University of Ontario Institute of Technology

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is located in Oshawa

Oshawa

Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The university shares its campus with Durham College

Durham College

Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Durham Region with campuses in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and Whitby and additional locations in Uxbridge, Port Hope, Port Perry and Beaverton...

. The university was founded in 2002 and accepted its first students in 2003, making it one of Canada's newest universities. The enabling legislation is the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Act, 2002. All undergraduate programs require students to lease a Lenovo Thinkpad

ThinkPad

ThinkPad is line of laptop computers originally sold by IBM but now produced by Lenovo. They are known for their boxy black design, which was modeled after a traditional Japanese lunchbox...

laptop PC from the university as a condition of enrollment, making it Ontario's only laptop-based university. Faculty members also encourage students to use their laptops to complete assignments, perform laboratory research and interact with faculty during lecture

Lecture

thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...

s. UOIT offers a range of undergraduate programs, and graduate programs in Science, Engineering, Health and Information Technology. The UOIT campus is approximately 400 acres (161.9 ha) in the northern part of Oshawa.

History

UOIT was founded in 2002 by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Act, 2002 passage by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario of Bill 109 on June 27, 2002. It is a public, career-focused university emphasizing science and technology, and a part of the Ontario government’s initiative to create more spaces in postsecondary institutions for the double cohort. UOIT's new slogan, "Challenge, Innovate, Connect" was unveiled in June 2006.

UOIT offered graduate and postgraduate programs and research opportunities to the first 947 students in September 2003 and total enrolment was over 5,000 in the 2007–2008 school year, making it the fastest growing university in Ontario. The student population for 2009 was 6285 and 7018 in 2010.

Construction on the university's first buildings began in 2002. The facilities currently include a library shared with Durham College, the Science Building, and the Business and IT Building as well as a state of the art virtual hospital for nursing students. The Ontario Power Generation Engineering Building opened in September 2006. The residences for UOIT are Simcoe Village and South Village. The Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) is connected to the Ontario Power Generation

Ontario Power Generation

Ontario Power Generation is a public company wholly owned by the Government of Ontario. OPG is responsible for approximately 70% of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Sources of electricity include nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, wind, and fossil fuel...

Engineering Building (opened in 2011). ACE is a multi-level testing and research centre that will allow for full climatic, durability and lifecycle testing. It has a full range of testing facilities including a five story high climatic wind tunnel.

Plans have been announced for the Centre for Cybercrime Research which will be a separate, permanent location on campus and will be dedicated to leading-edge research and the training of graduate and undergraduate students in various aspects of cybercrime. In addition, an expansion to the athletic facilities, funded largely by students, was completed in September 2007.

The University has established a downtown campus. It purchased and renovated the Regent Theater to be used as a lecture theatre during the week and as a community stage on the weekends. The university also renovated the former Alger Press building which opened in January 2011. UOIT has also initiated plans to renovate Victoria St. (Between King St. and Bond St.) into a pedestrian, social and lounge area. Currently the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Faculty of Education are located downtown. The university just completed a comprehensive master plan for the downtown campus location entitled "Into the Future: A Framework & Action Plan for Growing UOIT & Downtown Oshawa. It will guide university growth over the next years and decades. The study anticipates the relocation of the Faculty of Business and Information Technology from the north campus location to the downtown campus location by 2015.

Programs

UOIT has seven faculties, each offering several programs.

