Vitusha Oberoi

In a pathbreaking initiative, international students took centre stage at a summit organized by Sheridan College and the City of Brampton, and shared their stories to create a deeper understanding of their lived experiences in Canada. At the two-day Improving the International Students Experience Summit on July 25–26, a panel of international students recounted the stories of profound hope that brought them to Canada, and their incredible resilience as they found their feet in a new country.

International students received a resounding acknowledgement of their contribution to the community, and the promise of a brighter future from members of Parliament, the Provincial Parliament, local councillors, and community organizations at a recent summit organized by Sheridan College and the City of Brampton to help improve the international student experience. The discussions at the summit will form the basis of a forthcoming community Charter to support international student success.

Honest, thought-provoking conversations, driven by a commitment to bring in transformational change and help craft a positive path forward, marked the Improving International Student Experience Summit held at Sheridan College’s Davis Campus in July. The two-day conference, organized by Sheridan and the City of Brampton, laid the foundation for a Brampton International Student Charter that’s being envisaged as a road map for making Brampton a best-practice leader in supporting international students.

Four proud Sheridan alumni, who were drawn to the College from different parts of the globe, recently reflected on their reasons for crossing continents to study at Sheridan and how they navigated language and cultural differences to create successful careers after graduation. Participating in a webinar organized by Sheridan to mark the International Education Week in November, they remembered the professors who inspired them and the mentors who set them on the road to success.

From online platforms that give members of young, underrepresented communities a place to come together and raise their voices, to businesses launched as a means to stand up against racial injustice: in less than one year, 11 youth-led entrepreneurial ventures have created the building blocks for equity, social justice and inclusion, thanks to the Social Impact Catalyst powered by RBC Future Launch, run by Sheridan’s entrepreneurship hub, EDGE.

An unlikely team – comprising an information technology professor, a photographer, and a game design graduate – has come together for the love of bees to give the pollinators a permanent home in Sheridan’s lush green spaces and woodlots.

“That’s the way students are learning now,” Ms. Killian said. “They are adept at technology and don’t pick up books as easily as they might an iPad. Most of them already use VR for entertainment and we are tapping into that to enhance their learning experience.”

Seneca has 17 reasons to celebrate Planet Earth this week. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations were at the heart of the Sustainable Seneca Fair at Newnham Campus today.

Seneca has taken another stride towards sustainability by launching an initiative that not only prevents used eyeglasses from ending up in landfills, but also allows them to be repurposed as an educational resource, recycled and then donated to those in need.

Researchers at Seneca are working to develop an easy and simple diagnostic test for COVID-19 that could be done at doctors’ offices and pharmacies without having to send samples to laboratories for analysis. The School of Biological Sciences & Applied Chemistry is collaborating with Kenota Health, a Kitchener-based medical technology company, to produce three key proteins associated with COVID-19 for use in an immunodiagnostic device.

An applied research project at Seneca has turned an aging floor cleaner into a self-driving robotic prototype, soon to be tested at Newnham Campus. The project is a collaboration between Seneca’s Applied Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship (ARIE), the School of Electronics & Mechanical Engineering Technology, Sustainable Seneca and Cyberworks Robotics, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) self-driving technology.

Thanks to support from CIBC and contributions from donors such as Mike Shaver, Tazwiz and Global Innovation & Skills Development Canada, the HELIX Emergency Relief Fund will benefit 22 HELIXers in the ACCELERATION Strand with awards of $2,000 each.

The Seneca Case Development Centre will bring together Seneca’s talented faculty and committed partners to develop cases that will allow students to explore real problems faced by real working professionals in real organizations. The cases, with varying levels of complexity, will make critical thinking an integral component of education at Seneca.

Winter just got better at Seneca’s King Campus with a new, outdoor ice rink steps away from Magna Hall. The rink, inaugurated with music, hot chocolate and a lovers’ skate on Tuesday, measures 100 feet by 50 feet.

The newly introduced cannabis program at Seneca kicked off at Seneca@York Campus this week. The one-year Cannabis Regulation & Quality Assurance graduate certificate program — the first of its kind in Ontario — explores a new territory that promises exciting discoveries, innovative approaches and massive employment growth.