LassondeSchool of EnginEEring

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T THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS OcTOber 27, 2016B2 [ Lassonde schooL of engineering ]

MArIlyN lAzAr

“I found what I learned in the program abroad to be foundational. I came out asking myself: how can I use engineering to change the world?” – Student at the Lassonde School of Engineering.

Imagine a world, where graduates such as the one who spoke these words, strive accordingly in their personal and profes-sional lives. How will they contribute to our own communities and beyond? Is it possible that they might not only create physical structures that look beautiful and function well, but maybe, just maybe, make a small impact on social and eco-nomic equality?

If you’ve got any preconceived notions about what engineers think or how they are trained, be prepared to sandblast them clean out of your psyche like a heritage building in a gentrified urban neighbour-hood. The Lassonde School of Engineering is breaking the mold.

Merriam-Webster defines engineering as: “the application of science and math-ematics by which the properties of matter and the sources of energy in nature are made useful to people”.

So, perusing online information about the new Lassonde School of Engineering at York University, I was intrigued by the website, where the registered tagline - in big bold lettering right underneath the school’s name - reads: “home of the ren-aissance engineer”. A bit surprising and, dare I say, as much art as science?

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made and the more intrigued I be-came. Although the Renaissance was a cul-tural movement, it was very much about humanism, and good engineers take into account the people that use their buildings and cross their bridges. But at Lassonde,

they take the concept of Renaissance a step further and way beyond design and functionality. From the building which houses the school - spectacular inside and out - to their commitment to an initiative of maintaining a 50/50 gender balance, it’s very clear that the Lassonde School of Engineering is not merely maintaining the status quo.

Lassonde is engineering a new way of learning and working, nurturing a gener-ation of professionals for the new millen-nium. They are trying to change not only how their students work, but even how they think. The goal is to inspire their stu-dents to not only be entrepreneurial, but also to operate with a social conscience and a sense of global citizenship.

This philosophical shift began at ground zero, way before the ribbon cutting, before a shovel touched the ground or a blue-print was drawn. The difference is in its core concept and they have stayed true to their value system through every stage of execution. Rather than recreating a rep-lica of an existing school, the people be-hind the Lassonde School of Engineering decided to use a different approach and

take the opportunity to create something brand new. They actually looked outward to establish what was needed and then set out to answer that need. The result is not merely a beautiful building, but more im-portantly, a contemporary curriculum, a lot of which takes place outside the class-room.

Even inside the classroom, the empha-sis of the curriculum is not strictly on the technical as you might expect. For ex-ample, there are courses offered in busi-ness and law. These subjects are relevant to an engineer’s career and the broader expectations are reflected in the full suite of programs. The style of instruction is not typical either. Rather than coming in to listen to lectures, students can cover the prescribed material independently before ever entering the classroom. Classroom time is then dedicated to a more inter-active, relevant and useful experience with faculty and other students.

This unique approach to curriculum is re-flected in the design of the building, by ZAS Architects, which is based on the flipped classroom concept. It doesn’t even contain any lecture halls.

So much learning takes place outside the classroom, in some cases way outside the classroom; for example, as far away as Ethiopia and Nepal. The Lassonde School of Engineering offers students unparalleled experiences abroad in a joint program with Technion. This takes place every summer. One program on offer is an entrepreneur-ship program which lasts approximately three weeks. The other is called EDC – en-gineering for developing communities - with a duration of almost a month.

I spoke with two students who each par-ticipated in both programs. Here’s what they have to say:

Cameron Boyce is a third year electric-al engineering student at the Lassonde School of Engineering. This summer, he participated in two international programs offered by Lassonde in joint partnership with the Technion, which involved travel abroad to Israel and Ethiopia respectively. The Technion Entrepreneurship and In-novation Summer Program had a duration of three weeks while EDC (Engineering for Developing Communities) was just shy of a month long.

Cameron speaks in a way that is reflect-ive of the fact that his mother is an edu-cator and his father is an engineer. He is aware of and sensitive to the impact of his chosen profession on others.

“I know of other universities that have incubator programs, the goal of which is to provide an environment to help start-up companies foster and grow in their early stages. The B.E.S.T. lab at Lassonde is unique in that it is located in the heart of the Bergeron Centre and students can really get a sense of what entrepreneur-ship is all about just by stopping by. Most of us know an individual or two who has a project or start-up there; we’re a close-knit student body.

