Top Ten
February 12, 2019
Seneca receives $24M for new innovation centre
Seneca College has received $24M from the federal government to complete the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship. The facility will bring applied research and commercialization, specialized training, and business incubation and acceleration activities under one roof, states a release. “CITE showcases Seneca’s commitment to innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. This new building brings applied research and commercialization, specialized training, and both student and business-led entrepreneurial activities under one roof,” said Seneca President David Agnew. Nation Talk (ON)
RRC, Indspire invest $1M toward Indigenous bursary
Red River College and Indspire have announced that they will double funding for Building Brighter Futures, a bursary program for Indigenous students. “The College is focused on Indigenous Achievement, which means we are focused on creating opportunities for Indigenous students. We are working hard to build partnerships with Industry, Indigenous organizations and other bodies that want to support our students,” said Rebecca Chartrand, RRC’s Executive Director of Indigenous Strategy. An Indspire release states that the bursary, now in its second year, will offer $1M in support for programs in health, technology, culinary skills, social enterprise, Indigenous languages, trades, college transition, and community development. Indspire |Winnipeg Sun (MB)
Canada must commercialize AI to shed reputation as resource sector for the digital economy: Critics
Canada’s reputation as a pioneer in AI does not always translate to local commercial success, as foreign corporations gobble up profits after buying Canadian intellectual property on the cheap, some industry leaders argue. Because foreign companies such as Google, Microsoft, and IBM own Canadian-produced patents, CBC adds, local consumers pay a premium for technologies their tax dollars helped develop. CBC explains that government-backed superclusters offer a potential solution to this problem because they would de-incentivize foreign investment into Canadian technologies, but consultant and intellectual property lawyer Jim Hinton says that existing superclusters have yet to produce meaningful commercial results for Canadian technology producers. CBC (National)
Windsor Health Institute to launch in Spring, bringing together health care, academic research
The Windsor Health Institute, a new collaborative research centre that aims to bring together leading minds in health care and academia, is set to launch this spring. “It is the hospitals, the university and the college all coming together to unite and really say this is a priority,” said University of Windsor Professor and Windsor Cancer Research Group Director Lisa Porter. The institute will receive $500K over five years from the hospital board, $1M over five years from UWindsor, and additional funds from Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare and St Clair College. Porter added that the institute will feature training programs, academic support, professional development, and think tanks. Windsor Star (ON)
Former USherbrooke student files $230K lawsuit, accuses research director of physical assault
The Journal de Montréal reports that a former master’s student of the Univeristé de Sherbrooke has filed a lawsuit against the institution and USherbrooke Professor Subburaj Ilangumaran. The lawsuit states that Ilangumaran shouted at then-student Maroua Abidi in his office in 2016 and, when she attempted to leave, seized her right forearm and forced her to sit down. The former student, who left campus later that year and wrote her thesis, has stated that the immediate physical consequences of the altercation persisted after the event and that she has difficulty performing movements with force. USherbrooke has refused to comment, stating that the institution wants to avoid hindering the legal process. Journal de Montréal (QC)
Dal celebrates new ocean research facilities
Dalhousie University has celebrated the opening of new research facilities in the Steele Ocean Sciences Building. The completed facilities feature new offices and a meeting space with full video conference abilities, as well as new open-concept style laboratories. “The new facilities strengthen Dal’s position as a great place to study and work about the ocean,” said Ocean Frontier Institute Scientific Director Anya Waite. “This is an investment that will generate significant benefits for our teaching staff, and those who come here to learn.” Dal (NS)
UQAM launches new atmospheric sciences programs
The Université de Québec au Montréal has announced that it will be launching a certificate in atmospheric science in Fall 2019, as well as replacing its Bachelor of Science in Earth Sciences and Atmosphere with a concentration in Atmospheric Science and Climate. The new certificate program will provide students with a foundation of theoretical and practical knowledge in meteorology and climatology. The new baccalaureate concentration will see the curriculum overhauled with the addition of common core courses, the addition of several practical courses offering lab and problem-based learning opportunities, and specializations in areas including water, environment, and data processing. UQAM (QC)
Loyalist, SCMAO launch pathway agreement supporting post-graduates in pursuit of CSCMP designation
A new agreement between Loyalist College and the Supply Chain Management Association of Ontario will support Loyalist graduates interested in pursuing supply chain management. Qualifying graduates of the Supply Chain Management - Global Analytics post-graduate certificate program will be able to pursue their Certified Supply Chain Management Professional designation and will be exempt from completing four modules and two workshops. Loyalist states that the CSCMP designation is an internationally-accredited certification of strategic supply chain leadership, and that advanced standing is only granted after SCMAO has assessed the curriculum for each program component. Loyalist (ON)
UCalgary to offer French certification for law students through UOttawa partnership
Thanks to a new partnership with the University of Ottawa, University of Calgary law students will be able to complete the Certification in Common Law in French. The CCLF gives law students with competencies in French the opportunity to obtain certification from UOttawa’s French Common Law program. “For students to have access to legal education in French, thereby allowing them to have access to positions with the federal government, the courts, eventually, hopefully in the judiciary,” said UCalgary Professor Caroline Magnan. “The other aspect is to help increase access to justice for Francophone litigants here in Alberta.” 660 City Newsreports that UCalgary is the second school—after the University of Saskatchewan—to offer UOttawa’s French certification. 660 City News | UCalgary (AB)
Citing government indifference, QC students organize climate action
Quebec university students have issued a call for two province-wide days of action against climate change, scheduled for March 15 and September 27. According to the Montreal Gazette, students from several QC institutions have established La Planète s’invite à l’université in response to what they perceive as indifference to the planet’s ecological crisis by governments and lawmakers. The collective says that it wants to see an ecological education and awareness program and for the province to establish mandatory laws to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Montreal Gazette | La Presse (QC)
