Anjum Nayyar

U of T's Ed Clark returns home

sgupta — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:44:54 +0000

U of T's Ed Clark returns home sgupta Fri, 06/29/2012 - 07:44

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Ed Clark addresses graduating students at June 2012 convocation (Photo by Johnny Guatto)

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Honorary degree recipient shares U of T memories

Ed Clark, Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group was recently awarded an honorary degree by U of T. He graduated from U of T in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and earned his master's degree and doctorate in economics from Harvard University in 1971 and 1974 respectively. Chair of the School of Public Policy & Governance's Advisory Board, Clark has strong ties with the university: his father taught here, his son and two daughters-in-law are alumni, and he met his wife on campus. At convocation in June, he spoke to students about his ties to U of T and about the role alumni have to play in the coming years in the workplace. We had a chance to interview him about his U of T experience.

In your recent convocation speech to graduates at U of T, you talked about your strong ties to the university and about your father teaching here. How did that influence your time here as a student?

My father started teaching here in 1938. He started the Department of Sociology. As I grew up the university was a centrepiece of family discussions. I can remember what is now the conservatory of music used to be the sociology department. I would go to the top floor and watch the Argonauts play because you could see them from there in Varsity stadium. So I have lots of fond memories at U of T.

Was there a career-altering moment you experienced at U of T that shaped your path to finance?

What I would say is that when I went from my undergraduate degree at U of T to do my graduate degree at Harvard University, it was very obvious I had had the more intense and better education in economics than any of the people arriving from American schools. I had a huge competitive advantage. Many of the things you had to learn your first year in your program there, I had already learned. So I’d say that was pretty decisive.

What do you remember about economics education and experience here at that time?
One professor who was very close to me was David Knowland who taught mathematical economics. There were some fantastic professors here. The other thing I remember is that I lived in Sir Daniel Wilson residence and my wife lived in Whitney Hall, and that’s how we met.

In your speech, you also told students about protesting Dow’s recruitment on the U of T campus in front of Simcoe Hall with your wife, and marching in Washington to protest the Vietnam War after listening to a provocative speech by President Nixon. What kind of role did you take in having a student voice on campus?

There were people like Steven Langdon and Bob Rae who were much bigger leaders on campus. But I was certainly intellectually involved in matters. Our generation was framed by the two things: the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement in the US. Those were the defining moments of my political views at that time. I had friends at Harvard who had friends in the Vietnam War who never came back.

You mentioned in your convocation address that when you were on campus, the Soviet Union was still seen as strong and dangerous and that the United States was economically dominant. Did that influence the kinds of courses you took or the direction you took academically?

No I don’t think so. My mother was an economist so it was a very natural topic in my house. As it turned out I’m now into business but businesses are built around understanding the economy and where things are going. So I found all that pretty fascinating. It wasn’t politically driven. I have always been fascinated by the economy.

There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the media about the value of a post-secondary education. You’re obviously a supporter of post-secondary education: what is your opinion on this idea?

There’s a real debate about whether someone who graduates with an undergraduate degree has a complete education. In my day, for instance, we would write multiple essays for every course we took, so you did learn how to write. The teacher-student ratio also allowed for pretty intimate settings to learn. The good news is that people here understand the core issues around the debate and, in some cases, have made the student experience better. Nowadays, Arts and Science undergrads do have access to smaller seminar groups, which also emphasize the development of oral and written arguments. At the end of the day, post-secondary education remains the best investment you can make in life. And its value will only increase in a knowledge economy.

What’s one thing people didn’t know you about you as a student?
I’ve never been a very closed book so I think most people knew a lot about me. But I don’t think you would have found many people who would have thought I’d be running a bank at the end of my career. But that’s my point about luck; it’s a lot of chance and happenstance that determine your career.

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Professor Christian Campbell at the Cultural Olympiad

sgupta — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:03:03 +0000

Professor Christian Campbell at the Cultural Olympiad sgupta Fri, 06/22/2012 - 11:03

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Christian Campbell

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Renowned poet represents The Bahamas

University of Toronto Professor Christian Campbell, a writer of Bahamian and Trinidadian heritage, is in London England to represent The Bahamas at the Poetry Parnassus - part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2012 Olympic Games.

