President Lenton addresses challenges and priorities for York in 2023-24
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York University President & Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton addressed the September 28 Senate meeting to share York’s priorities for the 2023-24 year ahead, addressing the budgetary and enrolment challenges within the current, volatile post-secondary education sector. Read President Lenton’s full address here.
Auditor General’s Report
In Fall 2022, York University was selected among others by the Office of the Auditor General Ontario for a value-for-money audit of York’s 2022-23 operations to examine and ensure York’s fiscal sustainability. The president indicated that a draft report with recommendations will be shared by the Auditor General’s office expected in late October. The next phase of the audit involves tabling the report to the Ontario Legislature in late November or early December.
Fall Convocation
The president announced the honorary doctorate recipients who will have their degrees conferred at the 2023 Fall Convocation. Learn more about the recipients.
The University Academic Plan and Looking Ahead to 2023-24
At Senate, the president reviewed the University’s recent enrolment and budget performance, the factors that have accumulated to create additional pressures in the current three-year rolling budget, and the impact of anticipated deficits on the University’s performance against financial metrics set by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
“We are one of the fastest rising universities in Canada and we have accomplished a great deal,” said President Lenton. “Our goals are not for the benefit of any one faculty or campus. York is a multi-campus university and our success hinges on our ability to continue to work together to provide our students with the very best.”
Lenton identified the projects and initiatives for the year ahead that will play an important role in advancing the University’s academic plan and meeting York’s vision to provide a broad demographic of students with access to a high-quality education at a research-intensive university committed to the well-being of the communities we serve.
Lassonde students explore the stratosphere
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Student researchers, supervised by professors Regina Lee and Jinjun Shan in the Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, launched and tested new space technologies into the stratosphere as part of the Strato-Science 2023 campaign, which provides post-secondary students with opportunities to design, build and test small payloads aboard high-altitude balloon systems.
The stratosphere – not quite as distant as outer space, but much higher than airplane-cruising altitude – is a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere situated in the perfect area to deploy space instruments and technologies, test their function and collect useful information.
The two payloads launched by Lassonde students were lifted off from the Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base in northeastern Ontario during two different early-morning flights, and returned a collection of data and information to undergo analysis.
The two projects, and their experiential impact, were:
Resident Space Object Near-space Astrometric Research (RSOnar) v2
Professor Regina Lee and her students involved in the RSOnar v2 project.
Space is occupied by various satellites, rockets and debris known as resident space objects (RSOs), some of which are inactive or broken and can overcrowd space environments or interfere with space missions and assets. By tracking and monitoring RSOs through the practice of space situational awareness (SSA), scientists can use collected data to inform RSO removal and help establish sustainable space environments.
Joining space surveillance efforts, RSOnar v2, a CubeSat developed by a large team of undergraduate and graduate students in Lee’s Nanosatellite Research Lab, was launched up to the stratosphere to test its SSA abilities. Equipped with four independent imaging systems, RSOnar v2 was propelled to a cruising altitude of 37 kilometres, where it surveyed the stars and captured images of satellites and space debris as they passed by, using a dual-purpose star tracker concept.
“We collected a lot of data during this space mission and are now working on processing the images we obtained from the flight,” says Randa Qashoa, RSOnar v2 project manager and PhD candidate in earth and space science. “The images will be used by many members of the research team to test and verify our algorithms, including RSO detection and attitude determination. We also received a lot of valuable information on the impact of changing camera parameters to enhance the quality of resulting RSO images. This was a large leap forward in proving the dual-purpose star tracker concept for future space missions.”
In addition, this mission served as an important experiential learning opportunity for all students involved, promoting teamwork, critical thinking and skill building.
“As project manager, I learned many skills throughout this mission, from planning to operations,” says Qashoa. “My coding skills were improved through testing and debugging various components and I also developed my soft skills like team building and communication. The experience I gained from this mission was invaluable to my personal growth.”
