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2017 campus Holiday Food Drive supports 150 families

The co-chairs of the annual campus Holiday Food Drive extend their sincere thanks to everyone who helped make the 2017 initiative a resounding success.

A longstanding campus tradition, the drive provides hampers and financial assistance to Durham College (DC) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) student families in need.

“The need is real: we hear stories about students having to choose between buying books or food throughout the school year. It can be particularly difficult for them during the holidays when they have to decide between purchasing school necessities or gifts for their families,” says Brad MacIsaac, Co-chair, Holiday Food Drive. “We are thrilled that this year’s campaign helped families enjoy happier holidays with a record number of 150 food hampers, thanks to the generosity of our campus community.”

 “The success of the Holiday Food Drive would not be possible without everyone who came together for this great cause,” adds Kevin Griffin, Co-chair, Holiday Food Drive. “A heartfelt thank you goes out to all who donated non-perishable food items, contributed finances toward the purchase of fresh food, and helped us pack and deliver hampers on December 17.”

DC, UOIT, the Kinsmen Club of Oshawa, UOIT Student Union and Durham College Students Inc. organize the campus Holiday Food Drive.

DC signs collaboration agreement with Lakeridge Health

Durham College and Lakeridge Health have signed a five-year collaboration agreement focused on growing experiential learning, applied research and innovative education to address issues in health care.

“Durham College and Lakeridge Health have a long history of working together and this agreement illustrates the ways in which our values so closely align,” said Debbie McKee Demczyk, dean of the college’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE). “This is an exciting new chapter in our relationship – one that will provide exceptional opportunities for our students and faculty and make positive impacts on the quality of health care our community receives.”

Under the agreement, the college and hospital will collaborate to explore and pursue the following five objectives:

  • Identify and develop initiatives focused on creating practical, scalable and sustainable solutions to health care issues.
  • Work with companies to develop, disseminate and potentially commercialize technologies.
  • Develop and coordinate joint experiential learning opportunities, applied research and innovative educational activities.
  • Contribute to seminars, workshops and academic initiatives that drive the business goals of both organizations.
  • Share access to facilities, equipment, systems, information and data within the boundaries of protecting confidentiality and personal information.

The collaboration agreement supports two specialized areas of research for ORSIE and Durham College: enabling technologies of the future and cultivating healthy lives and resilient communities. It also aligns with the college’s first degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management (BHCTM), announced earlier this year. The first program of its kind in Canada, the BHCTM program aims to address an identified need in the health care sector for professionals with a hybrid skill set of expertise in medical technologies, life sciences and business practices.

Lakeridge Health is a five hospital health system with approximately 15 community locations across Durham Region and 6,000 employees dedicated to providing excellence – every moment, every day. For Lakeridge Health, this partnership supports a pathway to innovation with a focus on excellent patient care and the potential to increase opportunities for experiential learning and applied research.

“Innovation is one of the core values of Lakeridge Health, and we are looking forward to working in partnership with Durham College to develop innovative health care solutions while working with students, faculty and community partners,” said Len Kleine, director of Business Development, Lakeridge Health, and one of the organizational leads for Innovation.

DC reaches 50 Acts of Kindness to wrap up milestone year

Riding a wave of holiday spirit across campus, Durham College (DC) reached its goal of 50 Acts of Kindness completed and shared by the end of its 50th anniversary year. Launched in April as part of DC’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the 50 Acts of Kindness project was designed to capture a snapshot of how members of our campus community give back.

Whether they were volunteering, donating to a food or clothing drive, helping a neighbour or surprising someone in need of a smile, DC students, employees, alumni and retirees proved that they’re both go-getters and go-givers!

Each act of kindness was submitted to the DC50 website along with a brief description of the act of kindness, participants involved and a photo. As each act of kindness was received it was then posted to the 50 Acts of Kindness webpage building a virtual college of goodwill and community.

DC is grateful to everyone who contributed generosity and good deeds to help reach 50 Acts of Kindness. Let’s keep the kindness flowing on campus and throughout the community as we enter 2018!

