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Keynote presentations

Mark Daley.

Keynote address

Mark Daley

Time: 9:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
Audience: General audience
Format: Keynote address

Daniela Spagnol

Keynote address

Daniela Spagnolo

Time: 9:10 a.m. - 10 a.m.
Audience: General audience
Format: Keynote address

Breakout sessions

Wednesday, May 21 

Franco Chiocchio & Claudia Wang.

Time: 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 350
Track: IT in Administration, projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: General audience

This presentation explores the considerations that are part of standardizing knowledge base article templates: What key information/metadata should be identified, title, topics/keywords, definitions, descriptions, most common scenarios, category/type of article, expected outcome where applicable and criteria for suggested escalation. We will look at how to place emphasis on clarity andpracticality as often and how to avoid the temptation of a "more is more" approach.

Presenters: Francco Chiocchio and Claudia Wang, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Francco Chiocchio is the manager of the CCS IT Help Desk Analyst team, the manager of the Lab Advisors working in KHW 71 and the library and he manages the Call Center team that handles day to day calls directed to TMU on a daily basis. Franco is responsible for managing the day to day operations of all of the above teams and works closely with all CCS teams and other departments to ensure that student, staff and faculty IT issues are addressed in a timely manner.

Claudia Wang is an IT help desk analyst and has been with CCS since 2010. She also has a Bachelor of Commerce - Marketing Management from TMU.

Gavin Taylor-Black & Nina Sulkin.

Time: 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 208
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

At the start of winter 2025, the TMU ServiceHub launched its new ChatBot service channel. Throughout the procurement and implementation process, we have worked closely with partners at the university and experienced a variety of challenges, success and lessons learned. In this session, we will share our experiences through a short presentation and an engaging Q and A. Whether you are looking at implementing a similar product or want to know more about the process of setting up new software at the university, this presentation is for you.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Better understand the demands of implementing a ChatBot within a university environment;
  2. Understand the security needs of a ChatBot project to make strategic decision in project management;
  3. Evaluate a project’s needs, and whether to implement Generative AI.

Presenters: Gavin Taylor-Black and Nina Sulkin, Service Hub, Office of the Registrar (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Gavin Taylor-Black (he/him) has been at TMU for 17 years. Over that period, he has worked in Undergraduate Admissions, Student Recruitment and at the ServiceHub. Gavin has a keen interest in service efficiency, technology solutions that meet student needs, service delivery excellence and process improvement. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his kids, running his Dungeons and Dragons group and reading anything he can get a hold of. Gavin is currently the manager of service operations at the ServiceHub, Office of the Registrar.

Nina Sulkin (they/them) has over nine years of experience working in higher education. They have held a variety of roles, from curriculum development to learning support, and coordination of registrarial services. Nina has an interest in programming and supports that drive student success and retention within higher education. Nina is the current advising and client support officer within the ServiceHub, Office of the Registrar (RO), supporting the RO’s strategic initiatives. In their not-so-spare time, Nina is completing their Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development (June 2025 convocation!), and teaching for the Spanning the Gaps Program within the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

Raheel Akhtar & Clara Guo.

Time: 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 204
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff

This session discusses the deployment of our RedHat Openshift Container Platorm (OCP) for deployment of Kubernetes containers. It will describe the purpose, and reason for OCP and status so far. The talk will be technical in nature with details of infrastructure and development evolution.

Presenters: Raheel Akhtar and Clara Guo, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Raheel Akhtar has worked for more than 21 years as a Senior System Programmer in Server and Storage Services at TMU. Raheel manages Windows and Linux Servers, VMware for virtual servers, storage, backups and Openshift for container-based solutions.

Clara Guo is the manager, application infrastructure for CCS at TMU. Clara leads a team that develops and supports various applications, including the TMU Identity and Resource Management System (RMS), TMU Single Sign-on solution Central Authentication Service (CAS) and Google Workspace.

Cameron Smyth, Neng LI &  Ilona Demetriadis

Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 350
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: General audience

This session demonstrates use of Pentaho as data management software, business analytics and data integration to inform decision making and pull information together from multiple sources (HR, Student information, Course information) to produce a consolidated picture of what is happening at TMU. We will demonstrate how to take university-level data to view trends and financials, and  drill down to dean, department and course levels.

We will demonstrate how we use it, highlight recent uses for reporting, challenges with use, data cleaning, different data organization in different systems and shoe highlights of output, such as for MacLean’s reports and federal and provincial government reports.

Presenters: Cameron Smyth and Neng Li, Computing and Communications Services (TMU), Ilona Demetriadis, Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Cameron Smyth is an IT Manager with 13 years of management experience in the Ontario Government, supporting large Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, primarily the HR/Payroll System. Cameron joined Toronto Metropolitan University in August 2023 as the manager, DBA and ERP Admin, where he manages teams that support the database and middle tiers of a large number of systems that provide services throughout the university. These include the Human Resources and Payroll system (eHR), the Student Administration system and a host of other applications. 

Neng Li is a seasoned IT professional with broad industry working experience in the public sector, telecommunications, manufacturing, financial services, insurance, health care and higher education industries. He is a dertified senior consultant with PeopleSoft Oracle and is a certified project management professional (PMP). 

Neng joined Toronto Metropolitan University in 2009 as a CRM analyst to help implement PeopleSoft CRM. In 2013, Neng transitioned to work with Pentaho to assist in creating a data warehouse for the Teaching Assignment Integration (TAI) application. Neng has assumed the lead technical role for all Pentaho-related tasks which includes installation and administration of the software, ETL design and development, database/schema design and development, dashboard and reporting development. Today, the TAI dashboards and reports are used by academic leaders, including chairs, directors, deans and executive teams across the university to assist in making critical decisions for the university. 