Miniature Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer(MIFPS)
Professor Jinjun Shan and his students involved in the MIFPS project.
Supervised by Shan’s Spacecraft Dynamics Control and Navigation (SDCN) Lab, a team of student researchers ranging from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level developed the scientific instrument called the Miniature Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (MIFPS) to take accurate, high-resolution measurements of the molecular oxygen atmospheric band. These measurements provide useful information on various parameters that can help improve understanding of cloud and aerosol properties and inform solutions for climate and air quality concerns.
In preparation for its voyage above the clouds, MIFPS underwent extensive calibration and control tests to ensure the instrument demonstrated greater function than its predecessor, which was tested during a stratospheric balloon launch in 2017. Specifically, the team aimed to improve the finesse of MIFPS, a parameter used to define the accuracy of measurements.
“Our payload was launched successfully into the stratosphere, and we were able to acquire some data,” says Ingredy Gabriela Gomes Carmo, a master of science candidate in space engineering. “We also managed to establish successful wireless communication with our payload during the launch. This was a great opportunity for me to work on a high-profile project with an amazing team. Before joining this project, I had no knowledge of Fabry-Perot Spectrometers, piezoelectric actuators and the system optics involved, but I now have a better understanding of how these systems work. I also gained understanding on how space missions are designed and had the opportunity to work closely with personnel from the Canadian Space Agency and Centre National d’Études Spatiales.”
In addition to data acquisition, the research team successfully reached their goal of increasing the MIFPS finesse to meet the measurement requirements. The next steps for the SDCNLab are to fix the hardware issues encountered during the flight and re-fly the instrument. The team also hopes to implement new controllers to improve the instrument performance for future missions.
Inaugural BEST Bridge to Startup projects innovate
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BEST Bridge to Startup (BB2S), the four-month Bergeron Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology (BEST) summer entrepreneurship experience that launched in the summer of 2023, has empowered students from York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering to build United Nations Sustainable Development Goal-friendly startups based around artificial intelligence (AI), accessibility, energy consumption and more.
BB2S was created to provide a crucial stepping stone for students transitioning from university to the professional world, imparting critical skills that go beyond the classroom, with undergraduate students able to turn their final-year capstone projects into ventures, or graduate students turning their research into a business.
Members of the BEST Bridge to Startup program.
“Through our BB2S program, we aim to guide aspiring entrepreneurs on their path to self-discovery,” said Maedeh Sedaghat, BEST program manager. “The program offers a transformative experience that allows students to embrace a journey of curiosity and boundless learning, where success is the fruit of collective wisdom. The emotional rollercoaster that comes with this journey helps the students become more resilient, and they emerge with a personal and professionally rewarding entrepreneurial mindset that will enable them to make a positive impact in all their future endeavours.”
Aiming to bridge the gap between academic and practical application by offering participants hands-on practice instrumental to shaping future tech leaders, students were immersed in a professional setting where they could gain insights into the intricate workings of startup ecosystems, from ideation to market entry. Furthermore, as part of the program, each team worked with a Schulich School of Business master of business administration intern who helped the team develop business strategy, go-to-market strategies, product roadmaps and competitive reports.
The resulting inaugural projects are:
Chatbase Created by computer science students Yasser Elsaid and Pegah Fallah, Chatbase is an AI chatbot builder that trains ChatGPT on an individual’s data and lets them add a chat widget to their website.
Reefers Created by mechanical engineering students Mhd Youssef Demashkieh and Jad Zeitoun, Reefers is an energy recovery system that uses the exhaust gases to create electricity to power the refrigeration system of refrigerated truck trailers.
Handifuel Created by computer science alum Abbas Qassim and computer science student Solomon Ukwosah, Handifuel automates the fuelling process by building a robotic arm that will eliminate the need of mobility-challenged individuals to manually complete the process.
