Events

Please join us on December 4 from 10 am to 11:30 am as we mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in commemoration of the 1989 École Polytechnique Massacre.

December 6 marks the anniversary of the murder of 14 women engineering students at l’École Polytechnique de Montreal in 1989. Since then, the day has been declared The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Every year the U of T community commemorates the national tragedy and also reflects on the many ways all women continue to experience gender-based violence—from missing and murdered Indigenous women, transgender women, and the broad spectrum of women from vulnerable populations.

This year’s virtual event will take place on December 4 and is titled “Actions within the Intersections: Past, Present and Future”. It will feature a fireside chat with U of T students, staff, and faculty discussing the most relevant issues in gender-based violence and their intersections. This is an opportunity to share the concrete actions we can take in our communities to question, call out, and combat acts of gender-based violence.

This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history. The 14 victims, 12 of whom were engineering students, were targeted because they were women in an engineering school. The anniversary of the tragedy has since become a day of remembrance and action against the many ways women continue to experience harm, violence and discrimination — particularly among girls, Indigenous women, two-spirit people, Black women, trans women, racialized women, and women in STEM.

On Monday, December 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, we invite students, staff, faculty, librarians, alumni and partners to attend a virtual, tri-campus commemoration of this important day. The event includes a memorial and panel discussion about the rise of gender-based violence during COVID-19, and how we can integrate prevention strategies into our pandemic recovery. Together, we will re-commit ourselves to reflection, awareness and putting an end to gender-based violence.

Take action and register today at uoft.me/NDRAVW.

This event is co-hosted by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Community Safety Office, Sexual and Gender Diversity Office, Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre and Hart House.

Program

• Opening Remarks
• Award Presentation for Scholarly Achievement in the Area of Gender-Based Violence
• Memorial and Reflection
• Musical Performance by Skule™ Orchestra
• Panel Discussion with Q&A:  Reflections on ending gender-based violence in a post-pandemic world

Over the 14 days leading up to December 6, U of T Engineering will share one action a day towards ending gender-based discrimination and violence. Join the conversation using #MyActionsMatter.

See the posts on Twitter »

U of T Engineering alumni, join us for this monthly series.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now a part of the standard physical scientist’s tool kit, and it is regularly used to discover exciting new materials and processes. But AI is famously fickle, susceptible to data set bias and imbalance, subject to information leakage during training, and reliant on humans to evaluate its performance.

Professor Jason Hattrick-Simpers (MSE) discusses best practices for the implementation of AI techniques in the field of materials science, the challenges and successes of his research, and why he believes that robots can help us learn to better trust AI.

Read the abstracts and register for this free and exclusive event.

Join Professor Elham Marzi (ISTEP) in conversation with U of T Engineering alumnus and entrepreneur Ian Small (EngSci 8T6, MSc CompSci 8T9) as he shares insights and advice gained from over three decades of working in engineering startups and management.

Topics will include how to manage and lead change, how to make challenging organizational decisions, and how to help employees and company culture navigate transitions.

Speaker bio:

Ian Small has spent more than 30 years in Silicon Valley since graduating from the University of Toronto, working in tech companies ranging from three-person startups to 100,000-employee multinationals. He first worked as a software engineer, and spent time in software engineering management and software product management before transitioning into a range of business leadership roles.

Ian currently serves on the boards of Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of lasers and photonic devices) and Snapdocs (a venture-backed startup driving mortgage automation). Ian has worked with a number of Sequoia Capital portfolio companies, including working as CEO of Evernote (personal productivity software), CEO of TokBox (video platform-as-a-service), and a lengthy stint with MarkLogic (NoSQL database). Ian also served as Global Chief Data Officer at Telefónica, following its acquisition of TokBox, served on the advisory board to Loon (a Google X Labs spinout), and started his Silicon Valley career in the Human Interface Group at Apple Computer.

Ian’s experience in Silicon Valley includes fundraising, tech mergers and acquisitions (both as buyer and seller), and tech spinouts. Ian graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science (Computer Science option) and an M.Sc. in Computer Science, and is a holder of more than 10 patents.

Moderator:

Professor Elham Marzi is a Teaching Stream faculty member in the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP). She teaches in areas inclusive of Organizational Behaviour, HRM, Strategy,and Negotiations in the Business Minor Program.

This event will be a moderated fireside chat with audience Q&A.

Register to attend in person or virtually
Tuesday, March 21, 2023 | 6-7 PM EST
In-person: HS610, Health Sciences Building, 155 College Street
Virtual: Zoom link will be emailed to you after registration

Questions? Please email Professor Elham Marzi at elham.marzi@utoronto.ca.

Care, Healing, and Justice: Addressing Transmisogyny and Ending Gender-Based Violence for All

On December 6, U of T joins communities across Canada in remembering the 14 women killed in a devastating act of misogyny at the engineering school at Montreal’s École Polytechnique in 1989.

AGENDA

All students, staff, faculty, and librarians are welcome to attend this tri-campus event to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Our program includes:

• In-Person Only: Sign-In Opens at 11:30 a.m.
  • Please arrive between 11:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. to facilitate sign-in (registration for the in-person event is required in advance)
• In-Person Only: Welcome Lunch, 12 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
• In-Person and Virtual: Opening Remarks and Welcome, 12:30 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
• In-Person and Virtual: Awards Presentation and Memorial, 12:50 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
• In-Person and Virtual: Keynote Presentation, 1:20 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.
• In-Person and Virtual: Closing Reflections, 2:10 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
• In-Person: Optional Decompression Activity, 2:20 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Register to attend in person in the Great Hall at Hart House or join virtually on YouTube.

MEMORIAL

This memorial, led by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, will honour the lives of women impacted by gender-based violence. It will include a musical performance.

Keynote Presentation: care, healing, and justice: addressing transmisogyny and ending gender-based violence for all

This event will include a keynote presentation from a Toronto-based writer and performer on the rise in transmisogyny and violence against queer and trans women globally. Together, we will co-create a space for healing, and move towards meaningful, intersectional action that prioritizes an end to gender-based violence for all.