In his spare time, Neng can be found in local hockey arenas as he enjoys coaching his son's ice hockey team and is dreaming of watching his favorite NHL hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, hoist the Stanley Cup at least once in his lifetime. Go Leafs go!

Ilona Demetriadis is a senior research analyst in the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs. Ilona joined Toronto Metropolitan University in 2006 as a learning technology liaison in the Digital Media Projects Office, Computing and Communications Services. In 2007, she transitioned to the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs, where she supported a range of IT projects as a Technology Specialist.

In 2023, Ilona assumed the role of senior research analyst and joined the Teaching Assignment Integration (TAI) and Pentaho dashboards team. In this role, she plays a key part in connecting senior administrators at TMU with essential data to support strategic decision-making. Ilona provides tailored Pentaho dashboards training and consultations to academic leaders, including chairs, directors, deans and executive teams across the university.

Anatoliy Gruzd, William Hollingshead & Philip Mai.

Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 208
Track: Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in Canada; in fact, between 2020-2022, it was the only platform that saw a rise in its user population (Mai & Gruzd, 2022). Far from being a site of mindless consumption, TikTok has become an important site for civic engagement with several contemporary socio-political issues, including climate change, racism and colonialism. TikTok’s emphasis on audiovisual content has ushered in a wave of memetic, affective and playful communication that has afforded new means for self-expression, identity-building, information-sharing and knowledge creation. Since TikTok has exploded in popularity and changed the way people interact online, it is crucial for scholars to take a hard look at how the platform is shaping public conversation. This is especially important now, as TikTok is under growing scrutiny from governments and the public in several countries—raising questions about its future.

In this presentation, we introduce a digital methods framework for analyzing TikTok that integrates various tools and techniques for computational social science: Zeeschuimer, 4Cat and Communalytic. First, Zeeschuimer is an extension used to automatically retrieve webpage data while scrolling through social media platforms, including TikTok. Second, 4Cat—a companion tool to Zeeschuimer—is a user-friendly software that can be used to gather and investigate social media data. It contains several easy-to-use analytical modules like speech-to-text transcription. Like 4Cat, Communalytic is a “no-code” software designed to collect and analyze social media data, with built-in modules for social network analysis, sentiment analysis and topic modelling, among others. The proposed framework, encompassing several tools and techniques, enables detailed examination of TikTok’s multi-modal content holistically and at-scale, spanning audio, visual and text information.

To illustrate how the framework can help researchers streamline their workflow and explore TikTok in new ways, we present the results of the ongoing case study of influential TikTok creators (users with over 10,000 followers) engaging in migration-related discourse in Canada. The analysis revealed distinctive TikTok “vernaculars” and framing strategies used in both pro- and anti-migration contexts. In addition, we will discuss methodological challenges and ethical considerations, including the protection of user privacy, when studying TikTok.

Overall, our presentation will highlight the benefits of the proposed framework and how these tools can be used to conduct systematic empirical research into TikTok users’ communicative practices. Where there is little consensus on how to study TikTok, our work provides an introductory framework that can be applied to a range of studies and research questions.

Presenters: Anatoliy Gruzd, William Hollingshead and Philip Mai, Ted Rogers School of Management (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Anatoliy Gruzd is co-director of the Social Media Lab and professor of information technology management at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. He examines how social media and emerging digital technologies, such as Generative AI and decentralized networks, are transforming information sharing, communication and public discourse. In recognition of his innovative work, he was named a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in 2015 and inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists in 2017.

William Hollingshead is a postdoctoral researcher in the Social Media Lab at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. His work examines social media platforms' affordances for political and activist communication. His work further seeks to advance methodological rigor and ethical approaches when working with social media users' digital trace data.

Philip Mai is a senior researcher and co-director at the Social Media Lab, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. His work focuses on social media use and misuse, covering disinformation, deepfakes, foreign interference, conspiracy theories, online toxicity and digital political transparency. He also develops research tools and dashboards for students and scholars to study public discourse and online participation.

Edwin Avecillas & Matthew Ralston.

Time: 10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Location: DCC 204
Track: IT in Administration
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

This presentation will detail the experiences of a ServiceNow Administrator, in understanding the fundamentals of IT Service Management, the responsibilities in maintaining the system, the challenges faced in supporting the application and meeting the needs of Service Delivery in a Higher Education workspace.

Key takeaways for the audience will be a broader understanding of IT Service Management, the role of Administration to support the system, the interconnectedness with its integrations and other departments using the system at TMU, with the goal of continuous improvement to TMU department deliver services with the help of ServiceNow.

Presenter: Edwin Avecillas and Matthew Ralston, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biography

Edwin Avecillas is the supervisor of the applications support group in the Computing and Communication Services (CCS) department. His team supports third-party and turn-key applications for various units across the campus. Having supported several ticketing systems for TMU's IT help needs, he is currently a ServiceNow certified systems administrator, with knowledge in configuring and maintaining TMU's ServiceNow ITSM modules as well as the IT Help Portal.

Matthew Ralston is an IT professional with 20 years of experience in various roles at Toronto Metropolitan University.  In his current role, he is an Application Support Specialist and a Servicenow Certified System Administrator in the Application Support Group, which supports various administrative applications on campus including Servicenow.

Dmitry Filchakov

Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 204
Track: IT in administration; IT in teaching and learning
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

In this session, we’ll explore how we monitor TMU’s wired and wireless network to ensure performance, security, and reliability. We’ll dive into the tools we use, how we detect and respond to issues, and how alerts help us stay ahead of potential disruptions. Join us to gain insights into our network monitoring strategy and see how it keeps TMU connected and resilient.

