Presented by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), the awards honour individuals whose work has made a significant impact in communities across Ontario. This year鈥檚 awards are presented to Distinguished Research Professor Carl E. James, student Tonny Muzira and alum Rana Espiritu Nasrazadani. 

Lifetime Achievement Award: Carl E. James, Distinguished Research Professor and Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at 91亚色 

Awarded to an individual for significant contributions over their lifetime to advance human rights. 

One of Canada's leading scholars on race, racialization and education, James has has spent decades examining the experiences of marginalized communities and the barriers they face in education and society. 

His research has shaped public policy and education practices across Canada. Notably, his report Towards Race Equity in Education: The Schooling of Black Students in the Greater Toronto Area helped spotlight inequities in Ontario's education system and informed discussions about academic streaming and student success. 

James holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at 91亚色's Faculty of Education and has served as equity advisor to the dean. Through community partnerships and the national Securing Black Futures initiative, he works to improve educational experiences and expand pathways to post-secondary education for Black students.

鈥淚t is always a privilege to be recognized for contributions to community 鈥� particularly when the contribution helps to advance human rights and social justice," James says. "I am pleased to receive this recognition knowing that others have worked with me to make this possible.鈥� 

The Lifetime Achievement Award adds to numerous honours recognizing James' impact as a scholar, educator and community leader. His influence extends beyond research and is reflected in the generations of students, educators and community members he has inspired. 

Distinguished Service Award: Tonny Muzira, Bachelor of Public Administration

Awarded for outstanding contribution to advancing human rights.  

Muzira is an organizational policy and development specialist whose work focuses on housing, public health equity and community empowerment, particularly for Black immigrant and refugee communities in Ontario. 

During the 2023 Toronto refugee housing crisis, Muzira helped coordinate advocacy efforts that secured a federal commitment for emergency housing relief for hundreds of refugee claimants sleeping outdoors. He has since contributed policy recommendations to the City of Toronto on chronic homelessness. 

As co-founder of the Centre for Black Development Options Canada (CBDOC), Muzira has championed issues affecting Black immigrants and refugees, including organizing Toronto's first International Conference on Black Immigrants and Refugees in 2024. His work also supports HIV prevention and equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services for Black newcomers. 

"Receiving the Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Award is a profound honour," says Muzira, a student at the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.聽"Daniel Hill showed that human rights are built through steady work in our communities, and I accept this award on behalf of the refugees, newcomers, youth and colleagues at the Centre for Black Development Options Canada who do that work every day. Housing, health and belonging are not charity. They are rights, and we will keep fighting until every person in Ontario can claim them."聽

Young Leader Award: Rana Espiritu Nasrazadani (BA 鈥�20, MPPAL 鈥�22), 91亚色 Senate representative, 91亚色 Alumni Board member 

Awarded to a person under age 30 for their outstanding contribution to advancing human rights.  

Nasrazadani is a disability rights advocate and policy advisor whose work focuses on accessibility, human rights and education. 

Drawing from her lived experience and professional expertise, she works to advance the rights of people with disabilities and address systemic barriers to equity and inclusion. Through her advocacy and policy development work, she has led initiatives and informed policies that strengthen accessibility, challenge ableism and foster inclusion in education and public policy.  

Recognized for her contributions to disability rights and accessibility, Nasrazadani was named one of 91亚色's inaugural Top 30 Alumni Under 30 in 2021. An active member of 91亚色's alumni community and a Senate representative, she has contributed to several University accessibility initiatives, including advising on the accessible design of the 91亚色 Markham Campus. 

"I am deeply honoured to receive this award," says Nasrazadani. "To be recognized alongside such inspiring leaders and changemakers is truly humbling. This recognition is deeply personal to me, reflecting both the progress made in advancing accessibility, inclusion and disability rights, and the work that continues ahead." 

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As Hadfield's voice echoed "three, two, one鈥�" during Canada's largest student rocketry competition, the 91亚色-built "Red Robin" soared 20,000 feet into the air, leading to two second-place finishes and the team's strongest result to date.

Competing against more than 30 university teams from nine provinces, 91亚色's students delivered a strong performance at the annual Challenge. The week-long event, held Aug. 15 to 22, is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in engineering, manufacturing and testing, and brings together aspiring engineers, scientists and aerospace innovators from across the nation.

The landed a second-place finish in its launch competition category and second place in the science payload challenge, placing the University among the country's top-performing student rocketry teams.

