The IT@UofT 2025 conference will offer many opportunities to learn and network with the tri-campus IT@UofT community, including keynote presentations, breakout sessions and more.

IT@UofT 2025 information desk

If you have questions during the conference, visit the information desk to speak with our volunteers and conference organizers.

May 6

7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

May 7

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

SHI Canada

Sponsor expo

Visit our sponsors to learn about their latest products.

May 6

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

May 7

9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

May 6, 2025

Time

Location

Activity

7:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

Registration

8:45 – 8:50 a.m.

Convocation Hall

Opening remarks from IT@UofT co-chair Professor Susan McCahan, Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, Digital Strategies and Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education

8:50 – 9 a.m.

Convocation Hall

Remarks from Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships & Vice-Provost, Academic Operations

9 – 9:05 a.m.

Convocation Hall

Welcome from IT@UofT co-chair Dr. Donna K. Kidwell, CIO, ITS

9:05 – 10:05 a.m.

Convocation Hall

Keynote: AI for everyone: Rethinking inclusion in the age of intelligent technology
Beth Rudden, CEO and Chairwoman of Bast AI

10:05 – 10:25 a.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

Refreshment break

10:25 – 11:15 a.m.

Breakout session block 1

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1170

Enhancing security visibility across campuses: Leveraging federated SIEM at U of T
Speakers:
  • Deyves Fonseca, Acting Chief Information Security Officer
  • Akshat Mishra, Information Security Program Manager, Information & Instructional Technology Services (I&ITS), University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

This presentation explores the strategic implementation of federated Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems within the University of Toronto. We often face complex IT environments with decentralized networks, three campuses and diverse user bases. A federated SIEM architecture offers a scalable and collaborative approach to centralizing security monitoring while respecting local autonomy.

Attendees will gain insights into how recent efforts to improve SIEM have enhanced threat detection and incident response across departments and institutions. The session will highlight key benefits—such as enhanced threat intelligence sharing, reduced duplication of effort, provincial partnership with ORION and improved resource utilization—as well as common challenges, including integration hurdles and policy alignment.

Common examples and use cases will be discussed to demonstrate practical applications and offer guidance to U of T departments considering a federated model. This presentation will offer valuable strategies for strengthening cyber security in the collaborative landscape of U of T.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

Sensitive research computing with SciNet4Health
Speakers:
  • Shawn Winnington-Ball, Manager, Information System Security, SciNet, Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation (VPRI)
  • Yohai Meiron, Scientific Applications Analyst, SciNet, VPRI

This presentation introduces a secure computing enclave at SciNet High Performance Computing Consortium. Code-named S4H, this environment is already available at U of T as a pilot project. S4H aims to meet researchers’ needs for hosting and working with sensitive data, which SciNet’s main cluster, Trillium, does not accommodate. Presenters will explain how S4H data are encrypted at rest and access is hardened, and what that means in practice. They will discuss providing isolation for different research groups on a shared system, and explore the components that make it possible (e.g., key management and containerization mechanisms).

Focus will then shift to adoption of the Cyber Security Maturity Model Certification, including deciphering the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-171 control set’s complexities, developing metadata for organizing remediation efforts and crafting plans of action and milestones for compliance gaps. Future steps include internal and external assessments to verify compliance, with the eventual goal of being certified to host personal health information and sensitive industrial data.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1240

Digitization at University of Toronto Libraries: Creating a collection for 21st century scholarship

Speaker: Stephen Marks, Digital Preservation Librarian, University of Toronto Libraries (UTL)

This presentation will highlight UTL’s digitization program, with a focus on the following aspects:

  1. An overview of the technical stack and outputs.
  2. Highlights from some recent digitized collections.
  3. A discussion of what avenues of scholarship are supported by an increasingly digital collection.

The presentation will conclude with some information about how to access digitized collections, as well as how to engage with UTL to digitize new collections of interest.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 330

So you use ServiceNow (ESC), now what? How to build an ESC dashboard workspace
Speakers:
  • Esther Simmonds-MacAdam, Service Management Program Lead, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS), Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Vince Borghese, Manager, Client Success and Service Delivery, EIS, ITS, St. George

Are you an IT lead in your unit with ServiceNow (ESC) notifications filling your inbox? Can’t find your ESC tickets when you need them? Wish you could see all work in one place? You need one fulfiller license (or more for your team!) and an ESC dashboard workspace. In this workshop, presenters will demonstrate how to set up a dashboard that maps to your workflow so you and your team can visualize, prioritize and complete work together.

