Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design and Implementation is first program of its kind in Canada

Oshawa, Ont. – Durham College (DC) is tackling the acute shortage of skilled artificial intelligence (AI) professionals in Canada, the most significant barrier to AI implementation today, with a new graduate certificate program.

Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design and Implementation – the first program of its kind in Canada – will launch in September 2019 and aims to make students employable even before they graduate. By putting emphasis on hands-on learning and training, students will gain real work experience while solving actual business problems through capstone projects, an optional work term and applied research opportunities with the Durham College Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions, better known as the AI Hub.

“The Greater Toronto Area is home to one of the highest per-capita concentrations of AI companies in the world, yet our AI ecosystem is suffering because the skilled workforce it demands does not exist,” said Marianne Marando, executive dean of the college’s School of Business, IT & Management. “DC’s new graduate certificate program will help fast-track more AI analysts, designers and system programmers who can hit the ground running.”

The program will focus on AI implementations across multiple sectors through a blend of open and custom solutions. Students will learn how to leverage AI to extract data and guide decision-making as well as service delivery, solving complex day to day problems with state-of-the-art solutions, all while creating efficiency and quality gains for small and medium-sized enterprises up to the largest of corporations.

“There has never been a more critical time for Canadian educational institutions to step up and play a vital a role in solving the crisis of skill shortage in the field of Artificial Intelligence that Canada faces today,” said Danish Arshad, executive director, International Council of E-Commerce Consultants. “Jobs in Canada requiring AI skills have grown by 1,069 per cent since 2013[i]; automation will impact at least 50 per cent of Canadian jobs in the next decade[ii]. In these disruptive times, DC’s AI graduate certificate proactively paves the way to not only build future generations of AI professionals but also prepare markets for the impending automation disruption.”

Whether their goal is a career as an AI specialist or to better understand how AI techniques can enhance their work in sales, marketing or product management, students will learn how to:

• Identify and understand opportunities where AI can create value in an organization or community.
• Identify risk and project management concerns unique to AI projects.
• Structure a project team when resources are scarce.
• Apply techniques for developing and implementing AI solutions.

Additional emphasis will be put on managing data in a manner that preserves its security and users’ privacy.

“The opportunity to train and test students in a focused AI program is going to attract AI enthusiasts at all stages of their expertise” adds Tushar Singh, CEO and founder, Minute School. “Combined with DC’s strong connections between its academic schools and industrial partners, as well as the faculty’s unique focus on Narrow AI, this program will go a long way in addressing the AI skills gap facing our country.”

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About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 12,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. The college is also set to launch its first four-year degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, in September 2018.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the art Student Services building and will soon feature the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The new facility will bring together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs. For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.

For further information contact:
Melissa McLean
Communications and Marketing
Durham College
905.721.2000 ext. 2952
melissa.mclean@durhamcollege.ca

Oshawa, ON – Support is building as the second phase in the establishment of the Durham Region Innovation Hub begins. Led by the Idea Summit group, the concept development for the hub began over two years ago. Since then the group has actively engaged community members through two summit events, two collision events and a community strategy session held in April of this year.

In March 2018, the group hired Stiletto, a consulting firm specializing in research and technology parks and innovation hubs, to undertake a feasibility and assessment exercise for the proposed Innovation Hub. This included a detailed review of exemplary jurisdictions and models for innovation hubs, a detailed assessment of potential location and criteria, structure and expansion of the hub model, financial modelling and industry asset opportunity and gap analyses.

With the continued support of Stiletto, the Idea Summit group is pleased to proceed to the next phase of the concept development, where the focus will be to onboard new partners, confirm market demand, position the concept for prospective industry partners, confirm potential funding sources and secure support from and assign roles and responsibilities to each of the eight municipalities in the region.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the region to truly advance a broader innovation and economic development agenda,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College and chair of the Idea Summit group. “Durham College is proud to lead and support this initiative as one of the founding members of the Idea Summit group. All of its members firmly believe the Innovation Hub can be a catalyst for growth of the innovation and entrepreneurship community, bringing greater awareness to industry to consider expanding, building and growing their businesses right here in the Durham Region”.

