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Discounted GO Transit fares are available for all full-time undergraduate and graduate students

GO bus on Keele Campus

All full-time undergraduate and graduate students at York University are eligible to receive a discounted fare of up to 22.5 per cent OFF the regular adult fare when they ride GO Transit.

To receive the discount, students must have an activated PRESTO™ fare card and a GO Transit Student Identification (ID) Card in addition to their YU-card.

The GO Transit Student ID Cards are valid for the school year, but to be eligible, students must be enrolled full-time in both the fall and winter semesters. (Students enrolled in certificate programs are not eligible for the GO Transit Student ID Card.) There is no cost for the GO Transit Student Identification Card.

Applying for the card is easy and can be completed online. During the application process, students have the option of receiving their card by mail or they can pick up their cards at the Parking & Transportation Services Offices on the Keele and Glendon campuses. (For the Keele Campus office, go to the William Small Centre. Glendon students should visit the Glendon Greenhouse at the Glendon Campus).

Students who take GO Buses to York University’s Keele Campus will be dropped off at the Highway 407 Station. From there, they must take the subway to either Pioneer Village Station or York University Station to access the Keele Campus. Students will be required to pay the TTC fare. Currently GO Transit offers a discounted double fare (DDF) with the TTC. Students will pay $1.50 instead of the full $3 when they transfer from GO Transit buses to the subway and use the PRESTO™ card.

Two subway stations, the Pioneer Village Station and the York University Station, serve as transit hubs for the Keele Campus. York region buses, YRT/VIVA operate out of the Pioneer Village Station on the north side of Steeles Avenue. From there, York University students can connect to the TTC subway to the York University Station, or cross Steeles Avenue to access the Keele Campus.

Brampton Züm buses service the Keele Campus from Ian Macdonald Blvd.

York University will continue to share updates received from the various transit service providers with the community. For more information, visit the Transportation website.

New cloud computing certificate set to launch in January 2020

Canada’s first fully online certificate in cloud computing strategy will launch at York University’s School of Continuing Studies in January 2020. The new continuing professional education program is being created to meet the need for highly skilled cloud architects and consultants who can work across industry lines.

The School of Continuing Studies at York University has assembled a team of influential business leaders from the public, finance, education, commerce and technology sectors to guide the creation of Canada’s first fully online Certificate in Cloud Computing Strategy.

Canada’s first fully online Certificate in Cloud Computing Strategy will launch at York University’s School of Continuing Studies in January 2020. The new continuing professional education program is being created to meet the need for highly skilled cloud architects and consultants who can work across industry lines

Starting in January 2020, the new continuing professional education program will meet the growing demand for highly skilled cloud architects and consultants who can work across industry lines. The specialized task force, or program advisory council, is collaborating with the School of Continuing Studies to ensure that students graduate the program with the crucial mix of technical and cross-functional (or “human”) skills needed to succeed now and in the shifting future of work in Canada.

Taylor-OReilly
Tracey Taylor-O’Reilly

Employers hiring for jobs in cloud computing are increasingly demanding people who not only have the technical skill to create a compelling business case and understand the various available cloud service models, but who can use critical human skills like analytical thinking, negotiation tactics and communication skills to move a successful cloud adoption forward. It’s this unique blend of competencies that will give graduates a competitive edge for roles like cloud architect, cloud consultant or cloud strategist in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), across Canada and the U.S. These types of jobs have recently increased more than 300 per cent in the GTA alone, according to Burning Glass Technologies.

“The future of work is vastly different than anything we’ve seen before,” said Tracey Taylor-O’Reilly, assistant vice-president of Continuing Studies at York University. “With changes in technology shaping what employers are looking for when they hire, the need to close the impending skills gap is critical. Our graduates leave our programs with the deep skills they need to excel in their job functions, as well as the broader skills to collaborate across teams and affect lasting change within their organizations.”

This collaborative engagement with industry leaders is a critical step in the way the School of Continuing Studies at York University develops its program roster – the resulting curriculum and learning outcomes are sure to be on-trend and responsive to the realities of a job market that’s increasingly affected by emerging technologies and automation. With members from the Ontario Pension Board, the LCBO, Amazon, RBC, Deloitte, Microsoft and TD Canada Trust, the Certificate in Cloud Computing Strategy task force (advisory council) assembled by the School of Continuing Studies is giving back to the community at large, training the types of candidates they want to hire for their own organizations.