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Lassonde students develop their social conscience

Lassonde students Cameron Boyce, Sogand talebi, april Lico and tonny Lay

Lassonde and technion students joined an international group of aspiring engineers in ethiopia this summer

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Lassonde is actively incorporating en-gineering entrepreneurship into the cur-riculum which is exciting to see! There is a real emphasis on the application of learned principles to tackle prob-lems of substance: the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, problems in our municipality and even those on campus. Simply put, we just don’t need another pizza app!

It’s no secret that there are issues of poverty here at home. However, simply coming up with a great idea and imple-menting it without consultation of any affected community members is never a good strategy. At Lassonde, I’ve learned the importance of inclusivity and I know that this attitude is even more prudent in the development arena.

During my visit to Ethiopia, the discus-sions and interactions that we had with families and leaders of the Dakara kushet yielded us a wealth of information that we had previously not considered. In truth, they were vital to our development effort.

Both of my international experiences this summer were foundational. I came out asking myself, how can I use engin-eering to change the world?

One of the lessons from my experience during these travels is that here in Can-ada, we need to do a better job of includ-ing local communities in the development process.

My take-away from my experience dur-ing these travels is that we need to include the relevant stakeholders in all discus-sions, for the sake of the environment we

build and for social and economic equal-ity. I think there are lessons for us in that way of working. There is a responsibility for me and for a whole new generation to take this approach here as well.

Here it is more common to start to in-novate without necessarily consulting the people directly affected by the environ-ment we’re creating for them, and includ-ing them in the process.

On the other end of the spectrum, the trip to Ethiopia was eye opening. You def-initely get a sense of opportunities and responsibilities. In Ethiopia, we had no access to the type of resources that we have at home, but the philosophy was the same. The same but different. They don’t have the development or infrastructure. We couldn’t assume we understood their requirements. They know their needs. We had to gather information through them and work with them and their expertise, even consulting them about the imple-mentation of the ideas. We needed the community to source all these things.”

Sogand Talebi is in her second year at Las-sonde. She is studying space engineering

and has participated in both the Entrepre-neurship and the EDC trip. She was motiv-ated to take the EDC trip with Technion after watching a TED Talk by Technion pro-fessor Mark Talesnick wherein he highlights the fact that all the work that engineers do affects only ten percent of the world’s popu-lation. Mark Talesnick was born in Toronto but moved to Israel in 1982. He formed En-gineers without Borders through Technion in 2007. His TED Talk purports that the cur-rent division of wealth in the world is nei-ther fair nor sustainable.

“Ninety percent don’t ever benefit. That’s shocking and very sad. Engineers have the power to effect change and make things better. He wants to encourage engineers to work for the other ninety percent of the world population.

We had people from different fields on the EDC trip to Ethiopia, not just engin-eers - all trying to use their knowledge to make things better.

In engineering, we tend to come up with a solution to fit the problem. I learn-ed through this experience that it’s not enough. We need to really understand the problem first - and the people and the cul-ture you’re building for. Unfortunately the Engineering curriculum isn’t designed to address that aspect.

I saw things I never considered before. To be effective, the solution has to be sus-tainable over time. Here the consequences may not be dire; perhaps the sound sys-tem might not work optimally. There, it is more important, literally affecting life; for example, drinking water.

Our work had a direct impact on their lives. So it couldn’t just be the fastest solution. The solution needs to fit into the system as perfectly as possible and function for a longer time. I already knew these things but seeing them in action was powerful.

I’m so glad I went but I can’t say it felt good. Good but not good. It saddened me. The issues are so much larger. It’s hard for one human to leave an impact. Everything is connected. In order to change a whole system, it requires a team effort.

Little things had a big impact on me. There was a women’s focus group where we had some cool conversations. I spoke to a woman my age, 19, who already had two kids. Neither one of us spoke the other’s language, but we had an inter-preter and we understood each other. She literally asked me to take one of her kids so that she might have a better life. She trusted me but it was heartbreaking. She was very determined to get them an education and a better future. She told me I was lucky and she reminded me of how privileged I am. I told her that I’m not even fully independent yet, whereas she’s look-ing after her two kids already. We shared a moment I won’t forget.

Engineers are a bridge between science and society but unfortunately our engin-eering curriculum does not focus on the social aspect. In order for engineers to make real change we need to develop a better sense of empathy.”

It seems that the Lassonde School of En-gineering is succeeding. n

I came out asking myself, how can I use engineering to change the world?

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The Bergeron Centre for Engineer-ing Excellence, the stunning new home of the Lassonde School of

Engineering, opened earlier this year on York University’s campus in Toronto.

“This is a radically different space for a radically different type of education. Gone are the days of learning passively from lectures and textbooks. We want our students to think ‘outside the book’ by making things, testing prototypes, solving problems together and learning by doing. That’s the kind of creative train-ing that will prepare them to solve the world’s complex challenges and to lead Canada’s economic future,” said Janusz Kozinski, founding dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering.

The bright open space, with an intri-cate, reflective façade, was inspired by

Lassonde school opens the Bergeron centre for engineering excellence

the image of a cloud floating about Geor-gian Bay. Bergeron Centre was designed by Toronto’s ZAS Architects + Interiors, built by Laing O’Rourke in partnership with the Gillam Group and named in recognition of Douglas Bergeron and his wife Sandra for their $10 million dona-tion.

Douglas Bergeron is an alumnus of York University. He graduated in 1983 with a degree in computer science and later be-come a highly successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Bergeron was CEO of Veri-fone until 2013 and is now founder and CEO of Opus Global.

The Bergeron Centre is attracting global attention with recent features in the New York Times and Wallpaper* maga-zine, and was recently named as one of the top buildings in Toronto by BlogTO.

“Tomorrow’s entrepreneurial engineers need to be open-minded collaborators working with talented people from a var-iety of fields,” said Bergeron.

“The Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence gives students the freedom to think creatively, to imagine solutions that defy conventional wisdom and to take their ideas from sketches on a whiteboard into real world technology ventures.

The Bergeron Centre is home to Las-sonde’s three new programs in civil, mechanical and electrical engineer-ing. The new space also includes the three-storey High Bay Lab for material strength testing, the Sandbox – a stu-dent-run collaborative space for team projects and the Bergeron Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology (BEST) program created by Doug & Sandra Bergeron. n Founding Dean Janusz Kozinski

Lassonde students celebrate the opening of the Bergeron CentreDoug Bergeron, Computer Science alumnus and now CEO of Opus Global

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Lassonde hosts canada’s science Minister

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan MP, Minister of Science, paid a visit to

the Lassonde School of Engineering in September.

Minister Duncan was presented with the Lassonde Award for Contri-bution to Women in Leadership by Founding Dean Janusz Kozinski.

The Lassonde School of Engineer-ing last year launched the 50:50 Chal-lenge to become the first engineering school in Canada to achieve a 50:50 gender balance.

The award recognizes the inspir-ation Minister Duncan provides to female engineers and the contribu-tion she has made to encourage more young women to study science, tech-nology, engineering and mathematics in Canada.

“It is vitally important for our stu-dents, and our future female engin-eers in particular, to meet outstand-ing role models,” said Founding Dean Janusz Kozinski.

“Through her highly-acclaimed work on infectious diseases and cli-mate change, Minister Duncan has consistently applied her technical expertise to tackle the challenges that matter most.

“We want our students to learn that by working together, they too can im-prove the lives of others and help pro-tect our environment.”

“This Lassonde Award recognizes Minister Duncan’s impressive com-mitment to championing engineer-ing and science in Canada, and in particular her continued efforts to bring more women into this field,” he added. Duncan holds a PhD in geog-raphy from the University of Edin-burgh and served on the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change, an organization that won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. n

The Lassonde School of Engineering is welcoming another Schulich Leader

this Fall. Arma Khan will be joining the School as

the fourth female Schulich Leader at Las-sonde. Last year, Lassonde welcomed Kyra McLellan to Space Engineering. Khan, who attended Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines, has been award-ed a scholarship valued at $80,000 over four years.

She enters the Lassonde School of Engin-eering with an average of 94.5 per cent. A member of a wide variety of clubs and vol-unteer groups, Khan has worked within her school and with non-profit organizations such as the South Asian Women’s Rights Organization. Khan also took part in a pro-gram called Reaching to Empower Youth, a program designed to empower and edu-cate female youths about topics such as inter-generational conflicts, LGBTQ aware-ness, and perceptions of women.

Launched in 2012, this $100 million program funds 50 undergraduate schol-arships each year up to a value of $20,000 annually for each recipient, across top Canadian universities. The Schulich Lead-er Scholarship, created by entrepreneur and philanthropist Seymour Schulich,

Science Minister Kirsty Duncan receives

her award from Janusz Kozinski (left)

and Marisa Sterling, Lassonde’s assistant

dean (right)

The Lassonde School of Engineering re-cently played host to the governor of

Utah and a delegation of business leaders from the state.

The visit was part of a trade mission led by the governor to learn more about high-er education, advanced technology and entrepreneurship in Canada.

Utah is home to the Lassonde Entrepre-neur Institute, also founded by Pierre Las-sonde, and the governor was particularly keen to learn more about the Lassonde School of Engineering here at York Uni-versity.

Pierre Lassonde joined the visit together with Troy D’Ambrosio, executive director

of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Governor Gary Herbert, and his delega-tion, were given a guided tour of the Ber-geron Centre for Engineering Excellence led by Lassonde students. During the tour, the visitors met students working on a variety of projects, including unmanned aerial vehicles, robotic cars, 3D printing and startup technology ventures.

“We were truly honoured to host Gov-ernor Herbert here at our magnificent new space in the Bergeron Centre for En-gineering Excellence,” said Janusz Kozin-ski, founding dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering.

“The governor was highly impressed with the flexible classroom spaces, the world class technology in our research labs and the startup ventures emerging at Lassonde.”

“Most of all, he and his delegates were captivated by the creativity and ingenu-ity of our ‘Renaissance Engineer’ stu-dents who presented their projects with such passion and poise.” n

Utah governor sees entrepreneurial engineering in action

another schulich Leader in 2016 is welcomed by Lassonde

gives the most promising students the opportunity to pursue their dreams and become the next global pioneers in sci-ence, technology, engineering and math-ematics. n

Read more about Lassonde’s all-female group of Schulich Leaders here: http://lassonde.yorku.ca/schulich-lead-er-scholars

Arma Khan

Pierre Lassonde, second from left, and Governor Gary Herbert pose for pictures with

Lassonde students

T THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS OcTOber 27, 2016B6 [ Lassonde schooL of engineering ]

“Why would you go to Israel? Are you out of your mind?” The questions were becom-

ing repetitive every time I mentioned to someone where I was going for the sum-mer. It’s funny how people perceive a place or a thing just by hearing about it. If I hadn’t spoken to people who went there last summer, even I would have been re-luctant to go on this trip, but I am glad I did, because it was a life-changing experi-ence one could never forget.

Israel is a country that would make you think about faith, and that satisfies your eyes with its spectacular sights. The beaches are beautiful, the markets are adventurous, and there are flowers every-where. From the church in Jerusalem to the beaches in Tel Aviv to the breathtaking sight at Masada, the cultural diversity and the lovely scenery will put your mind at peace.

The reason we went there though was not its beauty. “How is it that Israel – a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources – produces more start-up companies than countries 10 times more powerful than it?” The question was raised in the book Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer. The answer is not a two- or three-page report; the answer lies in the heart of Israel, in its culture and in the way people dream. They dream it, and they do it.

Over these three weeks, we learned how to be an entrepreneur. We learned to be business people from experts in that field. It’s like learning magic from Albus Dumbledore, straight from the horse’s mouth. We visited various start-up com-panies and met many CEOs, stunned by their simplicity and passion for their work. No one cared about wearing formal clothes or working in a fancy workplace;

all they cared about was their company and the people they worked with. All they cared about was their dream. This is one reason Israel is ahead of other nations: people dream big and they believe in their dreams. And, if they fail, they dream again.

Supported and guided by the best and the oldest academic institution in the country, the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, we achieved goals we never thought we could and discovered our hid-den potential. We learned a great deal, but the most valuable lesson we learned was teamwork. We were a group of 24 students and, within three weeks, we became a family. We lived together, ate together, got late together (sometimes it was only me), we learned together. We formed compan-ies and came up with some amazing ideas within a short time, which was commend-able to say the least. The country does have some magic, for I am sure it wouldn’t have been the same anywhere else.

We visited three cities and each was dif-ferent and amazing in its own way. Hai-

fa is split in three levels, the lower cen-tre of commerce and industry including the port of Haifa, the middle level on the slopes of Mount Carmel, while the upper level includes modern infrastructure with breathtaking views. Tel Aviv is known for its sexy beaches and vibrant nightlife. The waterfront is lined with various shops and restaurants. The markets of Jaffa in Tel Aviv scream its ancient traditions and cul-tures. Jerusalem is just out of this world, no words are enough to describe the Holy Land. The Monastery of the Cross would make you stare at every fresco forever and still not get enough of it. Bargaining is something you need to be good at if you ever plan to shop in Israel.

