Durham College’s (DC) Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) is pleased to announce it is receiving $133,000 in applied research funding via an Applied Research Tools and Instruments grant. Awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the grant is administered through the council’s College and Community Innovation Program and will be used to purchase a beer analysis system for the college’s Centre for Craft Brewing Innovation (CCBI).

Working alongside the CCBI’s existing Brew Lab and Brew Line, this basic version of a pressurized beer analyzing system, plus a dissolved oxygen module, will help researchers and consultants determine the core parameters of a beer, including alcohol content, original extract, real extract, degree of fermentation and dissolved oxygen from a single sample.

It will be used for applied research projects with craft brewers so they can better understand how their brewing processes function, allowing them to develop and implement improved control strategies, which in turn, results in a consistent, higher-quality brew.

The equipment, which is being supplied by Anton Paar, a well-known manufacturer of high-quality high-accuracy lab instruments that find many applications in the food and beverage industry, is able to automatically carry out the analysis of various key parameters in parallel on a single sample. It can also correct sample filling errors, cross correct results to improve accuracy and self-calibrate against distilled water, making the analysis system an industry standard.

The purchase of the new equipment, sees the CCBI join the ranks of the LCBO, as well as many larger breweries, all of whom have adopted the same system for their labs due to its superior reliability, ease of use and speed of analysis.

On June 7, Durham College’s (DC) Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (the AI Hub) held its fifth Tech Talk, focused on creating new opportunities based on technology and innovation. Sponsored by the City of Oshawa, the discussion explored the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) projects and how technology excellence in the local community is a catalyst for growth.

Industry professionals, government representatives and students attended the panel discussion hosted by Tanmay Bakshi, the world’s youngest IBM Watson programmer and an artificial intelligence expert; Tushar Singh, a serial entrepreneur and chief executive officer and founder of Minute School, and Mahdi Raza, co-founder and chief executive officer of SiberX, and lead of the CISO Forum Canada.

The panelists deliberated about growth success factors in the city through technology and innovation. They highlighted DC’s focus on experiential learning, as well as initiatives implemented by the city, including hands-on talent development, a scalable educational system and opportunities for collaboration with companies, enable students to gain real-world experience and prepare them to lead sustainable technology projects for the benefit of the community.

The Tech Talk learning series is hosted by DC’s AI Hub. Past topics have included the application of AI in areas such as special-needs education, cybersecurity, real estate and manufacturing. The college’s next Tech Talk, to be held in July, will focus on AI and the cannabis industry.

In addition to the Tech Talks, watch for details as the City of Oshawa and DC welcome the finals of Global CyberLympics games to campus on Saturday, October 26. Teams from all over the world will compete in areas such as web application exploitation, malware analysis and cryptography among others.

Durham College (DC) is pleased to announce that it has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for the third consecutive year. Awarded as part of the 2019 editorial competition that is organized by the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, this designation recognizes employers who create remarkable workplaces that minimize the environmental impact of their operations.

Winning employers are those that incorporate environmental values into their everyday culture, and attract employees because of such values and are evaluated on the following criteria:

1. 1. The unique environmental initiatives or programs they have developed.
   2. Whether they have been successful in reducing their own environmental footprint.
   3. Whether their employees are involved in these programs and contribute any unique skills.
   4. Whether their environmental initiatives have become linked to the employer’s public identity, attracting new employees and customers.

This year, DC has been recognized for its sustainability focus related to infrastructure and supporting behavioural changes among its employees and students. At a planning level, both new construction and renovation decisions are made through a sustainable lens. This includes LED lighting being the only option at the college, working towards 100 per cent LED use, including in its parking lots. In addition, hydration stations have been installed in every wing of the college to offer cooled, filtered water, thus reducing the use of plastic bottles.

The college’s Green Office Certification Program began last year, providing guidelines to incorporate sustainability into daily operations. Supported from the top down, the program focuses on energy and water conservation, waste diversion, purchasing habits and creating a green-focused office culture. Using a checklist as a guide, individual departments are encouraged to undertake sustainable actions in a variety of categories. These include using alternative transportation or using mini bins as a replacement for personal garbage cans. Across DC there has also been a move towards using centralized printers as opposed to personal ones, reducing overall paper use.

The new Simcoe Geothermal Field project, which is currently underway at DC’s Oshawa campus, is a prime example of the college’s sustainable efforts in action and was substantially complete on March 31, 2019.

For more information on living green at DC please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/livinggreen.

On April 11, Durham College (DC) held its ninth annual Research Day, a dynamic display of the innovative work being done on campus and in the community by DC faculty, student researchers and industry and community partners. Hosted by the college’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE), the event is aims to raise awareness of the important role and impact applied research has on the community and showcases the experiential learning opportunities it creates for students.

The Student Project and Venture Showcase was a new addition to the event, comprising more 30 student exhibits, where attendees had the opportunity to meet the talented students, interact with their work and support DC’s student entrepreneurs.

This year’s event also included the following three student competitions, which saw competitors pitch to panels of expert judges to compete for cash prizes and passes to the Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery conference as well as mentorship and additional support from college and industry resources:

• AI FastStart Challenge, highlighting the application of AI in new and innovative business applications.
  First place: Keenan Binnie-Cormier
  Second place: Gregory Barnes
  Third place: Julie Charlesworth
• Food Foundry Entrepreneurship Challenge, highlighting entrants from the new FastStart Food Foundry food-business incubator.
  First place: Mahmoud El Maaraoui (Pop Kefir Soda)
  Second place: Alexandria Gillis and Jennifer Butt (Zenergy Grass Ruts)
  Third place: Brad Abel, Patricia Revita and Ibing Maharlika (Vinn Art)
  Third place: Kuljeetkaur Dhanda (Flaxible Bites)
• 3MARC Challenge, a three-minute applied research communication competition where students were challenged to present compelling orations of their research work.
  First place: Ramandeep Rathore
  Second place: Farzeen Daruwala
  Third place: Taylor Richardson

In addition to the AI, tech and entrepreneurship on display, Research Day 2019 also highlighted applied research in diverse areas including gerontology, social services for youth experiencing homelessness and precision and resilience training for firefighters.

See full program including descriptions of breakout sessions and student projects on display.

On January 29, Durham College’s (DC) Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions (AI Hub) hosted its fourth Tech Talk. The two-hour event focused on real estate from an industry standpoint and how AI has started to disrupt the market with key points around data integrity, privacy, security and regulation to help agents, brokers and investors improve customer services, achieve greater efficiencies, and identify and mitigate risks.

Four speakers gave presentations, including Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), Mustafa Abbasi, president and chief revenue officer of Zolo, Absar Beg, president of Lifelong Group of Companies and Gary Fooks, CEO and mortgage broker for 8Twelve Mortgage Corporation.

Attended by over 90 professionals from the AI and real estate industry, the talk covered topics such as quality assurance around financial documentation, putting real estate on autopilot, automation solutions for agents, and more.

Watch the AI Hub’s Twitter and Instagram accounts, as well as DC’s website for future Tech Talk dates. Sessions will focus on AI’s impact on health care and transportation. DC will also be hosting its inaugural Enable AI Summit on Thursday, June 6. This one-day conference will provide a platform for community members to converge around core applications and empower businesses to solve complex operational problems through applied research and AI.

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.