Presenter: Dmitry Filchakov, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biography

With 15 years of experience in network engineering and architecture, I've worked across internet service providers, retail, and financial industries, building and maintaining reliable network infrastructures. Since joining TMU in May 2024, I've been focused on enhancing network resilience, performance and monitoring strategies. Passionate about technology and problem-solving, I lead efforts to ensure TMU’s wired and wireless networks remain secure, efficient and always connected.

Beyond work, I enjoy downhill biking and spending time at Ontario’s lakes. I also have a cat named Arbuz, which fittingly means "Watermelon" in Russian.

Sean Kearns & Luke Nater

Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 208
Track: IT in teaching and learning; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

The presentation technology at TMU has evolved in general purpose classrooms over the last 25 years and this presentation will share origins of AV best practices, changes in AV technology and TMU community feedback, as well as the Media Services support model and the challenges of maintaining, upgrading and improving TMU presentation technology.

Presenters: Sean Kearns, Luke Nater, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Sean Kearns has been working with AV technology in Higher Education for almost 35 years and has a background in theatre, radio, television and music. Sean has served as the president of the Ontario Universities Educational Technology Directors Association and is an active member of the TMU Teaching and Learning Space Working Group.

Luke Nater has been a senior presentation technology specialist for TMU Media Services since 2017. He also obtained his bachelors from TMU, graduating from the Radio and Television Arts program. Prior to his current role, he worked at Rogers Sportsnet in master control.

Kevin Davies

Time: 1:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 350
Track: IT in administration; IT in teaching and learning
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

The renaming of the Ryerson University to Toronto Metropolitan University had an enormous impact on the Microsoft landscape at the university. The Computing and Communications Services End-User Computing team undertook a momentous project that is still ongoing to reflect the university’s new name in all Microsoft systems used at TMU. In addition to sharing insight to the project, this presentation will also provide a look at the Microsoft technologies in use at the university and share "public service announcements" about Windows 10 end of life and a new Microsoft tool, PC Manager.

Presenter: Kevin Davies, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biography

Kevin is an IT support veteran with almost 35 years of experience in IT Infrastructure and end-user computing (EUC), with more than 20 years in management roles. He holds experience in multiple industries, including manufacturing, financial services (banking and insurance), publishing, e-business and regulatory industries, and 11 years in managing EUC in CCS. Kevin graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in the first cohort of the Bachelor of Technology, Applied Computer Science degree program. He is a certified dive master and when not working, tries to spend as much time as possible in the sunny south enjoying the underwater wonders.

Laurie Stewart & Brian Lesser

Time: 1:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 208
Track: IT in administration
Audience: General audience

At TMU, we have a variety of digital systems from a mix of service providers across campus, ranging from broad central IT providers for large-scale university-wide services, to much smaller departmental teams responsible for more specialized services for their units. 

This means that decisions about acquiring, managing and retiring IT systems and services are made at every level of the university from the central IT department to faculties, individual units and professors. While this model gives our community space for innovation and agility, it can also result in unnecessary duplication, fragmentary user experiences, a lack of long-term stewardship, and increased security and privacy risks.

Over the last year and a half, we have been working to develop TMU’s first official Digital Strategy, to help the university approach technology in a way that meets its strategic needs, by establishing principles on how we work and priorities of what needs to be worked on to achieve transformation. The strategy document provides a high-level framework to develop the institutional structures necessary to achieve well-executed, planful digital services.

Join our presentation to learn about the development of the Digital Strategy and the long-term priorities we’re considering.

Presenters: Laurie Stewart, Brian Lesser, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Laurie Stewart (she/her) is TMU’s executive program director, digital strategy, leading the development of our first formal Digital Strategy to join our university’s suite of strategic plans. With 15 years’ experience working at TMU, she has been responsible for leading the Future of Work program and directing communications across the Administration and Operations portfolio. Laurie volunteered for seven years as chair and co-chair of Positive Space, advocating for queer inclusion, fostering community and breaking down systemic barriers. Equity, diversity and inclusion are central in Laurie’s approach.

Brian Lesser is Toronto Metropolitan University's chief information officer (CIO). Brian helped develop the university’s first identity management system, establish an e-learning support team and was a founding member of the university's Digital Media Zone (DMZ) steering committee. The DMZ is TMU’s startup incubator and accelerator. Brian is a board member of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, manages the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers' (CUCCIO) cybersecurity benchmarking project and was a founding member of the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC) steering committee. Prior to joining TMU, Brian worked at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and the National Archives of Canada.

James Loney & Lawrence Tsui

Time: 1:30 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 352
Track: IT in teaching and learning; IT in administration
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

The Media Production Studio at TMU Libraries' Digital Media Experience Lab is a space for all TMU Libraries users (staff, students, faculty, zone learners) to develop their content creation skills.

The Studio, equipped with tools for podcasting, video production and beginner-level photography, supports a wide range of users in their curricular, co-curricular, hobbyist and entrepreneurial projects. Creators have used the space for LinkedIn headshots, podcasts, short documentaries, 3D scans and more.

This session will:

  • Outline the Studio’s features, and how the space was built.
  • Provide an overview of the booking process.
  • Suggest best practices for planning ones’ production time, how to access support and training in advance.
  • Explore ways for instructors to integrate the studio into their courses and teaching methods.
  • Review challenges and opportunities associated with a studio space open to campus users.