Those three weeks in Israel were prob-ably the best of my life so far. We saw some amazing sights, we learned some very valuable lessons, and we formed some bonds that will last a lifetime. I wish every-one got a chance to experience some-thing as beautiful as this at least once. It might seem otherwise, but life is short and opportunities like these don’t knock on your door frequently.

I miss it now. I miss being with those people; I miss the heat; I miss the hum-mus; I miss Israel. Things were real in Is-rael. n

Amal Dave took part in the Lassonde-Technion Entrepreneurship program that was established in 2014. Each summer, 25 students from the Lassonde School of Engineering experience a three-week intensive entrepreneurship program led by Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Students learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship at Technion before embarking on a tour of startups and venture capital firms in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The students then return to Technion to develop their own companies under the guidance of Israeli entrepreneurs.

Lassonde hosts Undergraduate research conference

In August, the Lassonde School of En-gineering hosted So You Think You

Can Research? the first ever York Uni-versity-wide summer undergraduate research conference.

The conference featured students who spent this summer working on research projects with professors from the Lassonde School of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, the Schulich School of Business and the Faculty of Health.

The conference was an opportunity for students to showcase some of the incredible research they have been do-ing throughout the summer.

“Renaissance engineering is about applying knowledge to discover more about the world around us and use those findings to improve our society,” said Founding Dean Janusz Kozinski “For many of our students this summer opportunity represents the beginning of a lifelong quest to tackle difficult questions.”

The all-day event featured nine undergraduate student presentations where students discussed the findings of their summer research, while an-other 55 presented using posters and digital presentations.

Lassonde students’ research was funded by both NSERC and LURA (Lassonde Undergraduate Research Award), a Lassonde research fund de-signed specifically for undergraduate research.

“This conference is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate under-graduate scholarship, innovation and creativity,” said Associate Dean of Re-search and Graduate Studies, Spiros Pagiatakis.

Judges evaluated the presentations based on specific criteria including the quality of the content, presentation and discussion.

Lassondian Semi Hasaj was recog-nized by both the judges and his peers, winning Students’ Choice Award for his oral presentation on nanosatellite technology.

Two hundred guests attended the conference, engaging with students and learning more about their re-search. n

More information, including biograph-ies of the participants and more about their projects can be discovered here: www.lassondeundergraduateresearch.com

amal dave reflects on his entrepreneurial experiences in israel

Betty Seifu Brittney Cooper Matthew Klincans

Amal Dave

THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS TOcTOber 27, 2016 B7[ Lassonde schooL of engineering ]

Daman Chhina had his future all mapped out. The son of an official in the Indian Army and an avid fan

of Indian Air Force, Chhina was sure he would be joining the Air Force Academy after finishing his high school studies.

His family wanted him to consider other options before making his final decision. Living in Toronto was Daman’s uncle, who saw Daman’s excellent grades and encour-aged him to apply to the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University. Daman started at Lassonde in September 2015, still unsure of his future career plans.

“I was homesick and it wasn’t easy at first but I decided to really give school a try. I became a new student orientation lead-er and got inspired by the many unique personalities I encountered at Lassonde. Second year, I had no more doubts. I dove right into computers,” said Chhina.

In May, Chhina and his classmate Anton Sitkovets, two Lassonde Computer En-

Top internships at Uber landed by Lassonde studentsIntervIew wIth UBer StUDentS

what are you most excited about in your internship?Anton: I’m excited to work at such an influential company. They’re taking over the world.Daman: Uber is working on some real-ly interesting stuff like machine learn-ing and computer vision, and I want to work with both of these technologies. I also know it’s going to be an amazing experience.

what was the interview process like?Anton: There were three technic-al interviews that were all long and arduous. The first one was the hardest because it was the least expected. I had never done a technical interview before. They start with very simple questions and you begin feeling com-fortable, then they bombard you with very difficult technical questions.Daman: There is a lot of math and they ask simple programming questions. Most people would answer incorrectly because often people aren’t used to really thinking through fundamental, basic questions. That’s where they get you. There were lots of algorithms and data structures. You’re asked to link programming to math.

