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EnactusDC embarks on first international project

EnactusDC is celebrating the launch of its first international project, Project G.R.O.W.(Generating Real Opportunities Worldwide), and a fantastic first trip to South Africa!

EnactusDC is the Durham College (DC) chapter of Enactus, an international organization of student entrepreneurs who develop businesses that make positive social, economic or environmental impacts in their local communities or internationally. The EnactusDC team is a part of the FastStart SHIFT program at the college, a business start-up accelerator designed for social enterprises.

Project G.R.O.W. is one of the team’s six active projects for 2020 and the first to introduce impactful international work into the mix. It is a welcome addition to EnactusDC’s 2020 competitive project roster, which also includes Girls EnPower, True Grit, Money Makes Cents, M03 Solutions and 3eehive.

During the college’s winter break, EnactusDC team leaders traveled to rural community schools in South Africa’s central region, known as Midrand, where they performed a formal needs assessment for a new food literacy and education-based garden project. Project G.R.O.W. is working with Canadian partner Rainbow Plate to design custom curricula around an experiential learning-based garden project for South African students, ages 0 to 5. The team will work with teachers at participating disadvantaged schools to implement curricula, build gardens and provide an entrepreneurial training opportunity to generate income through sales of the surplus garden yield.

The project is led by three students from DC’s Marketing – Business program: Chin-Ting Sherwin, Jonathan Bayne and Christian Lopers. These students forged a fantastic connection with their in-country host, celebrated DC alumna Cailey Hart. Since graduating from DC’s Early Childhood Education program in 2010, Cailey has become the principal of Botshabelo Urban Kids Educentre in South Africa.

The students were joined by EnactusDC faculty advisor Chris Daniel, a professor with DC’s school of Science & Engineering Technology.

“It was amazing to watch the impact that Durham College’s ECE teaching methodologies have had on increasing the skills of the local urban and rural preschool teachers around Midrand, South Africa,” says Chris.  “It’s a true credit to Cailey’s leadership and since she has clearly shown great success at helping her colleague replicate her skill set, I’m confident that her ability to manage the creation and duplication of a garden and the Rainbow Plate nutrition methodology throughout the region will be successful as well.”

Team member Chin-Ting Sherwin adds, “Being able to visit communities in South Africa has been a life-changing experience. The warm welcome from the people within the schools and the overall lifestyle have opened my eyes to how happiness comes in many forms. This opportunity has changed my perspective and was unforgettable.”

Cailey Hart hosted the EnactusDC team onsite at her school and introduced members to several rural schools in disadvantaged areas, which are to become the focus of the project work. In addition to their gratitude to Cailey, EnactusDC is thankful to the college for its ongoing support, the DC Alumni Association, DC Students Inc. and DC’s International Office for helping make this new initiative possible.

High school students get taste of campus life as DC hosts FIRST® Robotics Competition

While competing in the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) Ontario District Durham College (DC) event on February 29 and March 1, high school students from across the province also got a first look at where they could be headed next while visiting the college’s Oshawa campus.

For the sixth year in a row, DC hosted more than 1,000 of the province’s brightest young minds, along with their mentors, family, friends and fellow robot enthusiasts, at the annual event. Competitors demonstrated their technological and engineering skills as they operated complex, 140-pound robots they had designed and built in only six weeks.

During the competition’s opening ceremonies DC president Don Lovisa shared additional campus highlights with attendees, including the recent launch of two new applied research centres: the Mixed Reality Capture Studio and the Centre for Cybersecurity Innovation.

After two days of intensive battles, organized with the help of numerous, dedicated volunteers, the following teams comprising the Red Alliance were declared district champions:

  • Alliance Captain: Team 188 – Blizzard (Toronto)
  • Team 2200 – MMRambotics (Burlington)
  • Team 8089 – Rockway (Kitchener)

Also notable was the winning team of the Chairman’s Award winner, Team 4039 – MakeShift Robotics (Hamilton), which is the most prestigious award a team can win. The Chairman’s Award honours the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST. It was created to keep the central focus of FRC on the ultimate goal of transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honour for science and technology, as well as encouraging more of today’s youth to become science and technology leaders.

See all awards winners and results.

Students had a lot of fun while gaining real-world engineering experience, developing leadership skills and learning to work as a team under pressure and tight timelines. 

Winners of the DC event now move on to the FIRST® Ontario Provincial Championship at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, April 10 and 11, where they will compete for a spot at the World Championships that will be held in Detroit, Michigan, from April 29 to May 2.

Learn more about FRC.