Presenter: James Loney, Lawrence Tsui, TMU Libraries

Presenter biographies

James Loney manages TMU Libraries' Digital Media Experience (”DME”), a network of makerspace and media creation resources open to all TMU students, staff, and faculty. With a team of TMU's most talented student staff — including tinkerers, media creators, artists, and designers — the DME offers access to emerging technology, hands-on training, and creative mentorship. James draws on his backgrounds in technology integration and adult learning and development to lead this dynamic library Learning space.

As the Digital Media Experience (DME) Technician and Training Specialist, Lawrence Tsui supports Lab operations with a focus on equipment maintenance, inventory management, student staff training, approving access to specialized resources and advising on special projects. As a media artist engaged in a wide range of creative practices, he brings technical expertise, creativity, and enthusiasm to connect library users with hands-on learning and opportunities to explore emerging technologies.

Mitch Poirier & Michelle Cho.

Time: 2:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 352
Track: IT in administration
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Institutional commitments to human rights principles and EDI can only be fulfilled when our everyday practices and processes are designed to mitigate latent systemic biases and promote inclusiveness. Using EDI and human rights obligations, facilitators will lead participants to explore how Ontario post-secondary institutions can play an important role in fostering inclusive and supportive environments for all staff and students including trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit individuals. The objectives of this session are as follows:

  • Provide an overview of the human rights obligations that place the duty on educational institutions and educators to respect students’ gender identities, including using their chosen names, pronouns, and sex indicators. 
  • Review best practices for achieving inclusion, compliance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and TMU’s Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy and its procedure where formal processes fall short.

Presenters: Mitch Poirier, Michelle Cho, Human Rights Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Mitch Poirier, Interim Manager, Human Rights Services (they/she) has been working to remove systemic barriers to gender inclusion in post-secondary education since 2010. They have co-authored Trans-Inclusion Guides and implemented All-Gender Washrooms at McMaster and Brock Universities, and advised on the name change process at Sheridan College. Mitch holds a BA (Hons.) in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Toronto and an M.Ed. in Adult Education and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. In 2025, Mitch joined Toronto Metropolitan University as Manager of Human Rights Services in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. 

Michelle Cho, Policy Review Facilitator, Human Rights Services joined TMU in 2019. Her role includes supporting the review of the university’s Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Policy and Sexual Violence Policy. Michelle also provides human rights training for staff, students and faculty on a wide range of topics, including educational sessions for people who have caused harm in the university community as an accountability measure. Her past work experience has largely focused on human rights and equity-based institutional change, education and community development.  Past work experiences include roles in other parts of the public sector including the Anti-Racism Directorate (Cabinet Office) in the Ontario Public Service and in the Gender-Based Violence Prevention Office at the Toronto District School Board. She has a Masters in Social Work.

Wael Abbas & Anya Sooknanan

Time: 2:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 208
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Presenting the new features and updates coming to TMU’s Financial Information System that are related to the upgrade projects, such as Single Sign-on (SSO) with TMU’s Central Authentication System (CAS).

Presenters: Wael Abbas, Computing and Communications Services (TMU), Anya Sooknanan, Financial Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Wael Abbas is the manager of financial systems in Computing and Communications Services, with over 20 years of experience in ERP solutions, Oracle EBS development and system integration. He leads a committed team focused on the security, support and enhancement of financial systems, and he is currently managing the upgrade of the Financial Information System (FIS) and the Invoice Approval System to improve security, performance and scalability.

Anya Sooknanan is a dedicated professional in the field of financial information systems. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Information Technology Management from Toronto Metropolitan University and recently completed her MBA in Community Economic Development at Cape Breton University. Anya has played a key role in the development of financial information system initiatives within the university sector.

Trish Kerr

Time: 2:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: DCC 350
Track: Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: General audience

With a wealth of information at your fingertips, staying informed is more important than ever. Digital signage is a great way to engage with the TMU community through interactive, animated ads of campus news, events and important announcements. Displayed on almost 100 screens across campus, digital signage enhances communication, fosters engagement and creates a more connected university community.

In this presentation, we’ll explore the benefits of a campus-wide digital signage solution and explore how departments are utilizing digital signage to streamline information sharing. We will provide an overview of the signage tool supported by CCS and how you can improve student engagement by setting up your own channel and what that looks like from setup to installation and cost.

From news and event promotions to emergency alerts, discover how digital signage can help you with your communication and community engagement strategies. Let’s Go!

Presenter: Trish Kerr, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biography

Trish Kerr is the sole support for almost 100 digital signage screens throughout campus. She provides an invaluable service from consultation with clients, implementation through direct liaison with other team members from CCS, setup and support for the signage screens, along with providing support to clients using Appspace, the signage scheduling tool. She provides training and development of content features and ads and actively troubleshoots outage issues on campus and coordinates the replacement of out-of-date equipment. She conducts regular audits of the signage screens, tests software updates and investigates new/emerging technologies. In her spare time, she has coordinated a TMU-sponsored Digital Signage Consortium with universities and colleges throughout Ontario that meets four times per year.

Thursday, May 22

Ized Oikeh.

Time: 10:15 a.m. - 11:05 a.m.
Track: Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical Staff

The 2025 threat landscape presents organizations with diverse challenges, from financially motivated cybercriminals and nation-state actors to insider threats and hacktivism.  While extortion remains a primary tactic for criminals, nation-states target critical infrastructure and supply chains.  Insider risks are amplified by privileged access, and hacktivists leverage social media for disruptive purposes.  The impact of these attacks is substantial, with 86% directly affecting business operations, costs, assets, reputation, or competitiveness.  This escalating impact is fueled by rapid attacker innovation, particularly in leveraging Generative AI and exploiting cloud environments.