鈥淭he team鈥檚 achievement is the result of increasing opportunities for hands-on STEM learning and student-led innovation at 91亚色, not to mention a successful multi-faculty collaboration,鈥� says Robin Metcalfe, 91亚色鈥檚 associate dean, student affairs in the Faculty of Science. Metcalfe is the team鈥檚 administrative supervisor, alongside Professor Hugh Chesser from the , who serves as the team鈥檚 academic advisor.

For the students behind the project, it was the culmination of months of design, testing and preparation.

"Red Robin wasn鈥檛 just one project. It was multiple projects, tests and launches spread out over the course of a year, and we worked on it constantly,鈥� says Ido Shakarghi, Arbalest team president, noting the 10-foot, solid-fuelled rocket reached a maximum speed of Mach 1.3.

The year-long effort involved first proving the concept for Red Robin would work during a smaller-scale launch, followed by a series of tests and flights that led to the project鈥檚 success.

The flight was especially meaningful for members of Arbalest, with Red Robin reaching a record altitude for 91亚色 at the Launch Canada Challenge. Last year's Goose 4 launch reached roughly 13,000 feet.

Red Robin鈥檚 award-winning payload also included an experiment involving algae cells that move in response to light 鈥� similar to astrophage in the 2026 sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary 鈥� to learn more about how the cells' movement is influenced by the changing gravitational forces experienced during launch.

鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to design and build something ambitious, but it鈥檚 another thing entirely to see it succeed in the real world,鈥� says Shakarghi.

The competition, which received $1.2 million in federal funding, drew aerospace industry representatives and government leaders from across Canada to observe and engage in presentations, technical demonstrations and launches throughout the week.

91亚色's turn to liftoff also drew special attention because of Hadfield's presence.

"For the past few years, Launch Canada organizers have tried unsuccessfully to arrange a visit by Colonel Hadfield," says Metcalfe, who also serves as a member of the Launch Canada outreach team. "Just by chance, he arrived on the same day as 91亚色's launch and delivered the countdown from the launch control tower. It was an exciting moment."

The project also highlights the growing opportunities available to 91亚色 students interested in aerospace engineering, space technology and applied STEM learning, says Metcalfe.

"Through competitions such as Launch Canada, students gain experience solving real-world engineering challenges while working as part of multidisciplinary teams."

For the 91亚色 students watching their rocket ascend after Hadfield's countdown, the moment was more than a successful launch. It was national recognition for months of work and a chance to showcase 91亚色 talent at one of Canada's largest student aerospace competitions.

鈥淭his current team has always had a lot of heart. They are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed,鈥� says Shakarghi. 鈥淣one of us will forget the countless nights spent in the garage working like our lives depended on it, or the ridiculous drives and last-minute problems we had to solve just to keep moving forward.

鈥淪econd place was an incredible moment for us, but we鈥檙e not done. We proved that we belong here, and now we鈥檙e coming for that grand prize trophy.鈥�

The team continues to work on new developments, including an innovative roll-control system on a series of rockets named Blue Jay, while setting their sights on 91亚色's first liquid-fuelled rocket, the Moose, with their first static firing test early this fall.

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Growing up in a small rural town in Quebec, Rivest was surrounded by French. Her parents were unilingual francophones and while she learned some English in school, she was far from fluent.

When she moved to Toronto to pursue graduate studies at 91亚色, Rivest immersed herself in English while working in a research lab and taking language classes. Although she eventually became bilingual, she remembers the challenges of studying and writing in a second language, an experience that now shapes her work as a neuropsychologist.

Those experiences now inform Rivest's efforts to ensure French-speaking Canadians have access to cognitive evaluations designed and validated for their language and cultural context.

One focus of that work is the Toronto Cognitive Assessment (TorCA), a tool used in specialized clinics across the Greater Toronto Area and elsewhere in English-speaking Canada to assess memory, language, attention and other cognitive functions.

Designed to bridge the gap between quick screening tests and lengthy neuropsychological evaluations, it can provide a detailed cognitive profile in less than an hour. The assessment also offers a more accessible alternative to comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, which can take several hours, cost thousands of dollars and are often not covered by provincial health insurance plans.

Originally developed in English, the TorCA reflects a broader reality in cognitive assessment. Many widely used tools were created and standardized for predominantly English-language populations, leaving comparatively fewer options tailored to people whose first language is not English, including French-speaking Canadians.

