On April 27, Durham College’s (DC) Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) hosted its seventh annual Research Day at the college’s Oshawa campus. Featuring a series of diverse breakout sessions, the event served to highlight and celebrate the leading-edge applied research being done by DC in collaboration with industry, institutional and community partners.

ORSIE staff were joined by members of DC’s Leadership Team, student and faculty researchers, and community, industry and government partners for a dynamic forum showcasing current applied research and innovation projects in areas of significance to the local and provincial economies including data analytics, automation and mobile applications.

The event aimed to create awareness of both the important role and impact of applied research to the community and how DC students are increasingly benefiting from such learning opportunities. The day’s theme also focused on the possibilities, opportunities and successes that exist when innovation meets entrepreneurship and how the advancement of both can make positive impacts on Durham Region and beyond.

Ryan Turnbull, founder and president of Eco-Ethonomics Inc., delivered a keynote address on the advancement of social innovation and social enterprises in Canada.  He spoke about how industry, college faculty and – above all – students can solve humanity’s toughest challenges.

“College is a collaborative platform,” said Turnbull. “For students, I would challenge you to be passionately engaged in issues and learn while you practice. Experiment with solutions and don’t be afraid to actually generate solutions. Your learning experience doesn’t have to be just receiving; you can give. You can actually procreate your learning and educational experience.”

This year’s event also featured a demonstration of WeTraq, a global tracking device designed to help families stay connected with loved ones with autism, dementia and Alzheimer’s. Conceptualized by WeTraq CEO and founder Ishaan Singla, and brought to life through a collaboration with DC students and faculty, the credit card-sized device can be kept by those at risk of wandering so that family members can track their whereabouts around the world.

The morning concluded with an awards presentation recognizing the college’s top student and faculty researchers of the year.

DC Outstanding Student Researchers 2017

First place

• Eric Mackie, third-year student, Computer Programmer Analyst

Second place (tie)

• Gregory Barnet, third-year student, Mechanical Engineering Technology
• Scott Rocha, second-year student, Computer Programmer

Third place

• Bolin Leung, graduate, Horticulture – Food and Farming

DC Outstanding Faculty Researchers 2017

First place

• Amit Maraj, professor, School of Business IT & Management

Second place

• Clint MacDonald, professor, School of Business IT & Management

Third place

• Rob Braithwaite, professor, School of Science & Engineering Technology

Caitlin Crosby had an interest in law in high school and now she is a student in the Paralegal program at Durham College (DC) where she is learning to give legal advice and represent clients in court.  Caitlin really liked her grade 12 law class, and had a chance to participate in a high school mock trial.  Now that she is about to graduate from DC, she wanted to help high school students with their mock trials.

As a result, Caitlin was on hand with DC earlier this month to assist with mock trials at the Newmarket Courthouse. Students came from 24 high schools and competed by conducting mock trials before judges in the Superior Court of Justice.  Caitlin talked with students about her DC experience, specifically about studying to be a paralegal licensee of the Law Society of Upper Canada.  .

According to Caitlin, her high school mock trial helped her to choose law at DC.  “My interest in law began in high school during my law class and my mock trial.  It led me to study law full time at Durham College.  I am really looking forward to graduating and when I will be able to become a professional licensee of the Law Society of Upper Canada.  I know I can make a real difference by giving my clients good legal advice and by helping them in court, and it’s thanks to the incredible lawyers and paralegals teaching me at Durham College.”

This year, Dalton Burger, Paralegal professor, formed part of the panel of dignitaries comprised of the senior regional chief justice of Ontario, crown attorney for York Region, superintendent of York Region Police, and the York Region chairman and CEO.  Mr. Burger said, “I am so proud of our Durham College students, like Caitlin, who not only work hard in their legal studies but also take time to help others in our community to develop their interest in law.”

The winner of this tournament will advance to the Ontario Central East Regional Championship on Tuesday, May 16th at the Oshawa Courthouse.  The mock trials were created to help high school students develop their interest in the legal field, while exposing them to a fully integrated, hands-on experiences. Thanks to Caitlin and DC paralegal students, that participated in the event, we are sure to see many more students follow in their footsteps. DC supports the event through Nicole Gilkes from Student Recruitment and Admission services.

DC’s Paralegal program is accredited by The Law Society of Upper Canada (Law Society), the regulatory body governing professional paralegals in the province. The program prepares students for the Law Society’s paralegal licensing examination, enabling them to provide legal services within authorized areas of law practice and represent clients before small claims court, criminal court (summary convictions), provincial offences court and government tribunals.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that it has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers. Awarded as part of the 2017 editorial competition that is organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, this special designation recognizes employers that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness within their organizations.