Three key areas highlight this innovation: speed, scale, and sophistication.  Attack lifecycles are accelerating, with the time from vulnerability discovery to exploit shrinking dramatically.  Post-exploitation activities, like data exfiltration, are also faster.  Attackers exploit the rapid evolution and scale of public cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications, targeting misconfigurations and leveraging popular applications to maximize impact.  Finally, sophistication is increasing, with attackers employing advanced techniques like deep fakes, living-off-the-land tactics, polymorphic malware, and tailored social engineering to bypass defenses and achieve their objectives.

Presenter: Izegbua “Ized” Oikeh, Palo Alto Networks

Presenter biography

Izegbua “Ized” Oikeh is a Consulting Director at the Unit 42 Reston, Virginia office, who is a seasoned cybersecurity professional specializing in incident response and forensic investigations. Izegbua Oikeh joined the team in 2017 and she has over a decade of experience leading incidents and investigating a variety of data breach cases affecting multinational organizations, higher institutions, as well as fortune 500 companies.

Ized previously worked in cybercrime and breach response for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was hired four years earlier upon receiving her master’s degree in computer forensics and counter-terrorism from George Mason University. In her career, she has specialized in reverse engineering malware, performing forensic analysis on Windows and Linux based computers as well as mobile device analysis and recovering deleted
data. She has investigated incidents relating to nation state threat actors, pre-ransomware, ransomware, business email compromises, cloud related incidents, network intrusions, and zero-day exploits.

Ized is an AccessData Certified Examiner (ACE), a GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM), and a GIAC Certified Computer Forensics Analyst (GCFA). In addition to her master’s degree, she holds a Bachelor of Science in information systems and technology from the United States International University Nairobi, Kenya.

Jagmohan Bhathal, David Pham, & Anthony Fredericks

Time: 10:15 a.m. - 11:05 a.m.
Track: IT in administration
Audience: General audience

Did you know CCS has an online application to run elections?

This presentation is aimed to share information about our Elections application that departments and schools within TMU can use for their internal faculty-level or student-level elections. This application is currently being used for a number of university-level elections including the Board of Governors, Senate, Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union and Toronto Metropolitan Graduate Students' Union.

Presenters: Jagmohan Bhathal, David Pham, Anthony Fredericks, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Jagmohan Singh Bhathal is manager of the Academic Services team in CCS. Jagmohan (Jag) has worked in CCS for over 25 years and is an alumnus of the University of Waterloo and Ted Rogers School of Management, TMU. Jag has lived in Toronto for the last 34 years and loves traveling, photography and hiking.

David Pham currently works in the Computing and Communications Services (CCS) department at Toronto Metropolitan University as an internet specialist. Before joining CCS, David had also worked in the Registrar's Office at TMU.

Anthony Fredericks currently works as an internet specialist with Computing and Communications Services (CCS) at Toronto Metropolitan University. He previously worked at the CCS Help Desk, The PASS team for Admissions and as a program assistant for the ITM (BTM) department at the Ted Rogers School of Management.

Anne-Marie Brinsmead and Melanie Hains

Time: 10:15 a.m. - 11:05 a.m.
Track: IT in teaching and learning; IT in administration
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

This session provides a detailed roadmap – including strategic, tactical, and operational steps for attendees to take back to their CE units – to forge a proactive strategy and delivery with their practitioner-expert educators, teaming up with their CE students so they thrive in navigating the New Normal in our AI Age of Disruption.

The What: In teaching CE students in the TMU’s Full Stack Developer Certificate and in UWaterloo’s new cybersecurity program, and by leveraging competency-based, skills’ acquisition teaching practices, TMU CE students gain Full Stack Built website development expertise and AI Assisted Coding skills in an Anaconda-based, online learning sandbox environment and perform virtual hands-on, real-work weekly end-to-end web development activities to produce their own websites, and WatSPEED students acquire critical skills with cybersecurity through hands on work-based scenarios and well as virtual labs to execute more secure code, understand systems and platform security and security in the cloud. Grads report back to us at TMU that they are being hired into full stack web developer roles in the e-commerce and e-services sector (TMU). WatSPEED’s program is designed to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, focusing on workers who are already working in IT.

To thrive as adults in our constantly changing AI world, the two CE roadmaps shared include step-by-step tried and true “recipes” participants may duplicate and optimize so that their CE students go on to attain, as our success stories will show, gainful-salaried jobs and careers where employers are struggling to find skilled talent due to acute skill gaps.

In Chang School’s instructor-led Full Stack Developer Certificate, CE students formally learn computer programming language and scripting skills to code and build full-stack built websites (front-end, middleware and back-end development), followed by applying their recently developed practical skills and the industry-adopted AI Assisted Coding tool, Github CoPilot powered by CODEX to evaluate, debug, test and then finalize their code to successfully deploy and execute.

In WatSPEED’s cybersecurity certificate program, CE students learn cybersecurity in a cloud computing environment, the importance of writing secure code and the systems and platform security considerations that underpin it all.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Strategize designing programs that meet current workforce demands and foster strong industry connections through partnerships.
  • Leverage learnings from real-world CE success stories and “roadmaps” for programs in our AI Age of Disruption that benefit learners, employers, and educational communities within and beyond Canada.
  • Adapt the editable roadmapping templates presented for their own new programming strategy development per learning offering (e.g., certificate, courses, etc.)