DC culinary students compete in Student Chef Challenge 2020

On Thursday, February 27, three Durham College (DC) Culinary Management students competed in the Student Chef Challenge 2020 against five teams from post-secondary institutions across Ontario at the W. Galen Weston Centre for Food in Whitby.

Organized and sponsored by Ontario Sheep Farmers, Mushrooms Canada and DC, the annual competition aimed to showcase the complementary flavours of Ontario mushrooms and lamb while testing students on their skills and knowledge in butchering, recipe development, cooking and food presentation.  

DC’s team included second-year students Amira Cunha and Soo Hea Woo and first-year student Ethan Tate, alongside faculty mentors Dave Hawey and Josh Heuvelmans, professors in the School of Hospitality and Horticultural Science. In the morning, the team was tasked with butchering a lamb into specific retail cuts. They then used the protein to develop a recipe and cook three separate, original dishes that incorporated Canadian mushrooms and Ontario lamb. A reception took place later in the day, and key members of the culinary and DC community attended to taste samples of the final recipe in the competition.

Student dishes were judged by a team of industry professionals from organizations, including Foodland Ontario, Ontario Sheep Farmers, Gordon Food Service, Restaurants Canada, and Windmill Farms. The butchery portion of the event was judged by Nicholas Matusiak from Halenda’s Meats.

Although DC’s team did not place, it was a close race and the experience for students went above and beyond regular classroom learning, giving them the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from judges and begin building a name for themselves in the industry.

After the event, more than 200 lbs of raw lamb, provided by Ontario Lamb Company and Ontario Sheep Farmers, was frozen and donated to Feed the Need Durham.

Dragons’ Den auditions return to DC Wednesday, March 11

Calling all entrepreneurs! The hit CBC television show Dragons’ Den will return to Durham College (DC) on Wednesday, March 11, to hold auditions in the search for Canada’s best new businesses.

The show’s producers are embarking on a nation-wide tour in search of the country’s best new business concepts and products in need of a Dragon investment. During its stop on campus, aspiring DC entrepreneurs and members of the general public are invited to pitch their concepts in five minutes or less. If they show producers they have what it takes to pitch in the Den, they could be invited to Toronto to face the Dragons.

DC is committed to enhancing entrepreneurship in the community and encourages anyone with an innovative idea to apply. DC students may also contact FastStart – an entrepreneurial training partnership aimed at students – for assistance in preparing their pitch.

Prospective pitchers are encouraged to apply online and bring a completed application form to the audition.

Auditions:

When

Wednesday, March 11
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where
Durham College, Oshawa campus
Student Services building, Room SSB 116 AB
2000 Simcoe St. N.
Oshawa, Ont. 

 

 

DC students test their skills and collaborate in emergency simulation

On February 29, 195 Durham College (DC) students, faculty and industry partners collaborated on an intense, large-scale emergency simulation exercise at the Oshawa campus that let students put their classroom and lab training into action.

Bringing together participants from the schools of Justice & Emergency Services, Health & Community Services and Media, Art & Design, as well as peers from Ontario Tech University’s nursing program, the exercise followed a detailed script that saw volunteers simulate a mass-casualty emergency stemming from a sports-racing situation.

Unfolding in real-time, the exercise provided students with valuable experiential learning as well as a better understanding of how members of emergency services, health and social services, legal services and the media work together during an emergency. A second simulation exercise focused on mock legal proceedings in connection with the emergency will be held Saturday, March 7.

Students from the following DC programs participated:

DC students win silver at national marketing competition

Students from the Durham College’s (DC) Marketing – Business Administration program successfully competed at the 2020 Scotiabank Vanier College National Marketing Case Competition, placing second and taking home silver.

Facing off against 25 teams from across Canada, the DC students emerged victorious following several intense three-hour rounds of competition, where real-world marketing challenges were presented and competitors were required to develop and present their creative solutions. Teams were assessed on the value and practically of those solutions and the quality of their presentations.

Using skills developed and honed in the classroom, the DC students responded to the challenges by identifying new markets to support business expansion for a health supplement company and helping a capital management firm appeal to a younger demographic.

Congratulations goes to second-year students Ryan Ashton and Brendan Scott and third-year students Kaitlyn Brasier and Chin-Ting Sherwin for their stellar performance at the national competition.

DC home to Canada’s first LinkedIn Learning Student Club

Durham College (DC) is home to Canada’s first-ever LinkedIn Learning Student Club. Founded in January 2020, the club is part of the LinkedIn Learning Championship Program.  

The goal of the club, which currently consists of nine students, is to enhance the real-world skills of its members through participation in hands-on projects and collaboration with different departments at DC, while also generating awareness of the LinkedIn Learning online tool.

During weekly meetings, time is spent brainstorming ideas for future workshops and collaborations, as well as discussing challenges, in addition to project work.

