Media releases

• Brock prof recognized internationally for innovative teaching

  Friday, May 20, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R000107, 18 May 2016

  Brock University Professor David Hutchison is one of just five Canadian university professors in 2016 to receive one of the country’s most significant awards for innovative teaching.

  Hutchison’s inventive approach to teaching through project-based learning earned him a Brightspace Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, the same organization that awards the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowship.

  He is the first Brock professor to receive the Brightspace award.

  Hutchison, Director of Brock University’s Centre for Digital Humanities and Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, said he’s honoured by the recognition and credits the cross-faculty support he has had at Brock when it comes to innovative teaching.

  “Brock is really supportive of experimentation and has supports for innovative teaching and also collaboration,” he said.

  “What’s unique about what I’m doing is that I’m a certified project manager. I apply project management skills to my work related to project-based learning.”

  Hutchison said project-based learning is a collaborative approach that focuses on transferable learning skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking.

  “Project-based learning empowers learners to collaborate in teams — mentored by their teachers — as they research real-world questions, pose solutions to real-world problems and design real-world products,” he explained.

  Hutchison, who is currently a Chancellor’s Chair for Teaching Excellence grant holder, is spearheading the new Brock University Design Studio (BUDS). BUDS brings teams of students together from different Brock programs to work on projects such as the IBM-sponsored Arduino rover project.

  Hutchison is director of Brock’s Interactive Arts and Science program, which offers a number of project-based courses and this fall is launching a new second-year class called Foundations of Project Management.

  Hutchison is one of five post-secondary educators being recognized with the Brightspace award.

  “These five educators demonstrate the impact and importance of creativity on learning. Each of these award winners has had a measurable and lasting impact on learners through unique and innovative approaches to teaching and learning,“ said STLHE president Robert Lapp. “STLHE is proud to partner with Brightspace to encourage and support student-centered values and approaches to learning.”

  The winners will be recognized at the 2016 STLHE Annual Conference, June 21-24 in London, Ont. and at FUSION, Brightspace’s Global Conference, July 22-26 in Orlando, Fla.

  Prof. David Hutchison is available for media interviews by contacting dhutchison@brocku.ca.
  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Erica Bajer, Writer/Editor, Brock University ebajer@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x4420

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock University wine researchers headed to Parliament Hill

  Wednesday, May 18, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00105, 17 May 2016
  Brock University — Communications & Public Affairs
   

  Jeff Stuart and his team of research students from Brock University in St. Catharines will showcase industry-changing grape research in an event on Parliament Hill this week.

  Stuart, a biologist in Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), has partnered with Niagara-based company Sweet and Sticky to research ways of fortifying the company’s ice syrups, a non-alcoholic product made from icewine grapes that is sold as a gourmet ingredient throughout the world.

  After a similar presentation at Queen’s Park in February, Stuart along with Brock student researchers Breanne Gillie and Shehab Selim, and Sweet and Sticky president Steve Murdza, will take part in a university research showcase event in Ottawa Wednesday, May 18 organized by Research Matters.

  Stuart says he’s looking forward to talking about the research.
  “The project received almost $50,000 in funding from the Ontario and federal governments, so it’s important to show that the investment produced results.”

  The University/industry collaboration is studying how to introduce resveratrol and other polyphenols extracted from grape skins into the company’s non-alcoholic products. Resveratrol, which is found in wine, has been shown to slow the growth of cancer cells and tumours.

  But, “in ice syrup, the levels of resveratrol and related molecules are lower, because it’s not a fermentation process, so there is no alcohol and therefore lower solubility of the molecules of interest,” explains Stuart. “Our challenge was to increase these levels.”

  To increase the concentration of the molecules in ice syrup, Stuart and his team came up with the idea of using a tasteless carrier molecule.

  “One resveratrol molecule fits neatly inside the carrier molecule’s structure and there it is shielded from water while the outside structure of the carrier is interacting with the surrounding water,” he says.

  The carrier molecule’s structure is shaped like a donut or a life preserver, which has the added benefit of protecting resveratrol during the initial stages of digestion.

  “This is a way to go from having relatively low levels of these resveratrol molecules in ice syrup to having potentially more than is found in any wines,” explains Stuart.

  More testing is needed before the Brock innovation makes its way into Sweet and Sticky’s products, “but the preliminary results are promising and the research continues to be funded to progress toward commercialization,” he says.

  In addition to the importance of research and development work happening in Niagara, Stuart says the project is “really about job creation.

  “If we are successful and develop new products, the company will need to recruit and employ more people,” he says.

  The research team’s visit to Parliament Hill in Ottawa is part of Research Matters’ Pop-Up Research Park, an annual event in which researchers from universities across Ontario showcase their work to MPs and staff.

  Stuart, Gillie, Selim and Murdza are all available to speak with the media in Niagara or Ottawa this week.
  
  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
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  Categories: Media releases