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DC students wow at Teaching City Hackathon

A team of Durham College (DC) students captured an impressive second-place finish in the first-ever Teaching City Hackathon on March 3. A total of 10 teams of Oshawa post-secondary students went head-to-head on International Open Data Day for their chance to win $1,500 by proposing a solution to a public policy challenge around the theme of improving residential rental housing in Oshawa.

Members of the DC team known as P.A.M. received a $750 prize for their solution of a website that focused on the inclusivity of the most marginalized Oshawa populations. Each of the competition’s top three teams will now work with the Hackathon Steering Committee, Spark Centre and local entrepreneurs to review opportunities for their proposed solutions to be refined and developed into a potential commercial product, a process which could be explored through partnerships and further research and exploration by students and faculty in their institutions.

“The Teaching City Hackathon not only provided fresh ideas and new approaches to residential rental housing in Oshawa, but also an enriched educational experience,” said Oshawa Mayor John Henry. “I am constantly amazed by the brilliant minds that call Oshawa home. Giving opportunities to young people will change the world, and this is a great example.”

“I was very impressed by the students’ ability to address the challenge from a number of different angles, the creativity of their solutions to the challenge and their presentation skills,” said Janse Tolmie, chief information officer and associate vice-president, Information Technology, DC.

The Hackathon was the second project of Teaching City, a formal collaboration between the City of Oshawa, Canadian Urban Institute, DC, Trent University Durham GTA, University of Ontario Institute of Technology and University of Toronto Department of Civil Engineering. Teaching City aims to establish Oshawa as a city focused on experiential learning, applied research and innovative teaching partnerships to address urban issues.

Learn more about Teaching City and its upcoming initiatives on the Teaching City web page.

 

DC launches dedicated app for prospective international students

Durham College (DC) International is making sure the international student experience comes first with the launch of a pioneering mobile application for those looking to study in Canada. The Durham Assist app is a one-stop shop for students, providing all the information they need to know about studying in Canada and at DC.

Developed in partnership with Canadian developer Maple Assist Inc. and three other Canadian colleges, the Durham Assist app is currently being piloted with potential and new students coming from India. The application provides international students with relevant, comprehensive information about studying in Canada and the DC student experience specifically. 

The app is designed to streamline communication between the college and international students, simplify the application and study permit process, ensure students are better prepared for the cultural and academic transition to Canada and support transportation and arrival planning and services.

Sponsors of the project include Air Canada, Scotiabank and India-based HDFC Bank. These and other sponsors have committed to providing student users with special offers for items such as flights, bank fees, exchange rates and arrival packages that include bedding and other early arrival needs.

Students in India can download the app from the Apple App Store and Google Play.  Once the pilot is complete, the app will be made available more broadly.

DC’s international team opted for a mobile application to improve student service based on the ever-increasing prevalence of smartphones around the world. Based on the success of the pilot project in India, the college will look at expanding the app to other countries with students looking to pursue post-secondary education in Canada.

As of January 2018, DC is home to more than 1,445 international students, representing 61 countries from around the world.

DC hosts FIRST® Robotics Competition and offers students glimpse of college life

While competing in the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) Ontario District Durham College (DC) event on March 3 and 4, 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 fourth 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 and knowledge as they operated five-feet-tall, 140-pound robots they had designed and built in only six weeks.

Teams competed in this year’s intensive arcade-themed game, FIRST® POWER UPSM. Robot fans enjoyed watching teams play the game that saw them trapped in an 8bit-video-game world and use power cubes to defeat the game’s boss.

During the competition’s opening ceremony both DC president Don Lovisa and FIRST® alum/DC Mechanical Engineering Technology student Donald Bark encouraged the crowd to take advantage of their time at the college to explore the campus. In particular, FIRST® competitors were directed to the Integrated Manufacturing Centre, where robot repairs and tune ups were being offered by DC faculty and students using the facility’s industrial-grade equipment.

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:

  • Team 610 – Crescent School Coyotes, North York
  • Team 4476 – W.A.F.F.L.E.S Community Robotics, Kingston
  • Team 6110 – Archbishop Denis O’Connor Catholic High School Doc Botics, Ajax

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 Hershey Centre in Mississauga, April 12 to 14, where they will compete for a spot at the World Championships that will be held in Detroit, Michigan, from April 25 to 28.

Learn more about FRC.

DC honours the legacy of Black Canadians during Black History Month Celebration

On February 21, Durham College (DC) students and employees were joined by community leaders to honour the legacy of Black Canadians past and present, during the college’s Black History Month celebration.

Hosted by the Office of Student Diversity, Inclusion and Transitions, DC was honoured to host special guests Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Member of Parliament for Whitby, and Mayor of Oshawa John Henry, who both spoke at the event.

DC’s Black History Month Celebration also featured a dance and drumming workshop by Sanaaj Mirrie, social entrepreneur and artistic director of Afiwi Groove School, and a poetry reading by artist, activist and social innovator Greg Frankson, a.k.a Ritallin.

DC celebrates International Development Week

Durham College (DC) took part in Global Affairs Canada’s International Development Week (IDW), established in 1991, as a uniquely Canadian tradition that celebrates contributions to poverty reduction and international humanitarian assistance in the developing world. DC celebrated this event with a full program for students and employees emphasizing Global Affairs Canada’s theme “Partners for a Better World”, encouraging Canadians to build an more inclusive, peaceful and prosperous world.

DC’s IDW events began with a message from Member of Parliament Celina Caesar-Chavannes who congratulated the college’s internationalization efforts and reminded us of the responsibility DC has to mobilize global citizens. Other activities included a Global Class on access and equity in education, where guest speaker Christian Mutalamuna, who is a DC alumni from the Democratic Republic of Congo, encouraged a packed room of DC students, as well as participants from Russia, Zambia, Ghana, Mexico and Toronto to push through external and internal limitations in the pursuit of education.