School of Justice & Emergency Services students give back

Students in Durham College’s (DC) Fire and Life Safety Systems Technician and Firefighter – Pre-Service, Education and Training programs recently volunteered their time and community spirit to raise $1,463 for Camp Bucko, which gives burn survivors ages seven to 17 the opportunity to attend camp for one week during the summer.

On Friday, December 15, they were able to present a cheque to representatives from the camp in the culmination of their planning and fundraising efforts. Raised during Fire Prevention Week, the funds are the result of multiple initiatives, which were organized by more than 100 students. These included a boot drive, fire fighter challenge where participants were given the chance to dress in fire fighter gear to complete an obstacle course and a meet and greet with Molly the Fire Dog.

Photo credit: Aly Beach, second-year Journalism – Print and Web student.

Durham College launches first-of-its-kind applied research AI Hub

Durham College (DC) is announcing the launch of the Durham College Hub for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence for Business Solutions, to be known more commonly as the AI Hub. Housed within the college’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE), the AI Hub offers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) a much-needed access point to the rapidly growing field of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

DC’s AI Hub offers industry partners access to technical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and learning platforms, and students who are emerging leaders in their fields, so that through applied research projects they may uncover business insights and implement intelligent and autonomous solutions to increase their companies’ productivity and growth.

AI is transforming the ways in which business systems, consumer interactions and devices are being developed and used. By building upon Canada’s established lead in AI scientific research, DC’s AI Hub aims to ensure this emerging and vital competitive advantage for business can be understood, developed and adopted by SMEs.

The AI hub is focused on how “narrow AI” can be used to help SMEs unlock competitive advantage through the adoption of AI. Narrow AI refers to any software that uses technologies such as machine learning (ML), decision support, natural language processing and automation to recommend strategic options, make decisions autonomously and act in a manner that would be considered intelligent.

In addition to supporting SMEs, the AI Hub also provides DC students and alumni opportunities to gain highly sought-after AI and ML skills and experience to improve their competitiveness in today’s job market.

As part of the AI Hub’s establishment, DC also launched three internal projects to accelerate the college’s adoption of AI and commissioned a new GPU Accelerated AI Systems Lab for research and teaching purposes.

The college has also just announced its eighth AI applied research project launched in 2017. DC and Toronto-based flitePLAN International (flitePLAN) are partnering on a project using AI and advanced development techniques to address the financial and ecological benefits of fuel optimization in commercial aviation.

Companies interested in how AI and digital transformation can enhance their businesses are encouraged to visit www.durhamcollege.ca/theAIHub or contact the AI Hub team directly at theaihub@durhamcollege.ca or 905.721.3223.

DC Brewing Memories Coffee Tour Wraps Up

Durham College’s (DC) Office of Development and Alumni Affairs gave new meaning to the term ‘coffee break’ for alumni with their Brewing Memories Coffee Tour (BMCT).  The travelling series of events was part of DC’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2017 and saw the college host coffee breaks throughout the year at 50 workplaces that employ DC graduates. This month, the tour wraps up after more than 50 stops.

The BMCT was designed to provide opportunities for the college to re-connect with its graduates, hear their success stories, learn about their career paths and in turn, share with them the new and exciting things happening at DC – all while enjoying free coffee, tea and baked goods. Each attendee had the opportunity to share details of their program and received a commemorative ‘DC alumni at work’ sticker to be proudly displayed at their workplace.

The Office of Development and Alumni Affairs gathered with alumni in workplaces such as DC’s Oshawa and Whitby campuses, Durham Regional Police Services, Ontario Power Generation and Bombardier Transportation. The BMCT traveled outside of Durham Region, with stops at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and the HMCS BYTOWN Officers’ Mess in Ottawa.

The tour also gave international alumni the opportunity to connect by engaging with former DC students in British Columbia, Romania, Turkey, Japan and England. The five alumni came together through DC’s Global Class to share their memories of DC and updates on their careers. Participants also learned about new college developments and took questions from audience members watching live, both in-class and on the web for a truly unique BMCT stop.