Winning employers are evaluated on the following criteria:

• Unique environmental initiatives or programs they have developed.
• Whether they have been successful in reducing their own environmental footprint.
• Whether their employees are involved in these programs and contribute unique skills.
• Whether their environmental initiatives have become linked to the employer’s public identity to attract new people to the organization.

DC’s Living Green initiative and participation as an early signatory to the Pan Canadian Protocol for Sustainability were among the reasons for inclusion on this year’s list, joining 69 other businesses and institutions from across the country.

Also noted were the green features found throughout the college’s building footprint. Living Green, working with the experts in the Facilities & Ancillary department, have made a number of sustainable changes to DC’s structures and spaces. These include adding a 350-panel photovoltaic rooftop solar array, installing a geothermal heating and cooling system and utilizing a centralized building automation system that monitors multiple campus buildings.

“We are very proud to receive this designation as one of Canada’s greenest employers,” said Don Lovisa, president, DC. “As a college, we not only believe in fostering environmentally sustainable practices but also an eco-conscious mindset among students, employees and partners. We feel responsibility for social, environmental and economic stewardship should be shared and have worked incredibly hard to ensure sustainability guides our decisions and practices. We do this for the betterment of everyone on campus, present and future, and well beyond and this award signals we are on the right track.”

About Living Green DC

In 2012, DC launched a new campus environmental initiative under the “Living Green” banner. With oversight from the college’s Sustainability Committee, Living Green seeks to enhance the environmental sustainability of campus operations, planning, administration, curriculum, research, innovation and stakeholder engagement. Acting as environmental champions, students can volunteer as part of the Green Team. The college also employs a full-time sustainability coordinator to help foster a culture of sustainability, establishing guiding principles for campus activities and day-to-day operations.

For more information on DC’s sustainable initiatives please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/livinggreen.

For the second year in a row, Durham College’s (DC) student-led newspaper, The Chronicle, took second place honours in the General Excellence category for Ontario college and university newspapers at the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s (OCNA) Better Newspaper Awards gala.

Brian Legree, DC professor, program coordinator and editor-in-chief of The Chronicle, accepted the award at event, which was held on April 7 in Toronto, marking the 18th time The Chronicle has been awarded by the OCNA since its first nomination in 1986.

Entrants in the General Excellence category are judged on overall design, front page, quality of content and diversity. The award is in recognition of The Chronicle produced during the 2015-2016 academic year, a year in which the paper transitioned to its current format, complete with new logo and redesigned website.

The Chronicle is produced by students, under the guidance of the program’s faculty, in DC’s Journalism – Web and Print and Journalism – Broadcast and Electronic Media programs, which have recently been combined to form the Journalism – Mass Media program to provide students with the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience within all media.

Established in 1974, and The Chronicle continues to provide hard news, editorials, timely opinion pieces, features, sport stories and more to the DC campus community.

Durham College (DC) is proud to announce that Bistro ‘67, the college’s full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, has been named one of the 150 Best Neighbourhood Gems in Canada. The accolade comes from OpenTable, the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations.

OpenTable compiled its list of unique local restaurants that define neighbourhoods across the country as a way to honour Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Drawing upon more than 480,000 reviews submitted to the website for more than 2,000 restaurants, OpenTable narrowed the field by looking at establishments with a minimum overall rating and number of reviews and then scoring them to determine which ones could be considered a neighbourhood gem.

The resulting list highlights unique establishments that include everything from quaint European-style cafés to sizzling Asian kitchens and everything in between, including DC’s field-to-fork-focused Bistro ‘67.

To complement their list, OpenTable also conducted a survey to gauge Canadians’ dining experience preferences. Based on the survey results, Bistro ‘67 is clearly hitting all the right notes with diners – 55 per cent of Canadians said they prefer their dining experience close to home, 89 per cent prefer Canadian cuisine and 87 per cent said they prefer when ingredients are locally grown.

Bistro ‘67 offers guests a memorable field-to-fork dining experience within DC’s award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (CFF) at the college’s Whitby campus, where community, local agriculture and learning come together. Meals are prepared and served by DC’s skilled staff and students who create flavourful dishes inspired by fresh ingredients from the CFF’s own gardens and other local suppliers across Durham Region. A 3 Star Certified Green Restaurant, Bistro ‘67 also holds a Feast ON designation in recognition of its use of local food and beverage, and is Ocean Wise approved and recognized by the Vancouver Aquarium for its ocean-friendly seafood choices.

Typically, we think of mac n’ cheese as a quick and easy meal prepared from boxed ingredients. But on April 8, eight teams of Grade 11 and 12 students whipped up their own creative concoctions based on the classic dish at Durham College’s (DC) third annual Epic Mac N’ Cheese competition hosted at the college’s W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (CFF).