Michael Eubanks
Michael Eubanks

“Cloud platforms and apps drive growth and the vast majority of IT enterprises have at least one application in the cloud,” said Michael Eubanks, LCBO’s senior vice-president and chief information officer, and advisory council member for the Certificate in Cloud Computing Strategy. “Investments are soaring, year over year. As the momentum continues, it will be critical for technology-dependent industries to recruit and retain cloud-centric skills and talent.”

The Certificate in Cloud Computing Strategy rounds out an expanding list of 24 certificate programs offered by the School of Continuing Studies at York University, designed to prepare Canadians for success in emerging and evolving careers. As the top recent technological change affecting the information technology field, according to Gartner (June 21, 2016), the cloud is changing the way companies do business.

First-year residence move-in day kicks off Orientation Week at York University

Vanier College Orientation leaders gather for a cameo

Hundreds of York University Orientation leaders turned out in full regalia on Saturday, Aug. 31 to help just over 2,000 first-year students move into their college residences. Move-In Day marks the official start of orientation at York University’s Keele and Glendon campuses.

First-year move-in day at York U

The volunteer orientation leaders swarmed the Keele and Glendon campus residences and hefted heavy boxes, conducted tours, stirred up college spirit with cheers and chants. As part of Orientation 2019, parents and students learned what to expect during the first year of university from faculty, staff and upper-year students.

For more information on orientation, see the Orientation story published Aug. 26 in YFile.

Lassonde Undergraduate Summer Student Research Conference narrows in on sustainability and inclusivity

The Lassonde School of Engineering at York University hosted its fourth annual Undergraduate Summer Student Research Conference on Aug. 15, with more than 70 students participating. Students showcased the diverse research projects they’ve been working on throughout the summer, with five oral presentations and 53 poster exhibits under various research awards, including the following:

  • Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Student Research Awards (NSERC USRA);
  • Lassonde Undergraduate Research Award (LURA);
  • Research at York (RAY);
  • Mitacs Globalink Research Award (Mitacs); and
  • Dr. James Wu Research Internships for Engineering.

This year, the Lassonde research team committed to executing an event that was as inclusive and sustainable as possible. Using the Inclusion Lens, an event management tool designed to assist York University in engaging all people in events, the team garnered insight, tips and processes to adopt, resulting in executing the most accessible, inclusive and safest iteration of the conference to date.

Award winners from the Lassonde Undergraduate Summer Student Research Conference with faculty from York

Participants were actively encouraged to identify their preferred pronouns on their name tags. The Second Student Centre, where the conference took place, promotes inclusivity with gender-neutral washrooms on-site.

In addition to fostering a safe and open environment for attendees, the environmental impact was minimized by opting to serve the catered lunch with reusable dishes and cutlery, and offering vegan, vegetarian and halal options.

We would like to thank all 216 individuals who attended the conference for making it such a success and showing support to the students and faculty who have been working hard all summer long on their respective research.

The oral presentation winners, announced at the event, are:

  • First Place: Mohammadreza Karimi (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, supervised by Hossein Kassiri) – “Seizure Detection Using Brain EEG Signal Processing”;
  • Second Place: Brittany Danishevsky (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, supervised by John Tsotsos) – “Object Detection in Nursing Homes for Autonomous Wheelchair Guidance”; and
  • Student Choice: Daphne-Eleni Archonta (Mechanical Engineering, supervised by Pouya Rezai) – “On-demand Electric Field Induced Egg Laying of Caenorhabditis Elegans.” 

The poster presentation winners, announced at the event, are:

  • First Place: Dhruvikumari Desai and Antonia Pennella (Mechanical Engineering, supervised by Garett Melenka) – “Manufacture and Analysis Of Braided Composite Structures”;
  • Second Place: Julia Ferri (Civil Engineering, supervised by John Gales) – “Movement Profiles and Accessible Design”;
  • Third Place: Maeve Wildes, Syyeda Zainab and Yash Dhamija (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, supervised by Franck van Breugel) – “PROMISE: The world’s largest benchmark suite for probabilistic model checking”;
  • Honorary Mention: Constantinos Kandias (Mechanical Engineering, Ronald Hanson) – “Design and Optimization of the Contraction and Corner Sections of a Closed Loop Wind Tunnel”;
  • Session 1 Student Choice: Ariella Kantorowitz (Earth & Space Science & Engineering, supervised by John Moores) – “Illumination Models of Martian Craters to Support Space Exploration”; and
  • Session 2 Student Choice: Ryan Karaba (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, supervised by Ebrahim Ghafar-Zadeh) – “Non-invasive Micro-Electrode Array Electrophysiological Recordings.”

