The
DRIVE
ISSUE 123
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MEETS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
LIFESTYLE | CULTURE | PEOPLE | TRENDS
DESTINATION: MEMORIES It’s not about reaching the final stop, it’s about the fond memories you will make on the way, with your new Rose City Ford.
DRIVE
The
PAUL ST-PIERRE
Publisher
KEN STEWART
Managing director
DAVID HUNTER
Sales director
SABINE MAIN
Editorial & Creative director
MEL MONCZAK
Sales
SHAWNA BEECROFT
Graphic designer
CONTRIBUTORS JEN HALE
Copy editor
SYX LANGEMANN
Lead photographer
MARNIE ROBILLARD
Art director
LAYAN BARAKAT
Writer
ALLEY BINIARZ
Writer
ANUSHREE DAVE
Writer
DR. ANDREA DINARDO
Writer
TITA KYRTSAKAS
Writer
ASAPH MAURER
Writer
JENNIFER SCHEMBRI
Writer
JESSE ZITER
Writer
The
DRIVE
ISSUE 123
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MEETS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
On the cover: Melissa Mathers elevates the conversation in the tech field.
LIFESTYLE | CULTURE | PEOPLE | TRENDS
THEDRIVE#123_TEXT.indd 1
2019-07-02 1:50 PM
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Edits in issue 122: Our previous editor’s note failed to mention that the appreciation letter came from a local psychologist Jun Qi, M.Ed., C. Psych. (Interim Autonomous Practice). The DRIVE magazine is delivered direct to nearly 50,000 select homes and businesses throughout Windsor-Essex exclusively through Canada Post. Mail subscriptions available online at www.thedrivemagazine.com/signup or by emailing info@thedrivemagazine.com CANADA POST Delivery agreement no. 43497602. Printed in Canada. Owned and operated by the Landscape Effects Group of Companies. 1125 County Road #42 RR#1, Belle River ON, N0R1A0, 519.727.4769 All advertisement content to appear are subject to approval of the publisher and the publication assumes no responsibility for content included. We do not necessarily share the opinion or views of such advertising and assume no liability of this content or messaging.
CONTENTS
SUMMER II 2019
WELCOME 6 Editor’s letter AROUND TOWN 9 L ocal business share their news TREND DRIVE 10 In the land of beauty, technology reigns supreme SOCIAL DRIVE 14 Arts Council Windsor is here to support 18 Steps for better mental health in the age of hyperconnectivity TECH DRIVE 34 Windsor’s virtual reality cave 36 Cougarbotics: Leamington’s repeat champions 38 Anthony Lemmo: a singularly passionate brain guru and inventor 40 Eric Kukucka teaches the world’s denturists how to build new smiles using cutting-edge technology MUSIC DRIVE 44 Technology allows Windsor musicians to reach a global audience PSYCH DRIVE 49 The stories we tell ourselves with Dr. Dinardo ART DRIVE 51 How technology has become an essential part of the art world 56 Windsor’s newest hub for innovators 58 Asaph Maurer speaks art and technology
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TRIP DRIVE Your guide to a summer staycation in and around Windsor
TECH DRIVE Melissa Mathers finds her place within the male-dominated field of physics, and discusses how other young women can do the same
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EDITOR’S LETTER
&
TECH
THE CITY I remember when Apple announced FaceTime in conjunction with the iPhone 4. I thought it was a terribly intrusive idea—the ultimate invasion of privacy. What I failed to see nine years ago were the possibilities of something I knew very little about. Today, I could not imagine life without the option of video calls, especially when sharing special moments with friends and family. The digital revolution has transformed the way we live, think, feel, process information, interact, connect… the list goes on. It’s safe to say that technology has become a part of our everyday life, so this month we are taking the time to celebrate “Tech and the City.” This issue explores all facets of tech—from artificial intelligence to artists who use technology and create unique artwork. While every force has a counterforce, I think learning how to balance technology and our psychosocial well-being has become part of our daily challenge. We all need to incorporate time to unplug, and with summer in high gear, we included a great guide to disconnecting, slowing down and taking some time to recharge sans technology. A staycation in the city could be all you need to reset. Let us know what you love to do to disconnect. Send us your ideas and we’ll share them with our readers. Email info@theDriveMagazine.com
Sabine Main, Editorial + Creative Director
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Lynn Pike, owner and fashion consultant of Lynn Pike House of Fashion, the recently opened chic boutique in Belle River, invites you to come and experience a new feel when it comes to shopping. Lynn’s passion for fashion is second to none in the area. Lynn's extensive experience in women’s fashion has allowed her to transform her store into a stunning boutique. Lynn Pike House of Fashion will be having a private preview and showings for customers and their guests upon request, as well as after-hours personal appointments. Fashion brands include Cream, Celine Dion Purses, Desigual, ICHI, and Joseph Ribkoff. New shoes, purses, jewellery, and gift cards are also available. The store is open Monday to Saturday and you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. The store is located at 578 Notre Dame Street in Belle River, 519-728-2111.
AROUND TOWN
Welcome to our custom content page meant to highlight unique news from the Windsor Essex region
The 22nd Annual Joe Hogan Memorial Golf Tournament is on Thursday, September 12, 2019. This iconic event takes place over three local golf courses including Ambassador, Roseland, and Sutton Creek. Over the past 22 years the Joe Hogan Memorial Golf Tournament has come a long way from its modest beginnings of 90 participants. Today we have over 450 participants. During this time they have raised over $957,000 dollars for the Windsor & Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation and various charities. These funds go towards the purchase of chemo pumps, MRI machines, CT scans, Prostate Brachy Equipment, The Men’s Comprehensive Health Program, and research funding. The day of the event is dedicated to educating and raising awareness to the importance of research, and providing proper equipment for early detection and cancer diagnosis. For more information, visit www.joehoganmemorial.com or call 519-984-0801.
Hi Neighbor expands their operations to Chatham. Tiles, Planks and Rolls is the new brand of Hi Neighbor in Chatham. “The demand in that market has increased significantly and we wanted to provide a strong local option. With our buying power of two locations, contractors and wholesaling, we are able to offer a large selection for the best value,” says Terry Darbyson, co-owner of Hi Neighbor with Erik Rorseth. Their new location on Grand Ave is over 4,000 square feet of displays and also has ‘shop at home’ options all with quick turnaround for installation. Hi Neighbor is the area’s largest local flooring store and has been serving Windsor-Essex county and surrounding communities for over 80 years.
THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
9
TREND DRIVE
THE RISE OF THE MACHINES
IN THE LAND OF BEAUTY, TECHNOLOGY REIGNS SUPREME By Jennifer Schembri
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TREND DRIVE Think the beauty industry hasn’t changed much over the last decade? Think again. From the way we buy to the way we apply, the future of beauty is being reshaped and repackaged. As online sales continue to grow, technology is having a profound impact by helping to sell makeup and skincare in ways we couldn’t even have fathomed 10 years ago. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) are transforming and revolutionizing consumers’ cosmetics routines with the help of services that are truly sci-fi worthy: facial recognition technology, beauty chatbots, skin advisors, and robotic personalization. The idea of custom-made products and tailored services was once considered an extravagance only the wealthy could afford. But times have changed and brands have come to realize that no two faces are the same. Armed with the latest advancements in technology, they march forward with the ultimate in luxury: products targeted at the customers’ specific needs. Today, consumers are savvier about what they purchase—they want to own products that are one of a kind, and, ultimately, want to feel special and unique. And with the global beauty industry booming (it’s expected to reach USD $805 billion by 2022), it’s no wonder beauty brands are embracing technology to enhance the user experience and provide game-changing innovations that are altering the industry and inspiring a shift to a more personalized approach. With the rise of technology, the beauty influencer—whether a YouTube vlogger or on other social networks like Instagram or Facebook—and the concept of influencer marketing have caught the attention of the world’s top beauty brands. With legions of loyal followers hanging onto their every brush stroke, an impressive number of these makeup “gurus” have even gone so far as to partner with companies for advertising campaigns and to start their own brands. Gone are the days when beauty editors were the primary influencer—today’s consumer puts their trust in these so-called “regular” people. Consumers value their opinions and feel like they share a personal connection with people who seem like them—not with the paid models and celebrities of days past. And even though Huda Kattan and Jeffree Star might not be familiar names to you now, that may soon change. Instagram recently announced the launch of its new ‘Branded Content Ads Option,’ which THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
will allow advertisers to promote content from influencers as ads in the feed—whether or not you’re following them. According to the company, a whopping 68% of people come to Instagram to interact with influencers. To ensure transparency, each will be tagged as “paid partnership with” along with the brand name whenever the ads appear. But are these high-tech, personalized options here for the long haul or just a flash in the beauty industry pan? Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst at research firm Forrester, recently told CNN, “People want products that are going to work for them. I don’t think they care whether or not it’s personalized.” For now, Kodali suggests that brands are just testing the waters. “All kinds of established beauty companies have made forays into various technology investments. For now, they are experiments. That’s just all they are. Nothing is a prevailing means of buying or selling products.”
consumer’s skin needs and combine active ingredients into a tailor-made corrective serum. During an initial skincare consultation, an assessment is completed on a tablet, transferred over to the D.O.S.E machine, and within minutes, the custom serum is mixed and dispensed. “CUSTOM D.O.S.E introduces a new era of skincare: the merger of skincare and technology where customized products are developed without risk of human error during the compounding process. For the first time, a robot guided with the expertise of physicians and skincare professionals develops made-to-measure efficacy to address individual skin types, tones, responses, and signs of aging,” says Chloe Smith, National Education and Scientific Communications Manager for SkinCeuticals. Consider this serum an investment—at a whopping $295 for 30 mL and a three-month expiration date, this is definitely a product you hope lives up to its claims.
Nonetheless, one can’t deny that the buzzword is beauty in this new tech world of the digital sublime as more and more brands PRODUCT PERSONALIZATION jump on the AI bandwagon. Because scent is so intimate and personal, choosing a fragrance can be tricky. Earlier this year at a perfumery in Buenos Aires, ArgenCUSTOMIZED SKINCARE tina, cosmetics group Coty unveiled a multiImagine receiving a personalized skin sensory aroma-focused virtual reality experidiagnosis and product recommendations ence to help shoppers choose a new scent without waiting months to see a dermatolo- from the company’s portfolio of fragrances. gist? French skincare brand La Roche-Posay Consumers donned a VR headset and held recently launched Effaclar Spotscan, the one of seven scented stones, like ‘oriental-spicy’ first acne analyzer powered by AI. “Today, or ‘citrus watery,’ which brought the “olfacconsumers want more than just great skincare tive territory” to life. An eight-second video from a brand; they want an experience. Service was then activated which utilized 3D visuals, has become the new-age product,” says Emma sound, scent, and texture and consumers Kindler, general manager of La Roche-Posay received up to six luxury fragrance recommenCanada. Using a patented algorithm, skin dations from brands including Mark Jacobs, is given an acne score from ‘0’ to ‘4+’ and Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen. compared and tested on more than 6,000 images of different ethnicities and skin types. The free app seems simple to use: scan your face and receive skincare tips and a personalized routine using products from the Effaclar range. Users who receive a score higher than a ‘2’ are encouraged to contact a dermatologist. A before/after skin improvement simulator allows users to see the future of their skin if they follow the suggested routine. Currently available in the U.S. market and set to launch in Canada in September, L’Oréal in partnership with luxury skincare brand SkinCeuticals has developed D.O.S.E, a service engineered to scan and evaluate a
THE SMART MIRROR CRAZE Looking overseas, China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba, has launched the Tmall Genie Queen, a voice-activated mirror targeted at China’s tech-savvy female customers. So what exactly can this eightinch, AI-powered smart mirror do? Along with activating different light settings that range from natural sunlight to a candlelit ambient glow all via voice command, it gives skincare assessments and beauty advice (the company has partnered with 14 beauty brands, including Johnson & Johnson); can tell you 11
the weather report, including UV index; and can control other devices in your home like your air conditioner. PRINTED MAKEUP Back in January, Proctor and Gamble unveiled a magic wand they said will cover and correct hyperpigmentation to reveal the natural beauty of skin. Skeptical? Dubbed the Opté Precision Skincare System, the magic wand is actually a handheld microprinter with 120 thermal inkjet nozzles and a camera that takes 24,000 photos of your skin. These photos pinpoint problem areas—age spots, acne scars, melasma, etc.—and the printer deposits the optimizing serum: one billionth of a litre of makeup on each skin spot it detects to conceal them. Think of it like using Photoshop . . . in real life. With continued use, the serum is also said to fade existing hyperpigmentation. Though not available in the Canadian market just yet, the U.S. price tag isn’t for the faint of heart: the starter kit is priced at $599 and the serum refills are $149. VIRTUAL MAKEOVERS In partnership with Toronto-based creators of AR tech for beauty brands, ModiFace, Garnier has introduced Color Match, an app that allows users to virtually experiment with different hair colour shades in real time. With more than 130 shades to try on, the app takes into account the user’s base colour and identifies the right product to achieve the best result based on current colour, shade intensity, and results expected. Once a hue is selected, it can be purchased via the app, or the barcode of any Garnier hair colour product can be scanned in-store and virtually tried on. The quest for the perfect red lipstick may have just got a lot easier. L’Oréal has teamed up with Amazon to allow users (in the U.S. and Japan markets) to virtually try on lipstick either in “Live Mode” (a live video), by uploading a photo or choosing a model with a similar skin tone. Once a shade is selected, shoppers will now see “try now” underneath the photo. There are more than 400 colours to try on and include brands not owned by L’Oréal like Maybelline and Lancôme. With plans to foray into eyeshadow in the near future, get ready to say goodbye to endless makeup splurges that end in buyer’s remorse. D. 12
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ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL WINDSOR AND REGION IS HERE TO SUPPORT By Tita Kyrtsakas | Photography: Syx Langemann
Finding its home on Wyandotte Street at the Artspeak Gallery for more than 20 years, Arts Council Windsor and Region (ACWR) consists of around 200 members and the number is only increasing. ACWR is a non-profit charity organization that connects the arts to the community. Talysha Bujold-Abu is the organization’s gallery manager and membership coordinator and also an illustrator. A few years ago she moved from Hamilton to earn her Masters Talysha Bujold-Abu (Gallery Manager & Membership Coordinator) in Fine Arts at the University of Windsor. ACWR offered a week-long group exhibi- studios and show people, rather than creating tion and free membership, and that’s where and stacking.” Bujold-Abu met Julie Tucker, ACWR’s director Glen Donaldson, an ACWR member, is of public programs and advocacy. grateful that his mural-sized paintings have “I really liked the open and expressive been exhibited at the Artspeak Gallery. space. [It was] welcoming. You don’t see a lot “I have had some pieces in Gibson, of galleries that ask you to come in and particArtcite, and now Nancy Johns Gallery for ipate,” Bujold-Abu states. their membership show. Here, here, here, and ACWR pays artists for work and here,” Donaldson says, pointing around the Bujold-Abu was overjoyed when they commis- room. “I fill the walls here. You’re inspired sioned her to paint a mural across the front every day to do stuff. You wake up, you have window. She practised painting a strawberry to do something.” Right now, Donaldson has on the back window that still lives there today. around 200 to 300 pieces in his basement After her mural was complete, she applied for studio. For work, Donaldson paints airplanes her current job. at Windsor airport, he’s painted most of the Tucker believes that because “the majority wall murals on Drouillard Street, and he also of the staff and board members are artists, paints cars and guitars. [they] are able to support artists the best.” “A lot of members wear a lot of different Bujold-Abu loves how the space allows hats,” Bujold-Abu says. When an artist exhibits “artists to bring their art out from their at the gallery, the space is entirely theirs, with 14
SOCIAL DRIVE
Paul Napigkit (Assistant Outreach Coordinator )
help from the staff. “You be the artist and you put it up,” Bujold-Abu explains. “You take it down and you fix the walls and the next artist comes in. There’s a lot of working togetherwhen you fix the walls; you are fixing it for the next person.” This routine is a thread that passes from one artist to the next, linking those in the community. Sometimes, ACWR will partner with another organization and offer the space for free. In September, they partner with the collective The Artists of Colour. “This group talks about race, identity, and what it means to be a person of colour,” Bujold-Abu says. “We offer them a week-long exhibition for free to give them the space to present in the Walker- ville community. [This sharing] diversifies our understanding of art and the presentation of what [kind of] art is being given to the commu- nity because everybody deserves that space to be documented, shown, and exhibited.” THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
Glen Donaldson (ACWR member)
ACWR, along with other local businesses, also recently put on Cultural Industry Day for students that presented arts-related jobs. A graffiti artist, car designer, comic book writer, and therapeutic clown educated on how “arts isn’t just one direction and that there’s a lot of space to follow the arts if that’s your passion.”
Julie Tucker (Director of Public Programs & Advocacy)
artists: musicians, writers, theatre practitioners, video performers, etc.