Contestants’ family and friends, along with other community members, gathered to watch the event, taste test the entries and vote for their favourites to help decide the winners.

Among many unbelievably cheesy dishes, one clearly prevailed. The winning recipe belonged to Katelyn Gadajar and Griffin VanWinden, students at Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School in Whitby for their combination of goat cheese, Italian sausage, roasted red pepper and garlic over an exquisite cream-based sauce.

“I had a lot of fun, and the experience was great especially considering I am going to be attending DC for the Culinary Management program in the fall,” said VanWinden. “Being able to work alongside a DC mentor was really awesome, and it felt good to win as it gave me a lot more confidence in what I do and solidified my decision for my future career.”

Coming in a close second and third, were:

• Josh Simpson and Emma Whittington
  Peter Catholic Secondary School, Peterborough
  Epic combination: Cajun chicken, bacon, jalapeño and asiago cheese.
• Kacey Payne and Bailey Agnew
  Henry Street High School, Whitby
  Epic combination: Italian sausage, bacon, sautéed onions and peppers, and parmesan.

“It’s always exciting to see young chefs with incredible talent cooking up a storm in DC’s state-of-the-art kitchens, and the support from the community was outstanding,” said Peter Lee, professor and co-ordinator of DC’s culinary programs. “It’s an excellent opportunity for high school students to get a real taste of what they would learn in a post-secondary environment.”

DC extends its sincere thanks to all of this year’s participants and everyone who attended the event. The money raised from event ticket sales will be added to a bursary fund that helps support students pursuing a career in culinary arts, hospitality or special events planning at DC. All students who participated in the competition are eligible to apply for the bursary if accepted into a CFF program.

Three Durham College (DC) students took front row seats to the leadership race of the Conservative Party of Canada when they attended the 88th annual general meeting of the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce on April 6.

The DC students, Nikolai Slepov in the Police Foundations program, Jenn Amaro in the Journalism – Web and Print program and Taylor Flood in the Marketing – Business – Transfer to UOIT Bachelor of Commerce program, had the opportunity to join DC president Don Lovisa and chief of staff Hélène Asselbergs at the event, which was held at the Ajax Convention Centre, thanks to Roughley Insurance Brokers Ltd., who sponsored the students’ table.

Canadian business magnate, TV personality and new found politician Kevin O’Leary delivered the keynote address, during which he spoke about his plans for Canada if he were to be elected the country’s next prime minister.

Of particular interest to the DC students in attendance were O’Leary’s concerns about the low employment opportunities for students upon graduation and how raising their prospects is one of his top priorities. He also spoke about his goal of a three-per-cent growth in Canada’s gross domestic product in his first four years in office and his intention to also focus on the country’s immigration policy.

“It is important that our students take an interest in politics and the various positions of candidates within all political parties,” said Lovisa. “I hope this opportunity to hear from one of the potential conservative leaders will see the students take a keen interest in the views of other political parties and politicians.”

Following O’Leary’s address, the floor was opened up to allow the students and other attendees the opportunity to pose questions to O’Leary about any topic.

 

Following the recent announcement from the provincial government, of their $50-million investment in colleges across Ontario, Durham College (DC) is pleased to share that it will receive $1.9 million of that legacy funding.

As DC celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017, so too does the college system in Ontario. The funding for all 24 of the province’s colleges was awarded in celebration of this milestone year.

The idea of partnering with the provincial government, to establish a legacy fund of $50 million for 50 years, was proposed by chair of the Colleges Ontario 50th anniversary task force and DC President Don Lovisa, in order to benefit all Ontario colleges in a meaningful way.

“What a fantastic way to celebrate this milestone and truly start something amazing,” said Lovisa. “In making this generous funding commitment, the provincial government is recognizing the outstanding achievements of Ontario’s colleges over the past 50 years, while also creating a lasting impact on future generations of students across the province, including Durham College.”

Durham MPP Granville Anderson was onsite at DC’s Whitby campus where he revealed how much of the funding the college will receive, and what this means to students and the greater Durham Region community.

“Over the past 50 years, our colleges have done so much to build Ontario up,” said Durham MPP Granville Anderson. “They provide students with unique experiences and important skills which prepare them to be successful in the workforce. Durham College, specifically, plays a vital role in our community, so it was my pleasure to announce our government’s $1.9 million investment to help make this great school even better.”

During the announcement, DC shared that it will use its portion of the funds to construct a two-storey galleria at its Whitby campus, providing much needed touchdown space and collaboration zones for the more than 2,000 full-time students who call the Whitby campus home.

Construction on the galleria space is expected to begin shortly.