Presenters: Anne-Marie Soucy Brinsmead, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education and Melanie Hains, University of Waterloo Watspeed Continuing Education

Presenter biographies

A Toronto Metropolitan University Make Your Mark Innovation Award, a TMAPS Teaching Award and a GREET Teaching Award recipient, Anne-Marie Brinsmead currently serves as Program Director for Engineering, Architecture & Science (STEM) at The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Toronto Metropolitan University. She performs oversight of one part-time undergraduate degree, ten labour market responsive professional continuing education certificates, including two degree credit Data Analytics, and Practical Data Science and Machine Learning certificates. All but two of the STEM certificates are fully online. Working with a STEM program team of assistant program directors, academic coordinators and educators who possess expert-practitioner subject matter expertise and established excellence in delivering adult education, the STEM program team crafts an experience that empowers and equips continuous learners with adaptable skills to thrive professionally in today’s dynamic world. The STEM program team is knowledgeable about the complexities of the rapidly-evolving skills required by employers when hiring and advancing talent. The STEM team addresses these challenges so our graduates successfully build thriving careers. Additionally, Anne-Marie is a labour market researcher and specialist on labour market and competency-based skill shortages in English speaking countries between now and 2040. For over thirty years, without missing a semester, she taught university degree credit courses at The Chang School. She is the granddaughter of a Kickapoo tribe nôhkom (grandmother), the latter of whom resided in Northeastern Kansas.

Melanie Hains is a seasoned Market Research Specialist with nearly a decade of experience in higher education, focusing on strategic insights to drive informed business decisions. At WatSPEED, the University of Waterloo’s platform for professional development, Melanie leads market data analysis, uncovering industry trends and growth opportunities that shape impactful learning offerings. Skilled in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, Melanie collaborates closely with cross-functional teams in marketing, product development, and client partnerships to ensure cohesive, data-driven strategies. With a deep understanding of professional development needs, she designs and executes studies that inform senior leadership and facilitate innovation. Melanie’s expertise in stakeholder management, data analysis, and creative problem-solving has made her a vital contributor to WatSPEED’s mission of providing cutting-edge learning solutions.

Brandon Murray.

Time: 11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Track: Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff

Ready to strengthen your wireless defenses? This session provides actionable insights into Aruba's newest security features and powerful automation capabilities. Learn how to streamline security workflows, respond effectively to threats, and align your wireless strategy with current industry best practices.

Presenter: Brandon Murray, Consulting Systems Engineer, HPE Aruba Networking

Presenter biography

Brandon Murray is a Consulting Systems Engineer at HPE Aruba Networks, with a background in networking security and over a decade of experience in the IT industry. In his five years at HPE Aruba Networks, he has become a trusted technical expert and advisor. Brandon's passion for technology, commitment to staying current with industry trends, and ability to build strong relationships make him a valuable asset to the organization and his customers. He is dedicated to helping organizations create secure and efficient network environments to thrive in the digital age.

Adam Chaboryk & Igor Karasyov

Time: 11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Track: Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Welcome to Adam’s accessibility corner, featuring special guest, Igor Karasyov, web application developer from The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

This session will explore:

  • The latest developments in Sa11y since last year's IT Conference.
  • The Chang School’s custom integration of Sa11y in Ektron, which leverages custom checks for different user roles, presented by Igor.
  • A new micro tool to help create TMU branded Open Graph images.

Sa11y, the accessibility quality assurance assistant, originated in 2019 as an experimental tool within TMU's content management system, Adobe Experience Manager. Since its open-source debut in May 2020, Sa11y has seen global adoption, with hundreds of thousands of monthly requests via its content delivery network (CDN). Sa11y is also used by content authors at Queens University, Vancouver Island University, Santa Clara University, San Diego State University, University of Connecticut and more.

Presenters: Adam Chaboryk, Digital Media Projects and Computing and Communications Services (TMU), Igor Karasyov, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education

Presenter biographies

Adam Chaboryk is TMU's IT Accessibility Specialist, where he enables the community with the resources and guidance to create a more inclusive digital environment for all learners, faculty, staff and the general public. Adam also founded and leads the development of Sa11y, an open source accessibility checker designed for content authors.

Igor Karasyov is a web application developer at The Chang School at the Toronto Metropolitan University. Throughout his extensive career at TMU, Igor has developed numerous web applications, online games, tools, and interactive learning activities. A few years ago in an effort to raise awareness about online accessibility, Igor developed and taught an online course on digital accessibility. One of his recent projects involved customizing the Sa11y accessibility checker to meet the requirements of various user groups.

Ryan Scott

Time: 11:15 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff

PeopleSoft, Playwright, PyTest: PPP. PeopleSoft is shifting toward "Configure, Don't Customize"—modifications injected at runtime rather than directly changing delivered code. While these configuration changes don't appear in PeopleSoft compare reports (unlike customizations to delivered objects), they still need validation when maintenance, such as an PeopleSoft PUM Image, is applied. How do you know if the customization through configuration is affected/not affected by the upgrade if they are not in the PeopleSoft compare report?

This presentation introduces a solution utilizing the Python test framework Pytest and Playwright, a browser automation tool, to validate and identify changes to our customizations. I will show how these two tools verify our customizations even when compare reports show nothing has changed. I will demonstrate examples of catching broken isolated customizations that might have gone undetected if a test was unavailable. I will also highlight how this approach helps document what is being tested in our environment, creating an inventory of isolated customizations that would otherwise remain hidden until something breaks.

Presenter: Ryan Scott, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biography

Ryan Scott joined Toronto Metropolitan University in 2007 as a PeopleSoft HR developer and has accumulated over 15 years of development experience. He currently serves as the PeopleSoft HR Manager, where he continues to apply his technical background while overseeing TMU’s HR systems.

Paul Webber, Wura Bamgbose, Jacob Trautman & Jerry Chen

Time: 1 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.
Track: Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff

Join us for an in-depth look at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Vulnerability Management Program—an essential component of our cybersecurity framework. This presentation will explore how TMU identifies, assesses, prioritizes, and remediates security vulnerabilities across its digital environment. We’ll discuss the tools and processes used, key metrics tracked, and how we align with industry standards and compliance requirements. Whether you’re part of IT, security, or a stakeholder in data protection, this session will provide valuable insights into building a proactive and sustainable approach to risk reduction and cyber resilience.