PoweRanger Created by mechanical engineering alum Rizwan Bhatti, electrical engineering student Christopher Korfmann and software engineering student Mohammed Fulwala, PoweRanger is an autonomous, remote power line inspection robot that helps minimize production downtime and prevent unexpected power outages by quickly identifying faults, pinpointing their locations and understanding their causes.
MechTronX Created by mechanical engineering students Mohammad Shamail, Muhammad Ali Toor and Eric Wong, MechTronX is a tech company that specializes in providing cost-effective, customized solutions that cater to the unique technical requirements of early-stage companies.
“BEST Bridge to Startup is a unique entrepreneurial opportunity that allows graduating students to experience the life of an entrepreneur by working exclusively on their startup for four months,” said Professor Andrew Maxwell, Bergeron Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship. “Our hope is that many of them turn their capstone projects into viable businesses supported by BESTLab.”
The next instalment of York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) 2023-24 Climate Seminar, taking place on Oct. 19 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in 140 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, features geographer Kai Bosworth speaking about the role of populist environmentalism in contemporary struggles for climate justice.
Kai Bosworth
Bosworth, an assistant professor of international studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, will present a talk titled “Pipeline Populism and the Climate Cycle of Struggles: 2010-2020,” which will describe the rise and demise of left-populist environmentalism as one tendency within the “cycle of struggles” over climate in the 2010s. This tendency, he says, can be found in Upper Midwest pipeline opposition movements, in moves towards mass mobilization such as the People’s Climate March, and in student and youth movements advocating for a Green New Deal.
Bosworth’s book, Pipeline Populism: Grassroots Environmentalism in the 21st Century (University of Minnesota Press, 2022), examines pipeline opposition movements in the central U.S. and the ways they have transformed the politics of climate justice. It argues that while a form of environmental populism challenges the climate movement’s history of elitism, it also remakes hierarchies of race, class and nation to compose its political subjects.
York University’s Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change is bringing climate crisis scholars and activists to the University on a regular basis through its Climate Seminar. All are welcome to attend, either in person or virtually via livestream. Those interested in attending can register at tinyurl.com/4zshzzw5.
Message to the community on the war in the Middle East
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La version française suit la version anglaise.
This past Sunday, the University sent out a tweet unequivocally denouncing the attacks against civilians in Israel. We are heartbroken by the loss of life and the escalation of violence in the region and our thoughts are with all those who are suffering in Israel and Palestine.
We have reached out to our students and student organizations that support Jewish and Palestinian students to offer assistance and we join the international community in its calls for a peaceful resolution.
We continue to closely follow the news of the escalating conflict in the region and the unfolding humanitarian crisis and are reaching out today to share information about available supports. We know that many members of our community have ties to the Middle East including family and friends living in the region. Your well-being is important to us and we encourage you to reach out for help using the links to resources below should you need them.
Canada is home to large diaspora communities and we have seen how events surrounding armed international conflict can lead to division and inflammatory language. The University stands firmly behind the principles established in the President’s Initiative on Open and Respectful Dialogue. These principles underscore our commitment to free expression and to free association. But these freedoms are not absolute. Collectively, we are responsible for creating an inclusive and respectful environment where community members feel safe and welcomed without fear of intimidation or harassment.
Alice Pitt Interim Vice-President, Equity, People & Culture
Message à la communauté au sujet de la guerre au Moyen-Orient
Dimanche dernier, l’Université a envoyé un gazouillis qui dénonçait sans équivoque les attaques contre des civils en Israël. Nous sommes bouleversés par les pertes humaines et l’escalade de la violence dans cette région et nos pensées vont à toutes les personnes qui souffrent en Israël et en Palestine.
Nous avons contacté la communauté étudiante et les organisations étudiantes qui appuient la population étudiante juive et palestinienne pour leur offrir notre assistance et nous nous associons à la communauté internationale pour appeler à une résolution pacifique.