Innovation York and Continuing Studies introduce Certificate in Machine Learning entrepreneurship stream

Photo by Tianyi Ma on Unsplash
Photo by Tianyi Ma on Unsplash
Those who select the entrepreneurship stream will be able to use Innovation York’s entrepreneurial offerings to help build, grow and eventually scale their machine learning startups. Photo by Tianyi Ma on Unsplash

Students interested in machine learning now have even more options to apply their learning in the entrepreneurship realm with a new partnership between Innovation York and the School of Continuing Studies at York University. The Certificate in Machine Learning‘s new entrepreneurship stream will provide students the opportunity to gain support for their existing or planned machine learning startups in the final course of the program.

As Canada’s only dedicated Certificate in Machine Learning, the eight-month, part-time program offers students the opportunity to learn and apply data science skills through a series of on-campus classes and online learning, with the option to participate in either an employment or entrepreneurship stream. Armed with the power to shape their learning experience through the development of their own venture, students interested in the certificate’s entrepreneurship stream can benefit greatly from this unique opportunity.

As most know, the life of an entrepreneur can be a lonely one, with little direction and support for those who need it most. This new program stream aims to break that cycle with experiential learning, customized support and access to critical funding.

Those who select the entrepreneurship stream will be able to use Innovation York’s entrepreneurial offerings to help build, grow and eventually scale their machine learning startups. Students will have access to customized mentorship through the LaunchYU Coaching program and the ability to apply for incubator space at YSpace or IBM-MCC, and they will be granted an interview in the LaunchYU Experience or LaunchYU Accelerator programs, with access to up to $55,000 in awards.

Sarah Howe
Sarah Howe

“Supporting entrepreneurship across campus is so important if we are going to help support the development of the entrepreneurial mindset in our students,” says Sarah Howe, director of Innovation York. “The partnership between Innovation York and the School of Continuing Studies is a great example of how we’re trying to do this – we’re really looking forward to seeing the great machine learning ventures coming out of this program and how we can help them with our mentorship, incubator and accelerator programs.”

The new stream has the ability to amplify its impact in the artificial intelligence industry by encouraging and supporting those with machine learning ventures to make an impact in areas like finance, health care, manufacturing and environmental sustainability. With the machine learning job market expected to grow by almost 60 per cent in the next few years and the recent growth of more than 900 per cent in the GTA alone, participants who successfully bring their startups to market can reap significant rewards.

Launch YU Accelerator program winners gather for a photo at their September graduation day
Launch YU Accelerator program winners gather for a photo at their September graduation day

There is a paradigm shift in both learning and teaching, and traditional classroom approaches are making way for experiential and unconventional learning. The certificate’s entrepreneurship stream aims to support this shift because students lead their own learning as they embark on their unique entrepreneurial journeys.

“Since its launch last year, the Certificate in Machine Learning has been giving budding data scientists a platform to build the skills that are critical in helping organizations make strong data-driven decisions,” said Sean Woodhead, program manager, Certificate in Machine Learning. “This new entrepreneurship stream will empower our students to shape their futures in machine learning, supporting them with many of the resources one needs, but seldom finds, to launch and grow their successful venture.”

To learn more about the Certificate in Machine Learning and the new entrepreneurship stream, visit continue.yorku.ca/certificates/certificate-in-machine-learning.

 

NSERC Summer Undergraduate Research Conference a huge success

Six undergraduate students won awards at this year’s Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Summer Undergraduate Research Conference at York University.

The students in attendance came from various York departments, and a few even came from other postsecondary institutions, to work in labs across the University with York supervisors.

“Today, you will have the opportunity to highlight the work you did this summer as a research student,” said Alex Mills, associate dean of students, to the attendees. “Congratulations to you on completing what I hope was a rewarding summer full of learning and new opportunities. It will hopefully have given you a richer experience and a greater understanding of what you may want to do in the future.”

Out of 56 students, a dozen gave oral presentations about their research over the summer, while the rest gave poster presentations. A large team of graduate students volunteered to judge the presentations. Jennifer Steeves, associate dean of research and graduate education, and Donald Hastie, associate dean of faculty, presented the winners with their awards.

The research topics included seeing with sound, colon cancer cells, Type 2 diabetes, Lewis Acids, tracking environmental change in Iqallukvik Lake in the Northwest Territories, electron electric dipole moment determination and much more.