Presenters: Paul Webber, Wura Bamgbose, Jacob Trautman, Jerry Chen, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Paul Webber went to school for all things IT and began his career working for a network security managed service provider right out of school. With 17 years of experience in the IT security field, he currently manages the Toronto Metropolitan University six-person IT Security operations team. Paul’s interests include Python, automation and digital forensics. He considers himself a hacker by old definitions and loves to break things down and figure out how they work.

Wura Bamgbose took on the role of Chief Information Security Officer at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2023 and had joined TMU’s Computing and Communications Services department four years before taking on this position. Prior to joining TMU, she worked as a technology risk consultant leading various cybersecurity initiatives including developing cybersecurity roadmaps for companies and leading technology audits for large banks. Wura holds both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). She also has a variety of certifications including the Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and ISO 27001 Lead Implementer amongst others.

Jacob Trautmann, a stalwart defender in the ever-evolving battlefield of IT security. Jacob has been involved in the advancement and maturity of TMU’s security program for the past nine years. 

Jerry Chen, works in the CCS IT security team as a senior security specialist, mainly focusing on web application security, vulnerability and firewall management.

Florica Stefan & Wen Si.

Time: 1 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.
Track: Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials; Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Describing the authentication and access controls put in place on CCS-managed servers over recent years. Use of IDM, AD and Duo 2FA to provide better control and more secured access to systems.

Presenters: Florica Stefan and Wen Si, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Florica Stefan, senior server and storage system administrator, works with the Server and Storage Services team with Computing and Communications Services (CCS). Florica joined CCS at TMU as in 2000. He is responsible for managing and monitoring the VMware infrastructure, provisioning and managing Windows and RHEL servers, related monitoring agents and various initiatives such as Windows access controls and multi-factor authentication.

Wen Si, senior server and storage system administrator, works with the Server and Storage Services team with Computing and Communications Services (CCS). Wen has been working in CCS since 2007. He is responsible for managing and monitoring RHEL servers, UPS and power distribution systems, system monitoring and various initiatives such as identity management for servers and MFA.

Dianne Nubla

Time: 1 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.
Track: Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: General audience

Through a combination of on-the-job experience, training and education, employees hold an abundant amount of information about their position and organization. If/when an employee leaves, their knowledge base leaves with them. In this interactive workshop, we will discuss writing techniques to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs). These SOPs serve to:

  1. Bring the team together through the collaborative writing process
  2. Generate useable training materials, and 
  3. Record knowledge assets to empower employees to efficiently perform tasks by using peer-reviewed operational approaches outlined in the team's SOPs.

Presenter: Dianne Nubla, School of Professional Communication (TMU)

Presenter biography

Dianne Nubla has taught business communication courses for the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education and School of Professional Communication for over a decade. Dianne also works with organizations to custom create workshops and develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to streamline their workflow. Whether it be in a post-secondary classroom or in the industry, she emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and tailoring your message to your audience to gain maximum traction. 

Dianne assists students and industry professionals with fine-tuning their personal communication approaches with best practices rooted in pragmatic and intentional principles. She holds a Bachelor of Technology and Master of Professional Communication.

Priya Mouli

Time: 2 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
Track: Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

  1. Get familiar with risk appetite
  2. Understand the what and why of risk measures/metrics
  3. Unpack the Metric build process including some examples
  4. Communicate risk and making reporting effective

Presenter: Priya Mouli, Sheridan College

Presenter biography

Priya Mouli is an accomplished Cybersecurity and Risk Management Executive with ~20 years of demonstrated experience also covering Digital Strategy, Enterprise Resiliency, Privacy, Data / AI Governance, Risk & Compliance. She is currently the Director - IT Security & Information Security Officer at Sheridan College, Ontario. Before moving to Canada, she spent close to a decade advising global Financial Services including some of the largest names in Wall Street & Technology organizations in New York & the Bay Area, respectively. She has a commendable history of both collaborating with Senior Leadership and the Boards of large global companies to formulate robust and agile cyber / risk strategies, and working with the operational teams to implement them, and building trusted relationships with stakeholders internally and externally.

As a recognized leader in the space, she is frequently invited to chair and speak at global summits / conferences including ISACA, ISC2, BlackHat among others - on sharing industry insights, perspective and spreading awareness on cyber risk and DEI topics. She has also authored global thought leadership publications.

Priya’s global exposure working in the US, UK, Canada, China, India for multinational organizations equips her with the quintessential skills of working in a multicultural environment by having a global mindset, working and communicating effectively with people from different backgrounds, being empathetic & adaptable.

Nora Mulvaney & Casey Carvalho

Time: 2 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
Track: IT in administration; Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Research Data Management (RDM) refers to the storage, security, access and preservation of data produced from a given Scholarly, Research, and Creative (SRC) activity. Data management practices cover the entire lifecycle of the data, from planning the SRC activity to conducting it, and from storing the data as it is created and used to long-term preservation of the data after the SRC activity has concluded. Secure data storage throughout the RDM lifecycle is an integral component of SRC excellence. 

As part of the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Institutional Research Data Management Strategy implementation, a small working group surveyed the TMU research community regarding active research data storage options and open data sharing platforms currently used. This session will present the findings from the Toronto Metropolitan University Data Storage Survey, highlight recommended data storage and open data sharing options, and discuss the future plans to create a TMU version of the "Research Data Storage Finder", initially developed by Cornell University and adapted by several Canadian institutions.

