The competition��is an initiative organized��by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), in partnership with the Government of Ontario. The province-wide competition��is being overseen by the IDeA Working Group, comprised of representatives from engineering and design Faculties at several Ontario universities.

Students will vie for $3,000 in prizes, with entries that must address barriers to accessibility in five categories: attitudinal, physical/structural, information and communications, technological, and systemic.

“Ontario universities are strongly committed to the important goal of leading the country towards greater accessibility,” says Alastair Summerlee, chair of COU and��president of the University of Guelph. “Tapping into the innovative capabilities of our students is an excellent way to build awareness and to advance ideas that lead to a more accessible world.”

91��ɫ students can��find rules and registration information .��The deadline for contest submissions is March 31. Students interested in submitting their idea or concept should review the rules and criteria, register and then submit the concept by e-mail to ideas@yorku.ca��by the end of the business on March 31.

Submissions will first be evaluated by 91��ɫ and then successful candidates will move on to a second round of judging conducted by a panel of experts in the five categories. Evaluations will be based on innovation, cost-effectiveness and practicality. Judges will also place a premium on entries whose format itself demonstrates consideration to accessibility issues.

The winner will be announced at an event at the Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery Conference in May 2012.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences began in 1984 in Silicon Valley as a way for tech employees to share their ideas and innovations. TEDx91��ɫU, which is organized independently of TED, will include talks by 11 members of the 91��ɫ community. They will speak about a wide array of��topics, including��the impact of emerging technology on education, student activism, mobile technology and seniors,��and��how concussions affect athletes.

TEDx91��ɫU will be held in Theatre Glendon��on the��Glendon��campus of 91��ɫ��from 9:30am to 3pm. All of the talks will be streamed live at .

Featured speakers and topics include:

Mamdouh Shoukri, 91��ɫ president��& ��vice-chancellor – "Forty years later I traded a briefcase for a backpack... and I loved it". After��40 years, Shoukri revisited his time as a student thanks to 91��ɫ's inaugural President for a Day contest. The contest saw him swap roles with a student for a full day, in what may be a first for a Canadian university. In this address, he will talk about the contest, his experiences and what he learned from the day. (10:10 to��10:22am)

Patrick Monahan, 91��ɫ ��University vice-president academic & provost��– "The 21st-Century Revolution in Higher Education". Monahan will explain the transformation already underway in higher education worldwide, driven by technological advances that will enable – and also require – universities to respond to the learning needs of their students in new and different ways. The university in 2025 will be a very different place from what it is today. This transformation will mean more and better educational alternatives, better learning outcomes, and at a lower cost to students themselves. He will also explain how 91��ɫ aspires to be a university for and of the 21st century. (11:43 to 11:55am)

Mike Layton, Toronto city councillor (Trinity-Spadina) and a graduate of 91��ɫ’s master of environmental studies program – "Free Energy Retrofits". Layton proposes that to combat climate change, we must take action globally, nationally, locally and in our very homes. He focuses on the latter, outlining a number of things that people can do in their own homes to conserve energy and offset their effects on climate change, focusing on the support and use of municipal legislation. (2:26 to��2:38pm)

Barbara Crow, professor of communications & culture and associate dean, research, in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies – "Canadians at the Cross-Roads". Through her research on the impact of mobile technology on seniors, Crow explains the importance of bridging the gap between youth and seniors, as it relates to mobile technology usage. (10:49 to 11:01am)

The event will also include presentations by a number of other speakers. The time of each presentation will be updated on the website. These speakers include:

Lauren Sergio, 91��ɫ professor, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health��– "Impact Matters. Literally". Using her research on the impact of concussions in athletes, Sergio explains that we need to rethink how we know when it’s safe for them to return to play.

