On January 25, Durham College (DC) and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) celebrated the recent completion of the college’s first-ever Boiler Lab in Whitby. Funded by both DC and OPG, the new Boiler Lab will help ensure graduates gain real-world experience and knowledge from hands-on learning in an actual, operating boiler-room setting.

On hand to show support was the Member of Parliament for Whitby, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Northumberland – Peterborough South MP, David Picinni, who also serves as the parliamentary assistant to Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Training, College and Universities. The president of the Treasury Board, Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, Durham Regional Chair John Henry and the mayor of Whitby, Don Mitchell were also in attendance.

“Skilled trade professionals are in high demand and are needed to successfully complete OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment Project. Our partnership with Durham College is essential in providing current and future staffing needs. The Boiler Lab is the type of training facility that is a must for meeting demand,” said Jeff Lyash, OPG President and CEO. “Leading-edge institutions such as Durham College are training the next generation of skilled trades that will help ensure that Canada’s largest clean energy project continues to track on time and budget.”

Since 2005, OPG has invested $15 million in educational partnership programs with DC and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to increase the pool of skilled and qualified graduates as the nuclear industry enters into an era of a skilled trades supply gap.

“The partnership between the college and OPG is a great example of industry and post-secondary coming together to deliver training and demonstrates what is possible as a result of these types of agreements,” said Don Lovisa, President, Durham College. “OPG identified a need and through hands-on learning in the Boiler Lab, DC is meeting it. For our students this means they are graduating with the experience required to easily transition into their careers, helping ensure the future viability of the skilled trades.”

Training in the Boiler Lab is part of the  Power Engineering Technician – Fourth Class program offered at DC and will play an integral role in competency development.

Rachael Lave, a student studying in the Power Engineering Technician – Fourth Class program also spoke at the event about the importance of the new lab to the overall program, describing a recent issue that occurred with coupling that attached one of the turbines and the generator. By witnessing the issue first-hand, students walked away with greater insight into the types of issues they would face in their field and what the industry would expect of them.

The Boiler Lab joins a long list of training simulation environments offered at the college’s Whitby campus including energy, residential construction and carpentry and horticulture labs.

 

Durham College (DC) students have a new avenue for receiving experiential learning opportunities thanks to the college’s recent implementation of Riipen, a software platform that connects educators, industry partners and students together for course-based micro-experiences.

Driven by DC’s Career Ready Fund initiative funded by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), Riipen gives instructors the opportunity to search for or submit desired real-world work-integrated experiences with industry partners that they can embed into curriculum as in-class assignments, competitions or longer duration projects.

The three sided nature of the software, with educators, industry partners and students all having the ability to initiate projects, allows for better experience-matching and increased efficiency, aligning DC and industry in a way that scales quickly.

With the world’s largest library of proven experiential learning project templates available through Riipen for instructors and industry partners, faculty can select dynamic business challenges for students to solve in real-time that will enhance learning and better prepare them for the workforce.

Riipen was recently piloted successfully by classes in the School of Business, IT & Management, and several other academic schools have already identified opportunities for implementing the software in the new year to take experiential learning opportunities for faculty, staff and students to the next level.

With demolition of the Simcoe building complete, work is now underway on the Simcoe Geothermal Field and Innovation Centre at the Durham College (DC) Oshawa campus. Announced earlier this year, the project is part of the college’s ongoing transformation of its energy infrastructure to support and implement sustainably focused initiatives on campus.

Upon completion in April 2019, the geothermal field and connected heat pump house will harness 550 tons (1.9 megawatts) of clean, sustainable geothermal power to fuel the energy needs of the Gordon Willey building block.

While the underground geothermal system and connected Innovation Centre will provide environmental benefits to DC, the greater campus community will also benefit from what is above ground – a beautiful new greenspace similar to Polonsky Commons, which is also located on the Oshawa campus.

Additionally, the Simcoe Geothermal Field and Innovation Centre will create opportunities to act as living labs that provide new experiential learning opportunities. Working with knowledge partner Siemens, who is also the primary contractor for the geothermal field, students will explore green-energy technologies and careers while faculty will receive assistance in developing lessons incorporating geothermal technology into the curriculum.

New signage is now on display around the construction zone, featuring information about the geothermal field. Visit www.durhamcollege.ca/geothermal to learn more about geothermal energy as part of DC’s commitment and action to support sustainable and environmentally responsible operations.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that its Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) has been approved to receive $2.24 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), through the council’s College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program and College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF).

Two million of the funds will be used over five years to further enhance the capacity of the college’s Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (the AI Hub). Having already established itself as a leader in AI through a number of innovative applied research projects and the creation of the college’s new graduate certificate program, Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design and Implementation, the grant will allow the hub to engage more faculty, students and industry partners in collaborative projects to improve business innovation, develop talent and contribute to local technological advancement.

A second applied research grant, focusing on developing a unique and scalable housing model for youth living on their own in Durham Region, will receive $240,000 in CCSIF funding over a two-year period. Established in partnership with the Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham District School Board, Durham Mental Health Services and the John Howard Society of Canada, DC will work to develop a ground-breaking, youth-designed housing hub model, while also investigating best practices and determining ways to improve the coordination and collaboration of services for Trusteed Youth.

This funding announcement comes as DC was recently named one of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges by Research Infosource Inc., a Canadian research and development intelligence company. This is the sixth consecutive year the college has been included on the list, which is informed by data on research income, research intensity, research partnerships and projects at colleges across the country.

The goal of the CCI Program is fostering partnerships between colleges and the private sector, to encourage business innovation, locally, regionally and nationally. CCSIF grants are intended to support college social innovation research projects in partnership with local community organizations.

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.”

Durham College (DC) research partner Partake Brewing (Partake) has been recognized on the global brewing stage, after being named the best low-alcohol pale beer by a panel of international judges at the 2018 World Beer Awards. The title was bestowed upon the company’s pale ale, a recipe which the college’s Centre for Craft Brewing Innovation (CCBI) helped develop.

Partake’s collaboration with DC and its Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) began in October 2016. Funded through a $25,000 Engage grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, ORSIE researchers and the CCBI’s brewmaster used its brew lab and line to work with the company in developing the winning recipe.

This honour is the latest in a line of achievements for the growing craft brewer; Partake also recently secured a deal on CBC’s Dragon’s Den, again using a recipe – an India Pale Ale – developed in partnership with the CCBI. Its products can now also be found at select Beer Stores and LCBO locations across Ontario.

In all instances, the centre’s team has worked to help develop the recipes for the locally made, non-alcoholic craft beers that have the taste, variety, authenticity, creativity, and passion of their full-strength counterparts.

The World Beer Awards select the best in internationally recognized styles, awarding and promoting the world’s best beers to consumers and trade across the globe.

The CCBI, which is located at the Whitby campus, was officially launched in spring 2018. Consisting of a pilot brew line and brew lab, which were purchased using a $150,000 Applied Research Tools and Instruments grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, it offers craft brewers access to expertise and state-of-the-art technology, as well as micro-analytical and research services.

Together all parties have been working together to establish Oshawa as a living laboratory focused on experiential learning, applied research and innovative teaching partnerships to address urban issues.

The TeachingCity focuses on:

• Developing practical, scalable and sustainable solutions to urban issues;
• Building research partnerships;
• Coordinating experiential learning opportunities, applied research and innovative educational activities;
• Developing new technologies; and,
• Sharing access to facilities, resources and equipment.

Driven by a steering committee comprised of representatives from each partner, DC’s own Janse Tolmie, associate vice-president and chief information officer, IT Services and Marianne Marando, executive dean, School of Business, IT & Management, have been working along with the rest of the group to help successfully launch the initiative, focusing on putting processes in place, understanding how to assess project proposals and working with deans, associate deans and faculty at DC to kick-start several projects.

These included the TeachingCity Hackathon, which provided students with an opportunity to propose a solution to a public policy challenge around the theme of improving residential rental housing in Oshawa. Supported and mentored by faculty, City staff and community and business leaders, DC’s team, known as P.A.M., placed second, receiving a $750 prize for their solution of a website that focused on the inclusivity of the most marginalized Oshawa populations. 

The TeachingCity Hub also opened its doors. Located in downtown Oshawa, the Hub provides opportunities for TeachingCity partners to share access to facilities, resources and equipment, and includes office, classroom and lab spaces. The open-concept area will be used for meetings, collaborative learning opportunities and co-design.

Other highlights include students from DC’s Fine Arts – Advanced program exhibiting their works in Oshawa City Hall as part of the City’s Art and Culture in the Hall program. Students from the college’s School of Media, Art & Design also had a chance to show their creativity as part of its Community Collaborations course, where they designed vinyl artwork in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, which was then displayed on the windows of the City’s Arts Resource Centre.

With one year completed, the partners are looking ahead to further develop the initiative. There are a number of diverse research projects in the works including getting a DC course recognized as a TeachingCity course; a project to provide certain services to low income residents and the establishment of the City Idea Lab, which will offer experiential learning opportunities to post-secondary students via a credit course at the TeachingCity Hub. Students working in the lab will learn about identified urban issues in Oshawa and will have the opportunity to collaborate with City staff to co-design possible solutions. The first intake of DC and University of Ontario Institute of Technology students to use the lab will be in the 2018-2019 academic year.

A graduate from DC’s School of Media, Art & Design will also be given the opportunity to create and install a mural in the TeachingCity Hub.

The full TeachingCity Progress Report is now available. Please visit to learn more about this past year’s activities and the plans for the future.