As the only LinkedIn Learning Club in Canada, the DC students captured the attention of Jennifer Catallo, senior customer success manager and the leader for LinkedIn Learning Solutions. She met with the founding students during the LinkedIn Learning Championship Orientation and attended their monthly status meeting on February 21.

A formal team structure for the club’s operations is being developed and once in place additional members will be accepted. In the interim, anyone who is interested in joining can sit in on the meetings, which are held every Friday at 3 p.m. in Room A315 at the college’s Oshawa campus.

DC hosts FIBA Americup 2021 qualifier game – the most-attended sporting event on campus in the college’s history

On February 21, 2,500 basketball fans filled Durham College’s (DC) Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC) to watch Canada’s Senior Men’s National team take on the team from the Dominican Republic during the International Basketball Association (FIBA) Americup 2021 Qualifiers, making it the most-attended sporting event on campus in the college’s history.

Originally slated to take place at the Tribute Communities Centre, a last-minute venue change was needed due to unforeseen technical difficulties, and based on Team Canada’s familiarity with the CRWC facilities, FIBA approved the change of location.

Thanks to the efforts of the college’s Athletics, Facilities and Ancillary Services and Parking Services departments, as well as the Office of Campus Safety, the CRWC was prepped and ready to go for the big game with only 24-hours notice.

In the end, those efforts paid off as the Canadian team emerged victorious, with a score of 89-72 over the Dominican Republic.

FastStartDC and Ownr are helping students incorporate their businesses quickly, simply and affordably

FastStartDC is pleased to be collaborating with Ownr to bring student entrepreneurs amazing support and great discounts on the cost of business registration and incorporation in 2020.

Business registration is often a pain point for our FastStartDC students, particularly for those unfamiliar with the required government forms. Registration can be an intimidating, not-so-sexy process and if business incorporation is in a student’s plan, it becomes even more complicated and certainly more expensive.

Thanks to Ownr, registering a business is now simple, quick and affordable for DC student entrepreneurs, allowing them to register their business in a few easy steps and for a fraction of what they would pay a lawyer. A more streamlined registration process means students can relax about this part of their start-up journey and focus their energy on building their business.

Through this new partnership, students who are officially participating in the FastStartDC program will receive a promo code for a $60 discount off Ownr’s business registration and incorporation services.

Visit the partner page.

FastStartDC is proud to have a strong network of partners who are leaders in the entrepreneurial arena to support the success of our student entrepreneurs.

REDress Campus Campaign urges move from awareness to action

Awareness has been achieved; now it is time for action.

This was the dominant message of the REDress Campus Campaign at Durham College (DC), a week-long series of events focused on the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited People (MMIWG2S).

Led by the First Peoples Indigenous Centre (FPIC) at DC and Indigenous Education and Cultural Services at Ontario Tech University, the campaign also brought together community partners including the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Carea Community Health Centre, The Nourish and Develop Foundation and DC Students Inc.

The week began with the reveal of an installation of red dresses across the college and university’s shared Oshawa campus, each dress symbolizing someone taken by the MMIWG2S crisis. In addition to the dress installation, events were held each day from February 10 to 14, culminating with a memorial march and closing ceremony feast on Friday afternoon.

The campaign was inspired by Métis artist Jaime Black’s The REDress Project, an aesthetic response to the MMIWG2S crisis, which is now a permanent exhibit in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Much like Black’s project, the red dresses installed across DC and Ontario Tech’s shared campus, Ontario Tech’s downtown Oshawa location, and DC’s Whitby campus and Pickering Learning Site, served as a visual reminder of the staggering number of MMIWG2S.

The REDress Campus Campaign included an opening ceremony featuring guest speaker Suzanne Smoke of Alderville First Nation, who is a Women’s Traditional Dancer, speaker, and facilitator, as well as an Anishinaabe Water Walker. On February 11, Kim Wheatley, an Anishinaabe Ojibway Grandmother from Shawanaga First Nation spoke about the connection between violence against women and violence against the land that is causing climate change.

On February 12, the First Peoples Indigenous Centre hosted an arts open house where participants could make a tile necklace to both commemorate MMIWG2S and celebrate the strength and future of Indigenous women, and take part in a traditional beading workshop.

One of the many highlights of the week included the special Global Class conversation held on February 13 between Jaime Black and Cree scholar Karyn Recollet. An associate professor with the University of Toronto’s Women & Gender Studies Institute, Professor Recollet brought the original REDress Project to her university’s downtown campus in 2017. The conversation between the women focused on their work in connection with the crisis of MMIWG2S. A group from the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation also provided a big drum performance to open and close the event.