what was Uber really looking for in successful candidates?Anton: They don’t care about skills and programming languages per se. They want to test thinking abilities. They want to see sharp critical thinking and the ability to articulate your solutions.Daman: I didn’t complete the code for most of the interviews, but I was able to give them a working idea of what I was developing. I could give a clear explanation of my reasoning. You need to be able to explain how your solution works. You should know how to think.

what do you want new students to know?Anton: Build an atmosphere around you that helps you get better at what-ever you’re working on. Surround your-self with smart people. No, surround yourself with people smarter than you. That encourages you to be better.Daman: Have your own projects and do things outside of school. Don’t get overwhelmed by the people that seem to be doing better than you. All of the other interns at Uber are your CalTech, Harvard and MIT. And now we are there, from Lassonde. We made it. n

gineering students began highly-coveted internships at Uber in Boulder, Colorado.

“The Lassonde Co-op is absolutely critical to the learning experience for our students. We want them to truly under-stand what employers need and adopt a career-focused mindset throughout their time at Lassonde,” said Janusz Kozinski, Founding Dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering.

“The placements at Uber in the United States, and many other firms in the GTA and across Canada, are just the beginning. Students will be working for the world’s best employers during their time at Las-sonde, gaining experience in the work-place as well as earning income to help fund their studies,” added Kozinski.

Bright and hardworking, Daman and Anton took part in the Lassonde Co-op program and applied to various pos-itions, wanting to experience working in the industry and learning hands-on. They

didn’t expect to get replies from the tech giant, and were surprised when they land-ed interviews. From then, it was a roller-coaster.

“The interviews were difficult and I was given various programming questions. I was a little lost. Then, all of the sudden the answer hit me, and I started typing. They want to see your ability to think through problems, and problem-solving skills, not necessarily right answers,” said Chhina about his interviews with Uber.

The Lassonde duo were at Uber’s offices in Boulder and San Francisco until the end of the summer. They worked with a motivated and supportive group of col-leagues to work on a variety of interesting projects. But it’s not only about work. Of the culture at Uber, Chhina says: “We go on inspirational trips, and get to have lots of fun with coworkers. Besides, the office is stocked with games and snacks. Work hard, play hard.”

Daman Chhina and Anton Sitkovets

Lassonde students clean up the Young space entrepreneurs competition

Lassonde students took first and second place at the Young Space

Entrepreneurs Competition at Western University.

Two teams of Lassondians presented their business plans to a panel of judges knowledgeable about entrepreneurship and the space sector.

The challenge was to develop a busi-ness plan for a profitable product or ser-vice in the space industry.

Lassonde students Patrick Hazzard and Shenalie Fernando took first place with their venture, Reaching Horizon.

Their business idea is to offer a differ-ent type of memorial ceremony that al-lows people to scatter their loved ones’ ashes into space. Patrick and Shenalie are final year Space Engineering stu-dents.

Along with two Schulich students, Benjamin Ghatan and Kourosh Kadi-var, Lassonde’s Keith Menezes and Yuriy Davydov, third-year Space Engineering students, took second prize at the com-petition. They presented Integral Tech-nologies, an optical communication device for interplanetary nanosatellite

missions.“Last year I went to Technion in Israel

with Lassonde to learn entrepreneur-ship. This certainly gave me an edge in this competition,” said Keith about his achievement. n

Patrick hazzard and Shenalie Fernando

T THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS OcTOber 27, 2016B8 [ Lassonde schooL of engineering ]

E arlier this year, Lassondian Tonny Lay was one of a select group of Canadian students chosen to take

part in the Next Gen Community Leaders program.

The newly established initiative is an experiential learning experience for Can-adian student leaders. This is organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a national, non-partisan, non-profit organ-ization dedicated to improving the quality of Jewish life in Canada.

This year’s cohort included participants who are connected to or active in East Asian or South Asian communities. The program includes pre-and post-trip seminars, a sev-en-day study program in Israel, and a post-trip written assignment or creative project on a topic related to the program.

Tonny Lay is a fourth-year Lassondian enrolled in the combined engineering and international development studies pro-gram offered by Lassonde in partnership with York University’s faculty of liberal arts and professional studies.

He is a founding member of the school’s Engineers Without Borders chapter and an executive in the Lassonde Engineer-ing Society. In 2014, he also took part in Lassonde’s three-week summer intensive entrepreneurship program which takes place at Technion-Israel Institute of Tech-nology in Haifa, Israel.

