Sheridan’s people receive Awards of Excellence for pandemic response efforts

Six Minister of College and Universities’ (MCU) Awards of Excellence have been presented to Sheridan people for their spirited contributions on campus, in the community, and beyond, during the pandemic. The recipients include the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT) team, Michelle Candelaria, Dr. Andy Alubaidy, Dr. Ed Sykes, Dr. Tarek El Salti, and Donna Braggins and the Virtual Internship Program team.

Awards of Excellence shine a spotlight on the work being done by professors and instructors at Ontario’s postsecondary institutions to address COVID-19-related problems. The awards were open to 24 public colleges and 22 universities and more than 200 submissions were received. From those, 39 awards were presented, including Sheridan’s six.

“I am so proud of Sheridan’s everyday heroes, who continue to demonstrate remarkable agility, resolve and compassion,” said President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Janet Morrison. “Since March, our community has worked tirelessly to make meaningful contributions to our communities amid the ongoing pandemic. We are thrilled to have them recognized for their achievements.”

Minister of Colleges and Universities, the Honourable Ross Romano, whose office administered the awards program, said: "At Sheridan College, professors and instructors created PPE to meet supply-chain demands, developed engaging online early-childhood education programming, designed virtual labs and internships so students could complete their hands-on coursework, and implemented systems to monitor COVID-19 cases across Canada. I am incredibly proud of the work that Sheridan has done."

Learn more about Sheridan’s award recipients as well as their valued community contributions below.

CAMDT Team
Sheridan's team in the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT) has been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to address supply chain issues by fabricating personal protective equipment (PPE). Using the on-campus research centre's cutting-edge equipment, an on- and off-site team have been securing materials, creating designs in consultation with the Toronto Emergency Device Accelerator and clinicians, and developing industry connections to ensure a far-reaching impact. The team has made 1,000 ear-savers and 1,900 foldable face shields, which have been delivered to local hospitals and long-term care homes in Sheridan's three campus home communities including Brampton, Mississauga and Oakville.

Read about Sheridan’s collaborations with Coca-Cola and Coke Canada Bottling to produce face shields for small businesses and food bank volunteers.

Michelle Candelaria
When the pandemic forced the closure of Sheridan's two Child Care Centre lab schools, Sheridan alumna and Child Care Centre instructor Michelle Candelaria found a way to stay connected to children and provide educational content. She began recording a series of videos from her home called ‘Music & Fun with Michelle’. The videos include story time, wellness activities, songs, dancing and crafting.

Dr. Andy Alubaidy
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and Technology professor Dr. Andy Alubaidy recently created a custom-built virtual lab for second-year Electromechanical Engineering Technology advanced diploma students, simulating the hands-on experiences they would receive in his Instrumentation and Process Control course. The virtual replication of the C-138 lab at Sheridan’s Davis Campus was piloted to approximately 80 students during the spring/summer semester.

Dr. Ed Sykes and Dr. Tarek El Salti
Principal Investigators Dr. Edward Sykes, Director of the Centre for Mobile Innovation, and Dr. Tarek El Salti, Professor in the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, are collaborating with industry partner Tech4Life. The research project will develop a point-of-care self-assessment and monitoring system for COVID-19 through the reconfiguration of their existing mobile health system, NewPneu, which was initially designed to assist in pneumonia assessment in children. This new system will provide real-time vital signs monitoring of individuals who test positive for the virus, as well as supporting triaging of potential cases that require hospital referral for further management and diagnosis.

Donna Braggins and the Virtual Internship Program Team
Sheridan College’s inaugural Virtual Internship Program (VIP) was an initiative developed to quickly respond to challenges surrounding work-integrated learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Developed by the college’s Career-Integrated Learning (CIL) department in collaboration with Sheridan’s Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design (FAAD) and Entrepreneurship Discovery and Growth Engine (EDGE) hub, the VIP provided Sheridan’s degree students with various remote and virtual internship opportunities, helped community partners resolve pandemic-related issues, and was a key contributor towards a total of nearly 250 paid internship positions created by the college this summer. The VIP virtual celebration also showcased the work done by students in the program’s unique Innovation Accelerator stream, led in part by Donna Braggins, which engaged students in a facilitated 10-week interdisciplinary project to develop solutions to pandemic-related challenges faced by one of the VIP’s four community collaborators.

Photo Top Right: (from left to right, clockwise: Ramzy Ganady, part of the winning team from Sheridan’s Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies, Michelle Candelaria, Dr. Andy Alubaidy, Donna Braggins, Dr. Tarek El Salti, Dr. Ed Sykes)