Faculty of Business and Information Technology	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) - BCom (Hons) Accounting Finance Marketing Human Resources Management Concentration BIT (Hons) Game Development & Entrepreneurship Networking and IT Security Master of Business Administration (MBA) Finance Marketing International Business Logistics and Supply Chain Management Master of Information Technology Security (MITS)	BA (Hons) in Criminology and Justice Comprehensive Program Criminal Justice specialization Gender, Sexualities and Justice specialization Race, Ethnicity and Justice specialization Youth, Crime and Justice specialization Bridge Program BA (Hons) in Legal Studies Comprehensive Program Alternative Dispute Resolution specialization Human Rights Law specialization Information Law specialization Legal studies minors Bridge Program BA (Hons) in Legal Studies — Concurrent programs Concurrent with Legal Administration diploma (Durham College) Concurrent with Court and Tribunal Agent diploma (Durham College) BA (Hons) in Public Policy Comprehensive program Master of Arts (MA) in Criminology Thesis option Non-Thesis option BA (Hons) in Communication Comprehensive program Commerce and Marketing specialization Digital Media specialization Health Sciences Communication specialization Science and Technology specialization
Faculty of Education	Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science
BEd, 1-year Consecutive program, Intermediate/Senior BEd, 1-year Consecutive program, Primary/Junior BEd/BSc (Honours) (Intermediate/Senior), 5-year concurrent Biology Chemistry Computer Studies Mathematics Physics Other teachable combinations:http://www.education.uoit.ca Master of Education (MEd) Graduate Diploma in Education and Digital Technologies	BASc (Hons) in Nuclear Power BEng (Hons) in Energy Systems Engineering BSc (Hons) in Health Physics and Radiation Science BEng (Hons) in Nuclear Engineering BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Nuclear Engineering and Management Master of Applied Science (MASc) Master of Engineering (MEng) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Diploma in Nuclear Technology Fuel, Materials and Chemistry Reactor Systems Operation and Maintenance Safety, Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Health Physics Radiological Applications
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science	Faculty of Health Sciences
BEng (Hons) in Automotive Engineering BEng (Hons) in Electrical Engineering BEng (Hons) in Manufacturing Engineering BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering Comprehensive Program Energy Engineering option Mechatronics option BEng (Hons) in Software Engineering BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Automotive Engineering and Management BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Electrical Engineering and Management BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Manufacturing Engineering and Management BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and Management Comprehensive Mechanical Engineering program Energy Engineering option Mechatronics Engineering option BEng and Mgt (Hons) in Software Engineering and Management Automotive Engineering Master of Applied Science (MASc) Master of Engineering (MEng) Electrical and Computer Engineering Master of Applied Science (MASc) Master of Engineering (MEng) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Mechanical Engineering Master of Applied Science (MASc) Master of Engineering (MEng) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	Bachelor of Allied Health Sciences (Honours) - BAHSc (Hons) Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) - BHSc (Hons) Comprehensive program Health Information Management specialization Kinesiology specialization Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) in Medical Laboratory Science — BHSc (Hons) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Honours) - BScN (Hons) Collaborative RPN to BScN (full-time program) RPN to BScN (part-time program) Master of Health Sciences (MHSc)
Faculty of Science
BSc (Hons) in Applied and Industrial Mathematics BSc (Hons) in Biological Science Complementary Studies Environmental Toxicology specialization Life Sciences specialization Pharmaceutical Biotechnology specialization BSc (Hons) in Chemistry Chemistry Comprehensive program Biological Chemistry specialization Pharmaceutical Chemistry specialization BSc (Hons) in Computing Science Computing Science Comprehensive program Digital Forensics specialization Digital Media specialization BSc (Hons) in Forensic Science BSc (Hons) in Physical Science BSc (Hons) in Physics Physics Comprehensive program Energy and the Environment specialization Forensics Physics specialization Medical Physics specialization BSc and Mgt (Hons) in Biological Science and Management Complementary Studies Environmental Toxicology specialization Life Sciences specialization Pharmaceutical Biotechnology specialization BSc and Mgt (Hons) in Physical Science and Management BSc (Hons)/BEd (Concurrent) (Intermediate/Senior) Applied Bioscience Master of Science (MSc) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Computer Science Master of Science (MSc) Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Materials Science Master of Science (MSc) Modelling and Computational Science Master of Science (MSc)

Research

Faculty members are involved in research in a variety of areas. These include:

Multimedia Based Digital Authentication Schemes
Statistical and Array Processing
Wireless Communications and Signal Processing
Satellite Communications
Pervasive Computing
Sensor and Information Networks
Computer Forensics and Network Security
Web Modelling and Optimization
Computer Networking
Networked and Distributed Control Systems
Haptics and Virtual Reality (Laboratory for Advanced User Interfaces and Virtual Reality)
Medical and Mobile Robotics
Automatic/Intelligent Sensing and Control
Power Engineering
Vehicle dynamics
Fuel cells and hydrogen
Automotive aerodynamics
Noise, vibrations and harshness
Automotive materials and manufacturing
Chassis design
Automotive software and system modeling
Alternative fuels
Hybrid vehicles
Automotive systems
Dynamics, vibration and noise
Engineering design
Energy, thermodynamics, heat transfer and fluid mechanics
Manufacturing and materials
Mechanics of solids and structures
Robotics, automation and controls
Semiconductor physics and nanotechnology
Solar cells

Student housing controversy

In the last week of September 2007, the Durham Regional Police Service entered the homes of university and college students living off campus in search of leasing agreements. The city of Oshawa obtained 17 warrants to search these homes, police and bylaw officers picking the locks and arriving unannounced. This all took place under the suspicion that the residences were illegal boarding houses.