For Rivest, who teaches at Glendon College, the issue goes beyond convenience. Many cognitive testing tools rely on verbal tasks, such as asking participants to name as many animals as possible or come up with words beginning with a particular letter within a limited period of time.

Even among people who speak English well, performance can differ depending on whether they are being assessed in their first or second language.

"I consider myself bilingual now," says Rivest. "But I'm definitely much better in French than in English to come up with words."

Determined to help address that imbalance, Rivest is leading an effort to adapt and validate a French Canadian version of the TorCA.

"It became obvious to me that, for fairness, francophone Canadians who have concerns about their cognitive state deserve to be measured with culturally and linguistically appropriate tools that are easily accessible," says Rivest.

Working with collaborators including former Glendon student Sara Raquel Ribeiro Manique and neuropsychologist M茅lanie Cohn, Rivest's team aims not simply to translate the testing tool, but to ensure it can be used reliably with francophone populations while maintaining the scientific rigour of the original English version.

Cognitive assessments must be carefully standardized to ensure they measure the same abilities regardless of who administers them. In many cases, a direct translation can inadvertently change the complexity of a task or introduce bias into the results.

One example involved a reading task that asks participants to pronounce words that are spelled differently than they sound aloud, such as colonel in English. Rather than translating the words directly, Rivest and her collaborators had to identify French equivalents with comparable familiarity, frequency of use and level of challenge.

Another challenge emerged in a picture-naming task. A melon in the English version could not simply be translated because French speakers are more likely to name specific types of melons rather than using the broader term. Researchers ultimately replaced the item with a different fruit that better preserved the intent of the evaluation.

After completing the French Canadian version, the team sought feedback from francophone neuropsychologists and made a series of refinements. While minor adjustments continue, Rivest says the assessment is now largely complete.

The project has now entered its next phase: collecting norms for the French Canadian version.

Rivest is recruiting French-speaking adults across Canada to build the reference dataset needed for future clinical use. To help ensure the sample reflects the diversity of Canada's francophone population, she has trained research assistants from Northern Ontario, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reach different communities across the country. The goal is to recruit approximately 300 participants.

Although the project has not yet reached the validation stage, Rivest says the early feedback has reinforced the need for language-appropriate assessment tools.

After testing about 30 Franco-Ontarians, she has heard a recurring observation from participants who had previously completed cognitive tests in English.

"Many of them have said, 'My family doctor gave me a similar test, but it was in English. I thought I had trouble, but now I see I'm fine,'" says Rivest. "It's very encouraging."

Rivest believes part of that response may be tied to familiarity and comfort.

"As people age and they have Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, everything from their earlier past becomes more comforting. They remember it better," says Rivest.

For many francophones, she explains, that means returning to the language they learned and used throughout childhood.

While researchers and clinicians, including collaborators at McGill University, are already expressing interest in the French Canadian version of the TorCA, Rivest hopes its impact will extend beyond major urban centres.

She thinks often of the small rural communities she grew up in, where many residents are unilingual francophones and access to specialized care can be limited.

"People in those little towns don't reach out for health care necessarily," says Rivest. "For me, it's making the tests available free, inexpensive to all francophone, including rural people, people that are far away."

"For me, it's helping the francophone community, particularly the people who would not normally reach out for those types of services, nor be offered them because it's just too complicated for them," she says.

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This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

As Canada's population ages and demand for care continues to grow, researchers are exploring how technology can help older adults live more independently while easing pressure on caregivers.  

An emerging area of focus is social robotics, a field dedicated to developing robots capable of interacting with people in natural, human-centred ways. Unlike industrial robots designed for manufacturing, social robots can communicate, respond to social cues and assist in settings such as homes, hospitals and long-term care facilities.  

At 91亚色, a team led by聽James Elder, professor聽at the 聽and the Faculty of聽Health聽and 91亚色 Research Chair in Human and Computer Vision,聽is聽exploring how聽social robots聽can better聽interact聽with the people they are designed to support.聽

The project centres on Psibot, a novel robotic vision system designed to help robots perceive and understand the people around them. By drawing inspiration from how humans see and direct their attention, the technology aims to equip robots with social awareness to assist, monitor and interact in more natural ways. 

"Our research explores the potential for robots and AI to work with human caregivers in providing continuous assessments, assistance and care to older adults," says Elder, who also serves the University as director of the Centre for AI & Society. "To fulfill this potential, robots must have a high degree of social intelligence."  

