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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

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Elementary students learn engineering concepts with sticks and glue at UOIT

Grade 7 students from Julie Payette Public School in Whitby, Ontario built the winning bridge in the senior category of the 2015 Durham Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition.
Grade 7 students from Julie Payette Public School in Whitby, Ontario built the winning bridge in the senior category of the 2015 Durham Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition.

More than 150 elementary school students in grades 4 to 8 from across Durham Region put their bridge creations to the test at the 10th-annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition. The event was hosted by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

The 65 teams each had to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks and white glue that spanned 500 millimetres. The bridges were judged on the maximum weight they could support, as well as the performance rating (the maximum load the bridge can carry, divided by the bridge’s weight).

Congratulations to Jessica Galante and Ashley Adams (team Clash Masters) of Lester B. Pearson Public School in Ajax, Ontario, who took first place in the junior category; and Max Briggs, Cameron Downey and Iain Dunfield (team We Won, You Didn't) from Julie Payette Public School in Whitby, Ontario, who built the strongest bridge in the senior category.

The event was part of National Engineering Month. It was held in collaboration with the Lake Ontario chapter of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, and the Durham Region chapter of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists.