On Location

This U of T professor teaches engineering students to think like detectives

Romi Levine — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 04:00:00 +0000

This U of T professor teaches engineering students to think like detectives

Romi Levine Thu, 10/19/2017 - 00:00

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Professor Doug Perovic (right) and engineering technologist Sal Boccia look over images produced by a high-powered electron microscope (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

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Romi Levine

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City & Culture

Cities

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

On Location

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Forensic engineering course uses real-life examples to teach students about problem-solving

The advanced materials lab looks like something out of a CSI-like crime show, with its massive, high-power electron microscopes – but what goes on there is deeply rooted in fact, not fiction.

The Ontario Centre for the Characterisation of Advanced Materials lab, part of ��Ƶ's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, allows forensic engineers to uncover mysteries that can only be solved on a microscopic level.

Utilizing the state-of-the-art lab is one of the many ways Doug Perovic, a professor in the department of materials science and engineering, teaches his students about forensic engineering.

Perovic’s course is the first of its kind in Canada and can be taken as part of a certificate in forensic engineering – offered to undergraduate students for the first time this year. In it, students learn about cases where engineers played an important role in finding the root cause of an incident.

“Forensic engineering … is the reconstruction of an event, whether it be an accident or a failure of some kind of a component,” says Perovic. “It's taking that final result and then working backwards and piecing together what were the causes, what were the sequence of events to ultimately determine why this happened – the where, when, why, how and ultimately who is responsible.”

U of T, Regent Park arts program harnesses the power of music to change lives of teens in detention

Romi Levine — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 04:00:00 +0000

U of T, Regent Park arts program harnesses the power of music to change lives of teens in detention

Romi Levine Thu, 10/05/2017 - 00:00

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Richard Marsella, executive director of the Regent Park School of Music and current U of T PhD student, hopes to inspire more youth in detention with music (photo by Romi Levine)

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Adam has been practising the same drum sequence for 20 minutes. Every time he misses a beat, he takes a breath, brushes it off and begins again. It’s the kind of focus and discipline that, until this point, he just hasn't had in his life.

The 18-year-old has just been released from an open custody residence run by Turning Point Youth Services – a housing facility for young men who have been involved with the youth criminal justice system.

Adam (not his real name) has been coming to the Regent Park School of Music once a week to learn how to play the drums. The lessons are part of a collaboration between the music school, members of the ��Ƶ's Faculty of Music and Turning Point, which brings youth from the residences to Regent Park to learn how to play an instrument of their choice.

This program is funded by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the R. Howard Webster Foundation and an anonymous donor.

“Every time I come here I learn something new,” says Adam, who has just completed his first lesson since being released from open custody. “At first I used to play the drumsticks differently. They taught me the right techniques. It was hard at first, but then I got used to it.”

His passion and determination caught the eye of his music instructors, like Heather Saumer, who recognized his talent straight away.

“Right from the beginning, he had a vision for what he wanted to learn. That’s given him a real focus and direction,” says Saumer. “Those mini-accomplishments every step of the way can really build a lot of confidence and sense you're part of a larger whole.”

The music lessons are being observed by Bina John and Nasim Niknafs, assistant professors of music education at U of T, who are researching its impact on the youth.

“The project is looking at the effect of music education, not just on establishing musical identity but also on the psycho-social benefits of making music together,” says John.

These benefits have been scientifically proven, she says. “When you make music together in an instrumental or choral ensemble, it happens right from the brain where certain chemicals are released, leading to a greater understanding of your own identity and your own needs and the needs of others,” says John.

Studying the effect of music on kids in detention is a unique opportunity, she says. “Nothing like this has ever been done in Toronto or even Canada that we know of.”

Turning Point staff member Milenka Carrasco sees the impact on the young men as she watches them air drumming or jamming on a ukulele on the way back to their residence.

“Music is definitely universal to all these young men,” she says. “They all have different stories but they're able to connect with music on so many different levels.”

Programs like this one are at the core of what Regent Park School of Music (RPSM) does, says the school’s executive director Richard Marsella.

“It’s important for us to always look towards giving the kids who need us most that way into music,” says Marsella, who’s also a music education PhD candidate at U of T.

“My hope for this program is that it's changing their path. It's helping them find a voice that is meaningful and it's reconnecting them to a community that they could not have imagined prior to coming together with our faculty and our team.”

RPSM instructors have also been going to a Turning Point facility to teach students as part of the Toronto District School Board Section 23 program, which helps students outside of the traditional school system gain access to education.

“I feel like it’s just the beginning, and we’re hoping to grow to reach even more youth in the community and also bring music into youth detention centres” says Marsella.

John also sees opportunities beyond RPSM. “Our hope is to become a model for how to introduce music education into other communities other than schools,” she says.

It’s a chance to reach and have an impact on people and communities across the city, in big and small ways.

“This just reminds them they're not forgotten,” says Carrasco. “It reminds them whatever Toronto has to offer, it's for them as well.”

If Adam is anything to go by, music is already making a difference.

“It brings people together 100 per cent. It mends a lot of relationships,” he says. “I could see myself doing it for the rest of my life.”

U of T’s On Location is a new series that explores how the university is involved in shaping the urban fabric and landscape of Toronto and the GTA.

U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes

Romi Levine — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 14:49:02 +0000

U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes

Romi Levine Fri, 03/03/2017 - 09:49

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Award-winning architect and U of T Professor Brigitte Shim lives in a laneway house in Leslieville (photo by Romi Levine)

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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

On Location

Smart Cities

Sustainable Cities

Subheadline

“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project... but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities”

Twenty-five years ago, award-winning architect Brigitte Shim was scoping out a location to build her home.

“It was a derelict lot with six abandoned cars, and weeds that were shoulder height,” she says.

Shim, a professor at ��Ƶ at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, decided the laneway in what is now Leslieville was the perfect space to design and build her dream home.

“In the end, I felt it was a really amazing experience to actually have gone through, not only the design process but the municipal approval process,” she says. “After building it and living in it, I actually thought that it was a really interesting territory for future densification in our cities.”

Today, laneway housing is seeing a renewal.

As housing prices and the cost to rent in Toronto continue to rise, architects like Shim, city councillors, community groups and the ��Ƶ are exploring different ways to make the city more liveable and sustainable – and laneways have been a popular starting point.

U of T is hoping to build around 50 laneway houses in the Huron-Sussex neighbourhood – across the street from Robarts Library. While it’s still in the planning stages, the university hopes to kick-start a pilot project by 2018 to build two laneway houses in the alley located just west of Huron Street and north of Glen Morris Street.

“It provides a different texture to the neighbourhood. Because these units will be smaller, it does add to a range of options for housing so not just in the Victorian homes that are scattered through the neighbourhood but also the opportunity for smaller-scale and more affordable living,” says Christine Burke, director of campus and facilities planning at U of T.

According to the Laneway Project, there are 2,400 publicly-owned laneways in Toronto, stretching over 250 kilometres. While there are a few laneway houses, most of these narrow streets are lined with graffiti-covered garages and garbage bins. Building a home in a laneway is only currently permitted on a case-by-case basis by the city, and it could take a while to get the right permits.

City Councillor Ana Bailão for Ward 18 and Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon for Ward 32 are working with community groups Evergreen CityWorks and Lanescape to explore different policy options to make laneway housing more widespread.

“Together as a group we're trying to change the conversation and push forward recommendations to the City of Toronto on how to make laneway suites doable in the city,” says Jo Flatt, U of T alumna and senior project manager at Evergreen.

The university is working closely with the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization, the City of Toronto, Evergreen and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects to ensure that all parties are involved in the vision for the neighbourhood’s future.

“There's a profound understanding of the need to do something with lanes throughout the city, and this is a good place to start and show how it can be successfully done. That's our hope,” says Andy Vice, vice-president of the Huron-Sussex Residents Organization. “It's a chance to shine a light and lead by example.”

From left to right, Huron-Sussex Residents Organization members Béatrice Lego, Julie Mathien and Andy Vice (photo by Romi Levine)

The neighbourhood has a high turnover rate because a large proportion of residents are students, and visiting faculty members and their families. Members of the Residents Organization hope new housing options will allow residents to stay longer either as homeowners or on longer-term leases.

“If there's more housing, there won't be the imperative to keep moving people through,” says Julie Mathien, president of the Residents Organization.

Shim hopes more neighbourhoods in Toronto embrace laneway housing.

“Development doesn't mean tearing down all the buildings and starting from scratch. As homeowners need more space, more flexibility, it's something that can be additive and doesn't need to be a razing of the block,” she says.

Other cities around the world including Vancouver and London, England, have already embraced laneway housing, creating models Toronto can emulate, says Shim.

U of T’s architecture talent can play a big role in shaping the way we think about housing, she says.

“What happens in architecture schools should not be seen as a project, a hypothetical situation, but as a way of projecting a different future for our cities,” says Shim. “We can tackle big questions like this and keep pushing on them. Student projects become real projects where we actually can reshape the future of our cities.”

U of T’s Winter Stations warm up Toronto’s beaches

Romi Levine — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 17:15:42 +0000

U of T’s Winter Stations warm up Toronto’s beaches

Romi Levine Tue, 02/28/2017 - 12:15

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Beachgoers enjoy U of T's Winter Station installation named, “Midwinter Fire” (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

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Romi Levine

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John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

landscape architecture

On Location

Subheadline

The event runs until March 27

Torontonians have been flocking to the sandy shores of Lake Ontario to check out the whimsical structures lining the beach.

Winter Stations is the annual design competition where creative teams from all over the world build art installations around the lifeguard posts scattered across Toronto's east-end beaches. This year, ��Ƶ architecture and landscape architecture master’s students from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design made their debut.

The event is a chance for students and budding designers to show off their talent, alongside more experienced architects. Three schools, including U of T, were chosen to participate.

“To me, this is a great opportunity for young designers to design, build and deliver pieces where normally in the studio, they don't necessarily see things out and work through problems,” says Aaron Hendershott of RAW Design, one of the event organizers. “I think it's a great learning experience for the students and they do really compelling work.”

Students at U of T participated in an internal competition to decide which installation would be included and it was Midwinter Fire that got the vote.

U of T architecture and landscape architecture students assembled Midwinter Fire on a snowy beach, days before the Winter Stations event opened to the public (photo by Romi Levine)

The structure utilizes local vegetation to brighten up the wintry beach and reflective walls to make the installation appear larger, almost infinite.

On Location

This U of T professor teaches engineering students to think like detectives

Read more about U of T's forensic engineering course

U of T, Regent Park arts program harnesses the power of music to change lives of teens in detention

U of T experts' creative solution to Toronto's housing problems: laneway homes

U of T’s Winter Stations warm up Toronto’s beaches

Read more about U of T's Midwinter Fire