A practical “how-to,” this session will set your team up for success. You will leave with a playbook for:

  1. Setting up your services in “Get Help” and “Request Something” so that your users can find your services.
  2. Setting up your teams in Categories and Assignment Groups so that they can fulfill requests with minimal distractions.
  3. Setting up an ESC dashboard workspace that pairs your services with your teams so that they can fulfill work effectively.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 360

You can lead people to automation and you can also get people to automate
Speakers:
  • HY Luo, Product Delivery Lead, Information & Instructional Technology Services (I&ITS), University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)
  • Dennis Perkovic, Digital Workplace Specialist, I&ITS, UTM

This presentation is designed for anyone looking to streamline their workflows and elevate productivity without the need for coding skills. Presenters will spend a little bit of time diving into the core functionalities of Microsoft Power Automate, covering the basics of how this cloud-based tool allows users to effortlessly create workflows, collect data and refine processes across a multitude of applications.

But more importantly: presenters will share valuable insights drawn from their experiences at UTM, discussing the challenges and wins of their growing adoption, including user resistance and overcoming the fear of change. Presenters will also emphasize the importance of understanding user needs and providing tailored support to foster growth.

11:15 – 11:20 a.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium / Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Break

11:20 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.

Breakout session block 2

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1160

Exploring AI adoption in higher education: Insights from an environmental scan
Speakers:
  • Avi Hyman, Director, Academic, Research & Collaborative (ARC) Technologies, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Jianheng Chen, ARC Analyst (Practicum) and Master of Information Candidate
  • Haoyu Tan, ARC Analyst (Practicum) and Master of Information Candidate

This session will explore the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools within universities worldwide, highlighting varying policies and practices. The presentation will introduce the project assisting the University of Toronto in adopting AI, share key findings from an extensive environmental scan and explore the types of tools being used, the nature of contracts and applications within educational settings.

Participants will gain insights into the differing policies regarding AI usage, with a focus on data security measures and AI in research. For instance, universities in Asia and Australia exhibit stringent restrictions, whereas South American ones demonstrate more lenient approaches. Comprehensive data policies are observed in North America compared to less detailed documentation in other regions.

By comparing tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, the session will highlight users’ preferences and experiences, explore the disparity between the tools approved by universities and those popular among individuals, and have attendees share their experiences with various AI tools. This interactive session will equip participants with a deeper understanding of global trends and the implications for AI integration in academia.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1170

From regulation to risk: Privacy rollbacks and how the US is reshaping data security
Speakers:
  • Michael Laurentius, Research Information Security Specialist, Information Security, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Carl Chan, Manager, Visibility and Infrastructure, Information Security, ITS
  • Ashley Langille, Business & Privacy Analyst, Information Security, ITS

As US federal policy shifts and privacy regulations weaken, universities face growing challenges in securing sensitive data and protecting academic freedom. Canadian institutions collaborate with US researchers, store data on US-based cloud platforms, and use AI tools subject to American legal jurisdiction—all while facilitating the cross-border exchange of people and information in the open pursuit of knowledge. These connections expose institutions to evolving privacy risks, regulatory uncertainty and potential data security vulnerabilities.

This session will examine real-world case studies, explore the broader implications of these changes and discuss potential strategies for mitigating these risks. With regulations falling away to introduce additional risk to teaching, learning and research, how do we stay secure in a period of growing uncertainty and dissolving trust?

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

Live data, low code, high results: Automating balance of degree fee assessment with Microsoft Power BI and Azure Logic Apps
Speakers:
  • Chris Klammer, Technology Adoption Consultant (Systems/Data Integration), Education Commons, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
  • Josie Lalonde, Director, Student Experience, Registrar’s Office and Student Experience, OISE

This presentation will detail leveraging low-code solutions supported by live data in modernizing an administrative business process. Until recently, staff in OISE’s Registrar’s Office and Student Experience (ROSE) assessed graduating students’ Balance of Degree (BoD) fees and produced statements manually, requiring significant time and effort.

Live ROSI data through a ROSI-Replica connection in Power BI allowed staff to generate this document near-instantly with up-to-date fields for any given student. Beyond that, staff leveraged low-code Azure Logic Apps to automate the generation of hundreds of these documents in the span of minutes. This innovative solution reduces costs and environmental impact because the cloud infrastructure only “exists” (and is only billed) during the time it’s running for each session. There is otherwise no cost or environmental impact. This workflow is the first of many that OISE’s Education Commons seeks to automate with low-code solutions, collaborating with OISE departments. Presenters will share the lessons they’ve learned and opportunities for future development and collaboration.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1210

Optimizing 3D printing services at University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Library: Resource management and student learning opportunities
Speakers:
  • Theingi Zaw, Web Developer, UTM Library
  • Michael Serafin, Librarian, UTM Library
  • Yuening Chen, Student Employee, UTM Library

The Digital Exploration Lab at the UTM Library provides 3D printing services that support teaching, learning and research by supplying 3D printers and filament materials, as well as conducting workshops and training. Efficiently managing this service requires balancing student worker schedules, printer availability and filament supplies while also creating learning opportunities for student workers during non-peak service periods.

Presenters will discuss how they integrated data from the LibCal REST API (3D printer reservations) to create a booking dashboard for student employee access and used Microsoft Shifts (student worker scheduling) to improve scheduling, planning and communication of hours based on booking patterns. The team also integrated data into Power BI to build a lab performance dashboard to gain insights into lab supplies and resource allocation, optimize operations and provide students with hands-on learning opportunities.

This session will share how to optimize operations, enhance service and improve student engagement within maker-spaces and libraries.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1240

MarkUs and the future of grading

Speaker: Donny Wong, Teaching Applications Technical Lead, Department of Computer Science

MarkUs continues to evolve to be a quality tool to support marking for instructors and teaching assistants. It was originally designed for both coding and written assignments in the University of Toronto’s Department of Computer Science (DCS). Since then, it has expanded to other disciplines at U of T, such as statistics, data science and chemistry. Instructors across these disciplines have utilized the auto-grading feature in MarkUs, which will be presented in this session.

To ensure students understand the subject without external aids (including generative AI), the DCS has also implemented in-person computer-based testing with MarkUs, allowing instructors to confirm students’ understanding of concepts. Presenters will explain their approach for implementing this form of course assessment. Finally, this session will cover a preliminary feature staff are exploring in MarkUs, which is the possibility of incorporating AI feedback for student assignments.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 360

Apple Intelligence and AI at work

Speaker: Kelli Conlin, Consulting Engineer, Apple
This session is brought to you by Apple, a gigabyte sponsor.

Learn how Apple’s innovative hardware is ready for machine learning and AI workflows today, how Apple Intelligence features will supercharge business productivity and how customers can build intelligent apps with Apple’s AI and ML tools.

12:10 – 1:10 p.m.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Lobby and Lee & Margaret Lau Auditorium (Myhal 150)

Lunch

1:10 – 2 p.m.

Breakout session block 3

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1160

Learning from each other: Insights to action in DAI-IRSA
Panelists:
  • Andrew Arifuzzaman, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Office of Business, Operations and Strategic Affairs, University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC)
  • Zoran Piljevic, Senior Director, Technology and Business Transformation, UTSC
  • Maya Churbaji, CAO, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
  • Sebastian Bisciglia, Director, Information and Learning Technology, Faculty of Music
  • Gina John, CAO, Faculty of Law
  • Adrian Balaura, Director, Technology Services, Faculty of Law
Moderators:
  • Kiren Handa, Executive Director, Institutional Research & Data Governance
  • Kalyani Khati, Associate Director, Information Security Strategic Initiatives, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Kanupriya Kejriwal, Manager, Information Security Risk, ITS

This panel aims to address feedback from participants in the Data Asset Inventory and Information Risk Self-Assessment program (DAI-IRSA) who expressed interest in learning about the program’s implementation across different units, the use of inventories and assessments and the involvement of unit leadership in risk management discussions. This panel will share best practices, challenges and successful approaches to completing the DAI-IRSA and using the results for decision-making and improvement.

