Women in Engineering

Saturday Dec 1, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. Reza Dibaj, Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section, will be presenting an IEEE Toronto Centennial Workshop: “Distributed Machine Learning, The Future of Programming in The Present”. Day & Time: Saturday December 1st, 2018 5:30 p.m. ‐ 6:30 p.m. Speaker: Reza Dibaj Chair of Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Section Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, IEEE Toronto Centennial College Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto Location: Room A3-17 Centennial College, Progress Campus 941 Progress Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M1G 3T8 Contact: Reza Dibaj Abstract: Machine Learning (ML) and statistical techniques have provided a new era that enables us to convert the data to information and transform the information into actionable knowledge. Moreover, distributed computing ecosystems provide the ability to break down the computation burdens among commodity hardware, thanks to cloud environments. Among all the attempts in this road, SciKit and TensorFlow are two states of the art libraries that can be used in Python and this seminar will open the gate to know their bases.

Monday December 10th, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Amir Shabani, Ph.D., P.Eng., Canada Industrial Research Chair (IRCC) in Smart Connected Buildings, will be presenting “Smart Connected Buildings Form the Foundation of Smart City: Today’s Possibility, Tomorrow’s Necessity”. Day & Time: Monday December 10th, 2018 1:00 p.m. ‐ 2:00 p.m. Speaker: Amir Shabani, Ph.D., P.Eng. Canada Industrial Research Chair (IRCC) in Smart Connected Buildings Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto Location: Ryerson University, Department of Computer Science, Room 288 George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre 245 Church Street Toronto, ON M5B 2K3 Contact: Reza Dibaj Abstract: Have you ever been or worked in a space/classroom that the air was not fresh enough, too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer? Have you ever wondered why even a brand new LEED-certified building is not smart enough and does not let the occupants control their environment, in terms of temperature, lighting et cetera. This presentation aims to provide some insights on the challenges the current industry of building automation is facing and the opportunities that the new advancement such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Adaptive Machine Learning (AML) could bring to this industry to make buildings smarter and sociable. In the context of smart city, rather than buildings being primarily treated as loads, intelligent buildings play a significant role in saving energy and improving the comfort and productivity of the occupants; emphasizing the needs for buildings to be social: interact with occupants, share data with each other, learn from each other, and help each other. Biography: Dr. Amir Shabani is the NSERC Industrial Research Chair (IRCC) in Smart Connected Buildings. He is the director of Intelligent Building Automation Systems (IBAS) lab at George Brown College, Toronto, where his research team is closely collaborating with industry leaders on deployment, assessment, and development of new technologies that make homes and buildings smarter and social.

Friday December 14th, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Laleh Farhadi, MSc Urban and Regional Planning, will be presenting “Rethink Cities – A FIDIC/EFCA White Paper on Sustainable Urban Development”. Day & Time: Friday December 14th, 2018 1:00 p.m. ‐ 2:00 p.m. Speaker: Laleh Farhadi, MSc Urban and Regional Planning Organizers: Magnetics Chapter, WIE IEEE Toronto Location: Ryerson University, Victoria Building (VIC) 285 Victoria St., 7th Floor, Room 736 (conference room) Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W1 Contact: Reza Dibaj Abstract: Today, over half of the world’s population lives in cities covering 2- 3 % of the Earth’s land area, using 75 % of all energy and emitting 80% of all carbon dioxide. Infrastructure investments in many countries and cities are not at a desirable level or they are steered in the wrong direction while many cities are growing faster geographically than population-wise. Society has to rethink cities. The FIDIC White Paper addresses the need of evolving resource efficiency in cities with increased focus on planning and making socially and economically attractive areas, well-functioning spatial structures and energy efficient systems. To meet the increasingly complex challenges of cities, holistic and integrated approach is needed and rightly applied regarding emissions, climate, resilience, climate risks, flooding, biodiversity, energy and material use, improved quality of life and social responsibility. Biography: Laleh Farhadi is an Urban Planner, internationally experienced in both private and public sectors on different types of plans and projects related to the city and its ongoing challenges. During a project in Consulting Engineering Firm, while reviewing and providing feedback for a FIDIC White Paper called “Rethink Cities”, she faced the fact that the total built environment (not just the individual buildings) requires sustainable overall solutions that form synergies in solutions for society, buildings, infrastructure, and technical systems. This presentation based on FIDIC/ EFCA White Paper is a step forward to this knowledge and responsibility sharing with the hope of professional cooperation among various effecting fields in the city.