Bridging academia and community: CityStudio celebrates student innovation

CityStudio Ottawa(link is external) is a partnership between the City of Ottawa, Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology(link is external), Carleton University(link is external), and the University of Ottawa(link is external). It aims to explore municipal challenges from different perspectives by bringing together students, faculty and City staff. Today, the Mayor and City staff welcomed students and faculty to City Hall for CityStudio's 2024 HUBBUB(link is external). Held at the end of each academic year, HUBBUB is a networking event and exhibit showcasing a curated selection of student projects from each of the participating institutions.

At the event, students with top projects from each institution pitched their project or spoke about their CityStudio experience, as did City staff. Submitted projects are judged by a committee of one professor or faculty member from each institution and one City staff representative. The projects are scored for innovation, impact, scalability and problem-solving.

The Mayor congratulated all participants and highlighted how CityStudio is a platform to share ideas, bring together different perceptions and build meaningful relationships across organizations, for mutual benefit. Sarah Taylor, Director of Community Safety, Well-Being, Policy, and Analytics at the City, shared, "It is hoped that these students not only apply their academic learning in real-world contexts but also emerge as civic leaders, engaged in local policies, programs, and government."

And the award goes to…

These are the top projects from each institution.

• Algonquin College
  • Project: Plugging into the Future, by Andres Alvear, Luke He, Nungshi Singh, Panthi Chavda, Yash Gokhale
  • Andres Alvear: "This project changed my mindset towards using a user-centred approach because I realized how the insights extracted directly from people's needs give a clear direction for meaningful intervention."