Nous continuons à suivre de près l’évolution du conflit et la crise humanitaire qui en résulte et nous tenons aujourd’hui à vous faire part des ressources à votre disposition. Nous savons que de nombreux membres de notre communauté ont des liens avec le Moyen-Orient, y compris de la famille et des amis vivant dans la région. Votre bien-être est précieux et nous vous encourageons à demander de l’aide en utilisant les liens ci-dessous en cas de besoin.
Le Canada héberge de grandes communautés de la diaspora et nous avons vu comment les événements accompagnant un conflit international armé peuvent entraîner des divisions et des propos virulents. L’Université adhère résolument aux principes établis dans L’initiative de la présidente pour un dialogue ouvert et respectueux. Ces principes appuient notre engagement envers la liberté d’expression et d’association. Toutefois, ces libertés ne sont pas absolues. Collectivement, nous sommes responsables de la création d’un environnement inclusif et respectueux où les membres de la communauté se sentent en sécurité et accueillis sans crainte d’intimidation ou de harcèlement.
Ressources de bien-être pour les membres de la population étudiante, du corps professoral et du personnel : yorku.ca/well-being/resources.
Rhonda Lenton Présidente et vice-chancelière
Lisa Philipps Rectrice et vice-présidente aux affaires académiques
Alice Pitt Vice-présidente intérimaire de l’équité, des personnes et de la culture
Lassonde undergrads earn awards for SDG research projects
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Eight York University undergraduate students received awards at Lassonde’s Undergraduate Summer Research Conference in recognition of summer projects that aimed to address the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The projects received funding from the Lassonde Undergraduate Research Awards (LURA), an initiative that promotes experiential learning, skill building and professional development through funded research opportunities, and the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Student Research Awards (NSERC USRA). This year, over 70 undergraduate students worked on research projects alongside faculty members and graduate students, and addressed SDGs like sustainable cities and communities (UN SDG 11), as well as industry, innovation and infrastructure (UN SDG 9).
“Our LURA program was designed to meet the demand for experiential learning and expose students to hands-on research,” says Paulina Karwowska-Desaulniers, director of research priorities and partnerships at Lassonde. “Over the years, the program has enabled hundreds of students to undertake research projects and spark their curiosity with new passions they didn’t even know they had.”
A student presenting a research poster.
In August, Lassonde’s Undergraduate Summer Research Conference brought together students, faculty and staff across the school, so undergraduate program participants could give oral and poster presentations highlighting the innovative research projects they conducted over the summer.
There, too, projects were evaluated for LURA consideration by a panel of faculty judges as well as student attendees.
The following students received LURAs for their poster presentations:
Prachurya Deepta Adhikary, a student in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and their project “Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method for Generating Naturalistic Shapes”won first place;
Ammar Mohamed Mohieldin Ahmed Abouelmaati, a student in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and their project “Optimal Spectrum Partitioning and Power Allocation in Semi-Integrated Sensing and Communications System” won second place; and
Haydar Isa Senturk, a student inDepartment of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, won third place for the project “Design and Optimization of Micro-Coils for Efficient Power Transfer to Brain-Implanted Medical Devices.”
The following students received LURAs for their oral presentations:
Alice Fours, a student in theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, and their project “Vascularization in Tissue Engineering: Engineering Functional Blood Vessels in 3D-Printed Biomaterials for Enhanced Transplantation Outcomes” won first place;
Sharon Musa, a student in theDepartment of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and their project “Audio-Video Scene Recognition”won second place; and
Tyler Chung, a student in theDepartment of Earth & Space Science & Engineering, won third place for the project “Development of a Remote 2-D Imaging Fabry-Pérot Spectrometer for Climate Change Sensing and Monitoring.”
The following undergraduates received Student Choice Awards for presentations:
Kumar Vaibhav Jha, a student in theDepartment of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and their project “Graph Based Multi-Object Tracking for Traffic Intersection Analytics” won best poster presentation; and
Stefan de Lasa, a student in theDepartment of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, won best oral presentation for their project, “Using Semantics and Geometry to Scale Monocular Depth Estimation Models.”
