Museum of Toronto partnered with Design Lab to create site-specific installations and an accompanying interactive app as part of their latest city-wide exhibition

For students completing a Bachelor of Design (BDes) at 91亚色, studio requirements offer the opportunity to learn through building. The Design Lab course is structured as a realistic work environment, with third- and fourth-year students engaging actual clients. That鈥檚 how, under the guidance of School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) Professor Angela Norwood, this year鈥檚 cohort found themselves at the heart of Home Game: Toronto Loves Basketball, an exhibition by the Museum of Toronto on view until Oct. 12, 2025.

In January, the Museum presented students with an ambitious brief. Led by the institute鈥檚 executive director , a 91亚色 alumna, and co-curated by Sarah Bay-Cheng, former dean and professor at AMPD, the Museum was planning a multi-site, months-long exhibition. Called a love letter to basketball, the exhibition charts the sport鈥檚 entrenchment in the city鈥檚 psyche from Toronto鈥檚 first women鈥檚 basketball club in 1895, to the first professional basketball game played by the short-lived Toronto Huskies in 1946, and the recent creation of the Toronto Tempo WNBA team.

The tribute goes beyond the Raptors鈥� 2019 NBA Championship, highlighting the milestones, game-changing events and legendary players from street courts to sold-out arenas. The exhibition spotlights diverse grassroots teams from Chinese-Canadian youth squads to Muslim women鈥檚 groups, exploring Toronto鈥檚 deep connection to the game and chronicling how the sport has kept pace with a growing city鈥檚 global aspirations.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 capture every facet of this complex history,鈥� Bay-Cheng told . 鈥淏ut we can outline the known story, highlight the key players in Toronto鈥檚 basketball culture, and create space for new voices to join the narrative. This is an evolving record of who we are as a very complex, diverse, multicultural, multinational city.鈥�

Design Lab students were tasked with creating an interactive app that would bring basketball history to life through AR, and site-specific installations that would operate as check-in points. The resulting student-built experiences 鈥� a mobile web-based app and a series of custom-designed lockers installed at key locations across the city 鈥� invite users to share their own basketball memories and collect digital artefacts.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very different homework experience,鈥� says Shaheer Saif (BDes 鈥�25), who led the student group responsible for designing the app before graduating in June. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e working with a small team that you chose, and then you鈥檙e figuring out problems that get applied to something that people outside of the classroom will experience and see. There was guidance, but the training wheels are off a little bit.鈥�

While the Museum provided a general ask, the specifics were developed by students, giving them the hands-on experience of running a multidisciplinary design studio. 鈥淭hey had an ambiguous idea of what they wanted,鈥� says Saif, who added that the biggest lesson was in learning how to translate UX and UI concepts into plain language for an audience not fluent in technical terminology. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e museum curators. They know the experience they want to have, the information they want to convey, but how to convey our ideas to them 鈥� that was a big learning point.鈥�

The resulting web-based app allows users to design their own custom jersey and view keepsakes and historical artefacts, including the first Toronto Huskies game ticket and Scarborough Shooting Stars trophy. In addition to the main exhibition at Harbourfront Centre, three off-site locker locations serve as entry portals to the app: 91亚色鈥檚 Vari Hall, Regent Park Community Centre and Pan Am Centre. The colourful, vinyl-wrapped lockers showcasing memorabilia draw passersby into the experience, promoting the app via QR code.

鈥淲e actually pitched three different ideas. We can't be married to what we present, because at the end of the day, the client chooses,鈥� says Beatrice Labb茅, a third-year design student who led the team responsible for the design of the physical installation. 鈥淭hroughout our degree, we learned how to argue our ideas and present them in a way so that they seem approachable. We came in really strong with these amazing concepts, these ideas, these mood boards 鈥� the whole shebang 鈥� they liked the locker.鈥� She says they leaned into that concept, a personal favourite of hers, but that once it was greenlit, all these other real-life considerations came into play 鈥� beyond simply what themes would define each site and the artefacts on display but also how to keep them safe and visible.

鈥淲e had to think about more than just the aesthetic but also the usability and how people will interact with it,鈥� Labb茅 continues. 鈥淲e need to add plexiglass. Do we add a light inside the locker? Do we glue them shut so people can鈥檛 open them?鈥�

These features didn鈥檛 come from a textbook. Design Lab challenges students to juggle ideation, user experience, and technical constraints with client relations and expectations. From client presentations to production and vendor coordination, students were responsible for all aspects of their assigned projects. They worked in teams to brainstorm, pitch, conduct user testing, and asset development while navigating weekly check-ins with the Museum team and adapting to evolving creative and technical requirements.

The project also came with real-world constraints, say Saif and Labb茅. For the app, file sizes had to be minimized so the AR experience could function across a variety of mobile devices and network speeds, designs needed to balance aesthetics with functionality. The lockers needed to be secured, and the Harbourfront structure had to be weatherproof. The kind of challenges young designers rarely face until they enter the workforce. The experience also helped sharpen skills that go beyond design, like project management, stakeholder communication, and problem-solving under pressure.