He joins more than 200 poets from across the world in London for what is being called the biggest international gathering of poets ever, with rappers, storytellers and poets reading their work in more than 50 languages.

Campbell, who studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and received a PhD at Duke University, won the 2010 Aldeburgh First Collection prize for his collection Running the Dusk and was shortlisted for the 2010 Forward Poetry Prize for the Best First Book in the UK. His teaching and research interests include Caribbean literature; black diaspora literatures and cultures; cultural studies/popular culture; poetry/poetics; post-colonial theory; and creative writing.

Campbell's reading takes place at the Royal Festival Hall Wednesday June 27.

Writer Anjum Nayyar spoke with Campbell before he left for London; click on the image at right to hear the interview.

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Here's to the class of 2012

sgupta — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:41:29 +0000

Here's to the class of 2012 sgupta Wed, 06/20/2012 - 11:41

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Spring convocation celebrated the accomplishments of nearly 10,000 graduating students in 24 ceremonies over three weeks (photo by Caz Zyvatkauskas)

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It’s the University of Toronto’s biggest celebration of the year: convocation.

With the sounds of the carillon ringing out across the downtown campus, more than 9,700 graduating students have donned black gowns to cross King’s College Circle in everything from drenching rain to scorching heat.

And they’ve done it with grace, good humour and flair.

A solemn occasion of pageantry and tradition, convocation is also a joyous family gathering. Friends, relatives, mentors and classmates meet U of T’s newest alumni on the lawn or inside the white marquee known as Convocation Plaza to pose for photos after the ceremonies, frame their diplomas, post tweets, and watch as small children let off steam.

Ensuring the three-week series of 24 convocations goes off without a hitch requires a significant collaboration between many departments and groups on campus.

“The number of divisions and departments in the plaza has increased this year, and the general reception to our convocation plaza has been amazing,” said Barbara Dick, assistant vice-president, Alumni Relations.

Bryn MacPherson, executive director of the Office of the President, said the vast amount of inter-department and inter-office collaborations makes a huge impact.

“It brings together many groups in the university, from the Facilities and Services to the office of space management to Governing Council, strategic communications the book store, Aramark, divisional representation, the Department of Alumni Relations, Campus Police, the president’s office and Office of Convocation,” said MacPherson. “One of the new things this year was to have the combined group of convocation ushers and Convocation Plaza ambassadors. They are cross-trained and given guidance on our graduates' expectations, emergency procedures, etc."

Louis Charpentier, secretary of the Governing Council, said the large team of dedicated student ushers and ambassadors and marshalls help ensure events run smoothly and enjoyably “while reinforcing the warmth and friendliness” so important to convocation.

While sipping on a cold drink or nibbling on a light lunch, visitors to Convocation Plaza can watch the ceremonies going on inside Convocation Hall, streamed live to two giant screens set up at the south end of the marquee. And this year the tent – which takes a week to construct - included a solid floor and increased accessibility.

"Last year was our pilot for the plaza and throughout the past year we have had a chance to tweak it and make improvements,” MacPherson said.

Jonathan Cheevers, alumni outreach coordinator, Division of University Advancement, pointed out the class banners added this year and said the notion of helping alumni feel connected to the university and their class is a continuing priority with convocation by the Department of Alumni Relations.

“Convocation is one experience that everyone does together,” said Cheevers. “We have a commemorative medallion this year to give to every single graduate. It’s a little memento to take home to remember this special day.”

MacPherson said the university will continue to strive for a bigger and better Convocation Plaza again next year.

“The major difference next year will be to have more divisional participation. Every year we want to up our game and be as inclusive as possible.”

See the convocation 2012 photo gallery here, watch convocation videos here and check out a slideshow of engineering graduates here.

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Convocation: 30 years later

sgupta — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:03:18 +0000

Convocation: 30 years later sgupta Mon, 06/18/2012 - 10:03

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Hayden Thomas and Trudy Sopp with U of T Chancellor David Peterson (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

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It was the mid-1970s and Trudy Sopp and Hayden Thomas, then California residents, got word that they had been accepted into U of T’s combined Masters/PhD program in Social Work at OISE. Elated, they accepted and came to U of T in 1975.

