5 million dollars to the project.

The Chair will research practical solutions to environmental problems in the oil sands.

The Canadian Dollar is on the Rise

by Carlin Burton

The Canadian dollar is almost on par with the US dollar. This means that the price of goods imported from the United States will go down significantly. It is also a very good time to invest. Derek Wisebeck, Business graduate of NAIT says that if you’re on a student budget there are still investments better to put your money into than others.

“Given students cash flow needs, and regular occurrence and recurrence of their bills, they really should be sticking to GIC’s or Money Market Funds, anything that would be able to turn into cash fairly quickly and with no loss in principal.”

Legend Rushing to Edmonton

By Matthew Iwanyk

As the Edmonton Rush were getting set to host the Boston Blazers, they also were playing host to one of the greatest athletes in his respective sport, Randy Couture.

Back in December of 2009 the Edmonton Rush entered into a very unique partnership. The Rush announces that the Rush had reached an agreement with UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture.

Caution: Facebook Could Make Your Computer Sick!

by Raeesa Merali

The latest virus to take over the Internet is aiming at the world’s largest social networking site. A virus has been unleashed on Facebook via spam email. The virus comes as an email stating that your Facebook account password has been reset, the email subject line will state: Facebook Password Reset Confirmation Customer Support.

Half of Facebook users are between the ages of 18 to 25, and many NAIT students fall into this category of facing the virus.

Universal Transit Pass at NAIT

by Carlin Burton

NAIT has an opportunity to get the universal transit pass. It will be 110 dollars added to every student’s tuition each semester. The cost of the U-pass will go up each following semester till it finally peaks at 140. Bus passes cost roughly 70 dollars a month so the U-pass will save transit users money every semester. The U-pass can be used on Strathcona County Transit, St. Albert Transit and ETS. NAITSA president Geoff Tate says the U-pass may encourage people to use transit solving a big problem here at NAIT.

Robot Sumo Wrestling

by Mike Garvie

NAIT’s Electronic Engineering students showcased their heavy-weight robots on Friday.

Robot sumo wrestling is considered a legitimate sport in Japan, where individuals will construct robots complete with sensors, plows and automated programming to knock out opposing robots.

The idea sparked Richard Rusterholz, an instructor of 20 years at NAIT, to bring the concept to his courses. It’s now an elective course in electronics engineering where students can apply all of their theory and practical learning in their last semester of studies into one project. They’re allowed 40 hours worth of lab time to work on the robots but often spend extra time to put the project together.

Nanotechnology comes to NAIT

By Melinda Paplawski

NAIT made a very big announcement this week, but it has to do with something incredibly small. A new Nanotechnology is coming to NAIT starting this September. The program will be aimed at teaching students about the systems and equipment used to work in this emerging industry.

Nanotechnology is defined as the study of controlling matter on an atomic and molecular level. Though the technology is very new the Alberta government has already announced its goals to hold a $20 billion share of the world-wide nanotechnology market by 2020. This commitment is what has led to the creation of this program, the first of its kind in Canada. “The Alberta government had a plan to diversify the economy, they wanted to go beyond a natural resource based economy into a more high-tech economy. One of the things they focused on was nanotechnology because it’s emergent around the world,” says Mark Archibald, chair of Electronics Engineering Technology at NAIT. “We have the national lab for nanotechnology here at the U of A and that’s where a lot of high-end research is taking place, and they’re sending their research down to the research park on the south side of the city, and those companies now are sufficient in number and growing to the point where they need more people to work in the nanotechnology industries.”

NAIT’s Unexpected Guest

By Terry Poettcker

Although the majority of people strolling the halls are students, every once in a while there is an unexpected guest at NAIT.

This past weekend students were a bit concerned after noticing a very suspicious male wandering the halls of the V-wing.  The students say the man acted like he didn’t belong and as if he were looking for something to steal, so they immediately contacted NAIT Security.

Entertainment In Edmonton

by Brenden Ullrich

It has been an exciting past few weeks in Edmonton if you’re a fan of top 40 music. It was announced this past week that Lady Antebellum will be coming to Edmonton for a free show!  On Friday March 26^th the hot new country duo will perform an acoustic set and singing session right from the heart of West Edmonton Mall, the ice palace.  Now you may want to pick up your telephone and call your friends to let them know about the free show, and well you’re at it let them know that Lady Gaga is coming to town.