Megan Bertasson, Whitebear Woman, 91��ɫ student – "Acimowin��– to tell a story". Using Cree storytelling, Bertasson shows the power of stories as agents of resistance, cultural propagation and impact. She leaves the audience with the powerful story of Helen Betty Osborne, a Cree woman brutally assaulted and murdered in Manitoba, asking them to digest, interpret and apply the story in their own way.

Samantha Yamada, 91��ɫ student – "Measuring Impact". Using the example of Pine River, a centre for youth dealing with mental health issues and addiction, of which she is a co-founder, Yamada is arguing for the importance of program- and self-evaluation in being able to make an impact. ��She highlights the courage required to acknowledge and overcome failure, and to learn and grow from it. ��Evaluation may not be the flashiest form of research, but it is essential to making an impact and difference.

Alastair Woods, 91��ɫ Student��– "In Praise of Troublemakers". Woods gives a call to action, praising troublemakers − those who stand up and make their voices heard, pushing governments to be more accountable, and finding ways to operate both within and outside of the existing (imperfect) political system.

Brian Crosby, 91��ɫ alumnus and��comedy writer – "All Your Ideas Are Bad: A letter to myself". Presented as a letter to his younger self (and to all of the audience), Crosby is sharing the idea that impact is not something that happens, but a process. ��Using examples of "bad ideas" he has come up with throughout his career as a comedy writer, he demonstrates that "failure" is not an end point, but a natural and necessary part of finding success with your passions and being able to make an impact.

Jeremy Laurin, president & CEO, ventureLAB – "Impact - My life as an entrepreneur". Using experiences from his own life,��Laurin talks about the impact and influence of his family on his journey to becoming an entrepreneur.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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playGround, the annual juried fringe festival of 91��ɫ’s Department of Theatre, celebrates its 20th season with two dynamic programs running Feb. 14 to 17 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre,��139 Centre for Film & Theatre at91��ɫ’s Keele campus.

Well-known for its uncurbed spirit and risk-taking mindset, playGround is a student-produced seedbed for the next generation of theatre artists. It showcases original works conceived, written, performed and produced by up-and-coming playwrights, directors, designers and actors from all levels of91��ɫ’s undergraduate theatre program.

Meg Moran and Meara Tubman-Broeren, both fourth-year students studying devised theatre in the Department of Theatre’s Creative Ensemble, are the co-artistic directors of this year’s edition of playGround. With the help of a peer jury, they selected the most promising ideas from the almost four dozen proposals submitted.

“Not only does the festival showcase the work of emerging artists of our generation and community, it also deals with what’s important to us as students right now,” said Tubman-Broeren. “What unifies all the pieces is our mandate, which is to foster innovative and experimental theatrical work which engages its audience and ignites thought and discussion.”

“Producing the festival has been a challenging and lengthy process, with its share of ups and downs, but overall it’s been very rewarding,” said Moran. “This is a unique opportunity for us as students to work so independently. It’s been a real learning experience for Meara and me.”

The old adage:, “when you want a job done well, give it to a busy person”, rings true for this duo. In addition to their work with playGround, they are collaborating with other members of the fourth-year Creative Ensemble on a show slated to run March 27 to 30.�� Moran is also assistant-directing the upcoming Theatre @ 91��ɫ production of Edward Bond’s Restoration, which will run March 18 to 24.�� And Tubman-Broeren is performing in a physical theatre adaptation of Shakespeare’s King John, which will be playing downtown this summer.

playGround 2012 ranges from light comedies to dark dramas, and from staunch realism to dance theatre.��Here’s an overview of the featured productions:

Series A��

Meat is a dystopic romance in which a young doctor’s morality is put to the test when his work forces him to explore, sacrifice and examine what it truly means to be human.��

Belly Doll is imagined and choreographed as a unique melding of traditional belly dance and theatrical performance.��

The Doorstep – In every relationship, there are conversations. These conversations are intimate, emotionally driven, and personal, and have the potential to be the beginning, or the end, of something beautiful.��

Old Town explores the nature of familial responsibility and sibling dynamics framed within the question: When is it time to grow up?��

The Watching Game is a raunchy comedy revolving around people watching.��

A Working Woman follows the story of a prostitute on the precipice of a life-changing decision.��

Emerging Artists Collective – “A lowbrow commentary on highbrow art”, exploring the challenges and pitfalls faced by the current generation of young artists.��

Womb - What if we weren’t told the whole story? Before there was Adam and his wife, Eve, there was Adam and his equal, Lilith. Womb explores the possibilities of a world where Lilith was the first mother.��

Series B��

Danny and Annie looks at the different ways love comes in and out of our lives.��

Drafts - Everybody is looking, but is anybody really seeing?��

Wonder’s Lost Where Wonder’s Found – A woman winds her way through the ridiculous annals of compulsion and the heart-aching longings of loneliness while seeking to remember the miracle of life.����

The Abstraction – Two men in a gallery contemplate an abstract work of art and decide what it means to each of them.��

The Vagina Dialogues is a verbatim piece composed of interviews with91��ɫUniversity students about the misconceptions and mysteries surrounding the vagina.��

Da Capo explores a composer, his muse and the various layers of their relationship through movement.��

Cracked - At the end of her life, Ida Hookman must finally face the consequences of her self-obsessed lifestyle and defend her autonomy in the process.��

Emerging Artists Collective presents a new devised work that examines the artist’s place in the city of Toronto.��

Each program is presented three times over playGround’s four-day run. Series A plays Tuesday, Feb. 14 and Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30pm, with a matinee Friday, Feb. 17 at 1pm. Series B has a matinee Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 1pm, and runs Thursday, Feb. 17 and Friday, Feb. 17 at 7:30pm.

Moran and Tubman-Broeren encourage patrons to purchase their tickets in advance, as performances do sell out. Tickets are $7 per show and are available through the 91��ɫ Box Office website or by calling 416-736-5888.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Every Wednesday throughout the month, Vari Hall Rotunda will play host to displays and demonstrations featuring the University’s faculty and graduate researchers. Drop by to learn what they are up to.

"Research Month provides an opportunity for the 91��ɫ community to share knowledge and ideas as we celebrate excellence in research and scholarship at the University,” said Robert Haché, vice-president research & innovation. “We invite students, staff and faculty to drop by Vari Hall on Wednesdays in February to explore the many research projects and to learn more about the range of research activities at 91��ɫ.”

The Research Month index on 91��ɫ's Research website contains complete information about the researchers and research centres and institutes participating in the event.

Social sciences and humanities research – Feb. 1, from noon to 2pm.

Confirmed participants include:

• Assets Coming Together for Youth: Linking Research Policy and Action for Positive Youth Development
• Canadian Business Ethics Research Network
• The City Institute at 91��ɫ
• Professor , Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• Professor ��– Children as Peacemakers
• The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migration of African Peoples
• , Department of Humanities, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
• The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
• The 91��ɫ Centre for Asian Research
• 91��ɫ Centre for Education and Community

Science and engineering research – Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 10am to 2pm.

Confirmed participants include:

• – Professor , Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health
• The Faculty of Environmental Studies
• IRIS
• Four Grad students from Professor 's lab, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science��& Engineering
• Professor , Department of Earth & Space Science��& Engineering, Faculty of Science��& Engineering
• Professor , Department of Computer Science��& Engineering, Faculty of Science��& Engineering
• Professor Gunho Sohn, Department of Earth & Space Science��& Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Professor , Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty��of Science & Engineering

Health research displays will be showcased Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 10am to 2pm, and fine and performing arts research will be featured Wednesday, Feb. 29, from 10am to 2pm. Check back often for more information by clicking here.

Want to participate?

Do you have completed works, prototypes, technology or works in progress that you could demonstrate? Do you have graduate or undergraduate students working with you who could assist and help talk about the work? If you have other ideas, VPRI would love to hear them.

