91亚色 announces new head of Research & Innovation

TORONTO, November 26, 2019 鈥�91亚色 has selected a new Vice President of Research & Innovation.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Governors has accepted the recommendation of the search committee that Professor Amir Asif be appointed for a five-year term beginning on May 1, 2020. 91亚色 President and Vice-chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton announced the appointment today.

Asif has served as the Dean of the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science (GCS) at Concordia University since 2014. He is well known to members of the 91亚色 community, having served as the founding Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from 2006 to 2014. As Chair, he transformed EECS into a comprehensive department offering programs in computer engineering, software engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, digital media and computer security, which was selected as one of the two founding departments for the new Lassonde School of Engineering at 91亚色. Currently, he is also serving as the Chair of the Research Committee of the Engineering Deans Canada, the national council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science in Canada.

Asif has more than 15 years of experience serving in senior university leadership positions. Most recently, he led the development of the 2016-21 GCS Strategic Plan and the creation of faculty research support and capital infrastructure funds focused on attracting the best researchers and achieving excellence in research. Asif was instrumental in establishing successful research collaborations between the public and private sectors, examples of which are NSERC Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart and Resilient Cities and Communities ($10M), Green-Surface Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing approved as a NSERC Strategic Partnership Grant ($5.5M), multiple NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grants ($10M), four Industrial Research Chairs (over $6M) and various NSERC Create and Mitacs Accelerate Grants听 ($5M). During his five-year term as Dean, the School of Engineering and Computer Science grew by 35 percent in terms of student enrolment and 40 per cent in terms of faculty complement. The research funding within the School grew by over 50 per cent during his deanship.

Asif led the development of Concordia鈥檚 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering and 10 new interdisciplinary research centres at Concordia, including collaborations with the other Faculties and disciplines. He is also passionate about refining public policy on higher education and improving the student experience. As Vice-Chair of the University Senate and Chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Standards, Curriculum and Pedagogy at 91亚色, he oversaw the development of University-wide policy on academic standards, regulations, curriculum and programs, including research-informed pedagogy.

Innovation and interdisciplinarity are also at the heart of his research. As a specialist in signal processing, Asif focuses on developing next-generation technologies for a variety of everyday applications including health and medical devices, radar and sonar applications, distributed multi-agent networked systems and electrical power grids. He leads by example in the pursuit of research excellence, maintaining active research and teaching profiles.

Asif is the recipient of several prestigious teaching awards and has published extensively in scientific journals and international conferences. He has been awarded grants for core engineering research and applied industrial projects undertaken in Canada and internationally, including from the Ontario Research Foundation/Research Excellence program for his work as principal investigator of the Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data Driven Design (CIV/DDD), a multi-million dollar, multi-institutional research project. He continues to work with industry on applied research projects, the latest such collaboration leading to a joint patent filing with IBM.

In making the announcement, Lenton thanked Professor Rui Wang for his excellent work and leadership as Interim Vice President of Research & Innovation.

91亚色 champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Janice Walls, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-455-4710,听wallsj@yorku.ca

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TORONTO, April 25, 2017 鈥� Today at 91亚色, the Government of Canada announced significant new funding to help youths in Ontario and Alberta who are homeless 鈭� or at risk of becoming homeless 鈭� to get the education, job skills and work experience they need. The almost $8 million in new funding represents a significant investment in addressing youth homelessness.

Adam Vaughan, Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort 91亚色, announced the Skills Link program funding on behalf of the Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment Workforce Development and Labour. More than 1,300 youth and their families will take part in the project, which focuses on prevention of homelessness through early intervention and Housing First for Youth.

Federal funding for youth homelessness project announced at 91亚色 U

The project will be delivered through a partnership between national leaders on homelessness prevention including: , the at 91亚色, and the , as well as the Provinces of Ontario and Alberta, and dozens of community partners.

The goal of the project, 鈥淢aking the Shift: Reimagining the Response to Youth Homelessness Through Social Innovation,鈥� is to ensure that young people have housing stability as well as family and other supports to stay in school or access training and employment.

In the first two years of the project, demonstration projects will take place in 10 Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray.

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, led by 91亚色 Professor Stephen Gaetz, will launch a Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab to oversee the demonstration projects and develop tools and resources to help other communities to do similar projects. 听91亚色 will receive $1.45 million of the federal funding to run the lab, which will focus on knowledge mobilization, to ensure prevention models and Housing First for Youth take root at the policy and practice levels.

