Spring 2020

While many courses teach students about film festivals, a new SFU course on this topic is the first in Canada to have students apply their classroom lessons in real time. As they learn about all aspects of organizing, curating and promoting film festivals, they’ll be applying this new knowledge to organize the second annual Skoden Indigenous Film Festival.

Sniply, a venture created by SFU alumnus Michael Cheng as a marketing tool for link sharing, is being acquired in a multi-million-dollar deal by Tim Schumacher, founder of Adblock Plus, a company whose ad-blocking plugin has more than 100 million users.

With every Twitter tirade by U.S. President Donald Trump, it becomes more clear that the world needs good journalism. But it’s also clear that American politics has become terribly polarized despite a strong tradition of journalists calling out misdeeds and speaking truth to power.

Adel Iskandar is a passionate educator who aspires to create an engaging environment in his classroom. His dedication to teaching and supporting students have earned him a 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award.

As many across the world shift to working or studying from home and physical distancing, it can be easy to feel socially isolated. SFU communication professor Peter Chow-White, who studies how we use social media, says that needn’t be the case. By informing and connecting us, social media can play a central role in any crisis.

Eugene Suyu, co-founder and CEO of 3D printing firm Tinkerine, is a proud Simon Fraser University alumnus who is helping to fight COVID-19. The company has produced thousands of face shields, which guard against the transmission of the deadly novel coronavirus. “Since we have the ability, we should be using our strengths to benefit society and take some social responsibility,” says Suyu, who graduated from SFU’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT).

On a table in SFU professor Carman Neustaedter’s living room, a laptop displays an open video call. Gathered around the laptop are his three kids, aged 6, 11 and 13, who are watching their grandparents moving around their kitchen preparing dinner, and chatting with them. Some days, grandma and grandpa drive a telepresence robot around Neustaedter’s home–it’s like Skype on wheels—which lets them see and hear what’s going on, while also moving around like one of the family.