Media Releases

Praxis II Showcase 2011 – Design for Toronto

April 8, 2011

TORONTO, ON – Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence stu­dents in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to’s Fac­ul­ty of Applied Sci­ence & Engi­neer­ing will defend their project designs to city rep­re­sen­ta­tives, com­mu­ni­ty stake­hold­ers, and pro­fes­sion­al engi­neers at this year’s Prax­is II Design Show­case on Tues­day, April 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Based on the theme of “Design for Toron­to,” the Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence Prax­is II course allows first-year stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to apply their engi­neer­ing, design and com­mu­ni­ca­tions skills to local chal­lenges through spe­cial projects. In focus­ing on Toron­to, stu­dents gain first-hand expe­ri­ence with issues con­fronting the city, and engage direct­ly with stake­hold­ers, includ­ing munic­i­pal and com­mu­ni­ty rep­re­sen­ta­tives.

The Prax­is II course begins with stu­dents iden­ti­fy­ing ways to “sus­tain­ably improve the City of Toron­to.”  It cul­mi­nates in the Prax­is II Design for Toron­to Show­case, at which stu­dents share their under­stand­ing of the chal­lenges, and their design solu­tions with a city-wide audi­ence through posters, pro­to­types and pre­sen­ta­tions.

The nine design chal­lenges for the 2011 Show­case, cho­sen from 80 stu­dent sub­mis­sions, are:
•    a com­mu­ni­ca­tions sys­tem link­ing food retail­ers to food banks
•    a new road to Toronto’s water­front
•    reduc­ing ambu­lance response times in the Bri­dle Path neigh­bour­hood
•    imple­ment­ing an advanced trav­eller infor­ma­tion sys­tem in Toron­to
•    reduc­ing envi­ron­men­tal con­t­a­m­i­na­tion from road­side drainage in Toron­to
•    reduc­ing pathogens in Toron­to beach­es due to com­bined sew­er over­flow
•    improv­ing the lubri­ca­tion sys­tem around the Yonge-Uni­ver­si­ty sub­way line Union loop
•    retro­fitting Toronto’s “street fur­ni­ture” lit­ter bins
•    improv­ing the TTC street­car stop infor­ma­tion sys­tem

Last year’s Show­case designs were fea­tured in the Toron­to Star’s “Your City, My City” sec­tion, and in the Nation­al Post. Spe­cial guests includ­ed TTC chair­man Adam Giambrone.

For more infor­ma­tion about the 2011 Prax­is II Show­case – includ­ing abstracts for each of the select­ed design chal­lenges and a video pre­sen­ta­tion of last year’s event – go to: http://uoft.me/designfortoronto

EVENT DETAILS:

WHAT: Prax­is II Show­case 2011 – Design for Toron­to

WHERE: Atri­um, Bahen Cen­tre for Infor­ma­tion Tech­nol­o­gy, 40 St. George Street, Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to

WHEN: Tues­day, April 12, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

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For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact:

Eliz­a­beth Raymer
Com­mu­ni­ca­tions and Media Rela­tions Coor­di­na­tor
416–946-7257
elizabeth.raymer@utoronto.ca

Alan Chong
Course Instruc­tor, Prax­is II
416–978-8512
alan.chong@utoronto.ca

Jason Fos­ter
Course Instruc­tor, Prax­is II
416–978-7024
jason.foster@utoronto.ca