Interested faculty members or research centres should contact Arielle Zomer in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation at ext. 21069 or azomer@yorku.ca. Note that space is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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Robert Haché (left), 91��ɫ's vice-president research & innovation, and Harvey Skinner (below right), dean of 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Health, will host the Research Celebration, Tuesday, Jan. 17, from 2 to 4 pm, in the Scott Library Atrium, Keele campus.

The celebration will highlight innovation in muscle health research at 91��ɫ and will include talks from four Faculty of Health researchers discussing their work.

"This celebration provides an opportunity for the 91��ɫ research community to share knowledge and ideas and to come together to learn more about the breadth and depth of innovative research taking place at the University,” says Haché.

The four researchers will discuss the role muscles play in everything from obesity and diabetes to osteoarthritis and reversing the aging process.

“Keeping people healthier longer, so that they can age positively and avoid chronic diseases and injuries, is at the heart of this celebration of ground breaking research underway in the Faculty of Health,” says Skinner.

Professor Rolando Ceddia, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator, will discuss “Improving Muscle and Adipose Tissue Function to Treat Obesity and Diabetes: The Role of Exercise and Diet”.

“My research investigates the molecular and physiological mechanisms by which obesity induces dysfunctional metabolic alterations in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle; two tissues that play crucial roles in regulating energy and glucose homeostasis,” says Ceddia, of 91��ɫ’s Muscle Health Research Centre in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.

Left: Rolando Ceddia��

“We study the effects of exercise, either alone or in combination with nutritional and pharmacological interventions, on glucose and lipid metabolism in diet-induced obesity.”

The presentation will look at the adaptive responses induced by chronic endurance training in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue metabolism, as well as the implications for whole-body energy expenditure. The main goal is to understand the role of exercise and diet in the prevention and/or treatment of obesity and its co-morbidities.

Professor Jennifer Kuk (right)��of 91��ɫ’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science will look at “Aerobic Versus Resistance Exercise for Decreasing Diabetes Risk in Obese Youth”. The focus of this talk is to examine the effectiveness of aerobic and resistance exercise for improving insulin resistance in youth using a randomized control design.

Insulin resistance at the site of the muscle is one of the hallmark characteristics of pre-diabetes and Type��2 diabetes, says Kuk. Increasingly, youth are presenting with insulin resistance. It is increasingly important to develop non-pharmacological interventions for treating insulin resistance.����

Aerobic and resistance exercise help improve insulin resistance in adults. Aerobic exercise improves muscle glucose metabolism and resistance exercise increases the muscle mass available for uptaking glucose.����

Biology Professor David Hood (left), a Canada Research Chair in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, will discuss the topic, “Can Exercise 'Rescue' Aging Muscles?” Skeletal muscle occupies about 40 per cent of body weight and is a major contributor to whole body health and metabolism.

“As we age, we lose muscle mass, and this is apparent in elderly, frail individuals. The mechanisms of how this muscle mass is lost are not completely understood, but a prominent theory involves the increasing malfunction of mitochondria within muscle cells,” says Hood. “Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, the organelles which supply the energy for cell survival.”

With age, mitochondrial content within muscle declines and they begin to produce molecules called “reactive oxygen species” which inflict damage on cellular DNA. If the DNA in any cell breaks down, the cell dies. In the case of muscle cells, they atrophy or shrink. If many cells atrophy, the body loses muscle mass.

“Research has shown that exercise is a potential non-pharmacological therapy which can be used to reduce the loss of muscle mass by improving mitochondrial function, thereby preserving muscle function as we age,” says Hood.

Professor William Gage (right), associate dean research & innovation, will examine “Muscles and Sore Joints: Arthritis and Muscle Activity”. The knee and hip joints experience large loads when a person walks, says Gage. To deal with those loads, the joints and surrounding muscles act together to allow a person to move, while protecting the joints from the loading that occurs during movement.