The panel will consist of DAI-IRSA leads and their unit heads, moderated by representatives from the sponsoring offices. Discussion topics include:

  • Completing the inventory and self-assessment: Tips for efficiency and improvement.
  • Reporting results to leadership: Approaches to summarizing results and formulating recommendations.
  • Applying insights: Usage for onboarding, data management and future planning.

The session will conclude with audience Q&A and moderator remarks. This panel will engage a wide range of participants, including those who have already participated in the program, those who have recently joined the program and potential future participants.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

Embedding AI in the workflow: Lessons from a year with EISgpt

Speaker: Jose Manuel Lopez Lujan, Manager, Servers, Storage & Virtualization, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS), Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George

The best AI support doesn’t feel like AI—it feels like things just work. This session tells the story of how the ITS Private Cloud service quietly revolutionized its support experience with generative AI. One year after deploying EISgpt across self-serve tools, AI has reduced friction, surfaced the right answers and bridged gaps in a decentralized knowledge environment. The presenter will walk you through their team’s journey: how they chose and trained models, connected AI to their documentation and created specialized assistants for key workflows. Along the way, the speaker will share real results—time saved, questions answered and lessons learned—offering a blueprint for others looking to build sustainable AI-augmented support.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1210

Vulnerability management with ServiceNow

Speaker: Akshat Mishra, Information Security Program Manager, Information & Instructional Technology Services (I&ITS), University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

This session will describe how UTM’s I&ITS integrated its vulnerability management solution (Tenable) with its workflow management solution (ServiceNow) to enable automation in creating tickets, assignment, investigation, mitigation and closure of critical and high vulnerabilities that have been identified through regular scanning of a vulnerability management solution. This integration has brought great benefits in dealing with a large volume of vulnerabilities, the frequently changing states of these vulnerabilities, prioritization and the end-to-end management of these vulnerabilities, thereby improving the effectiveness and efficiency of security operations.

This presentation will focus on an overview of vulnerability management application in ServiceNow, the high level technical details of Tenable and ServiceNow integration, a description of the information that is brought from Tenable into ServiceNow, the logic of automated changes in vulnerability states in ServiceNow, the flow of vulnerabilities until they are mitigated and planned improvements in further optimizing this integration in future.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1240

Onboarding Navigator: A tech-driven approach
Speakers:
  • Belinda McKay, Executive Assistant, Information Security, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Kristine Antony, Junior Business Analyst, Information Security, ITS

Universities often have complex and varying contractor onboarding processes. This can lead to confusion and inefficiencies for hiring managers, contractors and administrative staff. This presentation demonstrates a streamlined and standardized onboarding process through Microsoft Power Automate, SharePoint and project management principles. The presentation will include:

  • Introduction: Brief overview of current onboarding challenges and the objectives of streamlining the process.
  • Development: Detailed walkthrough of the development of the standardized Onboarding Navigator (ONN).
  • Features of ONN: Explanation of functionalities, including enhanced process efficiency, role clarification, communication improvement and seamless integration.
  • Demonstration: Using the ONN for automated onboarding and showcasing its application and benefits.
  • Findings: Key findings, improvements and user satisfaction.
  • Discussion: Attendees can ask questions, share their experiences and discuss future enhancements.

This session offers insights into the future of work at academic institutions and the role of technology in improving administrative processes. Standardized and automated processes can enhance the onboarding experience, ensuring all parties involved are well-supported and informed.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 360

ServiceNow and Power BI

Speaker: Pete St. Onge, Manager, Security Services, Information Security, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George

This session will describe the journey towards gaining useful insights from U of T’s ServiceNow presence, integrating information from leads as well as from ServiceNow to provide a coherent snapshot of activity and accomplishment across the different teams at U of T’s Information Security.

The speaker will share his experiences using the existing enterprise toolset to provide leadership value and visibility into the operations of an organization, describe some of the challenges and pitfalls faced and explore how to leverage insights to drive continuous improvement in the face of resource constraints and ever-increasing scope.

2 – 2:05 p.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium / Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Break

2:05 – 2:55 p.m.