Since its launch in May, the app, which encourages users to contribute their own stories, has become a living document of Toronto鈥檚 basketball heritage by celebrating the shared joy, hope and myriad histories experienced through the sport.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a cool portfolio piece because you have a real-world project while you鈥檙e still in school,鈥� says Saif, who is now working an internship with the Toronto-based independent design studio Concrete, which has clients including H&M Beauty, Canadaland, Joe Fresh and other global brands.

鈥淚t felt like a very unique experience and opportunity that we wouldn鈥檛 necessarily have gotten outside of 91亚色. It feels very rewarding to have an actual project that we made be in the real world,鈥� says Labb茅, who is returning to complete her final year in the fall.

Co-curators of the exhibition include Kayla Grey, a Canadian sportscaster with TSN, and Perry King, a journalist and author of Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City.

Home Game: Toronto Loves Basketball runs until Oct. 12 with free entry at Toronto鈥檚 Harbourfront Centre.

The post 91亚色 students bring Toronto鈥檚 love of basketball to life through AR appeared first on News@91亚色.

App content aims to inspire students to continue education in STEM subjects

TORONTO, March 28, 2017 鈥�- With growing opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and his team at 91亚色鈥檚 Lassonde School of Engineering have partnered with the public and private sector to create learning modules built on Quanser鈥檚 trademarked qdex app development platform, specifically designed for rich STEM content. This project leverages modern mobile-based technology to engage high school students in subject areas they typically find challenging. By using cell phone and tablet technology that is native to this generation, Mitra and the partners hope to see better academic success and inspire the students to continue their education in STEM subjects.
The content is being created with the help of student developers with key curriculum inputs from teachers at 91亚色 Region鈥檚 St. Robert鈥檚 School in Markham.

鈥淥ften we have the best and brightest students coming into our programs from grade 12 but after their first and second year, many are not able to keep up. We believe that we鈥檙e not providing with them the right tools and mechanisms to make them successful right from high school,鈥� says Mitra. 鈥淭he new qdex platform is an effective tool for disseminating knowledge to grade 11 and 12 students so they鈥檙e prepared when they come to university. We believe this is a way to make every student more successful.鈥�

This initiative is funded by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) program aimed at connecting Ontario鈥檚 public education system with companies to test and demonstrate innovate products and technology. 91亚色鈥檚 Academic Innovation Fund also contributed to the initiative. A partnership between the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) and OCE, AdvancingEducation brings innovation into classrooms across the province by matching needs in the public education system with innovative products and services from Ontario companies

鈥淲e know that even high school students who excel in mathematics can struggle with advanced STEM concepts at the post-secondary level,鈥� says Dr. Tom Corr, OCE's President and CEO. 鈥淭his partnership between 91亚色鈥檚 Lassonde School of Engineering, St. Robert Catholic High School and Quanser is now creating a personalized experiential learning tool that bridges the gap between high school math and post-secondary STEM using popular devices like smart phones and tablets.鈥�

Together with Quanser鈥檚 qdex technology, a unique mobile content development platform allows phones and tablets to do advanced engineering-style computing.

鈥淨uanser is a proud industry partner for this important initiative. We believe that Lassonde School鈥檚 innovative approach to education will be the ideal platform to realize the full potential of our qdex technology,鈥� states Paul Gilbert, CEO of Quanser.

The project鈥檚 first target is math content that will better prepare students in Grade 12 to succeed in university-level engineering and science programs. The modules allow students to experience real-world applications of math and science concepts.

鈥淪t. Robert students have an incredible opportunity to develop, explore and utilize innovative module applications that will better enable them to excel in post-secondary STEM applications,鈥� said Patricia Preston, Director of Education, 91亚色 Catholic District School Board. 鈥淪t. Robert鈥檚 students have been using the qdex learning platform for nearly one month with much success and it is our hope that more students will be inspired to advance their studies and choose careers in STEM.鈥�

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.

drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario's global competitiveness. In doing this, OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario's industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. A champion of leading-edge technologies, best practices and research, OCE invests in sectors such as advanced health, digital media and information communications, advanced manufacturing and materials, and cleantech including energy, environment and water. OCE is a key partner in delivering Ontario's Innovation Agenda as a member of the province's Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). Funded by the Government of Ontario, the ONE is made up of regional and sector-focused organizations and helps Ontario-based entrepreneurs rapidly grow their company and create jobs.

is passionate about engineering education. For more than 25 years, Markham based Quanser has partnered with over 2,500 world-class academic institutions to give students enriching, hands-on, educational experiences. Quanser has proven leadership in today鈥檚 most important modern engineering advancements including unmanned vehicles, smart grid technology, space exploration, bio-medical and the Internet of Things. Quanser has pioneered the creation of transformative lab concepts and innovative products and has coupled them with modern curriculum for engineering disciplines including robotics, mechatronics, and controls. Quanser has enabled over a million students from around the world gain real world experience and graduate as the strongest and most influential generation of engineering leaders.

Media contacts:

Anjum Nayyar, Media Relations, 91亚色 416 736 2100 ext. 44543
Andrew Robertson, Manager, Media Relations, Ontario Centres of Excellence 416 861 1092 ext. 1092

The post 91亚色, Partners, Develop Innovative Math and Science Mobile Teaching App Content appeared first on News@91亚色.