As a person moves, their muscles are activated or turned on at the right time by the right amount so their joints will not only move, but their limbs won’t collapse under the weight, says Gage. Sensors in the joints contribute to the nervous system’s knowledge of when and how the muscles should be turned on.

Previous research has shown that when a joint is painful or swollen the sensory information coming from these joint sensors is affected, which in turn affects the activation of the muscles around the joints. A long-term outcome of this response may be osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, affecting more than 50 per cent of those over the age of 65.

“Recent research in our lab has examined how different strategies during walking may influence the amount of loading in the knee joint and how muscles around the joint respond to loads that are imposed on the knee joint,” says Gage. “Future work in our lab will explore how loading and muscle activity are affected by changes in the sensory information that arises from the knee joint.”

To RSVP to Lia Novario, by Friday, Jan. 13, or call ext. 33782.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Over the course of the next year, YFile��will be profiling the projects through videos and stories. Today, the camera's spotlight is on Monahan and��the story of his inspiration for AIF.��

Patrick Monahan grins when he recalls his “Aha!” moment, which��led to the creation of the Academic Innovation Fund.��

Several years ago, 91��ɫ’s vice-president academic & provost��had just completed a series of consultations with 91��ɫ community members regarding the , a document that would outline the future academic priorities of the University. What he discovered during that process energized him.��

[stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DbBxGVDLSy8g%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/bBxGVDLSy8g/0.jpg embed=false share=false width=400 height=300 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /]

“As we went through the White Paper a couple of years ago, what impressed me were the people who participated in that process,” he said. “We sat in focus groups and we talked about our ideas, dreams and aspirations for the University. What was so striking��was that people had so many great ideas – there were literally hundreds!”

He discovered the main obstacle preventing these ideas from becoming a reality centred on the lack of resources. Monahan had heard of projects in the United States that provided seed funding for academic initiatives. He thought the idea had merit and turned to his colleagues in the Provost’s Office to see if they could find funding that could be used to create a made-in-91��ɫ solution to turn the ideas into working projects.

His��inspiration led to the formation of the Academic Innovation Fund of $2.5 million that would provide an initial investment of resources to bring projects from the drawing board to reality.��In the fall of 2010, applications were invited from the University community for funding (up to $200,000 each) to support new initiatives advancing 91��ɫ’s strategic priorities in relation to teaching and learning and the student experience.

The response, he discovered, was nothing short of amazing. “It was just fantastic because of the tremendous energy and participation," he said. “The committee was only able to fund 39 of those projects, but all the project submissions were very interesting and innovative, and showed a real commitment to the University and to our students."

The 39 projects funded include��clusters of initiatives that support��e-learning,��experiential education and the student experience.��From a project to enhance how first-year students move from high school to university, to a student-run sustainable business initiative, each of the AIF projects��is as diverse as the University community. There is a project to create an online enrolment system for new students, a mentorship program for varsity athletes, a partnership between two faculties to develop a blended learning initiative, a community centred action plan for experiential education, and a project to bring public history into the classroom, to name just a few.

All of the projects, said Monahan, reflect 91��ɫ's DNA. "Each of the projects is about engaging people in these ideas," he said. "I hope that what this does is that it shows people what is possible and that we can build on this energy."

Monahan said that��many people��have told him��how excited they are to see their ideas finally becoming a reality.��"What I find so interesting is that there are ideas that would never have occurred to someone sitting in an office here in the 91��ɫ Research Tower or even in a dean's office," he said. "Ideas like��a project that we have with refugees in Thailand connecting them with researchers and students here in Toronto or a project��to teach area youth how to swim."

The AIF projects provide a concrete example of the potential for innovation and engagement that resides in the 91��ɫ community. "It is an example of the idea that the collective brain is always better then a single brain.��If you get one hundred people in a room and get them thinking and talking – you are going to get more ideas than with 10 people, five or one. That is what makes this a really successful initiative so far."��

By Jenny Pitt-Clark, YFile editor

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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