The concept development phase kicks off this week and those interested in learning more are invited to connect with us. A LinkedIn page will be set up for those interested in moving and accelerating this agenda.

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Media contacts:

Laura O’Blenis
President and CEO, Stiletto Consulting
laura@thinkstiletto.com
506.471.9438
www.thinkstiletto.com

Sherry Colbourne
President and CEO, Spark Centre
scolbourne@sparkcentre.org
905.432-3999, ext. 128
www.sparkcentre.org

Idea Summit Members:

Lead by Durham College and Spark Centre, Idea Summit members include some of the Region’s largest employers and the Regional Municipality of Durham:

• 360Insights
• Aecom
• Durham College
• General Motors Canada
• Lakeridge Health
• Ontario Chamber of Commerce
• Ontario Power Generation
• University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Annual awards celebrate outstanding college graduates

Oshawa, Ont. – Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that, in recognition of their outstanding career success related to their college experience and the significant contributions they have made to their community, three of its alumni have been nominated for Colleges Ontario’s 2018 Premier’s Awards.

Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann, who graduated from DC in 1998 from DC’s Registered Nursing program, draws on her passion for nursing and advocacy in her role as chief executive officer of Grandview Children’s Centre, the only children’s treatment centre in Durham Region. There she has championed its unprecedented growth and expanded its service offerings, while also giving back to the community. She has sat on and led both provincial and national committees focusing on children’s rehabilitation, has used her expertise to help develop Ontario’s Special Needs Strategy and has worked in direct care and senior-leadership roles at St. Michael’s Hospital and Lakeridge Health Oshawa. She is nominated for a Premier’s Award in the Health Services category.

Manjula Selvarajah, a 2014 graduate of the Journalism – Print and Broadcast program, works as a technology columnist and associate producer for Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC Radio. There she has appeared on and produced a variety of shows including Metro Morning and Big City Small World. She has also presented on the Live and Learn and Fresh Air shows. Manjula uses her training and voice to help the Tamil community, leveraging media platforms to tell their stories. She co-hosted one of the few English shows on Canadian Tamil television, Crossroads on Tamil Vision International, where she moderated panels on issues that affected Tamil Canadians and has blogged on tamilculture.com. She is nominated in the Recent Graduate category.

As chief executive officer (CEO) of Bird Mechanical Ltd., Brandon Bird, who graduated from DC in 2012 as a Level 3 Plumber Apprentice, is continuing the company’s three generations of excellence. Since taking over in 2016 as its youngest CEO, he has generated $30 million in sales revenue while overseeing a team of 80, 60 of which are tradespeople. Through strategic expansion and service offerings, the company has worked on projects ranging from $100,000 to $20 million; its clients include the Hospital for Sick Children and Cadillac Fairview. Brandon also chairs DC’s Mechanical Techniques Program Advisory Committee and serves on the Education Committee for the Mechanical Contractors Association of Toronto. He is nominated for a Premier’s Award in the newly-created Apprenticeship category.

“We are incredibly proud of this year’s nominees,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “All three have used the skills they learned at DC to build successful careers for themselves, while also giving back to the communities where they live and work, representing the college on the provincial stage.”

This year’s Premier’s Award winners will be announced during a gala reception on Monday, November 26 in Toronto.

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About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 12,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. The college is also set to launch its first four-year degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, in September 2018.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the art Student Services building and will soon feature the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The new facility will bring together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs.

For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.

Media contact:

Meghan Ney
Communications and Marketing

meghan.ney@durhamcollege.ca

Oshawa, Ont. – Durham College (DC) and Molecular Science Corp. (MSC) are pleased to announce their signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize their collaboration on professional and post-secondary learning, including opportunities for student experiential learning placements and collaboration on research initiatives related to the medical and recreational cannabis industry. DC is the first post-secondary institution to establish such an agreement with MSC.