Durham College one of GTA’s Top Employers

Durham College (DC) has been named one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2018. This is the seventh time the college has received this honour.

DC is proud to be acknowledged for the work being done on campus to create opportunities for professional development and personal wellness for the college’s more than 790 full-time employees, including faculty, administrative and support staff. Highlights of that work recognized by the Top Employer program this year include DC’s annual Retreat with the President, a forum for staff to provide feedback and share ideas for improvement as well as the college’s diversity working group, which helps develop and implement strategies and initiatives related to student and employment diversity. The program also commended DC for encouraging employees to lead active, healthy lives by subsidizing memberships to the state-of-the-art Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre, which also offers massage, physiotherapy and other extended healthcare services.

Greater Toronto’s Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the Greater Toronto Area employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Organizations are judged on several categories including physical workplace; work and social atmosphere; health, financial and family benefits; vacation and time off; employee communications; performance management; training and skills development; and community involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

For more information, please visit www.canadastop100.com/toronto/.

DC students win student series competition hosted by Canoe Restaurant

A video exploring the Three Sisters – corn, beans and squash – and their role in Aboriginal cuisine has won five Durham College (DC) students from the college’s Centre for Food (CFF) a prestigious competition hosted by Canoe Restaurant in Toronto. For their prize, the team enjoyed an exclusive dining experience at Canoe’s iconic Chef’s Rail, followed by an overnight stay at the Le Germain Hotel in late November.

Held as part of Canada 150 celebrations, Canoe’s student series competition asked entrants to create a video answering the question, what does Canadian food mean to you? Together, Casey Chessman (Horticulture – Food and Farming), Tamara Green, Khadijah Hosein and Emilie Woytowich (Advanced Baking and Pastry Arts) and Ikra Ijaz (Hospitality – Hotel and Restaurant Operations Management) created their winning submission.

Inspired by Green’s Indigenous heritage and the diverse backgrounds of all the team members, the students focused their entry on the concept of the Three Sisters, which represent the main agricultural crops of many First Nations, using their interconnectedness as an analogy for Canada’s multiculturalism and its positive impact on the ever-evolving idea of what constitutes Canadian cuisine.

Kristin Atwood, a graduate of DC’s Culinary Management and Advanced Baking and Pastry Arts programs, filmed and produced the team’s entry and will also attend the celebratory dinner where Canoe chefs John Horne and Ron McKinlay prepared a decadent, multi-course meal for the DC team using the finest Canadian ingredients from coast to coast.

“We are absolutely thrilled for the students who won Canoe’s student series competition,” said Kevin Baker, principal, Whitby campus, Durham College. “They are studying in programs that are rooted in the field-to-fork philosophy which gives them a unique perspective on the role food and farming have played – and continue to play — in shaping Canadian culture, including cuisine. The submission that they created highlighted the traditions and diversity that make our country special. I know they are looking forward to experiencing the meal at Canoe, especially given its own unique focus on defining Canadian cuisine.”

DC’s students competed against 22 other schools in the competition, which was open to any student above the age of 19, enrolled for the academic year beginning September 2017 in a food-related program, including culinary arts or chef; hospitality management; winery and viticulture technician, distiller or brewmaster; agriculture (including fish and seafood); cheesemaker; butcher; baker/patisserie; food and nutrition management.

View the students’ winning entry.

DC hosts Kenyan education delegation

In early November, as part of its participation in the Kenyan Education for Employment Program (KEFEP), Durham College (DC) hosted four days of workshops for delegates from five Kenyan national polytechnics. The delegation’s visit to Ontario marked the beginning of Durham’s KEFEP partnerships, facilitated through Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan).