Being a member for $35 a year gives you a weekly Art Notes newsletter, curated by Paul Napigkit (assistant outreach coordinator), that informs you about workshop days, calls, auditions, and other arts programming in Tucker celebrates that the students really other spaces across the country. responded. “They saw [graffiti artist] Denial’s ACWR’s next big event is windsor HEAT murals and then they got to hear him talk in July. Members exhibit their work at the about them and his path and how it’s not same time as the Walkerville Art Walk, straightforward and how his schooling fed and hopefully sell some of their pieces while into his career. You can say, I want to be an meeting new people and old friends in the artist when I grow up, but it’s all of these other community. things that come into your life. It’s not a direct Donaldson hopes you come out to path. They build their career through educasupport and be a part of ACWR. “There is tion and terrible jobs.” so much amazing talent in Windsor. There ACWR also hosts professional develop- is support here.” ment workshops and anyone in the community is welcome. And this isn’t just for the visual arts community. ACWR supports all https://acwr.net D. 15
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SOCIAL DRIVE
DIGITAL MINDFULNESS
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SOCIAL DRIVE
STEPS FOR BETTER MENTAL HEALTH IN THE AGE OF HYPERCONNECTIVITY By Anushree Dave | Photography: Daniel Korpai
In January 2007, Apple unveiled one of the most revolutionary products in consumer electronics history. “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” declared Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. “We’re going to make some history together.” Fastforward to 2019, and it’s hard to imagine life without smartphones. While older teenagers and young adults in their twenties were early adopters of the smartphone, a report from the Media Technology Monitor shows that 78% of Canadians in their 50s and 66% of Canadians in their 60s report ownership of a smartphone. According to a survey conducted by Yahoo Canada in 2016, 86% of people between the ages of 35 and 50 own a smartphone, with 99% of them using some form of social media on their device. By one account, the average smartphone owner checks their device every 10 minutes and spends roughly three hours a day on it. The addictive nature of the device and the social media platforms we use on it explains why academics, health professionals, and even tech industry insiders are beginning to advocate for ethical tech design. Many have described social media apps as akin to cigarettes: addictive, unhealthy, and in need of regulation. Tristan Harris, a California-based tech design ethicist and co-founder of Center for Humane Technology, often discusses the perils of living in the “attention economy.” Attention economics acknowledges that human attention is a scarce commodity for which companies must compete. As technology has allowed us to produce, share, and view content in an instant, human attention has become the limiting factor in the consumption of information. For the largest free-of-charge technology companies in the world—such as Facebook (including Instagram), Twitter, and streaming services like YouTube—people’s attention THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
generates revenue. A carefully engineered algorithm is designed to figure out what you want to see online, then gives you more of that to keep you logged into the platform for as long as possible. The trickle-down consequence of the constant fight for your attention may have damaging effects on your mental health and well-being. For one, it takes us away from the things that actually matter such as our jobs, time with our family, and hobbies that we love. For this reason, Tristan Harris has outlined key steps you can take to have a better relationship with your smartphone so that it doesn’t take away from the things and people that matter. These steps help to minimize compulsively checking your phone, fear of missing something important, and zombie-like scrolling for hours on your device. Here is a summary of his key steps for digital mindfulness:
you’re missing out on something. These notifications can be turned off so you are getting notifications only when someone specific is trying to reach out to you. INVEST IN THE TOOLS THAT SMARTPHONES ENCOURAGED US TO GET RID OF. Almost 80% of smartphone users check their smartphones first thing in the morning—and many don’t feel too great about that. It sets the tone for the day. It’s best to invest in a separate alarm clock instead of relying on the one on your phone. Or keep a separate calculator at your desk at work, so you’re not using the one on your phone. Or use a GPS device instead of your Google maps app to avoid being tempted to check your phone when you’re driving (which is both dangerous and illegal). GREYSCALE YOUR PHONE. Our child-like attraction to colourful things doesn’t end in childhood. Adults are also attracted to the bright, playful colours. Many have practised putting their phones in greyscale to make them less exciting devices to look at. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display for a blackand-white screen.
ORGANIZE YOUR APPS. Separate the apps on your phone into three categories: essential tools (calculator, Google maps, alarm clock); addictive apps you tend to spend hours on but don’t want to spend time on (games, social media Harris emphasizes that our goal shouldn’t apps, video streaming platforms); aspiration be to resist or fight our phones, but rather, to apps that you want to spend more time on structure them to make our lives easier and (Kindle, podcasts, yoga app, etc.). better. There’s no doubt that there are positive KEEP YOUR ESSENTIAL TOOLS ON YOUR MAIN aspects to owning a smartphone, such as the SCREEN. These are tools you use with a purpose ability to stay in touch with friends and family, and have an end point, such as Google maps, navigate our way around when we’re out, or which you open to find a location and then meet new people in our community. Mindful close. Put your aspiration apps in a folder on use of your devices means taking back control your home screen. But keep your addictive from the multibillion dollar companies that apps in a folder off your home screen. This have designed social media and smartphones will stop “leaky interactions.” Leaky interac- to be addictive. Digital mindfulness gives you tions happen when we pick up our phones to back your power so you have time and attendo one thing, but end up doing something tion for the things that really matter. else. For example, going to set your alarm before bed, but opening the Facebook or Instagram app and scrolling through it for an hour FURTHER INFO: before you sleep. humanetech.com/problem/ SET YOUR PHONE TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS ONLY WHEN PEOPLE YOU KNOW ARE TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU. Facebook, for example, sends out notifications for anything—from an event happening near you to an upcoming birthday of someone you haven’t spoken to in a decade. They do this on purpose to keep you going back to the app and checking it in the fear that
www.tristanharris.com/ BOOKS: Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World Kartik Hosanagar, A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence: How Algorithms Are Shaping Our Lives and How We Can Stay in Control D. 19
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ND AROUND WI N D S OR
So grab your friends or family and enjoy a little Windsor-Essex staycation. We’ve done all the hard work for you—all you have to do is pick your favourites, map your route, and take off for a few days. The best part? You’ll be so close, any of your friends can join you for a hike, a dip, or a s’more along the way.
TAY NA NI TIO CA
It’s just you, your camper, and the open county roads. Is there anything that our area doesn’t have to offer during the warm months? With local businesses and events to frequent every weekend, I challenge you to say that you’re bored this summer.
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By Alley L. Biniarz Photography: Syx Langemann
ADVENTURE DRIVE
A ONE-DAY STAYCATION: WINDSOR WHERE TO GRAB A MORNING CUP OF JOE? Tucked behind a vintage truck, you’ll find a cabin ready to serve you the perfect cup of coffee. Minutes from the campground, 14th Coffee Co.’s roasted fresh in-house beans will kick you into high gear for your day of exploration. But first, sit back with your cup and take in the morning farmland scene.
14th Coffee Co.: 14451 Concession Rd 14, Essex
WHERE TO EAT? All day diner-styled eats combined with local goodness is exactly the kind of place we Windsorites love to frequent. Garfield’s (1 County 50 Rd W, Harrow) is a must-try county gem that serves better-than-Mama’smeatloaf and Doritos Nachos that you wish someone had thought of sooner. If this is your first visit to Garfield’s, it sure won’t be your last.
GL Heritage Brewing Company 8728 Howard Avenue, Essex Rd 9, Amherstburg
Serenity Lavender Farm Inc 130 Essex County Rd 50, Harrow
WHAT TO DRINK? Farmland vibes are what visiting the Windsor area is all about. What better place to drink up the agricultural history than at a brewhouse on a century family farm? GL Heritage Brewing Co. is camper-friendly (and just plain friendly) and even have designated parking for people with trailers. Located just minutes away from Holiday Beach, GL has your hoppy fix waiting for you before you make your way to sprawl out on the sand.
HOW TO RELAX? Walking onto the Serenity Lavender farm property is exactly that: serene. If your plan was to relax on this staycation, this floral scent will do the trick. Grab some satchels to hang in your car and you’ll keep your cool all weekend long.
WHAT DO TO? Take off on a guided tour around the canals of St. Clair Beach with Urban Surf Co. It wouldn’t be a Windsor summer night without scheduling a sunset paddle—if you’re the type of person who enjoys golden streaks against the lake while dipping your feet into cool water after a hot day. THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
Urban Surf Co. 55 E Pike Creek Rd, Windsor
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ADVENTURE DRIVE
A TWO-DAY MINI GETAWAY: WHEATLEY/KINGSVILLE/LEAMINGTON DAY 1 Hang out by the creekside and forget the city life for a while. Wheatley Provincial Park is for the nature enthusiasts who love to explore heavily wooded areas and trails. The park offers semi-wilderness camping for the brave off-the-grid campers, but don’t worry, glampers; they have electrical hookups, too.
HOW TO TURN “CAMPING” INTO “GLAMPING”? Retro-style travel is making a comeback, and if you’re looking for a minimalist and totally Instagrammable ride for you and your pals, Happier Camper is a great local option. Their lightweight trailers are perfect for the avid summer adventurer and it can hook up to most vehicles. With the extra compartments available, the camper space can quickly transform from your sleeping area to your on-the-go home. It’s never been easier to take on the nomadic lifestyle.
WHERE TO FIND COFFEE IN KINGSVILLE? Take a little break from the great outdoors and step into the shared space between Red Lantern Coffee Co. (19 Chestnut St, Kingsville.) and Urban Art Market (548 Chilver Rd, Windsor.). The iced coffee hits the spot on those humid days, and a little local knickknack shopping is a great way to spend a vacation.
WHERE TO GRAB SNACKS? A true Windsor-Essex experience includes munching on our fresh and local produce. Willow Tree Market (North, 1827 Division Rd, Kingsville) is an adorable family-owned market on Division Road that sells farm-fresh fruits and veggies. You can also snag some homemade pies, cookies, and other treats 24
ADVENTURE DRIVE from their “sweet shop” and head back to the or photo editing class. Or you could support campsite for a feast! someone else’s handiwork and purchase an oil painting or a piece of handmade jewelry that’s WHERE ARE THE TRAILS? made from the heart. There are so many outdoor options in and around Wheatley Provincial Park but if you really want to get the crème de la crème, find WHERE TO ENJOY LOCAL SEAFOOD? an entry point into the Chrysler Canada What is it about summertime that just screams Greenway. It stretches across 50 kilometres food trucks? Birdies Perch (625 Point Pelee with lanes for cyclists and hidden paths for Dr, Leamington) serves up some of the best hikers, and “birders” should keep their binoc- perch and fries in the area, and all from inside ulars handy to spot the native species. Take their double-decker “bustaurant” location. a stroll through Southwestern Ontario’s Who doesn’t love some crispy fish and chips agricultural history—you’ll see why this area or a perch taco in this weather? is environmentally one of a kind.
WHERE TO FIND A POST-HIKE MEAL? When you’re on the road, it’s hard to pack a lunch (and for it to keep well in this heat!) Green Heart Lunch Club (28 Main St W, Kingsville) takes “paperbag lunch” to a whole new level with their deliciously healthy food options. From veggie to keto, the varieties of wholesome meals will help anyone refuel post-hike.
WHERE TO CHASE SOME EXCITEMENT? Swap the cricket noises for a night of lively outdoor music. Friday Patio Nights at the Marina brings most of Leamington’s local eats and drinks to one location, so you can try a little bit of everything. It’s a great excuse to spend a night out by the water and get to know what’s been right outside your city all along.
WHERE TO RUMMAGE FOR GOOD ANTIQUES? If you and your friends are enthusiastic antique hunters, you’ll have a field day at Finders to Keepers (114 Erie Street North). This vintage shop adds a little twist to your home décor, and you can decorate your space with thrifty and unique items that no one else will have.
P U P A R W Y O UR T I O N STAYCA ON A E T O N T SW EE
WHERE TO FEAST? Though this spot looks like a meat-lovers-only destination, there are family favourites to be enjoyed by all at Renny’s: The Village Smoke House (7 Talbot Rd W, Wheatley). It’s a great spot to wind down from a day of exploring and to stock up on your daily calories. You’ll have endless local options of beer and cider to complement your sweet and smoky dishes.
WHERE TO GRAB SUNDAY ICE CREAM?
DAY 2 WHERE TO GET MORE COFFEE? The coffee is hot and the food comes out fresh and fast—Lil Hil’s (13 Talbot Rd W) is exactly the type of place you’d expect to find around friendly Wheatley. With its close proximity to the site and accommodating hours, you won’t have to worry about where you’ll be getting your next meal.
It wouldn’t be a Sunday without a sundae! Wooden Spoon’s soft serve is some of the creamiest in the area (and surprise, it’s vegan!). It’s a perfectly guilt-free way to enjoy a sweet dessert without that dairy overload.
The Wooden Spoon 15 Seacliff Dr E, Leamington
WHERE TO SEE SOME LOCAL ART? The best keepsake to bring back with you from your staycation is a piece of art, and why not make it something that you created? At Chiaroscuro (11 Main St E, Kingsville)you can bring home a new skill by unleashing your artistic side in a unique watercolour book page THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
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LANDSCAPE EFFECTS GROUP IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE APPOINTMENT OF TAL CZUDNER, VICE PRESIDENT. Tal has a background from both the hospitality and business community. He is leaving an eight year tenure at Essex Golf and Country Club where he was the General Manger. Tal is the current Chairman of the Board for The Windsor Essex County Economic Development Corporation assisting in the continued progression of our region and marketing our assets nationally and internationally. In his new role at Landscape Effects Group, Tal will oversee operations of all the divisions. Paul St. Pierre, Owner and CEO of Landscape Effects Group states “Tal brings a wealth of industry knowledge, contacts and overall good business sense. As we continue to expand our operations it was necessary for us to institute such a role in order to keep up with our demand and to constantly improve and exceed customer expectations.” Tal is a Windsor native, an alumni of the University of Windsor and an overall fun loving, family man. He resides in South Windsor with his wife Daniella, two children—Alexandra and Isaac—as well as their rescue dog Annabelle. Welcome to the LFX Family Tal.
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TECH DRIVE
Hey, Siri? Can you teach me about the future of Science and Technology? MELISSA MATHERS FINDS HER PLACE WITHIN THE MALE-DOMINATED FIELD OF PHYSICS, AND DISCUSSES HOW OTHER YOUNG WOMEN CAN DO THE SAME By Alley L. Biniarz | Photography: Syx Langemann
Most of us have benefitted from the phrases, Hey, Siri! or Okay, Google!, where within moments we’re able to take advantage of the easy access to call someone, play a song, or to record a voice note hands-free. But how much do we really understand about the artificial assistants with which we co-exist on a daily basis? Melissa Mathers, a technical consultant at IBM and former Windsorite who works with forms of artificial intelligence, kindly debunked my “Black Mirror bots taking over the world” conspiracy theories. “When we see these show scenarios, we’re a long way off,” she says. “There’s also a lot of initiative going into A.I. being fair and well understood, and especially that it shares our values as humans. We want to make sure it respects human life, if it ever does become as smart as us.” The reality is, there’s only a slight possibility that we would see anything close to this type of A.I. in our lifetime, but that doesn’t mean the tech industry won’t make some amazing strides in that time. Melissa says that IBM is excited about the upcoming possibilities to integrate our lives with these assistants and are doing so in a responsible way. Though Melissa’s position doesn’t include developing A.I., it does include training certain bots. As a consultant, Melissa is also contracted out to companies where she helps her control team solve problems through THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
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TECH DRIVE technology, user experience, and programs physics was right for me,” Melissa says about that are available at the office. being halfway through her undergrad degree The team that Melissa is assigned to is when hitting a low point. Her test scores “Watson A.I. Technology”—this is the same weren’t reflecting her work ethic. bot that played on Jeopardy between 2011 and It was around this time that Michelle 2013. It was at that time that the A.I. was first Bondy, Melissa’s mentor at the University of brought to the public eye. Windsor, introduced her to an opportunity Melissa first analyzes the needs of the that could blend her interests and help her find company and then adapts the cognitive a place within the sciences. Michelle works to software accordingly. For example, when engage students with extracurricular learning working with a client in the medical field, the opportunities in the sciences. What was, at assigned software could read medical papers Melissa’s time, all volunteer-based, became and communicate the information back to the validated in 2017 as an internship or service doctor at a faster pace. “Say 10 new papers learning for students to receive school credit. come out in the next week about lung cancer, and the doctors don’t have time to read and process them all—the augmented intelligence can use language processing to read the documents and then spit out something that’s user-friendly. This augments the user’s knowledge so he can be a better doctor. See? It’s not meant to replace the doctor, but to assist him,” Melissa explains. Clients can use Watson to track processes, materials, manufacturing processes, machinery, or human elements. Then all of that information can be tracked and demonstrated.
“This gives students the chance to think about all of their career options within their degrees, to make connections in the classroom, and then write reflections with me,” Michelle explains. In Melissa’s case, Michelle says, “She has a rare combo of loving science, research, and technology, while also being good at community outreach.”
Melissa was really interested in working with and educating young girls about the sciences, and Michelle paired her up with “Let’s Talk Science,” a Canada-wide organization that was opening up in Windsor for the When the industry first began using first time. facial recognition, there were instances where Let’s Talk Science groups reach out to human bias creeped into the testing process. children and let them know that science When IBM first gave the bot face recognition, can be fun, creative, and that there’s a lot of it wouldn’t recognize face colour because they problem solving to it. The initiative works with had only trained the A.I. with white people. education partners and brings in hands-on “This has serious implications because now science activities based on the curriculum. the bot is racist,” Melissa explains. Scientists This way, the youth can actually experience have to ensure they’re giving the bot a variety their textbook learning, all while viewing these of samples in which it can match and recog- undergraduate guest speakers as role models. nize those patterns later. “We’re starting to see a push for getting With a Masters degree in physics from younger women into sciences more than ever York University and highly developed commu- before. When I was younger, there were no nication skills, Melissa is extremely successful programs geared to young women and work at conveying technological information to had to be done. A lot of it is showing role someone like a CEO of a company, who doesn’t models who are succeeding, and that there’s have time to learn about complicated topics like a place for women in the field,” Michelle says. cognitive computing, but who still wants to One of Let’s Talk’s programs, called reap the benefits for her or his company. “Scientist Like Her,” engages eighth-grade Still, there was a brief period of time in girls with workshops on computer science, Melissa’s undergraduate degree at the Univer- chemistry, and cancer biology topics. When sity of Windsor where she wasn’t sure if physics they initially brought the Avian Taxidermy would be something she could pursue. The Club to the class, including the collection physics program required coding up to eight of frozen birds, the 13-year-old girls were not hours a day, which was extremely lonely and impressed. Once the girls actually got into grinding work. the anatomy and physiology activities, “they “If you’re the type of person who likes to thought it was awesome,” showing that the work on their own, it’s a great field. I’m a very girls just needed to dive into the experiments. people-oriented person, so I wasn’t sure that Michelle isn’t sure if this had anything to do 30
with keeping the girls and boys separate, but it did give the girls a chance to try something they never would have if the boys had jumped into it first. Michelle emphasizes that these programs aren’t about alienating men, because we need male allies. We need to invite men to be a part of this solution and to see some of the male faculty speak up and out for women in sciences. Even though Michelle says women typically end up in “helper roles,” and that has been seen as a negative in the past, it shouldn’t be. Someone can be in a “helper” role and still continue on in a career within the sciences. IBM is one of the major companies that has made leaps in terms of diversity within the tech industry, but before she began working there, Melissa found that women in sciences were still underrepresented throughout her grad school experience, especially when it came to decision making or as department heads. “In physics, they celebrate all of these men in history but there’s really good evidence that Einstein’s work was in collaboration with his wife—she just never got the credit. It was hard being deep in the problem,” Melissa says, “because without role models present it’s harder to feel like you can identify with others in the group.”
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Young children naturally have this fearlessness of failure, which is why reaching students at a younger age is more important than ever.
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by allies and role models, even though it’s hard to see them at first. “If I could tell my parents what I needed to hear in high school and university, it would be to talk about those struggles because we are at a historic disadvantage. It’s important to help girls build a support Melissa adds that the conversation around network, to make sure they feel comfortable equity, inclusion, and diversity shouldn’t be focused on getting girls interested in the and have someone to go to.” sciences and maths, because they already are. One of Melissa’s go-to people was her It’s not a matter of ability when we look at favourite professor at the University of taking away stereotypes, threats, or studies Windsor, and current physics department published in journals. head, Steven Rehse. “There are different levels of encourageSteven says he’s not particularly suited to ment for girls and boys, and the harassment say what the issues are with gender parity in plays a part with unwelcome advances. When the sciences, but when his colleague Rebecca girls get to middle and high school, they are Lang went to represent the school in the shamed for their interest or encouraged in Canadian Undergraduate Women in Physics an opposite direction because they’re good at Conference, she learned about the power of languages, drawing, or teaching. Even if they imposter syndrome on women in physics. have straight A’s in everything, they’re encour“Though everyone feels this way,” he says, aged in that one direction.” “research shows that women feel it a little more Teachers, guardians, and mentors play an important role in whether they encourage girls or push them away from it. “For the girl in your life who is interested in technology, how do you support her?” Melissa asks. She suggests having these difficult conversations about foreseeable obstacles, but also letting girls know that there’s always work in the sciences where they can be surrounded THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
strongly and it can really affect their self-image and desire to want to stay in something.” This imposter syndrome heightens the fear that already lives within the modern high school student, who is petrified of seeming stupid. Once students finally do enter the university world, professors have to reinvent the wheel and find the spark of passion behind the fear. 31
“I’m an experimental physicist; what we do is 90% failure,” Steven says. “You work all year for the thing to work one time, but it makes the accomplishment all the sweeter. This is something we have to learn psychologically: are you really going to understand everything? This stuff is hard and you’re going to fail, but it’s okay.” Young children naturally have this fearlessness of failure, which is why reaching students at a younger age is more important than ever. With a projected number of 70% of the future’s jobs requiring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), it’s important that young students are engaged within the sciences, and this means providing more activity-based learning that relates back to textbook learning. “That’s why FIRST Robotics has been so successful in the STEM program,” Steven says. “It’s an actual activity with competitions, tasks and themes in science exploration, and they get to program it in the computer. This ‘doing’ will increase the probability of kids actually going into something like this.” This is evident in Melissa’s case, where she needed to find work that would stimulate two of her passions: she needed a tech background to understand software, and communication skills to make things accessible and engaging while she’s consulting. Steven says Melissa, and most of his lab students, were never the top academic students in their class, yet they made really important contributions. “As a communicator, Melissa wound up in a job that I don’t think any of us could have done. She has a willingness to help, and always took a lot of initiative to organize and lead people as the president of the Physics Club. That is a strength, and we have to play to them rather than compare ourselves to other students,” Steven concludes. In order to be a scientist, a person has to be curious. Unfortunately, this native curiosity can become quashed as students reach the higher grades. It takes only one teacher or mentor to get students into the labs and activities, opposed to having them watch it passively. Just as schools have a soccer team or track team, making STEM programs a “normal thing” in which students can participate may increase the number of students interested in sciences…and motivate them to stay. D. 32
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PROFILE
Sponsored by DS60 Roofing & Siding
Just like the Wizard of Oz, Dennis from DS60 Roofing is ready to emerge from behind his curtain to take the industry back by storm.
DS60 Roofing Expanding their brand and gaining momentum
While Bonnie has been the face of the company for the last four years, Dennis has been working behind the scenes creating the DS60 brand in preparation for the current phase: franchising the brand across the province. “We hadn’t made a big deal of it yet because our crews weren’t ready, but we’re at the point where we have started tackling industrial flat roofing in this market, and shingles in other markets,” Dennis says about their company’s projected fiveyear plan. His plan for a franchise-like model started back in 1982. “I wanted to do something along the lines of a Mr. Lube or McDonald’s but in the roofing area. I saw how unorganized it was, so I wanted to organize it,” Dennis speaks to why he got into the roofing business in the first place. Dennis has been self-employed his entire life. Working 23 years within his first company and spending 12 years building sales and marketing teams has given Dennis a competitive edge in the market. Once Dennis met Bonnie four years ago, they partnered up to fulfill a piece of unfinished business from ’82. “It’s the last act of my business life. I want to finish something that I started, and it has the potential to be something huge,” Dennis says. “Not only do we want it, but we have partnerships now that will take us from here through all of Ontario and beyond.” Building this brand has been a calculated effort. “Bonnie Clean” was Dennis’ first focus to rebrand the company with the logo, new look, and to highlight how the company is clean, tidy, responsive, and that their crew can deliver the whole package. DS60 attracts the best employees who perform to the highest standards, providing a clean and safe environment. This is non-negotiable for Dennis, because he knows the way to maintain team players in this industry is to keep the pay steady and provide quality benefits packages. Having this diverse and stable team means that he can continue to focus on the bigger picture. He has already expanded DS60 out to Chatham and has done very well in that competitive market. Dennis’ approach to expansion includes having control over staffing to ensure the quality of his brand.
DS60 Roofing & Siding 13325 Sylvestre Dr. Windsor, ON N8N 2L9 519-979-6827 office@ds60.ca www.ds60.ca
“Every time we find a good crew, this represents a volume of business we couldn’t have done without them,” Dennis says about taking on a larger volume of work while maintaining their high standards. Working out any bugs this close to home is critical for Dennis and his team. If he can manage Chatham, he can work towards moving the DS60 brand past the GTA, through the province, and continue to stay ahead of the curve.
Steven Page
PEOPLE TECH DRIVE DRIVE
DRIVE INTO THE FUTURE WITH
In March 2018, Elaine Herzberg was pushing her bicycle across a four-lane road in Tempe, Arizona, when she was struck by an Uber test vehicle. The self-driving “autonomous” car that hit the 49-year-old victim was functioning in self-drive mode with a human operator sitting in the driver’s seat. Following the collision, Herzberg was taken to the hospital where she died of her injuries. Uber responded to the fatal incident by suspending tests of their self-driving vehicles in Tempe, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. There have always been critics of the self-driving car technology, where failures can be both expensive and dangerous. But after the incident in Arizona, the industry faced a push for safer testing from lawmakers and the general public. “When we looked at the regulatory framework in the U.S., we saw there was a lot of skepticism by the public around autonomous vehicles,” says Susan Anzolin, the 34
executive director for the Institute of Border Logistics and Security. “There’s a real need to do a lot of testing before you can put these vehicles out on the road.” In order to make self-driving vehicles a reality in the future, developers need to prototype, design, and test cars using a real-life environment with room for error. The VR Cave—Canada’s largest virtual reality space for autonomous vehicles – makes it possible for companies to vigorously test product features without being a danger on the roads. Simulations with digital environments that accurately reflect real life gives people the ability to try new things and test out products at a much lower risk than doing it on real roads. Launched in May 2019, the three-dimensional space based at Windsor’s Institute for Border Logistics and Security allows developers to test and validate new and innovative product designs.
“In the U.S., they’ve determined that one hour of VR testing is equivalent to one hour of physical testing. You can really repeat your tests until you have some sense of confidence that the technology will work on the road,” explains Anzolin. One of the key funders for the $4.6 million project was Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), run by the Ontario Centres of Excellence. With the goal of making Ontario the province of emerging technologies in the field, the AVIN has funded six sites in total across Ontario to further research on autonomous and connected vehicle technology. Windsor’s industrial and manufacturing heritage is responsible for how the city has developed over the years and makes it the perfect place for such a space to exist. The city is the automation/automotive capital of Canada, with over 400 companies and 1,000
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WINDSOR’S VIRTUAL REALITY CAVE By Anushree Dave | Photography: Syx Langemann
Pilon is optimistic about the project and what it will do for the Windsor-Essex region in the coming years. “As WEtech Alliance continues its mandate to grow tech companies and strengthen the tech ecosystem, assets like the VR Cave become critical to developing and attracting tech entrepreneurs and top tech talent, especially in the burgeoning mobility space. We are already building the pipeline of tech entrepreneurs and tech talent through initiatives such as the Tech Mobility Challenge during our annual Tech Week YQG, “Hacking Health Windsor-Detroit,” which this year will focus on the intersection of mobility and healthcare, all the while leveraging the strong cross-border partnerships we’ve developed with industry and stakeholders in the Detroit area.”
manufacturers. The VR Cave will allow smalland medium-sized companies to use the space free of charge, and will also attract new companies to the area. The space is also open to researchers and students who are hoping to further their education using the VR Cave as a learning tool. It helps that the VR Cave is next to Michigan, which has the largest concentration of engineers in the industry in the United States, and leads the nation in patents relating to navigation and smart mobility.
while adding VR into their skills toolkit. The ability of our local tech talent to gain familiarity and expertise working with VR provides them—and our local industry partners—with a tremendous advantage.”
The Windsor-Essex Economic Development Corporation began working with WEtech Alliance, the University of Windsor, St. Clair College, the City of Windsor, and County of Essex to submit a formal application in January 2018. The funding was “The opportunities that cutting-edge approved in June last year. virtual reality technology present for WindsorA year later, in June 2019, the VR Cave was Essex are tremendous, and certainly not just selected by the Government of Canada as the advantageous for industry applications,” says site to announce a new nationwide research Yvonne Pilon, President and CEO of Windsor- fund that aims to bring new perspectives and Essex Tech Alliance (WEtech Alliance). “Just approaches to support high-risk, interdisciplinary, and transformative research. “The one example: the growing FIRST Robotics VR Cave was selected for the announcement community in Windsor-Essex has over 80 because it showcases new technology being local teams that can now access the Cave to applied to existing industry sectors to help design, engineer, and test in a virtual space, spur greater innovation,” says Anzolin. THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
Last summer, Detroit launched the first driverless shuttle service in the country. The vehicles seated six, and included a human driver to tell people on board how the vehicle will work and how the driver will take control if something goes wrong. Though it wasn’t open to the public, it allowed us all to get a glimpse of what the future may look like if driverless vehicles become more common on the roads. “When do we get to the point where it’s going to be ubiquitous? People are forecasting not for another 25 years, but you can see that there are a lot more vehicles that have driver assistance that allows them to be partially autonomous,” says Anzolin. Though no one can predict with 100% accuracy what the future will look like, we can be sure that spaces like VR Cave will curb tragedies like Herzberg’s and allow safer roads both today and in the future.
Links: Announcement of new fund: www.canada.ca/en/social-sciences-humanities-research/news/2019/06/ government-of-canada-calls-upon-research-community-to-help-shape-newfrontiers-in-research-fund.html For a Video of the VR Cave, go to www.youtube.com/user/WetechAlliance D. 35
TECH DRIVE
A Challenging
FOCUS LEARNING SELF-CONFIDENCE AND COLLABORATION THROUGH ROBOTICS
By Tita Kyrtsakas | Photography: Syx Langemann
Leamington’s Cardinal Carter Middle School may be only three years old, but its robotics team, Cougarbotics, is setting records—not only for the school, but for the students personal development as well. The team—run by coaches Ida Ricci-Minaudo, David Kostanjevec, and Rima Mastronardi—have guided their small group of seventh and eighth graders to winning the first-place Champions Award at the Windsor-Essex FIRST Lego League competition; the second-place Champions Award and the Innovation Award at West Ontario Provincials; and the Presentation Award at the Razorback Invitational this past May. Mastronardi explains, “You have to be quite the student to be involved in robotics. Mr. