OCAD University

We invite you for a lecture by the renowned and thought-provoking speaker Lorna Ross, Director of Design at the Center for Innovation, Mayo Clinic. 

Mayo Clinic’s Center for Innovation fuses design principles with the scientific method to uncover human needs in the health care environment, which include empathy, creativity, systems thinking and a human-centered focus. Ross’s role directing the discovery and implementation of transformative, patient-centric care models places her at a critical intersection of design, science, technology and industry, allowing Mayo Clinic to speculate with confidence on the future of health and healthcare.

Arrive early as seating is limited.

Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture series responding to some of the key themes of OCAD's strategic plan, Leading in the Age of Imagination. The President's Lecture Series features speakers who will discuss the impact of art and design on sustainability, aging and wellness, and contemporary ethics.

David Buckland: "Good Planets are Hard to Find - a Cultural Response to Climate Change"
David Buckland is a designer, artist and film-maker whose lens-based works have been exhibited in numerous galleries in London, Paris and New York and collected by the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Getty Collection, Los Angeles amongst others.

Since 2001 Buckland has created and now directs the Cape Farewell project, whose ambition is to bring artists, scientists and educators together to collectively address and raise awareness about climate change. They have sailed on three successful expeditions into the High Arctic aboard the schooner Noorderlicht. The artists have already been the subject of a film for The Culture Show and a BBC documentary. The art resulting from these fruitful journeys is being shown this year at the Natural History Museum, London, the Liverpool Biennial and the Sage Gateshead, Newcastle.

"Although scientists have done a brilliant job in highlighting the causes of climate change the ultimate responsibility rests with all of us and the way we choose to live our lives. Over the past 150 years we have become dependent of a carbon economy to provide our way of life and it is now clearly apparent that this is not sustainable without serious damage to the planet and subsequently human existence. The Cape Farewell project highlights this cultural responsibility and endeavors, through the participation of some of our finest creative minds to create a sustainable global vision that involves all of us. This cultural estate includes the writers Ian McEwan, Vickram Seth; sculptors Antony Gorlmey and Rachel Whiteread; choreographer Siobhan Davies; painter Gary Hume; comic Marcus Brigestocke; film director David Hinton as well as the project director, artist David Buckland.

This talk will present film and stills from the four Arctic expeditions aboard the schooner the Noorderlicht and the subsequent art works, film and writings produced plus the work of our onboard oceanographers and glaciologists. Like our fellow Arctic travelers, become inspired by this sense of adventure and cultural necessity and help give people a vision of optimism and excitement that embraces our future and a climate stabilized planet, the only one we know of that can sustain life.'

As we enter the 21st century the field of architecture is at a crossroads. From Hurricane Katrina to the war in Iraq, large-scale urbanization, disaster and conflict has destabilized not only our political structures but also the built environment prompting many to question the building practices of the past. Is the role of the architect to create the signature monuments that define and exalt our cultural and economic values? Or, is there an alternative path to building in the world today, one that engages people where they live and work and recognizes that sustainability is not a luxury but a necessity?

Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture series responding to some of the key themes of OCAD's strategic plan, Leading in the Age of Imagination. The President's Lecture Series features speakers who will discuss the impact of art and design on sustainability, aging and wellness, and contemporary ethics.

Cameron Sinclair is the co-founder and Executive Director of Architecture for Humanity. He is working on projects ranging from health centers in Sub-Saharan Africa to post-Tsunami reconstruction in South East Asia.

Sinclair is also co-founder of the Open Architecture Network, an online, open source community dedicated to improving living standards around the world. He is the co-editor of Design Like You Give A Damn and a contributing writer for Worldchanging. He was the 2005 Target Emerging Designer of the Year and recipient of the 2006 TED Prize, which honors visionaries from any field who have shown they can 'positively impact life on this planet'.
All are welcome to attend, and admission is free. Limited seating available; guests are advised to arrive early.

Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture series responding to some of the key themes of OCAD's strategic plan, Leading in the Age of Imagination. The President's Lecture Series features speakers who will discuss the impact of art and design on sustainability, aging and wellness, and contemporary ethics.
Gary Clement: "Illustrative Reactivism: Responding to Current Events with a Sharp Pen"
Gary Clement is a writer, illustrator and is Editorial Cartoonist for the National Post. Clement has this to say about Illustrative Reactivism; "By combining journalism, drawing skill and a healthy dose of irreverence, editorial illustrations and political cartoons possess the unique ability to enter public discourse by offering serious opinion camouflaged in satire. While they may not actually directly influence the state of world affairs, they can, on a good day, illuminate obfuscation, expose hypocrisy, question authority and even occasionally come to symbolize a moment in history."

Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture series responding to some of the key themes of OCAD's strategic plan, Leading in the Age of Imagination. The President's Lecture Series features who speakers will discuss the impact of art and design on sustainability, aging and wellness, and contemporary ethics. Beginning with a talk by Dr. Guy Proulx, Director of Psychology at Baycrest, on Nov. 28 at 6:30 pm, the series continues into 2008 with presentations by Cameron Sinclair, Dr. Ron Baecker, David Buckland, Gary Clement and Carol Squiers. All are invited to attend.
Dr. Guy Proulx
The Aging Brain: How Art and Design are Changing the Way We Care
Dr. Guy Proulx is the Director of Psychology at Baycrest, one of the world's premier academic health sciences centers focused on aging. He specializes in the assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive disorders in people who have brain damage.
Dr. Proulx will share how art is a gift providing light and creativity taking dementia out of the darkness of pathology. In his words, 'Memory has evolved as a wonderous time traveling machine that allows us to recapture the past or imagine possible futures. The power of art and environmental design can do much to reduce excessive disability associated with the aging brain and its related diseases. Confused minds are too often the results of disabling environments and crippling attitudes.'

Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) President Sara Diamond invites you to attend a thought-provoking lecture series responding to some of the key themes of OCAD's strategic plan, Leading in the Age of Imagination. The President's Lecture Series features speakers who will discuss the impact of art and design on sustainability, aging and wellness, and contemporary ethics.
Dr. Ron Baecker: "Towards the Design of Electronic Cognitive Prostheses"
Dr. Ronald Baecker is Professor of Computer Science, Bell University Laboratories Chair in Human-Computer Interaction, and founder and Chief Scientist of the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) at the University of Toronto. He is Affiliate Scientist with the Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit of Baycrest, and was recently Visiting Professor, Cognitive Neuroscience, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Dr. Baecker is also Principal Investigator of the CDN$5.5M Canada-wide NSERC Network for Effective Collaboration Technologies through Advanced Research (NECTAR).
In his talk, Dr. Baecker will discuss how technological systems can function as cognitive prostheses. For example, existing cell phone and PDA software helps manage and access addresses, phone numbers, and appointments, but has only limited and rigid functionality. The goal of his research project is to envision, prototype, design, construct, and evaluate more powerful and flexible electronic cognitive aids. These should help people, including individuals who are aging and who have cognitive impairments, carry out activities of daily living; remember and use names, faces, and appointments; find objects of importance, such as glasses, wallets, and keys; understand and remember procedural instructions, such as taking medications; reminisce about meaningful aspects of their lives; and communicate with distant loved ones.

Have you ever noticed that there are certain people who seem to get ahead just a bit faster than everyone else?

24 year old entrepreneur Brian Wong is one of these people, having graduated from college by age 18, and raised $24 million in venture capital to start his own company before he turned 25, Wong has grown that company into a global mobile advertising giant in just 4 years.

His secret? The Cheat Code.

Join moderator John Albright of Relay Ventures, Inc., to hear Kiip CEO and The Cheat Code author Brian Wong, speak this October 19, 2016 at OCAD University. Wong will discuss his journey as an entrepreneur from the early days — six years ago — until today. He will discuss specific "cheat codes" of how to get ahead, the trials and tribulations of being a young entrepreneur and CEO, and what you can do today to make your tomorrow that much more successful.

Brian's appearance is co-presented by Relay Ventures, Inc. and OCAD University's President's Speaker Series.

About Kiip and Brian Wong

Kiip (pronounced “keep”) redefines how brands connect with consumers through a rewards platform that targets “achievement moments” in mobile games and apps. This innovative approach to mobile marketing creates meaningful engagements between users, developers and advertisers. Backed by Hummer Winblad, Relay Ventures, True Ventures, Digital Garage and others, the company has raised over $32 million in funding to date.

Kiip has been recognized by Forbes as one of the “4 Hot Online Ad Companies to Put on Your Watch List,” named on the Dow Jones “FasTech50” and listed on

Fast Company’s “50 Most Innovative Companies.” Once the youngest person to ever receive venture capital funding, Wong received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia at age 18, after skipping four K12 grades.

Wong has been recognized with many awards for his accomplishments and leadership, including:

● One of Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20”

● Business Insider’s “Top 25 Under 25 in Silicon Valley,” “30 Under 30 in Advertising” and “18 Most Important People in Mobile Advertising”

● Forbes’ “30 under 30” for three years

● Mashable’s “Top 5 Entrepreneurs to Watch”

● iMedia “25”

● AdAge “Creativity Top 50”

Before starting Kiip, Wong led key publisher and tech partnerships at the social news website Digg.com, where he accelerated the company’s mobile presence by launching the Digg Android mobile app.

Wong is launching his first book, The Cheat Code, in September 2016. The Cheat Code is 71 bite-sized and virtually effortless shortcuts to get a leg up on the competition, garner attention for creative thinkers and their ideas, and to accelerate success.