News Archives » January, 2010
Blues swimmers impress at Ontario Cup
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Varsity Centre Pavilion gets design nod
Monday, January 18th, 2010The University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre new entryway building, known as the pavilion, won the Structural Design Innovation award at the Ontario Concrete Awards (OCA) held December 2nd at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Sponsored by the province’s concrete industry, the ninth annual event acknowledges some of the province’s most creative construction projects.
The Varsity Centre pavilion features an open and airy design with an inspiring view of the state-of-the-art track, the FIFA two-star rated field and bustling Bloor Street. It also houses a new team room for athletes and offices for coaches and staff.
The next project at the Varsity Centre complex is the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport which will house research and teaching labs, a strength and conditioning centre, a state-of-the-art sport medicine clinic and a 2000-seat basketball and volleyball field house.
”We are so proud of our new facilities at Varsity Centre,” says Dean Bruce Kidd. “This award acknowledges that Varsity Centre has been a positive addition to the design landscape here in the city of Toronto.”
Faculty launches GTA’s largest solar panel project
Thursday, January 14th, 2010The University of Toronto’s Athletic Centre boasts a new feature its members don’t yet know about but are already using: showers heated by the sun.
In late 2009, the university installed 100 solar collector panels on the roof of the Athletic Centre, located at Harbord Street and Spadina Avenue. The installation, which became operational on Tuesday, is currently the biggest initiative of its kind in the GTA and the largest known system at a Canadian university.
The panels will supply nearly 25 per cent of the heat for the building’s showers and laundry facilities during peak sunshine months, substantially reducing natural gas use – and consequently greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – throughout the year. The annual GHG reductions are roughly equivalent to taking 11 cars permanently off the road, while the yearly energy savings would be enough to heat 11 average-sized detached homes in Canada.
The initiative first took shape as a student project in 2006, when Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering undergraduate Ashley Taylor evaluated the feasibility of installing solar collector panels at the location. Now employed full-time by the University’s sustainability office, Taylor worked with the facilities and services division on campus to see the project through to completion. “It has been very fulfilling to see a simple research question become a reality,” says Taylor. “It’s a great example of how U of T can use the campus as a living lab, bridging research and operations.”
U of T contributed two-thirds of the cost of the project, sourcing the remaining third from the Ontario Solar Thermal Heating Incentive and the federal government’s ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat Incentive. The project reflects the University’s decades-long commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, which has avoided an estimated 22 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions over the last 35 years.
“This initiative is part of a much larger sustainability strategy under the terrific leadership of U of T’s facilities and services division,” says Bruce Kidd, dean of the Faculty of Physical Education and Health, which houses the Athletic Centre. “The cost and energy savings from the solar panels are just the first step; ultimately we aim to increase awareness so that our users are more mindful of their impact on the environment.”
Solar Panel Project Quick Facts (PDF)
What else has the Faculty done?
New dean a good fit
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010A highly respected exercise physiologist has been chosen as the new dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Physical Education and Health.
Professor Ira Jacobs, chair of York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, will join U of T July 1. Academic Board approved his five year decanal term this week.
The new dean succeeds Professor Bruce Kidd, a Canadian Olympian and expert on Olympic history who will step down June 30 after the longest record of service among University of Toronto deans. The torch Kidd passes to Jacobs will include responsibility for continuing the efforts to strengthen undergraduate and graduate degree programs and to create synergies between co-curricular programs and high performance sport in ways that benefit all parties.
“Professor Jacobs joins the Faculty of Physical Education and Health during an exciting time of growth and change,” said Professor Cheryl Misak, vice-president and provost. “I am confident that he will provide excellent leadership and I am delighted to welcome him to U of T.”
Jacobs earned his doctorate in clinical physiology from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute where he specialized in skeletal muscle metabolism. For the next 25 years, he did extensive exercise physiology research while working for the government’s human performance laboratory, operated by the Department of National Defence. He attained the position of chief scientist there and received recognition for initiating and leading a unique international research group that helped enhance the performance of military special operations units through their research and advice about nutritional and pharmacological strategies.
In 2007, Jacobs became chair of York’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, the largest kinesiology program in North America. He is currently president of the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, as well as a past president of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.
Jacobs’ research has led to the publication of more than 200 scientific articles, reports and book chapters about his research interests that include the physiological responses to physical exertion in environmental extremes, performance enhancement through pharmacological and nutritional manipulation of metabolism, and energy metabolism.
“As both a scientist and academic administrator, I am thrilled to join the University of Toronto, an institution renowned for the quality of its faculty and its research,” said Jacobs. “It is particularly exciting to do so at a time when both public awareness and researchers from a broad spectrum of disciplines acknowledge the tremendously important biological, behavioural, and socio-cultural impacts of physical activity, physical inactivity, sports and athletics. I look forward to making a contribution to the tradition of excellence here.”
-Elaine Smith
Braithwaite honoured by Rowing Canada
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010Michael Braithwaite of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues was recognized by rowing’s national governing body at the 29th annual Rowing Canada awards program on December 5, 2009 in Vancouver, B.C.
The fifth-year cognitive science major was presented with the Hanlan Keller award for his achievements as a promising, developing rower. The award was established in memory of Thomas Keller, president of Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (FISA) for many years.
Rowing Canada also awarded Braithwaite with the international achievement award for his bronze-medal performance at the 2009 FISA world championship regatta in the Czach Republic last summer.
In addition, the Duncan, B.C. native was recognized among 2009 national champions for his first-place finish in the men’s heavyweight single at the 2009 Canadian under-23 championships.
Among his many accomplishments this season, Braithwaite was the 2009 OUA men’s single champion and was also named the oarsman of the year at the 2009 Canadian University Rowing Championships (CURC) for his dominant gold-medal performance in the men’s open single.