As well the City of Oshawa introduced a new bylaw on February 18, 2008 limiting the number of bedrooms in a rental home to four and forcing landlords to pay a $1,000 fee, driving up the cost of affordable housing for students. The bylaw did not take into account landlords who live on the property, and only pertained to the areas directly surrounding the school. As well families renting to students were exempt from the bylaw.

These actions have been seen by the student community as outright discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

. In an open letter to the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

, Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall

Barbara Hall is a Canadian lawyer, public servant and former politician. She was the 61st mayor of Toronto, the last to run before amalgamation. She was elected mayor of the pre-amalgamation City of Toronto in 1994, and held office until December 31, 1997...

, chief of the Ontario Human Rights Commission

Ontario Human Rights Commission

The Ontario Human Rights Commission was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961 to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code...

, stated "I urge Oshawa City Council members to look closely at what has been proposed, to apply a sound city-wide planning rationale, and to consider the human rights impact of its decision." Many students have seen this as encouragement to file human rights complaints against the city for age discrimination.

Some local residents however, are still unhappy with the growing student population and have also begun protesting of a planned student housing apartment. Accusing the new construction of cramming too many students in too small an area.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology has built a new on-campus residence that houses an additional 350 students.

Student Life

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology is home to a number of fraternities and sororities, both local and international. There is no "Greek row" on campus, nor are the fraternities and sororities formally acknowledged by the University. However, the Greek Council of which nearly all fraternities and sororities are members of are recognized as a club by the Student Association. Its purpose is to educate students on Greek Life at UOIT and Durham College. The University has a fast growing Greek Life considering that it was founded only nine years ago. There are currently two fraternities and two sororities on the campus. Of the approximately 8000 undergraduates, about 170 are currently involved in a Greek Organization. The Greek system at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology has a system of self-government. While there is an executive council, most of the day to day operations of the Greek community are governed by the organizations themselves with a representative from each organization who resides on the Greek Council. Many of the fraternity and sorority houses on campus are located within walking distance of campus. Many of the Greek Organizations often contribute hundreds of volunteer hours and donate thousands of dollars to local charities, caused and clubs. The following organizations can be found below along with their date of founding on campus.

Fraternity:

Tau Kappa Epsilon (2004)
Zeta Psi (2005)

Sorority:

Alpha Sigma Chi (2008)
Alpha Gamma Delta (2009)

Name controversy

Much debate has been made over the name choice of the school as renaming the university has been in review for more than a year. "It's quite confusing to the public because it contains the words 'university' and 'institute' and the public doesn't really understand why it's necessary to have both these words and what the differences are between those two words," says Ron Bordessa, president of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The name also has been part of a legal dispute. Oshawa city counselor Robert Lutczyk "registered a copyright" for the "University of Ontario Institute of Technology" in 2005, and recently tried to forbid several publications from printing the name under threat of legal action. A key election platform of Councillor Lutczyk's bid for mayor in 1991 was the establishment of a university in Oshawa which, at the time, was the largest city in Ontario without its own university.

Campus facilities

Campus Library 2004
Business and Information Technology 2005
Gordon Wiley Building
Science Building 2004
Simcoe Building
Ontario Power Generation Engineering building 2006
University Pavilion (UP Building)
Campus Tennis Centre 2003
Campus Ice Centre 2005
Campus Athletic Centre
Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre 2007
Polonsky Commons
General Motors Automotive Centre of Excellence (2011)
Energy Systems and Nuclear Science Research Centre (2011)

Presidents/Vice-Chancellor

Dr Gary Polonsky
Gary Polonsky
Gary Norman Polonsky was the president of University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College. He is now President Emeritus of UOIT....

2002-2006
Dr Ronald Bordessa
Ronald Bordessa
Ronald Bordessa BA, PhD is the current President Emeritus of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, having served as its President and Vice Chancellor from 2006 to 2011, when on July 1 he was succeeded by Tim McTiernan....

2006–2011
Dr Tim McTiernan 2011-Present

External links

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