Breakout session block 4

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1160

Surviving, adapting and thriving in challenging times: Lessons from history
Speakers:
  • Heidi Bohaker, Professor, Department of History
  • LK Bertram, Associate Professor, Department of History
  • Dr. Donna K. Kidwell, Chief Information Officer

This panel discussion explores paths forward for Canada and U of T in this geopolitical moment. While the political crisis in the United States will challenge Canada for years to come, our relationship with the US has survived multiple crises in the past. The challenges may seem more daunting now, with the deep trans-border integration of our digital ecosystems, but our university’s Statement of Institutional Purpose provides guidance on how to lead in these times.

Heidi Bohaker will put this current moment in its historical context. While goods, people and ideas have flowed freely between Canada and the US, there have been periods where this was not the case. What insights from this past can inform how we create, adapt and use the technology we need today? LK Bertram discusses developing algorithmic literacy to counter the propaganda peddled by authoritarian regimes. She identifies how to displace mis/disinformation with accurate content that informs, educates and teaches the critical skills necessary to sustain our core values. Dr. Donna K. Kidwell discusses the importance of the university in providing leadership, and the role we all play in ensuring that our technology infrastructure continues to serve the university’s mission. Now is the time for creative, out-of-the-box thinking to meet this moment.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

Securing our future: Unifying security controls for enhanced risk mitigation and business enablement
Speakers:
  • Andrew Buckles, Executive Vice President, Cyber Services, ISA Cybersecurity
  • Deyves Fonseca, Acting Chief Information Security Officer, University of Toronto
  • Matthew Balcer, Director, Solutions Engineering, SentinelOne

This session is brought to you by ISA Cybersecurity and SentinelOne, two of our gigabyte sponsors.

In an era of digital transformation, evolving threats and more complexity, our higher education institutions are poised to lead by example through the adoption of a centralized, shared services model for security controls. This presentation will explore how standardizing and consolidating security measures not only mitigates risks, but also drives significant benefits across all departments. Attendees will learn how a unified approach simplifies the delivery and management of security initiatives for IT and security teams, streamlines licensing and cost structures and ultimately enables each department to focus on its core academic and research missions. Presenters will discuss actionable strategies, real-world examples and the advantages of a shared services model. A Q&A will follow this panel discussion.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1210

Secure by design: Hardening Ubuntu virtual machines in the ITS Private Cloud
Speakers:
  • Javier Ramirez Martinez, Enterprise Virtualization & Storage Specialist, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS), Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • JM Lopez, Manager Enterprise Virtualization & Storage Specialist, EIS, ITS

This session is a hands-on tech talk in which presenters dive into building secure Ubuntu Linux virtual machines (VMs) within the ITS Private Cloud. One of the key benefits of deploying Ubuntu in this environment is access to Ubuntu Pro services at no additional cost—a game-changer for improving security posture.

Presenters will explore how to streamline VM deployment with a security-first approach, guided by the Ubuntu Security Guide (USG). Attendees can learn how to create hardened VM templates, audit existing instances and take full advantage of ITS Private Cloud features to optimize both performance and protection. Whether you’re an administrator, developer or IT enthusiast, this session will equip you with practical strategies to elevate your VM security from day one.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1240

Innovative transformations: Modernizing applications for a sustainable future
Speakers:
  • Bahman Yaghoobi, Full-Stack Developer, Education Commons, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
  • Thomas Lynch, Full-Stack Developer, Education Commons, OISE

This session will provide insights on the four-year journey to modernize OISE’s applications. Presenters will cover several interrelated topics, including keeping up with technological currency, overcoming technical debt, transitioning services to the Azure cloud, enhancing authentication and security, improving user experience and accessibility and increasing application reliability. Additionally, presenters will touch on the environmental benefits of their cloud-based approach and efforts to optimize code efficiency.

Presenters will discuss how these innovations are transforming both their applications and processes, making them more secure, efficient and reliable. Attendees will gain understanding of the steps taken to modernize OISE’s systems and the positive impact these changes have on Education Commons and the wider OISE community.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 330

Cutting-edge classroom technology, networking and project delivery at UTSC’s Sam Ibrahim Building
Speakers:
  • Blake Markle, Manager – Classroom Technology and Film Services, Information & Instructional Technology Services (IITS), University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC)
  • Tanisha Dave, Project Manager, UTSC
  • Glenn Attwood, Senior Manager, Networking and Telecommunications, IITS, UTSC

Open since September 2024, UTSC’s Sam Ibrahim Building (SIB) contains over 30 teaching spaces, 40 meeting rooms, 2788 Ethernet ports (628 dedicated to AV), 234 Wi-Fi cccess points and hundreds of AV and networking devices. The new building is already turning heads with its stunning architecture and ultra-modern amenities. In this session, presenters will get into the details of what technology has been installed in the SIB and provide a visual walk-through of the building’s most iconic spaces, while also sharing lessons learned from the project.

2:55 – 3:15 p.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium

Refreshment break

3:15 – 4:05 p.m.

Breakout session block 5

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1160

Building secure applications: A guide to secure application development and the OWASP best practices
Speakers:
  • Frank Boshoff, Assistant Director, Technical Solutions & Architecture, Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI), Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Andre Kalamandeen, Manager, Data, Architecture & Integration, EASI, ITS

In today’s digital landscape, the importance of secure software development cannot be overstated. This presentation aims to equip developers, security professionals and stakeholders with essential knowledge and practical strategies to enhance application security through the integration of Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) best practices.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

What do library users want? Using AI to understand, evolve and transform

Speaker: Marlene van Ballegooie, Metadata Technologies Manager, University of Toronto Libraries (UTL)

In today’s data-driven landscape, understanding user behaviour is critical for creating intuitive library services. The research presented in this session examines all search queries conducted over a single day in LibrarySearch, the University of Toronto’s library catalogue, and uses AI tools to extract actionable insights into user search behaviour. By analyzing search queries by subject, query types (e.g., author, title, subject/concept), academic disciplines and user search intent, we demonstrate how AI can transform raw search data into meaningful knowledge. Our findings highlight opportunities to enhance discovery services, improve search relevance and inform strategic decisions in collection development. This session showcases the transformative role of AI in academic libraries and explores how these technologies can be leveraged to better understand and meet user needs.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1210

40 Years of cyber security

Speaker: John DiMarco, IT Director, Department of Computer Science

Cyber security has evolved dramatically since 1985, when John DiMarco began his journey as a computer science student at the University of Toronto. Over four decades in the Department of Computer Science, he has supported advanced computing for faculty and students while engaging with the ever-changing landscape of cyber security. This talk will take you on a 40-year journey through the history of cyber security, from the hackers of the 1980s to today’s advanced persistent threats, through the lens of a long and eventful career in computing at one of the world’s leading computer science departments.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 330

Unlocking the power of UTORGrouper in all your apps
Speakers:
  • Sam Xu, Developer, MedIT, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
  • Maurice Tam, Developer, MedIT, Temerty Faculty of Medicine

There was a time when we all envisioned a single portal to manage user access (authentication, group, role, etc.) across all applications. Today, that vision is a reality with Shibboleth SSO and UTORGrouper.

In this lecture and live demo, presenters will go through a complete implementation using a Laravel app and a WordPress site. Attendees will discover how seamlessly SSO and UTORGrouper can be integrated into applications and experience the benefits of centralized user (and administrator) management—all from a single interface.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 360

Experiential learning and what AI can’t teach students

Speaker: Cory Travers Lewis, Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream), Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology

Failure to integrate LLMs into teaching and learning would be a disservice to our students. But are there limits to what students can learn from LLMs?

This session will focus on know-how, or “procedural knowledge,” to maximize the value of AI-assisted learning while addressing its limitations. In the Experiential Learning framework presented by Kolb and Kolb (2017), practical activities are grist for conceptual reflection, which then feeds back into new approaches to the activity, and so on. LLMs are becoming masters of the conceptualization phase of that cycle, but remain unable to set their own research questions and complete the loop. Knowing what to ask an LLM, and how to interpret its results, can be enhanced by engaging in a cycle of experiential learning to gain know-how.

This interactive session involves a practical activity from the presenter’s course, “The Materiality of Information.” The course surveys the history of information technologies from oral cultures to the quill pen, with some hands-on activities. This session’s attendees will try out feather quill pens in order to explore the ways in which know-how and conceptual knowledge interact, think more clearly about pedagogical directions that best make use of AI and focus on those skills that remain (for now) the purview of humans.