Fast-forward three years and Sopp and Thomas, having finished the residency requirements for their degrees, found themselves with expired student visas. They returned to California to write their dissertations and didn’t come back for convocation.

“It was on our bucket list to be part of the graduation ceremonies here at U of T,” said Sopp. “It’s been 30 years for me and 25 years for Hayden.”

It was President David Naylor who first responded to that bucket list wish to come back to U of T for convocation ceremonies.

“We happened to be here two summers ago for Spring Reunion and we stopped in on graduate studies and asked, ‘Do you ever allow alumni to come back and participate in graduation?’ They told us no one has really asked that,” said Sopp. “So I got home and sent a letter to the president, who responded and forwarded the request to graduate studies.”

Sopp graduated with her PhD from OISE in 1982; Thomas, who also holds a PhD from OISE, in 1987. Sopp says that at the time, they weren’t very interested in ceremonies and simply skipped convocation. Today they both wish they had taken part.

“We brought our daughters, who are both in graduate school, to the campus two years ago to show them around," said Sopp."We started to realize the things we didn’t do while were here. We also realized that there were so many things we didn’t appreciate: the grandeur, the history and tradition of the campus.”

The Department of Alumni Relations helped Thomas and Sopp to convocate with the current class and coordinated everything from their hooded gowns to the ceremony inside Convocation Hall. The couple was also invited to take part in all the pre- and post-ceremony activities.

They now live in San Diego, where Thomas teaches at a private school for special needs students and Sopp works in the public sector. They say they both have fond memories of their time here as students.

“We lived on Prince Arthur Avenue, when the rent was $130 a month,” chuckles Sopp.

“You could run from there to OISE in a T-shirt in the snow and you’d be just fine,” laughs Thomas. “It was an exciting time at U of T; lots of opportunities were given to students.”

Coming here for convocation has made him appreciate those opportunities even more.

“There is much to be critical of in education. Every day I employ that perspective with non-traditional learners. So I don’t hold back,” said Thomas. “But having said that, what you ask after thirty years is 'what would our society be without an institution like U of T?' and I can’t even imagine it.

"When you look back at the opportunities you had, you think, ‘have you taken advantage of the opportunities: do you recognize what they were?’ You can see them more clearly, 30 years later. I don’t walk in ceremonies just as a ritual; I didn’t grow up that way. But I will be proud to walk in this one, and there will be a reason for it and it will be personal.”

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Making memories with friends and family: Convocation 2012

sgupta — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:49:23 +0000

Making memories with friends and family: Convocation 2012 sgupta Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:49

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Education PhD graduate Jonathan Arendt poses with daughter Cecily for their Memory Maker photo in Convocation Plaza (photo by Caz Zyvatkauskas)

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Front campus at St. George campus has a whole new buzz with the various activities and seating areas available to family, friends and graduates celebrating convocation this year.

From the new live Twitter feed to the new impromptu Memory Maker photo booth, U of T 2012 convocation ceremonies have a great deal to offer those inside and outside Convocation Hall.

A live feed of the ceremonies taking place inside also makes it easier for some guests to have a different seating option for the duration of the ceremony.

“For guests with small children sitting in seats for two and a half hours can be challenging. In the tent, kids can run around, they can eat,” said Steven Bailey, director of Office Space Management. “This year we’ve provided interactive components, such as the photo booth, in addition to the diploma framing and bookstore activity.”

The Memory Maker photo booth has been a popular part of the plaza, a focal point for convocation.

“We posted almost 500 photos on Monday alone,” said Alison Liddell, special projects coordinator.

Tiajana Djokic, a recent honours bachelor of science graduate said the photos make the event a family affair for her and Twitter is a welcome addition.

“I think it’s nice to have pictures because people have brought a few guests with them and they can get a picture with everyone and, because it’s electronic, they can send photos to everyone,” said Djokic. “I also tweet so I’m totally for the Twitter feed as well.”

Recent graduate Shaun Poon called the experience amazing.

"Look at the line here at the booth," Poon said. “I really love the TV screen and I love the technology aspect.

“I think having Twitter is great and it’s great that U of T is taking advantage of that. I love that they’re really integrating everything with social media and live feeds.”

New College graduate Parneeta Singh agreed.

“Having the interactive elements is great so people can know what we’re feeling. It’s pretty cool.”

That feeling is contagious on Twitter.

“Seeing all of the con hall '12 photos from @UofTNewsUpdate is starting to get me excited for my graduation! #only3moreyears!” tweeted @Kathleen_Morin.

Even U of T alumni are taking part in the twitter conversation.

“Aww, I was one of those happy grads last year. MT: @UofTNewsUpdate Excited grads making the walk across the circle! #uoft,” tweeted @AnnieClaireBO.

Bailey said the various elements in Convocation Plaza have made a significant impact.

“Convocation is a ceremony steeped in tradition and we celebrate that tradition,” said Bailey. “But at the same time we still need to keep it relevant for our graduates. By adding the interactive element, we’re introducing a lovely mix.”

Having the tent on front campus has really helped welcome family and friends for the milestone event with their graduate, he added.

“It takes what I think is a really special and magical day and ups it even more. It provides people with choices and alternatives.”

Proud parent Rajiv Narang was celebrating his eldest daughter’s convocation.

"Convocation Plaza is great," Narang said. "There are so many things to do - get gifts, frames and food.”

Bailey said the team plans to make the event even bigger in the coming years including bringing in more divisional activities.

“There are a lot of divisions, a lot of departments and a lot of people doing some great things. To be honest, we’d like a bit of friendly competition because that keeps people on their toes.”

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Seema Marwaha: documentary filmmaker and physician

sgupta — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:06:02 +0000

Seema Marwaha: documentary filmmaker and physician sgupta Mon, 06/11/2012 - 07:06

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The Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship guarantees Seema Marwaha up to two years of study at Harvard University (photo courtesy of Seema Marwaha)

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She’s been an award-winning documentary filmmaker and she’s taken pictures with National Geographic – and that’s on top of her work as a physician.

Seema Marwaha, a resident fellow in general internal medicine at University Health Network and postgraduate student in medicine, is now taking her ‘don’t just tell me: show me’ mantra to new career heights. She recently won the $100,000 Harvard University Knox Fellowship and in August she’ll begin her masters in technology and innovation in teaching at Harvard.

It’s an opportunity, she says, that blends her love of technology, video and story-telling.

“This is such an honour,” said Marwaha, who came to U of T after doing her medical degree at University of Alberta. “I’ve had really good mentorship opportunities here at U of T and I think they’ve really prepared me for this fellowship. I really feel that I’ve been exposed to world-class research and I think it gave me a leg up on winning this award. It’s a competitive scholarship but many U of T students could probably get if they knew about it.”

“The award is also in memory of Frank Knox, who was somebody who wanted Commonwealth students to come to Harvard to study and then use what they learned to go back to their countries and become future leaders, and that’s really important to me as well.”

The Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship program provides funding for students from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to conduct graduate study at Harvard University. Through in-country competitions, Knox Fellowships are typically awarded to 15 newly admitted students each year. Knox Fellowship funding is guaranteed for up to two years of study at Harvard for students in degree programs requiring more than one year of study. There can be as many as 30 Knox Fellows at Harvard in any given year.

Marwaha recently won the Ivey School of Business’ Global Impact award for a video she created on hand-washing. The video’s message, ‘It just makes sense’ – resonated with colleagues at UHN, who are now screening it for new medical staff.

“We’re trying now to see if this video will change behaviour,” said Marwaha, who got her first camera in junior high school. “I think a lot of the educational resources are dated, so if you can make something people would want to share on their own with a positive message, that can be powerful.”

Marwaha will go to Harvard in August to begin her fellowship in her new program and plans to move to Boston for one or two years. She says her time as a U of T student helped carve out a niche for her passion for story-telling, which she hopes to bring with her to Harvard.

“Medicine is full of untold stories. It’s so hard to explain what you see on a daily basis in medicine. Every night when I work, I feel like there are so many stories I want to tell.”