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness issued a report recently that called for a major shift in addressing homelessness, to focus on prevention. This change in direction is important for young people in particular, according to the partners on the 鈥淢aking the Shift鈥� project for which funding was announced today, because becoming homeless for a sustained period may affect a young person鈥檚 health and wellbeing, their educational achievement and ultimately their ability to participate in the labour market.

Quotes:

鈥淭his project will help vulnerable youth build positive futures and develop the skills they need to contribute meaningfully to the workforce. When youth have the skills and supports they need to succeed, they can get good, well-paying jobs, help grow the economy and join the middle class.鈥�
鈥� The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour

鈥淗omeless youth are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalized populations who face substantial barriers to education and employment. Assisting Canada鈥檚 youth is a priority. A Way Home: Working Together to End Youth Homelessness in Canada鈥檚 project is a concrete example of what we can achieve for youth by working in partnership with organizations across the country. Projects like this can give our youth the chance to change their future.鈥�
鈥� Adam Vaughan, Member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort 91亚色

鈥淭hrough a unique partnership with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (91亚色), MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, two provinces and dozens of community partners, the Making the Shift project will ensure that young people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness achieve housing stability and have natural supports such as family that are essential as they receive support to stay in school or access training and employment.鈥�
鈥� Melanie Redman, Executive Director, A Way Home Canada

鈥�This project will not only enable over a thousand homeless youth to access education and employment, but will provide us with a much stronger evidence base about how to prevent youth homelessness and support young people who do experience homelessness to exit this situation. It鈥檚 all about helping young people in a tough situation to move forward in their lives in a way that promotes wellness and the chance to succeed.鈥�
鈥� Stephen Gaetz, Professor, 91亚色 and Director, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness

鈥淭his visionary investment by the Government of Canada not only recognizes the leadership that A Way Home Canada, The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness at 91亚色 and their many partners have provided through the development of meaningful strategies to support homeless youth in Canada, but it is also an investment in our nation鈥檚 future, ensuring that all young Canadians are able to contribute to shaping a better country and a better world.鈥�
鈥� Mamdouh Shoukri, President and Vice-Chancellor, 91亚色

听is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91亚色 students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91亚色 U is an internationally recognized research university 鈥� our 11 faculties and 26 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni. 91亚色 U's fully bilingual Glendon campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:
Janice Walls, Media Relations, 91亚色, 416 455 4710, wallsj@yorku.ca

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TORONTO, Sept. 6 鈥� 91亚色, the lead university for Canada鈥檚 instrument contribution to NASA鈥檚 OSIRIS-REx mission, will celebrate the mission鈥檚 launch to the asteroid Bennu on Thursday, Sept. 8.

Along with first-year 91亚色 U space science and engineering students, undergraduate and graduate students involved in space research at the Lassonde School of Engineering will help celebrate the launch, which will be live streamed from NASA鈥檚 Cape Canaveral launch site for the 91亚色 U community.

Speakers will include former student Grant Cunningham, now at Teledyne Optech, an industrial partner involved in the design of the Canadian instrument who will talk about his involvement and his time at 91亚色 U, and 91亚色 U鈥檚 Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Hach茅.

"The OSIRIX-REx mission is a prime example of 91亚色 expertise being brought to the international table in support of an exceptional collaborative scientific endeavor,鈥� said Hach茅. 鈥淭his project, with 91亚色 as听the lead Canadian university, showcases 91亚色's leadership in space science, which also includes 91亚色's significant contributions to Mars exploration, and demonstrates that there is no limit to where research excellence can take us as students, scholars, and as a university."

The Planetary Exploration Instrumentation Laboratory at 91亚色 U is playing a pivotal role in the instrumentation for the spacecraft. Professor 鈥� in Florida for the launch 鈥� is the lead Canadian instrument scientist for Canada鈥檚 contribution of the OSIRIS-Rex Laser Altimeter (OLA), the most sophisticated laser altimeter ever to visit an asteroid. OLA and the Canadian science team are funded by the Canadian Space Agency.

The altimeter will create a 3D model of the asteroid for science as well as provide critical information that will help direct the spacecraft to a good spot to extract a sample for return to Earth.

The celebration recognizes the positive impact cutting-edge space research has on students and their learning, especially as 91亚色 U is a national leader in space science.

When: Thursday, Sept. 8, from 6 to 7:30pm

Where: Room 125, Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence, 91亚色. See number 81 on .

What: Launch celebration of OSIRIS-REx

听is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Through cross-discipline programming, innovative course design, diverse experiential learning and a supportive community environment, our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni.

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Media Contact:
Sandra McLean, 91亚色 Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 22097/sandramc@yorku.ca

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