“At Lassonde, we strive to empower our community of student creators to cultivate new ideas and knowledge,” says Jane Goodyer, dean of Lassonde. “It’s our interdisciplinary approach to research that truly sparks creativity and innovation needed to address global issues.”
Spirit Day – sun, fun and a celebration of York pride
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York University students, staff, faculty members and course instructors were invited to partake in a day of celebration and festivities dedicated to York University’s community excellence during Spirit Day on Oct. 4. The event was held at both the Keele and Glendon campuses.
Participants were encouraged to exhibit their York U pride by wearing the University’s colours – red, white or blue. The day featured various activities, treats, and giveaways to commemorate and acknowledge the contributions of York community members who have consistently worked towards positive change.
Community members participated in a giant flag drone photo and community tree planting at both campuses, as well as bubble soccer, food pop-up shops, club fairs, photo booths, a community art mural, yoga sessions, pop-up games and more.
The CRM is an engagement tool that manages recruitment, application, and admission of future students and connects current students to advising supports.
This is the first release in a phased rollout plan for the project, with future releases of CRM still to come. Release 1 went live on Tuesday, Sept. 26 and will be leveraged by those who require access to the student profile, as well as recruitment and engagement functions.
With its full suite of seven projects, the SSRP is introducing new online systems and processes to transform the student experience at York. In doing so, it aims to elevate the experience for staff and faculty members who play a pivotal role in supporting student success. Once fully rolled out, the new CRM will be the engagement tool used throughout each phase of the student lifecycle – beginning when a high-school student first indicates they are interested in attending York, through to each phase of their student journey.
Release 1 of CRM focuses on the beginning of the student lifecycle, with functionality for student and prospect profiles, along with new engagement and communications capabilities for all students. It simplifies how faculty and staff communicate with students and each other, provides a consistent set of tools to manage student recruitment events (such as high-school visit bookings) and efficiently connects York to potential prospects. The new CRM also streamlines student profiles and introduces automated marketing and communications for both future and current students, helping to create email campaigns, surveys and ongoing communications to the right people, with the most relevant information.
Release 1 of CRM lays the foundation for the wider implementation of the full system. Currently, only select users have access to the newest functions for their roles, but eventually CRM will be accessible to a wider audience at York.
Further updates on the SSRP and its transformational projects, including more engagement functions that will be delivered in future CRM releases, are forthcoming. For more program information, visit the SSRP website at yorku.ca/ssrp.
Nominate a candidate for honorary degree at York
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The Senate Sub-Committee on Honorary Degrees and Ceremonials encourages members of the York University community to submit nominations for honorary degrees.
The awarding of honorary degrees is an important feature of Convocation at York University. By recognizing individuals whose achievements represent the values York cherishes, whose benefactions have strengthened the community and the institution, and whose public lives are deemed worthy of emulation, the act of awarding honorary degrees enriches Convocation for our graduands and guests.
A candidate for an honorary degree must meet one or more of the following general criteria:
has eminence in their field;
has demonstrated service to humankind, Canada, Ontario, York University or a particular community in a significant manner;
has provided a significant benefaction to the University; and/or
is someone whose public contributions to society are worthy of emulation.
To nominate a candidate, complete a nomination form and submit it along with two letters of support. The material is treated as confidential and should not be disclosed to the nominee.
Detailed guidelines on nomination requirements, process and answers to frequently asked questions can be found on the website. Questions about the requirements or process should be directed to Pamela Persaud at ppersaud@yorku.ca or Elaine MacRae at emacrae@yorku.ca. For reference, a list of honorary degree recipients is available on the website.
Four leaders to receive honorary degrees during Fall Convocation
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York University will award honorary degrees to four outstanding individuals recognized as exemplary changemakers during the 2023 Fall Convocation.
From Oct. 11 to 20, graduates will cross the stage at six different ceremonies, with an additional ceremony for the School of Continuing Studies.