Presenters: Nora Mulvaney, TMU Libraries, Casey Carvalho, Computing and Communications Services (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Nora Mulvaney has been the research data management librarian at Toronto Metropolitan University since 2020. Her research interests include improving the discoverability of open data, interoperability in research infrastructure facilitated by persistent identifiers and data repositories. She regularly teaches workshops on research data management and data management planning.

Casey Carvalho is the director of computing infrastructure in Computing and Communications Services at Toronto Metropolitan University.  He has been in this position for over 14 years. The computing infrastructure group is composed of the end-user computing team, the server and storage services team and the database and ERP administration team. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated fiscal responsibility, transparency and delivery of excellent value for IT services, while always introducing transformation and innovation.

Michelle Brownstein Horowitz, Julia Gingerich, Nick Duarte, Bilal Khan & Lyndsie Whalen

Time: 2 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
Track: IT in administration; Projects, workshops, demonstrations or tutorials
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

The Periodic Program Review (PPR) process is a critical component of curriculum quality assurance at TMU. For years, the Curriculum Quality Assurance (CQA) team within the Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic faced a labor-intensive, manual process that was frequently hindered by challenges related to collaboration, version control, centralized organization and archiving of documents. With first-hand experience in these operational challenges, the CQA team identified the need for a more streamlined approach and envisioned a digital solution. Equipped with a clear set of requirements, they engaged the Application Development and Support (ADS) team within Computing and Communications Services (CCS) to bring their vision to life.

This presentation will showcase how the new PPR application portal enhances collaboration, task management and faculty engagement, providing a smoother and more efficient program review process. We will also explore the collaboration between CQA and ADS, demonstrating how an academic administrative team and a technical development team used their respective expertise to work together and tackle challenges, bridge knowledge gaps and ultimately develop a transformative solution.

Key topics covered:

  • CQA’s vision and the need for change: How the CQA team identified challenges in the manual PPR process and were motivated to conceptualize a digital solution to fix those challenges.
  • From idea to implementation: How CQA partnered with ADS to translate business requirements into a functional application.
  • The collaboration journey: The journey of CQA and ADS’s collaboration, bridging gaps between academic administration and IT development.
  • Portal features and impact: How the application portal improves communication, task management, and overall faculty engagements/collaborations.
  • Technical deep dive (for IT professionals):
  • Google API integration: Leveraging Google’s collaborative editing capabilities.
  • Permission system implementation: Ensuring secure, role-based access control.
  • Automated document management: Seamlessly stitching Google Docs for an improved review process.
  • Iterative development and future enhancements: How ongoing faculty feedback shapes future plans for phase two.

The session will showcase how an operational team’s expertise and vision can drive successful digital transformation when paired with the right technical partnership. Attendees will gain valuable insights into effective cross-functional collaboration and learn how leveraging Google’s ecosystem can modernize complex administrative workflows.

Join us to explore how TMU’s PPR process evolved from a cumbersome manual system to an intuitive, tech-driven solution—enhancing efficiency, reducing stress and fostering a more engaged academic community.

Presenters: Michelle B. Horowitz, Julia Gingerich, Nick Duarte, Bilal Khan, Lyndsie Whalen, Computing and Communications Services (TMU), Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic (TMU)

Presenter biographies

Michelle Brownstein Horowitz is a Curriculum Specialist at Toronto Metropolitan University with a background in curriculum design, facilitation and experiential learning. Michelle holds an MS in Curriculum and Instruction focused on Multicultural Education from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior to her current role, Michelle worked for over fourteen years in higher education and curriculum development. As a Curriculum Specialist she is dedicated to supporting inclusive, accessible curricula.

Julia Gingerich is a Curriculum Specialist at TMU, where she supports academic programs through curriculum development, program review, and institutional quality assurance processes. She holds both a Master's and PhD in English from Queen’s University, and has over fifteen years of experience in postsecondary education as an instructor, researcher, facilitator, and curriculum design consultant.

Nick Duarte has worked at TMU in several capacities, including as a research assistant, teacher's assistant, project manager, sessional instructor, and instructional designer. In his current role as Administrative Assistant for TMU's CQA team, he is pleased to work with a passionate team of educators, researchers, and administrators to support meaningful curricular review across the university. Nick holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Media Production from TMU.

Bilal Khan is a software developer at TMU’s Computing and Communications Services (CCS), with a passion for learning and solving complex technical problems. He has a particular interest in optimization and is always looking for thoughtful ways to enhance technical processes. Bilal values the lessons gained from experience as well as the diverse perspectives of his colleagues, believing that the best solutions emerge through shared learning and collaboration.

Lyndsie Whalen is a web applications developer at TMU’s Computing and Communications Services (CCS). She's been with TMU for 14 years in that time she has discovered a passion for front end development and design. She values her co-workers for their experience and support and is always interested in learning new technologies and improving existing skill sets.

Time: 3 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
Track: Cybersecurity
Audience: Technical staff, general audience

Drawing on insights from the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025–2026, this presentation explores a range of risks from various threat actors, the broader threat landscape, including evolving tactics, and the growing complexity of cyber incidents.

Presenter: Tea Lalatovic, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS)

Presenter biography

Tea Lalatovic is a Technical Advisor at the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, where she has been supporting critical infrastructure organizations for two years. In her role, she provides tailored advice and guidance to enhance cyber resilience to Canadian critical infrastructure. Prior to joining the public sector, Tea worked in the private sector specializing in cyber threat intelligence. Her experience analyzing threat actor behaviours and tools has equipped her with a deep understanding of the evolving cyber threat landscape, which she leverages to help organizations strengthen their security posture.