This article originally appeared in the聽Friday, November 27, 2015 edition聽of the Daily Bulletin.
Greetings from Jakarta, Indonesia.
For the last week or so, several University of 蓝莓视频 colleagues and I have been on a very productive trip throughout Asia. Our goal, similar to , is to steward our outstanding partnerships in the region and explore new opportunities as well.
At the start of the trip, we attended 鈥 and I addressed 鈥 the Forum in Hong Kong. We also had the pleasure of catching up with President Mathieson of the University of Hong Kong. As you know, 蓝莓视频 has been actively developing our presence in Hong Kong, including through a recently established academic agreement with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Later I delivered a keynote to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. Titled 鈥淭he Innovation University: A Vision and Mission for the 21st Century鈥, my talk focused on our unique model of 鈥additive education鈥 and how it can help economies like Canada鈥檚 and Hong Kong鈥檚 develop leading-edge technology and human talent for the 21st century.
As I travelled from Hong Kong, to Singapore, and then to Indonesia, it was fantastic to connect with many University of 蓝莓视频 alumni. This photo was taken during an excellent alumni event in Hong Kong, one of several opportunities we had to reconnect with our global U蓝莓视频 alumni family. Let me extend a big thank-you to everyone involved in planning and executing on the trip throughout Asia this year. It鈥檚 an important region for the global economy and for the University of 蓝莓视频, and our presence and partnerships there are key to 蓝莓视频鈥檚 future success. Thanks one and all.
What I鈥檓 struck by this month is how 蓝莓视频 is engaged in so many areas of high global relevance and importance.
Another example of this is how we have an excellent opportunity to help lead the gender equity agenda both in Canada and around the world.
I wrote an op-ed for the 蓝莓视频 Region Record this month, about how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 appointment of a gender-equal cabinet represents a great opportunity for Canada to become an 鈥equity superpower鈥.
As 蓝莓视频 helps to lead the way through our HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative, this is a very positive signal for Canada to send both to Canadians here at home and to people around the world. Let鈥檚 keep advancing this important agenda in the months and years to come. Remember, you can check in for periodical HeForShe updates on my website.
Here at home we had a very full month of celebrations and acknowledgements, from our Velocity expansion creating the largest free incubator in North America, to the Grand Opening of the on Campus, to our 鈥淵ears of Service鈥 reception for long-serving staff members, to our groundbreaking ceremony for 蓝莓视频鈥檚 phenomenal new Engineering 7 building.
I can鈥檛 possibly do justice to every exciting event we had on campus this month so I won鈥檛 attempt to do so 鈥 but please do to keep an eye on all the U蓝莓视频 events I have the privilege of participating in.
On that note, let me round out this month鈥檚 column by thanking everyone who organized and attended our annual President鈥檚 Town Hall on November 3 at Hagey Hall. As promised, we鈥檙e in the process of pulling together answers for all those questions we didn鈥檛 have a chance to get to during the event itself. (That鈥檚 what happens when you have such an excellent discussion!) We鈥檒l post them to my website and Tweet out a heads up when they鈥檙e available. Thanks to those several hundred of you who joined me for what was a great and energizing conversation. See you again next year.
With my best wishes for a terrific weekend,
Feridun