Upon his return, Tonny shared his ex-periences and the highlights of his trip with Lassonde.

Lassonde international explorer visits the Middle eastWhat was the most important thing you learned during your trip?The most powerful lesson for me is to be open minded and to be wary of assump-tions based on what you might read or see from afar. You really need to make up your own mind based on your own perspective and to constantly challenge yourself to find out more.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is ex-tremely complex with a variety of per-spectives on the past, the present and the future. It is not a subject that can or should be approached lightly or with too many pre-existing assumptions.

During the program I had the opportun-ity to hear from various different speakers from Israel who spoke passionately about the political, cultural, social, and econom-ic issues in the region

I also had the chance to hear the equally passionate views of a Palestinian journalist and the founder of a Palestinian startup.

In the age of sound-bytes, YouTube clips and 140-character tweets, it’s even more es-sential to cut through the noise out there to hear from different people on the ground who have direct experience, and not just take part in abstract discussions about the rights and wrongs of disputed issues.

Why did you decide to participate in this program?I am fascinated by the politics of the Mid-dle East. As a student leader I have always sought to listen to the views of a cross sec-

tion of people who may have seen the same issue differently. This trip was a great oppor-tunity for me to expand my knowledge out-side of the classroom. I was intrigued by the chance to hear the stories of so many dif-ferent people who are affected day to day by this ongoing conflict including Jewish Israelis, Arab Israelis and Palestinians.

Aside from the politics, it gave me an incredible chance to build relationships with other student leaders from across Canada and those that I met in Israel.

What were some of the most memorable activities during your time in Israel?When I look back on the trip, the ex-perience that always pops up first in my mind is riding in an armoured diplomatic vehicle into Ramallah. One of the speak-ers we were to meet was unable to meet us in Jerusalem, and so we met them at the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in-stead. It was very different to my typical commute to school.

Apart from this, every day was filled with informative and interesting experiences. One moment we were visiting the Golan Heights and another moment we were talking to local Israelis about their experi-ences of military service.

How has studying both computer engineering and international development given you a different perspective?Studying in my program has allowed me to understand the consequences technol-ogy has on geopolitics. Although this trip focused mostly on political topics, we still had a chance to visit tech startups, dis-cuss the engineering challenges for both Israelis and Palestinians, and explore the potential for technological breakthroughs to benefit everyone in the region.

What does being a Renaissance Engineer mean to you? To me, a Renaissance Engineer has the ability to change the world. A Renaissance Engineer is altruistic and has the foresight to see the impact of his work on humanity both in a global and local context. As an en-gineer, it is important to not only focus on the technical skills but to also understand why we choose to create the things we do.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?Ten years is a long time. I see myself mov-ing among different fields depending on where my passion takes me. I am current-ly split between seeing myself at a health-care firm specializing in biotechnology or biomedical devices or being involved with an organization, such as Engineers With-out Borders, finding systemic solutions to tough world problems.

What advice do you have for future engineering students?My advice is to always take up an oppor-tunity to travel internationally and learn from others from different cultures. I was initially unsure about this trip, as I had already been to Israel for three weeks for Lassonde’s annual Technion trip. How-ever, I do not regret it one bit. I have learn-ed so much from not only the speakers but from fellow outstanding student leaders.

This experience has inspired me to be a bet-ter person and a better critical thinker. There are things you cannot experience in a typical academic setting, such as riding in a diplo-matic vehicle into the West Bank. Take risks – playing it safe keeps you in the status quo.

Favourite food you discovered on your trip? It is difficult to say – everything is so good – but I would go with shakshuka (eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili pep-pers, and onions). n

Technion Canada was honoured this year by the Lassonde School

of Engineering as Academic Partner of the Year in recognition of its con-tinuing support of Lassonde’s stu-dents through international academic opportunities.

For the last three years, groups of Lassonde students had a chance to take advantage of Israel’s entrepre-neurial environment by studying at the Technion Israel Institute of Tech-nology.

“As a result of our partnership with Technion Canada, we have been able

Technion canada receives academic Partner of the Year award from Lassonde

Tonny Lay

Hershel Recht and Janusz Kozinski

to provide Lassonde students with truly unforgettable educational experience in Israel. They are the entrepreneurs of tomorrow because of the many skills they have learned at Technion,” said Janusz Kozinski. n