“Strong partnerships with industry leaders such as Molecular Science Corp. are vital to the success of our students,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC. “With a particular focus on the identification and measurement of natural health products in cannabis, statistical data interpretation and analytical research and development in pursuit of quality assurance, the experience and expertise the MSC team will bring to the college’s ongoing development of leading cannabis-focused education will be invaluable.”

Under the agreement, MSC will provide scientific research context and methodologies to DC as new cannabis-related courses and programs are expanded to enhance DC’s existing educational offerings, including the new Cannabis Industry Specialization certificate program and two-day Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals course. DC will provide MSC with access to cannabis educational materials and expertise, students to fulfill internships as well as resources for their mobile lab platform.

The MOU will also see MSC support the college as an advisor on equipment acquisition and by providing guest speakers to address post-secondary and professional development-level students. A senior representative from MSC will also join DC’s Cannabis Industry Program Advisory Committee, members of which advise the college on a wide range of topics that directly impact the success of students and graduates.

“Durham College has established itself as a leader in cannabis education and MSC is very pleased to collaborate in areas of strategic value to both organizations,” said Ian Morton, chief operating officer, MSC.   “We see significant opportunity in terms of capacity building, talent recruitment, internships and integrated service offerings that will benefit both organizations.”

The partnership between DC and MSC represents the third major collaboration between the college and leading organizations in the cannabis industry. DC also has agreements in place with GrowWise Health Limited and Ample Organics.

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About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 12,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. The college is also set to launch its first four-year degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, in September 2018.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the art Student Services building and will soon feature the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The new facility will bring together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs. For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.

About Molecular Science Corp.

MSC is a Canadian laboratory services company that delivers analytical testing and data-driven business intelligence to the growing cannabis economy. We are dedicated to providing enterprise and craft-level Licensed Producers and Licensed Oil Processors the tools and services they require to succeed through quality compliance.

Our brand new physical laboratory in Toronto will perform a series of analytical tests including potency, terpene profiling, pesticides, heavy metals and mycotoxins testing, as mandated by Heath Canada’s regulatory standards.

MSC has brought the industry’s first mobile lab to market, custom built to provide an onsite pesticide testing solution to customers and to enable an interactive educational platform for product safety awareness, assisting producers in making informed decisions about their cultivation practices. As an extension of our lab facility in Toronto, the mobile lab will employ a variety of scientific instrumentation with a focus on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and will utilize a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to ensure seamless and efficient alignment of analytical results between our mobile lab, physical lab and our clients. For more information visit mscience.ca

For further information contact:

Melissa McLean
Communications and Marketing
Durham College
905.721.2000 ext. 2952
melissa.mclean@durhamcollege.ca                           

Tahir Kassam
Director of Marketing
Molecular Science Corp.
416.800.0479 ext. 205
tkassam@mscience.ca

Funds will be used to complete construction of entrepreneurial space within Durham College’s Centre for Collaborative Education

Oshawa, ON – Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that 360insights is helping build a local community of entrepreneurs and world-class students by making a significant donation to its Building Something Amazing capital campaign. The funds will be used to help complete construction of the college’s new Centre for Collaborative Education(CFCE), and specifically, the 360insights Entrepreneurship Centre, which is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

“No company better understands the importance of fostering innovation, development and education than 360insights,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “Their donation to the CFCE is going to provide students and local youth with the space they need to explore entrepreneurship and access expertise in order to bring their own business ideas to life. We are very grateful for their support.”

Named in honour of the company’s generosity, the 360insights Entrepreneurship Centre will be home to FastStartDC, a program that helps students and youth develop valid business ideas and plans to take their products and services to market quickly and successfully.

“At 360insights one of our core values is ‘live in the possible’,” said Jason Atkins, founder and CEO, 360insights. “This means we strive for excellence free of limitations for both our clients and employees, which is exactly what entrepreneurs do each day. We are thrilled that our donation will support the local community while also helping students and youth transform their limitless ideas into reality.”