In addition to a workshop hosted by Algonquin College, one of DC’s Canadian partners, touching on the Greening of Technical Vocational Education and Training, a diverse, cross-sectional group of DC employees delivered workshops on the following subjects:

  • Leadership and Change Management
  • Gender Mainstreaming
  • Industry Engagement and Program Advisory Committees

The Kenyan delegation also had the opportunity to connect with members of the DC leadership team (DCLT), including president Don Lovisa, Dr. Elaine Popp, vice-president, Academic; Mark Herringer, dean, International Education; and Moreen Tapper, dean, Centre for Academic and Faculty Enrichment. During a roundtable discussion, DCLT participants shared personal stories of their career development, as well as experiences with change management and leading teams through organizational transitions. Their Kenyan counterparts then shared details of their own experiences in connection with the evolution of Kenya’s post-secondary education system, including the recent change to college-led responsibility for curriculum development.

KEFEP is a five-year initiative focused on strengthening and supporting technical and vocational education and training in Kenya. It is funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada and facilitated by CICan. DC has been contracted on two separate KEFEP project with different mix of Kenyan and Canadian partners, to work together to achieve the overarching KEFEP goals through a partnership of 3.5 years. A vital component of DC’s internationalization strategy and efforts, partnerships such as KEFEP are great examples of partner-driven capacity-building projects that work towards sustainable results and professional development opportunities for all parties.

Durham College alumnus wins Ontario Premier’s Award

Durham College (DC) alumnus Brent Lessard has received provincial recognition for the leadership role he is playing in revolutionizing the future of transportation. The 2014 graduate of DC’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program was announced as the recipient of a Premier’s Award for recent graduates on November 27 at the annual gala that celebrates outstanding graduates from across the Ontario college system.

“I am incredibly honoured to receive the Premier’s Award,” said Brent. “I’ve been able to apply so much of what I learned at DC, including being exposed to diverse thinking during my studies, which has been a source of inspiration in my work. I also continue to draw on the importance of fostering a sense of community, which the college certainly did. It’s something that I have carried with me as I helped create the rLoop concept.”

rLoop, a non-profit, crowd-funded and sourced, online think tank and talent resource, was founded in 2014, a year after Brent graduated, and is focused on the development of a conceptual, high-speed transportation system called Hyperloop. Initially proposed by Elon Musk, chief executive officer at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the system involves the propelling of passenger or cargo-boarded pods in a low-pressure tube using sustainable and cost-efficient energy, in order to transport people from one place to another at the speed of sound.

Within the framework of rLoop’s commitment to innovation, Brent successfully connects and integrates the expertise of his colleagues, who live in various countries and time zones, speak different languages and embrace differing and unique cultures, to lead the development of a technology prototype with the potential to change the way we live and conduct business in Ontario, Canada and around the world.

His dedication has enabled him to propel the rLoop team, which is now comprised of 1,100 members from more than 50 countries, to greatness several times in the last three years.

In January 2016, he proudly guided his colleagues at the first SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Competition where they were awarded the Best Non-Student Hyperloop Design Award and earned a spot to compete as one of 30 teams at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition, which took place in January 2017, in California. There, under Lessard’s direction, rLoop had the opportunity to test its Hyperloop prototype on the mile-long SpaceX track before receiving the SpaceX Hyperloop Innovation Award.

Lessard and his team were asked to return to the Hyperloop Pod Competition II in August 2017, where they tested the vehicle in the vacuum of the Hyperloop tube and achieved several Hyperloop firsts, including the first Hyperloop Pod demonstrating static levitation in a vacuum and the first Hyperloop Pod with pressure vessel tested at vacuum, capable of sustaining human life.

“Brent is a cutting-edge thinker who embodies the qualities that make a college education great – collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship and learning through doing,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “As he and the rLoop team work toward revolutionizing the way we travel, DC’s students, employees and more than 82,000 alumni are incredibly proud he is representing the college and Canada on the international stage.”

Brent was one of 118 college graduates nominated for this year’s awards, including one other from DC, and is the sixth alumni from the college to win.

Each year the Premier’s Awards are presented to acknowledge the social and economic contributions that college graduates make to the province and throughout the world. Chosen from nominations submitted by Ontario’s 24 colleges, the award recipients have demonstrated outstanding career success related to their college experience and have made a significant contribution to their community.

For more information about the DC alumni community please visit www.durhamcollege.ca/alumni.