DC also hosted a Marketplace, which featured 14 non-governmental organizations, local artists and fair-trade vendors.  Students and employees also heard of the many opportunities the college offers for international experiences from education abroad, to participating on DC’s international projects and partnerships. Other highlights included the screening of a thought-provoking documentary on climate change, hearing the stories of peer’s international experiences, a presentation from Limerick Institute of Technology on degree completion in Ireland and cultural dance lessons facilitated by DC alumni.

DC helps clear the smoke surrounding growing cannabis industry

On February 15, Durham College’s (DC) School of Continuing Education, along with industry leaders GrowWise Health, Ample Organics and Cannabis at Work, presented an Ontario Cannabis Industry Q&A event.

Inspired by conversations being had in DC’s new Medical Cannabis Fundamentals for Business Professionals course, the event discussed the status of the rapidly expanding Ontario cannabis industry; the increased demand for a skilled workforce including expectations for growth and what it will mean for job creation; the types of jobs being created; and the skills professionals will need to fill those jobs.

The event reached capacity within 48-hours of being announced, highlighting the need for more dialog and education about the cannabis industry in Ontario and across Canada. Approximately 70 participants comprising students, job seekers, investors, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, among others, took part. They were able to ask questions of the experts on areas such as what employers are looking for in prospective employees, where the industry is going and the types of regulatory issues yet to be resolved by government.  It was a great opportunity to gain insights from some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry.

Future events will be held in March. Anyone interested in attending one of DC’s Ontario Cannabis Industry Q&A sessions is invited to put their name on the registration list by emailing barbara.knox@durhamcollege.ca. All DC students, faculty and alumni, as well as members of the public, are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Durham College students present artificial intelligence project on Parliament Hill

A team of Durham College (DC) students, faculty researchers and representatives from the college’s Office of Research Services, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE) returned from Ottawa this week after participating in Colleges and Institutes Canada’s (CICan) annual Applied Research Symposium.

The team from DC joined students from across the province, as they presented their project “Interactive Accessibility Assistant using Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to parliamentarians and representatives from the federal government at a special showcase on Parliament Hill.

Initially funded by DC, the Interactive Accessibility project set out to develop software for accurate closed captioning of teaching materials, to improve accessibility offerings and learning experiences for students at the college. The solution was developed by integrating several signal and language processing AI architectures and incorporating sound and natural language AI processing in a new and unique way.

The result was an application that can generate accurate closed captioning of any video or reading materials. In the case of the project, it was the colleges teaching resources that became more accessible, thus enhancing the learning experience for DC students.

With a goal of highlighting the impact of applied research and innovation for students, the Student Showcase gave research teams the opportunity to demonstrate how their projects provided a solution to a community partner or industry problem, while also allowing them to share what they gained from participating in the experience.

Students meet their future employers at DC Job Fair

As part of its annual Career Week, Durham College (DC) hosted its largest Job Fair to date on February 7. Coordinated by DC’s Career Development office, the event offered students and alumni access to more than 80 organizations – a welcome increase over last year’s event.

Held in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre at the college’s Oshawa campus, the job fair brought students together with representatives from organizations representing a mix of economic sectors, including business, community services, manufacturing, skilled trades, information technology, engineering, health care, hospitality and justice.

Participants were also able to access unique services, such as the Speed Networking Hub. They received advice from alumni, industry experts and business leaders about career paths and networking and learned key skills to maximize success in the workplace.

Students interested in learning about opportunities in skilled trades were able to attend the Tradesmart Career Fair at the Whitby campus, which was also held as part of Career Week. There, they had access to 30 employers, representing another significant increase in the number of participating organizations.

DC’s Career Development office is a student’s gateway to all things career-related at the college. The Career Development team offers a range of services including support for career exploration, resumé building and employment letter writing, interviewing skills and job search strategies.

For more information visit www.durhamcollege.ca/careerdevelopment.

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Growth visits DC

On February 12, Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Growth, visited Durham College’s (DC) Oshawa campus to speak with students and employees during a town hall in The Pit.

After sharing brief remarks, Minister Del Duca spent the remainder of the hour-long session answering questions that ranged from discussing the impact of minimum wage increases on part-time jobs to addressing the need to foster diversity in fields such as science, engineering, technology and math.

With an emphasis on optimism and a focus on Ontario’s strengths, Del Duca reviewed the opportunities for students in the dynamic and rapidly changing economy. He also stressed the importance of continued investment, strategic decision making and driving innovation to preserve the positive gains achieved for the province since the recession.

DC student competes in international design contest

Durham College (DC) student Evgenia Nazarenko from the School of Media, Art and Design (MAD) tested her skills at in international level earlier this year when she represented DC in the Young Designers Award Competition.

Evgenia and DC were the sole Canadian participants in the annual, by-invitation-only event that showcases the extraordinary and emerging talents of packaging and design students at the college level.

For the 2018 competition, students from participating schools were provided a clear, 9oz jar with cap and instructed to design a product and label/outer packaging. Schools then submitted their top entries to be judged by a prestigious panel of cosmetic and personal care packaging design experts.

The judging criteria included overall uniqueness, ability to be reproduced economically and ability to stand out favorably against competitive packages. Industry sponsors included multinational corporations such as Biorius, Pfeiffer and Mary-K. 

Competition was fierce, featuring schools such as Yale University School of Art, Maine College of Art and Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.

A third-year student in DC’s Graphic Design program, Evgenia will now have her work exhibited in California beginning in February.

Congratulations, Evgenia!