For social robots to be effective, they must be able to detect, recognize and interpret human behaviour and social cues. However, giving robots the visual capabilities to perform these tasks remains a significant challenge. 

Traditional robotic vision systems often face a trade-off: they can either scan a wide area at lower detail or focus closely on a specific person or object. Psibot tackles this challenge by combining broad awareness with the ability to focus on specific people and interactions when greater detail is needed. 

Much like people use peripheral vision to stay aware of their surroundings while focusing their attention on a person or activity,聽Psibot聽combines wide-angle cameras with a high-resolution sensor that can rapidly direct its gaze where it is needed most. This allows the robot to聽maintain聽awareness of its environment without losing the ability to closely聽observe聽important interactions.聽

The team has already developed two functioning prototypes, PSIBot 1.0 and PSIBot 2.0, and continues to refine the technology. 

The project received support through the Connected Minds Prototyping Award, which helps researchers move promising ideas closer to real-world testing and deployment. Connected Minds is a multi-million-dollar transdisciplinary research initiative led by 91亚色 and Queen鈥檚 universities that explores the bridge between emerging technology, public health and social justice.  

According to Elder, the funding has been instrumental in advancing this work toward field testing and commercialization opportunities. 

The prototype has significant potential in health care and senior care settings, where social robots could complement human caregivers by monitoring well-being, supporting daily activities and improving access to care. 

Elder also sees promise in their ability to support emotional and social health by identifying changes in social behaviour, such as an increase in isolation, and encouraging residents to participate in activities or connect with others. 

鈥淪ocial robots can serve as escorts, guiding an older adult from place to place within a potentially large facility,鈥� says Elder. 鈥淭his can preserve the mobility of the individual while keeping them safe.鈥� 

 Monitoring changes in mobility over time is another application, where caregivers could receive alerts about potential fall risks and offer earlier interventions when needed. 

As health care systems face growing demands, technologies that support independent living and aging in place may play an increasingly important role in helping older adults maintain their quality of life, says Elder. 

The post How AI-powered social robots could help older adults live more independently appeared first on YFile.

This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

In an era where health information is only a few clicks away, finding answers that are accurate, trustworthy and easy to understand can still be a challenge.

Scientific databases contain vast amounts of knowledge about human health and disease, but much of it is written for researchers and clinicians using specialized language and technical terminology. For other individuals trying to understand a diagnosis, assess a health risk or learn about a specific condition, navigating this complex landscape can be overwhelming.

91亚色 is collaborating with researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) to break down these barriers through an AI-powered chatbot that provides accessible, easy-to-understand health information.

The chatbot serves as a conversational interface for Reactome, one of the world's largest curated databases of biological pathways and processes that drive human health and disease. While widely used by biomedical researchers, Reactome's technical language can make its information difficult for non-experts to understand.

Amin Mawani, director of the Master of Health Industry Administration (MHIA) program at 91亚色鈥檚 , contributes patient and user perspectives to the project, which also brings together Lincoln Stein, scientific director (interim) and head of Adaptive Oncology at OICR; Helia Mohammadi, a graduate student at the University of Toronto; and Adam Wright, a scientific software engineer at OICR.

Drawing on the power of AI, the chatbot allows users to search Reactome in natural language and receive answers in a clear, user-friendly format tailored to their level of understanding. Whether someone wants to know what causes diabetes, learn more about a genetic predisposition to cancer or explore why they feel tired after eating carbohydrates, the tool is designed to translate complex scientific concepts into plain language.

Mawani says the broader goal is to make trusted scientific knowledge more accessible and strengthen connections between researchers and the public. 鈥淭his tool helps to close the gaps in understanding between the research community and the citizens whose tax dollars support them,鈥� he says.

The project received support through the Connected Minds Prototyping Award, a program that helps researchers translate promising ideas into practical tools. The funding supported a graduate student and a scientific software developer who moved the project from concept through prototype development and into production. The project's emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity reflects the mission of Connected Minds 鈥� a multi-million-dollar transdisciplianry research initiative led by 91亚色 and Queen's universities to develop socially responsible technologies that benefit diverse communities.

Today, the chatbot is fully operational and serves approximately 500 unique users each month. Users can ask for information on a range of topics, from everyday health concerns to more complex scientific concepts.

As more people turn to online tools for health information, the team notes the source of the chatbot's answers is central to its value.

