Media Releases

Below is a selection of recent press releases. For all the latest news please visit www.utoronto.ca/news

General Inquires +1 (416) 978-0100   Email media.relations@utoronto.ca    

May 20, 2015

Supreme Court of Canada to rule in jury representativeness case; David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights and LEAF available for commentary

Toronto, ON - On Thursday, May 21, the Supreme Court of Canada will render its decision in Kokopenace v. HMTQ. The key issue in the case is the scope of the right to a representative jury under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and whether Ontario’s procedure for creating jury rolls does enough to include on-reserve Aboriginal residents. The David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights and the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) jointly intervened in this case,…

May 20, 2015

U of T Engineering receives $1.65 million from NSERC to CREATE 150 drone experts

Toronto, ON - The word ‘drone’ often conjures up invasive images of military aircraft, but if Professor Hugh Liu (UTIAS) has his way, that perception is about to change. Liu has just received $1.65 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to train 150 new experts in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for a variety of useful purposes, from agriculture to environmental monitoring. Ed Holder, Canada’s Minister of State for Science and Technology,…

May 20, 2015

NeXus consulting group celebrates 10 years of supporting non-profits & social enterprises

Toronto, ON – Since 2005, non-profit organizations and social enterprises have reached out to a team of MBA students at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management to help maximize their social impact. NeXus offers affordable, fee-based consulting services to support a broad range of business needs, including business planning and start-up, marketing, growth and expansion, development of long-term financial sustainability, identifying operational efficiencies and measuring social impact. The NeXus Partners have recently completed their first year of Rotman’s Full-Time…

May 14, 2015

‘Hydrogels’ boost ability of stem cells to restore eyesight and heal brains

Toronto, ON - Toronto scientists and engineers have made a breakthrough in cell transplantation using a gel-like biomaterial that keeps cells alive and helps them integrate better into tissue. In two early lab trials, this has already shown to partially reverse blindness and help the brain recover from stroke. Led by University of Toronto Professors Molly Shoichet and Derek van der Kooy, together with Professor Cindi Morshead, the team encased stem cells in a “hydrogel” that boosted their healing abilities…

May 14, 2015

Rotman School’s Impact Consulting Group leverages diverse work experience to design innovative solutions for clients

TORONTO, ON – A new group of MBA students have joined the Rotman School of Management’s Impact Consulting Group where they will provide high value strategy consulting to clients at competitive rates. The team combines a diverse range of professional backgrounds, including law, finance, retail management, consulting, and political strategy, to find innovative ways to help their clients. “Our team has experience in many industries and functions enabling us to analyze problems from many perspectives – this will definitely help…

May 11, 2015

World Council on City Data (WCCD) launches Open City Data Portal with the City of Los Angeles and the National League of Cities in LA

TORONTO, ON - Today at the opening of the National League of Cities (NLC) event, “Big Ideas for Cities”, the World Council on City Data (WCCD) President and University of Toronto Global Cities Institute Director, Dr. Patricia McCarney launched the WCCD Open Data Portal, the world’s first open, online platform for globally standardised, verified and comparable city data. The WCCD Data Portal is the exciting next step in the open data agenda, enabling cities to compare and benchmark their performance…

May 8, 2015

Concrete canoes race across Toronto’s waterfront on May 10

TORONTO, ON - This Sunday, over 250 engineering students from universities across Canada are making the unfloatable float. They’ll be racing canoes made from concrete along Toronto’s western waterfront—canoes they’ve designed and built themselves over the last year. Hosted by the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, the 2015 Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition (CNCCC) is a highly entertaining event that showcases the creativity and technical abilities of students from a wide range of engineering fields. Teams…

May 7, 2015

Customers will pay more today if there’s payback later, shows equal billing study

TORONTO, ON – What's not to like about getting a refund? It's a possibility under equal billing plans, where consumers are charged the same amount every month for consumption-based services such as energy or water. Those billings are later reconciled with actual usage, usually at the end of the year, leading to either a refund for overpayment, or an extra charge. Consumers like the predictability -- no more shocker whopper bills for occasional usage spikes such as cranking the air conditioner…

April 30, 2015

Can science help athletes win gold?

Toronto, ON – University of Toronto sports science professors believe research and technology play a vital role in helping athletes and para-athletes improve their performance. Olympic gold medalist Rosie MacLennan has been working with these experts leading up to the Pan Am Games. On May 12 the new Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport will open its doors to share with the public the intersections between sport, research and technology. MacLennan and athletes from wheelchair basketball Ontario will give live demos…

April 29, 2015

First Nations legal advocate to lecture at OISE

TORONTO, ON – Douglas S. White, Director of the Centre for Pre-Confederation Treaties and Reconciliation at Vancouver Island University will lecture on Social Change and Reconciliation: Pursuing Social Justice in the 21st Century on Thursday, April 30 at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. One of the greatest public policy challenges and imperatives of our time is the need to rethink and rebuild the Crown Indigenous relationship in Canada to achieve meaningful and lasting reconciliation…