An exceptional month begins for SHAD participants at Lakehead University
This year’s group of SHAD students comes to Lakehead University from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.
July 4, 2016 – Thunder Bay, ON
Debbie Dada considers herself a world changer.
The Grade 11 student from Weston Collegiate Institute in Toronto is one of 65 of the top high school students from across Canada who are participating in SHAD at Lakehead University.
One example of change she’d like to make would help reduce the high infant mortality rate in developing countries like Mali and Afghanistan. Dada has already done research on global health and she is trying to find creative ways to approach the issue.
“I hope to combat this with innovative research in the field of medicine,” she said.
These students, who competed for coveted positions at SHAD, arrived on campus July 3 and will live in residence until July 29, attending lectures and participating in workshops put on by Lakehead faculty.
Another one of Dada’s passions involves helping young people. She and a colleague are in the process of creating a grassroots organization called Find Your Path, which aims to close the gaps in student achievement by creating programs and opportunities to support marginalized youth.
Find Your Path was also the name of an event Dada organized in March that inspired young people to aim high academically and professionally by helping them understand that they have potential. It educated youth about the opportunities available to them.
This is Dada’s first time in Thunder Bay. She’s confident she will gain a lot from SHAD.
“I hope to learn more about science, technology, engineering, and math fields, beyond what I've been exposed to through school and my own research,” she said.
“SHAD is a very unique program because it gathers together many high achieving young people and allows us to grow and learn from one another, which will undoubtedly help us be successful in our individual future goals.”
The program specializes in STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and math) and is for students currently completing grade 10, 11 or 12, Quebec secondaire IV, V or CEGEP I, or the international equivalent.
“SHAD is an exceptional experience for students,” said Dr. Sultan Siddiqui, Mechanical Engineering Professor and Director of SHAD Lakehead. “This program encourages them to work together and think outside the box to solve problems.”
This year’s group is coming from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.
“It is an honour to be heading up an organization that is doing such important work for Canada at SHAD Lakehead and our 11 other host campuses,” said Tim Jackson, SHAD’s recently-appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.
“By exposing high achieving high school students to great ideas from leading faculty and some of the world’s biggest challenges, the students are inspired by the SHAD network to start making an impact now,” Jackson added.
SHAD has a formidable track record as an incubator fostering leaders in many different areas. It has 15,000 alumni among its powerful network including 30 Rhodes Scholars.
In one of the unique elements at SHAD, each year, youth are challenged to innovate on a specific theme, built around a current economic and social problem.
SHAD youth, working in small teams, collaborate to design and engineer a new solution that addresses the problem. As part of this challenge, teams conduct market research, write business and marketing plans, and design and build working prototypes. For more information, please visit www.shad.ca.
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Media: For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media Relations Officer, at (807) 343-8372, or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Or Teddy Katz, Vice President, Media Relations, SHAD at (647) 505-8095 or teddy@shad.ca.
Lakehead University has about 9,700 full-time equivalent students and 2,000 faculty and staff in 10 faculties at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead is a fully comprehensive university: home to Ontario’s newest Faculty of Law in 44 years, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and faculties of Engineering, Business Administration, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management, Education, and Graduate Studies.
Maclean’s 2016 University Rankings place Lakehead University second in Ontario and among Canada’s Top 10 undergraduate universities, and first among Ontario’s undergraduate universities for Total Research Dollars, Social Sciences & Humanities Grants, and Library Expenses. In 2015, Re$earch Infosource ranked Lakehead first among Canada’s undergraduate universities.
Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.