One of the project's key goals is to combat health misinformation by drawing its responses from curated databases rather than unverified online sources. By providing scientifically grounded answers, the platform helps users make more informed decisions about their health.

The team also sees the chatbot as a tool for improving health equity. By offering information in multiple languages, it is able to serve users from diverse backgrounds, regardless of health knowledge or familiarity with English.

"Our goal is to bring structured and accurate scientific medical information to people from all backgrounds and communities in a way that removes barriers created by technical language and accessibility challenges," says Mawani.

According to Mawani, better access to reliable health information can have impacts that extend beyond individual users. More informed patients may be better equipped to recognize misleading or false claims, seek timely medical care and take preventive steps before conditions become more serious.

In addition to helping members of the public better understand their own health, the technology has potential applications for researchers. Future enhancements will allow users to analyze large biological datasets and interpret results through simple natural-language prompts.

As the project gains momentum, the team plans to expand awareness of the tool through publications, conferences, workshops and tutorials, while integrating the chatbot more deeply within the Reactome platform.

By making trusted biomedical knowledge easier to access while supporting future scientific discovery, Mawani and his colleagues hope the platform will improve health outcomes for communities and offer researchers a more streamlined way to access knowledge.

The post 91亚色 U expert helps develop AI chatbot to explain health science appeared first on YFile.

This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

From buttoning a shirt to turning a doorknob, people rely on their hands to perform countless tasks every day. Yet, despite the importance of the human hand, studying how people learn and perform these movements is challenging for researchers.

Traditional methods of tracking hand movements are often expensive, time-consuming and require participants to wear uncomfortable sensors or reflective markers. These techniques often interfere with the natural hand movements researchers attempt to study, rendering the results as ineffective.

At 91亚色, researchers are addressing this challenge through the development of ATHENA (Automatically Tracking Hands Expertly with No Annotations), an AI-powered motion-tracking system that captures natural hand movements without requiring markers, sensors or wearable devices.

The project is led by Jonathan Michaels, assistant professor at the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, alongside Daanish (Dan) Mulla, a postdoctoral fellow and lead researcher on the project.

"We wanted a way to measure natural hand movement as it actually happens, without attaching anything to the person," says Michaels.

Using synchronized video from multiple low-cost cameras and machine-learning algorithms, ATHENA captures footage of a person to map their hand, body and face movements in three dimensions. This open-source software removes the barriers associated with traditional motion capture systems by eliminating costs and tedious setup requirements while upholding accurate measurements.

In validation studies, ATHENA was tested against traditional marker-based technology commonly considered the gold standard in movement science. The results showed strong accuracy across a range of tasks, from simple reaching and grasping to handling objects such as mugs, books, pens and tools.

Ultimately, the team hopes ATHENA will become a tool for those seeking to better understand how people move, learn new skills and recover from injury.

Now fully functional and freely available to researchers, ATHENA鈥檚 success moving from concept to real-world application was driven in part by the Connected Minds Prototyping Award.

The award is designed to support prototype developments aligned with the mandate of Connected Minds, a multi-million-dollar transdisciplinary research initiative led by 91亚色 and Queen鈥檚 universities that explores the bridge between emerging technology, public health and social justice.

Funding for ATHENA enabled the team to develop portable versions of the system that can be transported and deployed outside the laboratory. These mobile setups have already been used in autism clinics in Israel and the GTA, expanding the tool鈥檚 reach beyond traditional research environments.

"The award was instrumental in moving ATHENA from a validated proof-of-concept into a tool that can actually be used out in the world," says Michaels.

Recipients of the award also receive support from other sources and partners. For ATHENA鈥檚 team, it fostered a collaboration with 91亚色's IP Innovation Clinic for guidance on developing a strategy to maximize adoption while keeping it freely available.

By remaining open source, affordable and developed in collaboration with the communities and clinics that use it, Michaels says ATHENA reflects Connected Minds' goal of creating accessible, socially responsible technology.

Through the prototyping process, the team learned that developing a useful technology requires more than proving it works.

"The hardest part of building a useful tool is often not the core idea, but making it robust, easy and trustworthy enough that other people will actually adopt it," says Michaels.

Navigating the challenges of moving from controlled laboratory environments to clinics and community settings, where lighting conditions vary, people move more freely and privacy considerations become essential, he says.

Because the tool operates entirely without bulky tracking equipment, it can capture movement in more natural settings and offer a more comfortable experience for participants. The comfort and ability to track naturalistic movements translates well with respect to ATHENA's most promising application in health care and clinical research.

