Engineering & Human Environment

Thursday October 26, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. Ken Bousfield, Partner at Bereskin & Parr LLP, will be presenting “History of Technological Innovation: The First Revolution in Information Technology”. Day & Time: Thursday October 26, 2017 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Speaker: Ken Bousfield, B.A.Sc., LL.B Partner at Bereskin & Parr LLP Location: Sidney Smith Hall, Room 1074 University of Toronto 100 St. George Street, Toronto, M5S 3G3 Contact: Emanuel Istrate Organizers: IEEE Toronto Engineering and Human Environment Chapter in collaboration with the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto Abstract: Using the invention of the printing press as a starting point, this fast-paced presentation traces technological developments in the spread of information, and the larger economic consequences flowing from that development. More than five hundred years ago, an inventor in the information technology sector saw a business opportunity in an unmet economic need. The IT start-up he founded became an agent of profound change. The obstacles encountered by the inventor continue to face IT start-up ventures today. The rapid spread of printing transformed the process of accumulation, organisation, preservation and dissemination of knowledge. It had, and still has, effects on every field of human endeavour, whether in commerce, education, science and engineering, or arts and literature. This presentation discusses the pre-existing technology, the change in technology, the further changes driven by the original innovation, and the effects of that technological change. Join us for an entertaining, thought-provoking presentation that identifies important lessons for innovation in a knowledge-based society. Biography: Ken Bousfield, P.Eng., LL.B (Toronto); B.A. Sc. (Mech. Eng., Waterloo) is a partner at Bereskin & Parr, a firm specializing in Intellectual Property Law. He has been a patent lawyer for 23 years. He has had a life-long interest in the history of technological innovation.

Friday April 5th, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Omar Malik, Founder of Eureka Six Sigma, will be presenting “Business Problem Solving”. Day & Time: Friday April 5th, 2019 5:00 p.m. ‐ 7:00 p.m. Speaker: Omar Malik Founder of Eureka Six Sigma Organizers: IEEE Toronto Engineering and Human Environment Joint Chapter Location: Room Number: BA 4287 40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4 Contact: Muthanna Al-Khishali, Ph.D., SMIEEE, LSSYB Register: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/meeting_registration/register/196248 Abstract: We are drowned in an ocean of problems at work and life. These problems force us to take decisions on a daily basis which are strongly influenced by multitude of factors such as past experience, exposure, cognitive biases, personal relevance, status and age etc. The outcome of decisions affects a multitude of customers and users etc., many of which may be unhappy with the final result. If we have to consider errors in judgment and unreliable decision making, we will find roots in poorly scoping, understanding, defining elaborating and analyzing problems. We are going through an important technological and organizational change in the workplace. There is a need to: bridge the gap and focus on engineering science and technical courses integrated with industrial practice and upgrading engineering curricula to help students transition from a project based to a problem-based learning. Agenda: * 90 minutes Lecturing on: – Problem solving – Root Finding – Decision making * 30 minutes Q&A Biography: Omar Malik is founder of Eureka Six Sigma – a prime corporate training, certification and consulting company. In the past 10 years, Omar has spearheaded major change and continuous improvement initiatives in manufacturing, services & technology industries in North America. He is the creator of a 5 steps problem solving framework known as OUI-SI. In this session Omar is going to present and introduce various OUI-SI steps that can enable engineering and business executives to problem solve in any business environment. Omar teaches lean six sigma, quality, and process excellence etc. at University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. He is recipient of ‘The excellence in teaching award’ and can be reached at malikom@eurekasixsigma.com