From left: Jennifer Steeves, associate dean of research and graduate education; winners of the oral competition Kevin Borsos, Ehsan Yavari and Seja Elgadi; and Donald Hastie, associate dean of faculty

The winners of the oral presentations are:

  • Gold – Kevin Borsos of the Department of Physics & Astronomy (supervisor: Professor Anantharaman Kumarakrishnan)
  • Silver – Ehsan Yavari (NSERC-URSA) of the Faculty of Health (supervisor: Professor Tara Haas)
  • Bronze – Seja Elgadi of the Department of Chemistry (supervisor: Professor Christopher Caputo)
From left: Jennifer Steeves, associate dean of research and graduate education; winners of the poster competition Nadar Allam, Ethan Brooks and Quinton Weyrich; and Donald Hastie, associate dean of faculty

The winners of the poster presentation are:

  • Gold – Nadar Allam of the Department of Physics & Astronomy (supervisors: professors Ozzy Mermut and Bill Pietro)
  • Silver – Ethan Brooks of the Department of Physics & Astronomy (supervisor: Professor Eric Hessels)
  • Bronze – Quinton Weyrich of the Department of Physics & Astronomy (supervisor: Professor Eric Hessels)

Participating students and supervisors came from: the Faculty of Science’s departments of Biology, Mathematics & Statistics, Chemistry, and Physics & Astronomy; the Faculty of Health’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science and Psychology; the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies’ Department of Geography; the Schulich School of Business; the Faculty of Environmental Studies; and Glendon.

Most of the students received an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (URSA), a Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award (DURA) or a York Science Scholar Award.

The DURA’s were funded through Bernadene Magnuson and Earle Nestmann, the Gérard Herbert Award and the Luise Herzberg Award for Women in Science.

See all the participants in the 2019 Summer Undergraduate Research Conference booklet.

Bee researchers tackle big buzz questions at annual BeeCon

A group shot of the attendess at BeeCon

Bee researchers gathered for the annual BeeCon – southern Ontario’s bee researchers symposium – on Monday, Aug. 26 to talk about everything related to bees, including bee behaviour, genetics and genomics, and conservation.

A group shot of the attendees at BeeCon

This year’s bee conference, organized by Faculty of Science biology Professor Laurence Packer and biology research assistants Sheila Dumesh and Liam Graham, drew bee researchers from Ontario and beyond, including some from as far away as Australia. Close to 90 people registered for the conference, which was primarily an opportunity for graduate students to present their research and discuss their findings.

Student presentations looked at topics including the heritability of detoxification in honeybees by the Faculty of Science’s Nadia Tsvetkov; bumblebee queen abundance and diversity in farms and natural areas by Kayla Mundy-Heisz of the University of Guelph; and a talk about citizen science by Victoria MacPhail of the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Katherine Odanaka of the Faculty of Science looked at the effects of land use on wild bee functional and phylogenetic diversity, while Tanya Latty of the University of Sydney discussed flower choice, decoy effects and urban agriculture with bees.

Ricardo Ayala Barajas
Ricardo Ayala Barajas

Keynote speaker Ricardo Ayala Barajas of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México discussed the diversity of bees in Mexico, as well as the current impact the loss of pollinators is causing.

He told the audience that 107 taxonomists have described 1,910 species of bees from Mexico in the past 257 years. That compares to about 900 in Canada and 3,745 in the United States. There is now a network to study the bees of Meso-America, including taxonomy, conservation, faunistics, natural history and pollination. Even with the network, Central America needs more taxonomists to study bees and provide more information about their behaviour, habits and floral relations, among other topics.

Mexico has a richness of native bees, said Ayala Barajas, who pointed out which states have the most diversity. The family Apidae is the most diverse of the six bee families found in Mexico, with 74 genera and 668 species. This included 23 registered species of bumblebees (genus Bombus).

In addition, there are many species of oil-collecting bees, stingless bees and orchid bees in Mexico. Stingless bees are responsible for pollinating crops such as chilis. In recent years, he said, there has been more discussion about importing new pollinators. At the moment, Bombus impatiens are imported to pollinate about 40,000 hectares of greenhouse crops – tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, sweet peppers and various berries – but Ayala Barajas said there are other native Bombus species that could be used instead and it is known that introduced species bring diseases that cause problems for local species.

Mexico, like the rest of the world, is facing a loss of bee diversity, which is mostly the result of human activity, said Ayala Barajas. Urgent measures to stop the deterioration of forests and jungles, promotion of programs to reverse deforestation and better regulation of agrochemicals is needed.

“A balance is required between areas dedicated to apiculture and meliponiculture, which provide the crop pollination and other economic needs of the people and areas dedicated to conservation of native bee fauna,” said Ayala Barajas.

Canada-Wide Science Fair scholarship winners attend STEM bootcamp at York University

Participants at the YSC-BEST Bootcamp held at York University’s Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence

Nineteen students who earned scholarships at the 2019 Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF) attended a STEM Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at York University from Aug. 11 to 16. The event was organized by York University’s Bergeron Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology (BEST) program and Youth Science Canada (YSC).