An example of this is a collaboration with the Freud Lab at 91亚色 where researchers are using ATHENA to study how children move during activities such as building with LEGO. The goal is to identify patterns that could support earlier and more objective identification of autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

Michaels says plans are underway to expand ATHENA's capabilities, such as integrating eye tracking, object tracking and multi-person tracking. And, by working with additional clinical and educational partners, the team hopes to broaden adoption while maintaining the platform's open-source model.

"Our goal is for ATHENA to become a broadly used, trusted and freely available resource that helps the research and clinical community better understand human dexterity and improve lives," says Michaels.

The post AI tool developed at 91亚色 U signals breakthrough for movement research appeared first on YFile.

This summer, YFile examines how 91亚色-led researchers move ideas into impact through the Connected Minds Prototyping Awards. This series shows innovation in practice 鈥� how socially responsible technologies are tested in real-world settings and how this work drives meaningful change.

In the field of mental health care, administrative pressures take valuable time away from patient care.

Many independent mental health care providers, including therapists and counsellors, face growing clerical demands. From scheduling and intake forms to documentation and follow-ups, when these responsibilities are managed through fragmented systems it creates inefficiencies for practitioners and patients.

At 91亚色, M. Murat Kristal, professor of operations management and information systems and director of the MBA in technology leadership at the , is working to address this challenge. Kristal is the founder of HazelCare, a digital health platform designed to support mental health practitioners through responsible AI, privacy-by-design principles and human-centred technology.

HazelCare brings together core administrative functions 鈥� including appointment booking, patient onboarding, documentation and communication 鈥� into a single, user-friendly system. The integration of AI tools offers enhanced operations by using natural language processing to support clinical notetaking, predictive analytics to reduce missed appointments and virtual assistants to guide patients through onboarding.

鈥淗azelCare emerged from my long-standing interest in understanding how technology can be used to solve meaningful societal challenges while preserving trust, empathy and human connection,鈥� says Kristal.

Rather than simply digitizing administrative tasks, HazelCare is designed as an AI-enabled practice platform that augments practitioner workflows while preserving the human relationship at the centre of mental health care.

Working alongside Kristal to bring this innovation to market are team members across various disciplines and diverse expertise. Longtime Schulich instructor Altay Aksulu, a solutions portfolio manager with the Ontario Public Service, brings industry experience to the team, helping ensure the platform meets real-world needs. Alex Volkov, a 91亚色 computer science graduate and senior software developer, leads the platform鈥檚 technical direction and architecture, bringing more than 15 years of experience building full-stack applications across government, enterprise and SaaS environments.

Murat and his team received the Phase 1 Connected Minds Prototyping Award, which provides up to $20,000 to support early-stage prototype development. Connected Minds is a $318.4-million transdisciplinary research program led by 91亚色 in partnership with Queen's University focused on the study of human-AI interactions to ensure future technologies are ethical, healthy and equitable.

Backed by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and a network of more than 50 industry, hospital and community partners, the program funds transdisciplinary teams to move ideas beyond research into tangible prototypes though these awards.

With this support, Kristal's team has advanced HazelCare from a concept into a functional, pilot-ready platform. The funding enabled the development of core features, system architecture and testing processes.

鈥淏eyond the financial support, the award provided important validation of the project鈥檚 vision and potential societal impact,鈥� says Kristal.

Through the prototyping process, the team learned the value of designing technology around real user workflows. In a complex, highly regulated field like health care, this means balancing usability, privacy, security and regulatory requirements while ensuring the platform remains intuitive for both practitioners and patients. The result is a system that supports end-to-end workflows and is positioned for pilot testing.

By reducing administrative strain on independent providers, HazelCare could help expand access to mental health services, enabling practitioners to take on more clients while maintaining quality of care.

While practitioners benefit from more integrated workflows, the impact is also felt by patients. Instead of navigating multiple platforms to book appointments, complete intake and receive updates, patients can move through a more streamlined process from initial contact through ongoing engagement.

Kristal says HazelCare bridges new technologies and the human-centred nature of care resulting in a more connected and equitable mental health care system.

Moving toward implementation, the team will test HazelCare by working with practitioners to evaluate how it performs in real-world settings. Future enhancements to the platform include improving practitioner support tools, strengthening analytics and exploring responsible AI additions.

