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• Suncor hosts annual awards banquet
• Social Impact Fund grant recipients named
• Book launch event tomorrow; other notes

Suncor hosts annual awards banquet

by Dipali��Batabyal.

On Thursday December 3^rd��at the University Club, Howard McIntyre (Vice-President of Lubricants at Suncor Energy Inc.) and Mandi Penfold (Recruitment Advisor, Human Resources and Campus Program Suncor Energy Services Inc.) held their 5^th��awards banquet on ��ݮ��Ƶ campus in recognition of the 2015-16 recipients of the Suncor Energy Emerging Leaders Award (SEELA). This year, 20 recipients received this prestigious award including 4 new students and 16 renewing. ��

The event has become an annual tradition celebrating Suncor and ��ݮ��Ƶ’s partnership,��which spans across faculty units including Co-operative Education and Career Action, and has helped launch several innovative initiatives that are important priorities at ��ݮ��Ƶ. Also in attendance was acting dean of engineering, professor Wayne Parker, and the dean of science, professor Bob Lemieux, along with directors of advancement and members of principal gifts.

This banquet recognizes the recipients and their scholastic achievement in the areas of Science and Engineering by providing renewable awards that promote and incite students out of high school entering ��ݮ��Ƶ to continue to thrive in one of these disciplines. Over the last decade, Suncor has generously contributed $1M to establish SEELA and have made a commitment to our students to help them develop into future experts and leaders for Canada’s economy and industry. To date 71 students have received the Suncor Emerging Leaders Award.

“��ݮ��Ƶ graduates a different talent than others,” says Howard McIntyre.��“Ideas and innovation are a core competency of ��ݮ��Ƶ’s students where nothing is suppressed to create the disciples of tomorrow instead of the practitioners of today. This aligns with our mission statement at Suncor, where we are ‘creating energy for a better world.’ We’re focused on tomorrow and we can’t do it alone. We need the idea generators for a better tomorrow and ��ݮ��Ƶ’s students challenge the status-quo. There is much personal accountability amongst ��ݮ��Ƶ’s students, faculty and researchers, which is high in this institution, who want to be part of the solution.��It is the entrepreneurial journey.”

“This scholarship will serve to ease the financial load that comes with pursuing a post-secondary education," says mechanical engineering student and SEELA award recipient Robert Bahensky.��"As a result, I can direct more focus towards my studies and extracurricular pursuits. More importantly, however the award introduces me to a wide network of connections and possibilities that are sure to be beneficial to my growth as a student and an individual.”

Suncor Energy and Suncor Energy Foundation and the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ have also collaborated on initiatives as �ٳ�������������𳦳�,���ٳ������ݮ��Ƶ Institute for Sustainable Energy��(�±�������), and �ٳ����,��held by the Faculty of Science.

Social Impact Fund grant recipients named

Richard Yim, Rhea Daniels, and Trishala Pillai.

Three initiatives by��St. Paul's GreenHouse��students received Social Impact Fund grants at the December Social Impact Showcase, held Thursday, December 3. The Showcase highlights some of the projects current students are working on — and, new this term, special guest speaker and Ashoka Fellow Ilona Dougherty spoke about how youth are key drivers of innovation.

The first Social Impact Fund��recipient,��Richard Yim, showcased his business,��, which is committed to making land mine��neutralization safer and more efficient. He will be using the $2,500��grant to test the first prototype machine��in Cambodia.

Trishala Pillai��received $1,000 for The Dialogue Project, a "TEDx��for engaged dialogue." She will organize and promote��two campus-wide events that will start engaged conversations��about important and topical issues.��

Finally,��Rhea Daniels��received $1,000 to capture first-person narratives of the alliances between settlers and Indigenous peoples in Canada through a project called Bridging Communities through Narratives.��

St. Paul's GreenHouse is a live-in social impact incubator that helps students find an idea for social good, develop it, and then launch it as a startup.

Book launch event tomorrow; other notes

At the launch of his new book,��Innovation and Entrepreneurship are in the ��ݮ��Ƶ Genome,��Kenneth McLaughlin, distinguished professor emeritus, will tell the behind-the-scenes story of how the University disrupted post-secondary education.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community are invited to join McLaughlin for an engaging dialogue and discussion. The new book explores pivotal moments in the history of the University — from its entrepreneurial beginnings to its position as Canada’s leading innovation university.

The event takes place Wednesday, December 9 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Room 0101 of �ٳ����Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, University of ��ݮ��Ƶ. Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.

Now, some news from the north campus: at long last,��the Laurelwood Drive extension��that runs through the University's��Northwest Campus subdivision is now open to the Westmount Road roundabout, affording easier access to �ٳ����Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Aging, the Stork Family YMCA and the Harper Branch of the ��ݮ��Ƶ Public Library.