The STEM Entrepreneurship Bootcamp allows some of Canada’s most talented and accomplished student innovators to examine their award-winning projects with a critical eye to see how they can transform their novel ideas into successful businesses.

Participants at the YSC-BEST bootcamp held at York University’s Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence

“Opportunities like these allow students to grow as innovators, while also encouraging them to elevate their projects to the next level,” said Reni Barlow, YSC executive director. “We are grateful to our partners like Rogers and York University, who see the value of investing in young Canadian entrepreneurs.”

Held at the Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, the week-long program allowed participating students to meet with fellow entrepreneurs, network with former BEST graduates and experience the process of transforming their technology solution into a viable business. It was supported by BEST, along with York University faculty and resources from the Lassonde School of Engineering, Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business.

“Over the past 15 years, we have worked with hundreds of technology entrepreneurs to guide their venture creation process,” said Andrew Maxwell, director of the BEST program. “This bootcamp is a wonderful opportunity for us to share our expertise and experience with Canada-Wide Science Fair winners to stimulate a greater interest in using technologies to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and encourage more of our youth to maximize their positive impact on society.”

Ten students won full scholarships as part of the Ted Rogers Innovation Award, provided by Rogers. Three were awarded scholarships to the program from York University. Winners were selected based on their 2019 CWSF project, for showing great entrepreneurial spirit and potential for commercial viability.

“At Rogers, we are dedicated to helping young people unleash their potential and learn innovative skills that will be so important for future generations,” says Peter King, senior director of corporate social responsibility at Rogers. “We are proud to provide 10 full scholarships to help youth bring their ideas to life at the STEM Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.”

The complete list of winners and finalists from the 2019 Canada-Wide Science Fair can be found at cwsf.youthscience.ca.

The 2020 Canada-Wide Science Fair will be held May 9 to 15 in Edmonton.

About the STEM Entrepreneurship Bootcamp

YSC and BEST offer Canada’s top young innovators an opportunity to develop their science projects into a viable business. Importantly, the experiential learning approach helps participants learn both the creative problem-solving skills they will need for future career success and how they might personally contribute to generating Canada’s next high-growth technology ventures.

About Youth Science Canada

Established in 1962, YSC fuels the curiosity of Canadian youth through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects. YSC works to ensure that Canadian youth have the capacity and skills to generate and answer questions and identify and solve problems. The not-for-profit also engages leading public and private sector organizations in the development of a national STEM network of Canadian youth. For more information, visit youthscience.ca.

School of Continuing Studies students win best paper award at global conference

Only six months into their Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting program in York University’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS), students Bavneet Singh Nagpal and Carina Matutina were recognized with a prestigious award.

Together with their instructor Dorjana Nano, the students attended this year’s Global Conference on Business Management and Economics (GCBME) and earned the award for best paper.

Left to right: Accounting students Carina Matutina and Bavneet Singh Nagpal with Jason Dean, who presented the award, and accounting instructor Dorjana Nano

Nano, who teaches the statistics course in the program, encouraged her students to pursue additional research studies. As a result, two groups of nine students in the program examined Canada’s gross domestic product, and the factors influencing savings and investment of Canadian households. Each group then selected a student – Singh Nagpal and Matutina – to prepare an abstract and submit their request to present at GCBME. The students and Nano presented their research at the conference, which attracts business leaders, academics, researchers and policy-makers across the globe, on July 27.

Singh Nagpal, an international student from India who has worked with leading institutions such as KPMG and the Royal Bank of Scotland, was thrilled at this opportunity to contribute to research in Canada.

“We started this (accounting) program aiming to contribute just to our respective companies,” he said. “The knowledge and experience gained through our studies has fuelled and enabled us to do so much more.”

SCS recruits top students from a competitive list of more than 75 countries and is committed to supporting York’s internationalization initiatives. Singh Nagpal and Matutina are examples of the high-performing students who continue their professional education at York University.

According to Nano, the results of the study could help inform policy on savings and investments. Further, Nano said that key findings revealed the following: “Individuals who are single save and invest less than married or divorced groups, confirming that life stage and experience create financial behaviour. The government has already implemented the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in 2015 to help Canadians build financial literacy, but results show that challenges still exist. Hence, we recommended that policy-makers take initiatives to motivate employers, households and financial service providers to drive investment demand.”

The conference opportunity is one approach SCS initiated to support students’ budding careers, providing them with enhanced learning experiences and the chance to develop core career competencies that employers value. Singh Nagpal and Matutina started their full-time accounting certificates in January and will conclude this fall.