鈥淥ur goal is not simply to build software, but to demonstrate how responsible AI can strengthen the relationship between practitioners and patients while expanding access to mental health care,鈥� says Kristal.

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Sarah Flicker, professor and 91亚色 Research Chair in Community-Based Participatory Research in the , is the principal investigator on the project, titled "Theatre Making Impact (TMI): Scaling-Up a Youth-Led HIV Prevention Play Across Ontario." Shira Taylor, adjunct professor at 91亚色 and director of TMI, is co-applicant and the program's founder. The OHTN funding will support the next phase of the program's expansion across Ontario, extending its reach into urban centres and northern Indigenous communities where HIV rates remain disproportionately high.

TMI 鈥� formerly known as SExT, or Sex Education by Theatre 鈥� is a trauma-informed, culturally responsive not-for-profit that uses peer education and theatre, alongside music, dance, rap and poetry, to engage youth in open conversations about sexual health, HIV prevention, mental health and healthy relationships.

Taylor founded the program in 2014 in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park neighbourhoods as part of her doctoral thesis, and later expanded it through a postdoctoral fellowship at 91亚色 in collaboration with Flicker. To date, it has reached more than 12,000 young people across Canada, with a focus on communities most affected by HIV 鈥� including newcomer, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.

"I really wanted to build an evidence-based program that put the youth voice centre stage on these topics," says Taylor.

What sets TMI apart is how it delivers that education. Instead of pamphlets or classroom lectures, the program uses peer-led performance, humour and storytelling to model difficult conversations and build skills in a lower-stakes environment 鈥� one that engages young people both intellectually and emotionally.

鈥淟ack of awareness usually isn鈥檛 the reason people don鈥檛 use condoms," says Taylor. "There's a peer pressure element, there's an emotional element. Theatre is uniquely positioned to take into account our full humanity."

The program also benefits from an intergenerational model that, over the last decade, has deepened. Many of the original cast members who joined as high schoolers 鈥� initially, Taylor jokes, for the free pizza 鈥� have stayed on and trained as trauma-informed peer mentors. They now co-facilitate the program alongside a new generation of youth from the same community, sharing similar cultural backgrounds and immigration experiences.

The evidence from a recent Toronto District School Board (TDSB) tour, co-led by Taylor and Flicker and supported by a LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health Catalyst Grant at 91亚色, underscores the approach's impact. Across eight performances at five TDSB high schools, 61 per cent of student audience members reported improved sexual health knowledge, 49 per cent felt more confident managing their own sexual health and 46 per cent reported greater awareness of where to access HIV and STI testing.

Mental health outcomes were also significant: 49 per cent reported improved mental health knowledge, 44 per cent indicated feeling more comfortable seeking help and 41 per cent reported using new coping strategies.

While the student audience feedback provides crucial insights, the program鈥檚 impact extends beyond statistics. During a tour to an Indigenous community in Saskatchewan, a youth performer's rap about navigating her identity and her family's cultural expectations moved a young audience member to share a poem she had written but never shown anyone.

"She had it stuffed in the back of her locker," Taylor recalls. "She'd been too scared to share it publicly. And we all gathered around as this young Indigenous girl read us this poem. I still remember the words."

With OHTN support, the project will reach youth beyond Toronto by bringing performances to urban centres and northern and Indigenous communities across Ontario over the coming year.

Taylor and Flicker are thrilled that the award allows the program to continue to reach young people across the province.

"It's really validating how much impact arts-based approaches can have in this sector," says Taylor, "and how important it is to empower community-based, culturally responsive, trauma-informed programs around these topics, which has been historically lacking in sex education."

With files from Mzwandile Poncana

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91亚色 alumna Randa Qashoa鈥檚 journey from the to a career advancing space technology highlights the growing impact of women in shaping the future of engineering.

Today, Qashoa (BEng 鈥�21, PhD 鈥�25) is a systems engineer at Honeywell Aerospace, where she works on the assembly, integration and testing of quantum communication payloads. While still early in her career, she is already contributing to technologies that could play an important role in the future of secure communications in space.

Her path into the industry was shaped by the people and opportunities she encountered at Lassonde.

"My experience at Lassonde was instrumental in helping me pursue a career in the space sector," Qashoa says. "The main driver was the wealth of experience in space engineering that Lassonde faculty carry."

Exposure to faculty-led research gave her firsthand insight into how engineering can tackle complex challenges and create meaningful impact beyond academia. Seeing professors lead innovative projects inspired her to pursue a career that contributes to advancements in the field.