To view Seema Marwaha’s hand-washing video: http://youtu.be/M8AKTACyiB0

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Exploding fruit and seismic waves? Science Rendezvous at U of T

sgupta — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:00:20 +0000

Exploding fruit and seismic waves? Science Rendezvous at U of T sgupta Wed, 05/09/2012 - 04:00

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Fibre optics is just one of many topics to explore at Science Rendezvous (Photo by John Guatto)

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Combustible gummy bears, explosive fruit and amazing superconductor cars that seem to float in thin air will all be part of a science extravaganza at U of T this Saturday.

On Saturday, May 12th, Science Rendezvous opens the doors to over $5 billion in science infrastructure across the country, and here at U of T the public will have unprecedented public access to cutting-edge research labs and the chance to take part in experiments across 30 different departments and groups on all three campuses. From the chemistry of ice cream to the physics of rock and roll, Science Rendezvous has something for everyone.

When Professor Dwayne Miller of Chemical and Biological Physics launched the event here at U of T five years ago, he never imagined it would become a national science festival across 40 university sites. On a trip to Germany, he saw a science festival called “The long night of science” that inspired him to say, "why not in Canada?"

“We started this discussion when I came back – I started talking to various people about whether we could do something like the German approach but on a different scale. People of like minds here started realizing that all the events we were doing for science outreach weren’t working, so after 2 years of work and with the support of the VP of research at that time, we were able to get everybody in the Toronto area to hold a collective science event that we later dubbed Science Rendezvous, and it’s grown by 20 per cent each year ever since.”

The headlining demonstrations at U of T include a candy-shop crime scene, robots, making your own ice cream, seismic waves and much more.

Science Rendezvous aims to raise awareness about the country’s large, active and leading-edge scientific research. Attendees will have a chance to get their hands on science with over 10,000 demos and exhibitions. Scientists and researchers from U of T’s science departments will be on hand to answer science questions and present explosive experiments.

Miller is an internationally recognized researcher, having published over 185 research articles, one book, and several reviews. His research accomplishments have been recognized with an A.P. Sloan Fellowship, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Presidential Young Investigator Award, Polanyi Award, Rutherford Medal in Chemistry, and numerous named lectureships. He is the founding director of the Institute for Optical Sciences at the University of Toronto.

“Everyone is born a scientist: you’re naturally curious. Somewhere in our education system we beat it out of them. So the idea is to bring back the curiosity that people have and give them a venue to ask their questions and talk to real scientists. I thought it was really important to see what kind of science is going on in their backyards. It’s Canadian and we should celebrate that. The other really important feature is to attract the best and brightest in science.”

Science Rendezvous is always scheduled to be held on the day before Mother’s Day to place an emphasis on the importance of women in science, and provide an educational, free activity for this family-oriented holiday. As an integral component to the festival, many Mother’s Day themed activities, including Historical Figures of Women in Science, and Liquid Nitrogen Flowers will also highlight the important role that women play in the sciences.

For more information visit: www.sciencerendezvous.ca

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Good vibrations: using sound to treat disease

sgupta — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:25:46 +0000

Good vibrations: using sound to treat disease sgupta Fri, 05/04/2012 - 08:25

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Professor Lee Bartel explores the medical effects of low frequency sound (stock.xchng photo)

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Many of us love massages, but imagine a massage so deep that tissues, organs and cells could also be ‘massaged’.

That’s exactly what Vibroacoustic Therapy, a low frequency sound massage, is clinically proven to do, and new research at U of T suggests that it may help people with debilitating diseases.

“It is basically stimulating the body with very low sound – like sitting on a subwoofer,” said Professor Lee Bartel of the Faculty of Music. “But it requires special speakers that carry sound almost too low to hear in a way that changes it basically to something you feel instead of hear.”

Bartel and his team in the new Music and Health Research Collaboratory (MaHRC) are exploring the medical effects of low frequency sound and have shown that this therapy can play a key role in reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT) consists of low sound frequencies that are transmitted to the body and mind through special transducers that convert the sound to inner body massage. MaHRC associates Heidi Ahonen and Quincy Almeida treated two groups of Parkinson’s patients (20 with dominant tremor symptoms and 20 with slow/rigid movement symptoms) with five minutes of 30 Hz vibration.