Below are the honorary degree recipients in order of the Faculty ceremonies at which they will be honoured:
Itah Sadu, author, entrepreneur Honorary doctor of laws Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies I, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design Thursday, Oct. 12, 10:30 a.m.
Itah Sadu
Itah Sadu is an international, award-winning storyteller and bestselling children’s author. Her children’s books have been translated into various languages, and have been adopted for curriculum development and film adaptations.
She is the co-owner of the independent bookstore A Different Booklist with her husband, Miguel San Vicente. Their bookstore is a Toronto destination specializing in African and Caribbean-Canadian literature and diverse resources from around the world. She is also a founder of the Blackhurst Cultural Centre, formerly known as A Different Booklist Cultural Centre.
A dynamic entrepreneur and community builder, Sadu uses creativity, leadership and teamwork to create infrastructure and legacy in communities.
Her innovation has brought the city of Toronto the annual Walk With Excellence and the Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride in collaboration with the Toronto Transit Commission.
Wes Hall, Chair and founder of WeShall Investments, television personality Honorary doctor of laws Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies II Thursday, Oct. 12, 3:30 p.m.
Wes Hall
As the Chair and founder of WeShall Investments, a private equity firm with a diverse portfolio of companies predominantly supporting Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) entrepreneurs, Wes Hall comes from humble beginnings in rural Jamaica. He grew up in a plantation worker’s shack as one of several children supported by his grandmother. In 1985, Hall immigrated to Canada, where he set out to become the businessman he is today. Dressed daily in a suit, Wes started as a mail clerk at a leading law firm in Toronto. His curiosity, intelligence and ability to spot opportunities allowed him to turn a $100,000 loan from the bank to start his first business, Kingsdale Advisors, into Canada’s pre-eminent shareholder advisory firm.
A staunch philanthropist, Hall is deeply committed to community betterment. He founded the ambitious and highly successful BlackNorth Initiative to help end systemic anti-Black racism in Canada. He has instructed the Black Entrepreneurship & Leadership course at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, a first-of-its-kind course in North America.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce named Hall the Canadian Business Leader of 2022. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Ottawa and the University of the West Indies. He also received the Medal of Distinction from Huron University in 2022.
Other accomplishments include penning a bestselling memoir, No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot. He launched a podcast in partnership with the Toronto Star, “Between Us with Wes Hall,” and is also on the hit CBC series “Dragons’ Den.”
Andromache Karakatsanis, justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Honorary doctor of laws Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School Friday, Oct. 13, 10:30 a.m.
Andromache Karakatsanis
Justice Andromache Karakatsanis is the longest serving justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, appointed in 2011. A judge since 2002, she served first as a trial judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and then as a judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Before her appointment to the bench, she worked in the justice system in diverse capacities over two decades: as a lawyer in private practice; as Chair and CEO of a regulatory tribunal; as secretary of Native Affairs for Ontario; and as deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general of Ontario. She subsequently served as deputy minister to the premier and head of the Ontario Public Service, providing leadership to the deputy ministers and to 60,000 public servants.
Throughout her career, Karakatsanis has volunteered extensively and served on the boards of many community and professional associations. She has been recognized with numerous medals and awards in her profession and community. She currently serves as Chair of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters.
Nnimmo Bassey, architect, poet and environmental activist Honorary doctor of laws Glendon College, Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, Faculty of Education, Lassonde School of Engineering, Faculty of Science Friday, Oct. 13, 3:30 p.m.
Nnimmo Bassey
Nnimmo Bassey is an architect, poet, director of the ecological think tank Health of Mother Earth Foundation (based in Nigeria) and member of the steering committee of Oilwatch International – a network resisting the expansion of fossil fuels extraction in the Global South.
Bassey’s books include To Cook a Continent – Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa, Oil Politics – Echoes of Ecological WarandI will Not Dance to Your Beat(poetry).
Bassey received Nigeria’s national honour, Member of the Federal Republic, in 2014 and became a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects in the same year. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of York, U.K., in 2019.
