The University of Windsor will make $3.12 million in upgrades on campus, replacing roofs, improving accessibility, upgrading washrooms and classrooms, and repairing building facades as part of a provincial capital grant program.

Ross Romano, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, held an online news conference Wednesday to talk about the funding. UWindsor’s funding is part of $144 million in capital grants to colleges and universities announced in the 2020 provincial budget.

“The world-class education students receive at our post-secondary institutions is critical to the future of Ontario, our economy, and the prosperity of our people,” Romano said. “That is why our government is proud to commit increased annual funding to the University of Windsor to renew and modernize their facilities.”

The province will has set out a capital grant program that will see $466 million spent on buildings and infrastructure on university and college campuses over three years. This year’s funding of $144 million nearly doubles what post-secondary institutions received last year for critical maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and renewals.

The grant program earmarks another $144 million for next year and $178 million for 2022-2023.

UWindsor will spend its funding this year on roof replacements at Essex Hall and the Centre for English Language Development. It will make security and accessibility upgrades across campus, make upgrades to classrooms and gender-neutral washrooms, and renovate the facades of Chrysler Hall South and Chrysler Hall North.

“Providing a world-class education depends on both the best possible instruction and ensuring the physical environment for learning that encourages collaboration and innovation,” said UWindsor president Robert Gordon.

“All of these projects will have a significant impact on campus renewal at the University of Windsor, and will greatly benefit our students, staff, and faculty. As well, today's investment will provide an economic stimulus for our community as we leave 2020 behind us and get ready for the new year.”

Romano, an alumnus of UWindsor’s Faculty of Law (LLB 2004), said he looks forward to one day visiting the campus again to see the projects completed.

—Sarah Sacheli

Too often, elderly residents of long-term care facilities and retirement homes are lonely and forgotten, says Karen De Santis.

A retired elementary schoolteacher and a sessional advisor to students in the Faculty of Education, she has published a book she hopes will foster intergenerational connections.

“For 15 years, the students in my care were involved in a Grandpal Program,” De Santis says. “We wrote letters to the elderly at a long-term care facility and then visited them on a monthly basis. Friendships were made, bonds were formed, and everyone benefited.”

The experience inspired her to write Tony’s New Friend, which tells the story of a young boy who befriends a neighbour in a nursing home. She hopes her book will find a place in schools, with parents and educators, and anyone who cares about the older segment of the population.

“There are so many elderly people in this world that need companionship,” says De Santis. “It doesn’t matter how old the participants are. We need more people to get involved so that there’s a little less loneliness in our world, one visit at a time.”

To purchase Tony’s New Friend in electronic, paperback, or hardcover editions, visit the publisher’s website.

Mohamed Rafiquzzaman has managed Olympic events, advised the White House on technology policies, and worked on an economic recovery team for California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He’s launched a global company that manufactures lenses for cataract patients and published 18 books that have been translated into Russian, Spanish, and Chinese.

But he never forgot his start at the University of Windsor.

Dr. Rafiquzzaman (MASc 1972, PhD 1974) remembers working diligently to prove himself to professors who challenged him to be his best. He also remembers those same professors welcoming him to holiday gatherings in the staff room and joining him for a burger break at the Harvey’s restaurant near campus.

“When you worked, you worked very hard, but I learned how to enjoy life there too,” Rafiquzzaman says. “Where I am now is because of Windsor — and that’s the truth.”

Rafiquzzaman was born in Bangladesh and moved to Canada in 1970 with his family to pursue master’s studies in electrical engineering at the university that presented him the most competitive offer on both sides of the border.

His thesis advisor, William Miller, helped him and his wife and son settle in a new country they now called home and introduced Rafi to computers, which he had never seen before.

To this day, the two still talk and visit each other when they can. Rafiquzzaman followed in Dr. Miller’s footsteps and became an electrical engineering professor, now teaching at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Read the full profile, “An alum’s rise in engineering and politics,” in the latest issue of WE, the Faculty of Engineering’s annual magazine. The publication is distributed annually to alumni, students, faculty, staff, and industrial and community partners of the faculty. To receive WE electronically and UWindsor Engineering’s quarterly e-newsletters, join the faculty’s mailing list.

—Kristie Pearce

Having a chief technology officer who understands intellectual property and how it can by leveraged will set businesses apart from their competitors, says Wen Teoh, director of the Entrepreneurship Practice and Innovation Centre (EPICentre).

The centre wrapped up its inaugural NextGen CTO program on Nov. 20, which attracted 51 students in the Master of Applied Computing program.

“We hope this program will help our students develop IP savviness that will give them a competitive advantage in their future careers whether as CTOs at their own startups or at other organizations,” said Teoh.

Participants completed the Foundations of IP Strategy online course developed for the Centre for International Governance by Karima Bawa and Windsor Law professor Myra Tawfik, who is also the EPICentre Professor of IP Commercialization and Strategy.

“IP literacy is an essential skill for businesses competing in today’s innovation economy, regardless of whether we are talking about a small and medium enterprise or a large multinational,” she says. “It is imperative that IP education programs be available across the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. especially for those who aspire to business leadership positions as Chief Technology or IP or Innovation Officers.”

Graduates of the NextGen CTO program received micro-credential badges, a skills-based credential system that helps validate skills and accomplishments. Graduates can display their badges on social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Read the full story on the EPICentre website.

The second round of the NextGen CTO Program will be open to all students and entrepreneurs; applications will open in January 2021.

FindTime is an Outlook add-on for scheduling meetings. The meeting organizer can send multiple time options to attendees through FindTime, minimizing the back-and-forth email often involved in this type of scheduling.

FindTime shows what days and times work best for attendees using available free/busy data. You then propose your selected times to all attendees, allow everyone to vote, and quickly reach a consensus. FindTime works with attendees both inside and outside the University.

Watch Office of Open Learning’s student online learning assistant Anas Al-Chalabi as he demonstrates how to use FindTime in this 150-second Tech Talk video. If you want more information about using FindTime, click on the links in the Comments section below the video.

Tech Talk is a presentation of Information Technology Services. More Tech Talks are available at www.uwindsor.ca/its/tech-talk.