Both groups showed improvements in all symptoms, including less rigidity and better walking speed with bigger steps and less tremor.

“There have been several studies using vibration from sound with Parkinson’s,” said Bartel “It has been known for over 100 years that vibration (like riding in a wagon on cobblestones) helped relieve some symptoms. So the scientific study of the effect of low frequency sound was a natural connection. Also known is that 40 Hz brain waves seem to be carriers of information between the parts of the brain that control movement. So adding extra stimulation in that zone should help that communication and so assist in movement control.”

Bartel, Founding and Acting Director of MaHRC, says the goal of low frequency sound studies with Parkinson’s is to determine which approach is most effective, how much and how often treatment is needed, and whether medication can be reduced. Vibroacoustic Therapy frequencies, between 20 and 100 Hz or pulses per second, correspond to brainwave activities and function that are currently being explored in neuroscience.

But the effects of Vibroacoustic Therapy extend beyond the brain. It also provides deep physical cellular stimulation to skin, muscles and joints, resulting in decreased pain and increased mobility. Like hand/mechanical massage, vibroacoustic therapy aids circulation, relaxes muscles, and feels good.

Bartel points to research that shows that “several medical conditions including Parkinson’s and neuralgic pain like fibromyalgia, may be related to a common brain mechanism – a brain rhythm disorientation between the inner brain and the outer cortex. Since the rhythmic pulses of music can drive and stabilize these, we speculate that low frequency sound might help in fibromyalgia as well as Parkinson’s.”

Bartel’s team is now looking at the role of vibroacoustic therapy as a treatment for patients with fibromyalgia.

“Although it is too early to form any conclusions, there is encouraging data indicating that treating fibromyalgia patients with doses of 40 Hz sound seems to reduce pain.”

“It is truly an exciting time for music medicine – the idea of developing audioceuticals (prescribable sound) points to a whole new direction for music therapy, and the potential for MaHRC to lead in this is very exciting for me” said Bartel.

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Toronto: Canada's startup and entrepreneurial capital

sgupta — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:33:07 +0000

Toronto: Canada's startup and entrepreneurial capital sgupta Tue, 05/01/2012 - 07:33

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Toronto, an innovation hub, has the potential to become a global engine of job creation (Photo by Bigstock)

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U of T plays key role in Canada's high-tech hub

Entrepreneurs don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to become the next great business success story. Toronto now ranks fourth among the world’s top 25 start-up ecosystems, according to Start-up Genome, a project that maps the success rates of start-ups. Toronto ranks just behind Silicon Valley, New York City and London.

The Startup Genome report provides a comparative analysis of entrepreneurial ecosystems to give insight into which hubs are evolving and which are leading the pack. In a recent speech to the Toronto Board of Trade, University of Toronto President David Naylor talked about Toronto as an innovation hub, and its potential to become both a regional and global engine of job creation.

“The Toronto metropolitan region is Canada’s startup and entrepreneurial capital, something few people realize,” said Naylor. “As of February 2012, 36 per cent of Canada’s top 100 startups have their homes in the region. On top of that, the OECD has concluded that Toronto has the fourth highest rate of entrepreneurship of any region in the OECD.

"At the University of Toronto and our partner hospitals, the entrepreneurial activity has ramped up to the point that we’ve recently repurposed most of the Banting and Best buildings on College Street as incubation space. We haven’t even had time to advertise it,” Naylor said. “But I suppose it’s fitting, somehow, since Banting and Best were integral to one of Canada’s greatest innovations.”

U of T, a hub within the Toronto ecosystem, has always been an innovation leader. The University’s discoveries alone have led to the establishment of nearly 250 spin-off companies. In 2011 alone, 25 start-up companies were launched and generated almost 200 new invention disclosures. Bump Technologies Inc., founded at the Department of Computer Science (DCS), is the success story of an innovative masters’ thesis turned entrepreneurial venture. Anand Agarawala and his advisor Professor Ravin Balakrishnan developed BumpTop, a physically realistic desktop organizing software in 2004 during Agarawala’s graduate studies at DCS. The unique start-up was later purchased by Google.