In addition to the 360insights Entrepreneurship Centre, the multi-level, 75,000-sq-ft CFCE will serve as an educational access point for students, while bringing together local, Indigenous and global community groups and members of key business sectors. The Building Something Amazing capital campaign was launched in September 2017 to raise $5 million to complete construction of the new space.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that Lisa Shepard will join DC as dean, International Education, effective Monday, July 23.

Lisa brings 13 years of experience in post-secondary education to the college, including 10 years in enrolment and international leadership. She has extensive experience successfully leading international education initiatives globally, including oversight for international recruitment and enrolment, education abroad, overseas curriculum delivery and international and intercultural student support services.

In her most recent position with Saskatchewan Polytechnic (Sask Polytech) as director, Strategic Enrolment and International Education, Lisa held responsibility for a diverse portfolio that included leading international education revenue-generating strategic partnerships, international relations and building the institution’s brand globally in priority markets across China, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America. She also developed, operationalized and executed Sask Polytech’s first International Student Enrolment Strategy, emphasizing market diversification, education abroad opportunities for students and faculty, and full student lifecycle supports.

Prior to joining Sask Polytech, Lisa held several management and technical positions with the University of Saskatchewan in which she focused on international student recruitment and admissions, business performance, client service, information management, and international strategic partnership building.

Lisa holds both a Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Arts, Honours English from the University of New Brunswick.

Oshawa, Ont. – The Centre for Collaborative Education (CFCE), Durham College’s (DC) newest building has been honoured before the doors officially open. DC is proud to have been presented with the prestigious 2018  Urban Design Award from the City of Oshawa at a special awards ceremony, held at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa on June 14.

Scheduled to open in September, the CFCE is the college’s most ambitious and transformative initiative in the institution’s 51-year history. Montgomery Sisam Architects designed the building in a joint venture with Architecture Counsel Inc. The CFCE replaces DC’s aging Simcoe building, which was built as a temporary structure and opened in 1969. 

A combination of limestone, white architectural block, wood soffit, and a Muntz copper metal panel system create a dynamic expression that references the existing campus while maintaining an efficient, more modern enclosure. Inside, Montgomery Sisam and Architecture Counsel designed light-filled, flexible spaces to accommodate a wide variety of programs and student needs.

“We are proud to be creating a facility that will expand local programming, further connect Indigenous communities to post-secondary education and drive entrepreneurship and internationalization in our community,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC. “The CFCE will be an educational hub that is about building possibilities and helping students realize their full potential by offering experiential learning opportunities designed to match the needs of industry, reflecting Durham College’s dedication to meeting the demands of students, employers and our changing economy.”

The accessible, four-storey, 75,000-square-foot-facility will house three new interprofessional simulation lab and an anatomy and physiology lab. There will be a full-service spa that will support the Massage Therapy, Cosmetic Techniques and Management, and Esthetician – Spa Management programs. The CFCE will also include new academic learning spaces with the addition of nine general purpose collaborative classrooms and a state-of-the-art Global Classroom which enables students to interact with other students and experts from around the world. There will also be 10 classrooms for the Centre for Success program which allows secondary students to participate in post-secondary courses and apprenticeship training to earn dual credits that count towards both their high school diploma and post-secondary credential. The First Peoples Indigenous Centre, Office of Student Diversity, Inclusion and Transitions and Research office’s FastStart operation will all be housed in the new building as well.

“The CFCE building is visually unique and will serve as a stunning gateway for the college,” said Lovisa. “The architects have cleverly included part the college’s history into the new building, by creating a beautiful entrance feature, which incorporates a living wall and reclaimed stone from the original Simcoe building.”

The Oshawa Urban Design Awards program was created in 2011 to recognize the significant contributions that architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, developers, builders and other individuals make to the appearance, livability and quality of life in Oshawa.  In 2012 the college received an Award of Excellence for its Student Services building, which officially opened in March 2011.

In addition to receiving this award DC’s CFCE building is also eligible to participate in the 2018 National Urban Design Awards (Tier II) Program administered by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

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About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 12,000 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. The college is also set to launch its first four-year degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, in September 2018.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the art Student Services building and will soon feature the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The new facility will bring together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs.

For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.