4:05 – 4:10 p.m.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Atrium / Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Break

4:10 – 5 p.m.

Breakout session block 6

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1160

From exploratory pilot to classroom impact: Key insights from applying the use of generative AI virtual tutors for teaching and learning and next steps for advancement
Speakers:
  • Annie Hua, Manager, Research & Collaborative Applications, Academic & Research Collaborative (ARC) Technologies, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Jordan Holmes, Senior Manager, Teaching & Learning Technologies, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI)
  • Cordelia Shan, Information Systems Analyst, ARC, ITS
  • Victoria Sheldon, Faculty Liaison Coordinator, CTSI

Learn about how Academic, Research & Collaborative (ARC) Technologies and the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) navigated the growing need for the exploration of generative AI in teaching and learning. This panel applies a storytelling format to highlight the key pedagogical findings from a cohort of instructors’ usage of virtual tutors in classes.

What data did presenters uncover and what did it indicate about challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning? The discussion will dive into analytics about students’ usage as well as the qualitative data gathered from supporting instructors in developing their virtual tutors. Presenters will share how they applied their learnings from this pilot to empower instructors to easily create their own virtual tutors and how their current work improving infrastructure, application and support workflow is going. This panel will highlight solutions used for virtual tutors since the initial usage in fall 2024 to current plans. The session will include slides, audiences polling and a Q&A.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1200

What’s on your network?
Speakers:
  • Carl Chan, Manager Visibility and Infrastructure Security, Information Security, Information Technology Services (ITS), St. George
  • Matt Norrie, Detection Engineer, Information Security, ITS

2024 saw the adoption of several new tools to help protect the university’s network and devices. What can these tell us about what’s on our networks? We will present some statistics about what we can see, through lecture, quiz and Q&A formats.

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 1210

AI, year in review: Perspectives of an educational developer

Speaker: Rob Huang, Educational Developer, Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (RGASC), Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy (ISUP), University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

This presentation provides a reflective synthesis of a year spent engaging with AI literacy in higher education. Drawing on workshops delivered, consultations with educators, research on emerging trends and developments in AI tools and resources, the presenter will highlight key themes and insights from an educational developer’s perspective.

The session will explore evolving sentiments around AI in education, challenges and opportunities for faculty and students and shifting institutional priorities. It will also consider how AI literacy has transformed over the past year and what this means for teaching, learning and faculty support. Attendees will gain practical takeaways on potential future directions for AI integration in education, helping them navigate the rapidly changing landscape and better support their students and colleagues.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 330

Quibbling semantics, for accessibility’s sake

Speaker: Chris Sabatinos, Web Accessibility Specialist, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Office, Division of People Strategy, Equity and Culture

Modern content systems have have been striving to become increasingly flexible and allow greater developer “freedom,” but there is a cost. Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), created as an accessibility stopgap for semantic HTML weaknesses, is overused and misunderstood. Why is this not great for the code environment? What’s a developer to do? Let’s discuss.

Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Room 360

Tactical and ethical considerations when integrating AI into a course

Speaker: Otto Yung, Associate Professor (Teaching Stream), Department of Management/Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)

It is vital to promote the ethical use of GenAI while critically evaluating its incorporation into assessment activities. The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) from Perkins et al. (2024) is a good starting point as a framework. Educators should also be aware of various complexities noted by Lim et al. (2023) with four “paradoxes” of GenAI in higher education.

This session will discuss tactics that can be used to effectively leverage GenAI technology. The presenter will cover the notion of a protected platform and discuss the STRIVE model published by Anselmo et al. (2024) as a good resource to reflect on ethical, responsible and beneficial use of GenAI. Lastly, many educators and students focus on leveraging GenAI to create work whereas experiments performed by Kumar et al. (2024) show that a tool designed to facilitate self reflection actually increased students’ confidence, leading to better performance.  Questions addresses include: “What did I discover? How can I leverage GenAI in the future and make it useful for my teaching? What I am still curious about in utilizing GenAI?”

The presentation will be an interactive session including a mini lecture, a demonstration and a short Q&A.

Please note that the schedule is subject to change.