U of T faculty member Cynthia Goh and her co-researchers have also commercialized three spinoff companies to date, including Axela Biosensors. Axela has commercialized an instrument with the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine by enabling point-of-care diagnostics in low resource settings. The company was named one of the top Life Science companies in Canada in 2005.

U of T student Nilesh Bansal and his faculty advisor Nick Koudas launched the social media monitoring company Sysomos in 2007. With its unique data mining aggregation and content aggregation technology, Sysomos has redefined social media analytics. Clients of the 25-employee company include Shell, Proctor and Gamble, Disney and Microsoft. This Canadian company was acquired by Marketwire for $34-million.

“U of T plays a central role in Toronto’s growing reputation as an innovation hub,” says Professor Paul Young, Vice President, Research. “We have the strongest research community in Canada and are actively putting the tools and infrastructure in place to help our researchers to innovate. Our Innovations and Partnerships Office is a vital component in this drive, as are our partnerships with MaRS Innovation, our partnership hospitals, private sector research enterprises such as IBM and entities like the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine. The priority now is to continue to build and refine these innovation resources for our researchers.”

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In memoriam: Lillian McGregor

sgupta — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:26:23 +0000

In memoriam: Lillian McGregor sgupta Mon, 04/23/2012 - 09:26

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U of T mourns the loss of Lillian McGregor, former Elder-in-Residence at U of T's First Nations House (photo by Aaron Mason).

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Toronto’s Aboriginal community lost a great citizen last week, and the University of Toronto lost a loyal friend with the passing of Lillian McGregor, former Elder-in-Residence at First Nations House (FNH).

McGregor, from Whitefish River on Birch Island, was a well-respected member of Toronto’s Aboriginal community for more than 60 years. Before coming to First Nations House, McGregor was a registered nurse in Toronto and a proud mother and grandmother. In 1994, she was invited by the late Rodney Bobiwash, Director of FNH, to serve as the Elder-in-Residence.

After retiring in 2008, McGregor remained very much a part of the Aboriginal community at the University of Toronto, returning as a Visiting Elder. In 2002, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University, and last year she was honoured at an unveiling of a trophy for the Dr. Lillian McGregor Aboriginal Award of Excellence. Every year, Aboriginal students apply for the Lillian McGregor Award, visit in-house Elders and Traditional Teachers, and learn about their peoples and cultures through programs in a space which owes its beginnings to people like McGregor.

“Lillian was an important member of the university community while at First Nations House,” said Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo, Director, Office of Aboriginal Student Services, First Nations House. “As the Elder, she relentlessly emphasized the importance of education. She also possessed an incredible knowledge of traditions and language, which she was always ready to share, but the traits that stood out were her sense of humour, her caring for the students and above all, her dedication and love for her community and family. At First Nations House, although ‘retired’ since 2008, her presence never left us.”

One student anonymously wrote in 2002 that McGregor has "been the heartbeat and lifeblood of First Nations House since its inception."

Anita Benedict, a former Director of First Nations House, wrote that "Lillian McGregor has served the Aboriginal community at the University of Toronto with unstinting generosity of spirit and unfailing diligence."

McGregor was a very visible member of the Aboriginal community and participated in many committees and boards across the city, including the Elder Council at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Nishnawbe Homes Incorporated, and Native Child and Family Services. She served as an Elder for Ontario's Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy and participated at many civic events over the years, including Human Rights Day celebrations and Toronto’s Olympic bid. She was also selected as a Torch Carrier for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. McGregor received many awards, including National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Ontario, the William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations and the Leading Women Building Communities Award (given by the Province of Ontario).

McGregor once said about her experience at U of T, "My desire to preserve our Aboriginal culture, tradition, and spirituality became a well-known attribute; and I was soon busier than I had ever been in the everyday workforce. I welcomed the opportunity to assist my own Native community."

McGregor is survived by her three sons, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. She will be greatly missed.

The U of T flag was lowered to half-mast at all three campuses on Monday, April 23rd, the day of Lillian McGregor’s funeral.

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