Toronto Metropolitan University unveils plan for SCITHub, the 'world’s first fully digitally-enabled building'

2023-12-28T15:49:00-05:00

A new prototype demonstration of different burgeoning smart building technologies is coming to the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University as part of a cross-institutional effort that will result in the construction of a new 3,229-square-foot Smart Campus Integration and Testing Hub (SCITHub) designed by WZMH Architects.

The initiative has been in development since 2019, with a finalized design for the structure submitted two years later, and its construction is now fully funded through a mixture of public grants and private donations that covered the total project cost of about $6 million.

The TMU SCITHub is part of the Network of Living Campuses (NLC), which involves seven other universities across Canada. Researchers are hopeful it will serve as a kind of nexus for the various data-driven investigations into smart building tech that are happening at their respective campuses.

Image courtesy Toronto Metropolitan University

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Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) details the push behind its new name

2022-08-19T18:27:00-04:00

Concerns about the university’s association with and commemoration of Ryerson had been voiced by its Indigenous students, staff and faculty for years. How the university addressed those concerns with statements on its website or revised plaques placed next to Egerton Ryerson’s statue fell short of the steps necessary to speak to his legacy or the continued harm it was causing

Egerton Ryerson’s name is inextricably linked to the legacy of murder and abuse within Canada’s residential schools, as he is often cited as the system’s principal designer through his role as the country’s first Chief Superintendent of Education starting in 1844. This relation made the university a target of a nationwide protest movement which eventually took down a statue of the educator in a well-publicized June 2021 kerfuffle.

The rebranding was the product of a working group called Standing Strong (or Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win) that convened with a 22-strong list of recommendations a year ago. Over 2,000 unique names (including the temporary 'X University' moniker) were considered in a public consultation. Dr. Eva Jewell, an Indigenous faculty member who detailed her own past experiences with racism at the school, tells University Affairs it "signals a willingness to listen and an attentiveness to the issues of our time."

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Toronto Metropolitan University unveils plan for SCITHub, the 'world’s first fully digitally-enabled building'

Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) details the push behind its new name