That goal became reality when she joined Honeywell Aerospace 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 largest suppliers of aviation and defense systems. Among her proudest accomplishments is the opportunity to work on flight hardware that is planned for future operations in space.

Her experience also highlights the importance of mentorship and community in the study of engineering. Throughout her time at 91亚色, and now early in her career, she noticed she was often the only female on a project team or in a meeting. Rather than viewing this as a barrier, she stayed focused on contributing her skills and expertise while building a network of mentors and peers with shared experiences.

One of those mentors was Professor Regina Lee, who supervised Qashoa鈥檚 PhD studies and helped her navigate the transition from academia to industry.

That support, says Qashoa, provided valuable insight into the realities of the engineering workforce 鈥� and continued in a new way after graduation.

Through Honeywell Aerospace's mentorship program for women in engineering, she was paired with a more senior colleague who offers advice and career guidance.

Together, those experiences reinforced the value of strong support networks in helping women thrive in technical fields.

As more women enter engineering and space-related professions, Qashoa expects the industry to benefit from a wider range of perspectives and experiences. Increased diversity, she believes, will help drive innovation and bring new ideas to some of the sector's most complex challenges.

For students considering a future in space engineering, her message is simple: persevere.

鈥淢y advice to current students is to never give up no matter how impossible the challenge,鈥� she says. 鈥淓ven if you are the only woman on your team now, you are bringing something valuable to the table.鈥�

She encourages students to stay confident, embrace challenges and recognize the impact they can make. As the industry continues to evolve, she sees increasing opportunities for women to help shape the future of space exploration.

Her path from Lassonde to work in aerospace highlights how education, research and mentorship can shape careers in emerging areas of engineering 鈥� especially for women.

Watch Qashoa discuss her Lassonde experience and what it means to contribute to the future of the space sector.

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Bratty, president of land development and investments at the Remington Group, was introduced by Faculty of Education Dean Robert Savage as a distinguished real estate executive and philanthropist whose work has helped shape urban development and support education across Ontario.

Savage also highlighted his longstanding connection to 91亚色, including through the RP Bratty Family Foundation鈥檚 $10-million gift to help establish the University鈥檚 Markham Campus, as well as its support for initiatives in health care, the arts and education.

Bratty began his address to Faculty of Education graduands by recalling a formative moment from nearly 40 years ago, when he said he was a similar age to many of the graduating students.

At that time, he and his brother had started a home building company, building and selling six houses. 鈥淚n the process, we made more money than we ever thought we鈥檇 make in our whole lives, and we were astounded by that,鈥� Bratty said.

Flush with achievement, they made a conscious decision not to, as he put it, 鈥渇all prey to material trappings.鈥� They did not spend the money on cars, watches or trips, instead keeping it and investing it back into their business.

The following year, however, brought a reversal. A real estate crash left them with three of the houses returned and they found themselves back in the same financial position they had started from.

鈥淭he point of the story is that you need to be prepared in your life going forward for both success and adversity,鈥� he told graduands. 鈥淭hose are the things that are going to come to you, that鈥檚 the only thing I can guarantee will happen in your life.鈥�

Reflecting on that experience, Bratty said he learned to be wary of the characteristics that can follow success, noting they are not always the qualities worth striving for.

He also emphasized the role of adversity in shaping how people respond to challenges. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the adversity that teaches you where you need to be headed, where you need to go and how to overcome the challenges in your life.鈥�

From that setback, he said he learned humility and adaptability, as well as resilience, describing it as an opportunity to be resilient in the way of the world.

Looking ahead, Bratty told graduands that navigating difficult times will be one of life鈥檚 central challenges. He encouraged them to remember that 鈥減ersistence is greater than force,鈥� adding that 鈥渢he great rivers of the world teach us all that.鈥�

He prompted students to take on challenges and to do things they may be hesitant to try. 鈥淚 urge you to try things that are difficult. I urge you to do things you鈥檙e afraid of doing, because all of those things will make you stronger,鈥� he said.

Closing his remarks, Bratty said he was excited to see what graduates would make of their lives and how they would shape the world.

He ended with a final reflection: 鈥淭here鈥檚 three kinds of people in the world: those that make it happen, those that watch it happen, and those that say, 鈥榃hat the heck just happened?鈥欌��

He encouraged graduands to be among those who 鈥渕ake it happen.鈥�

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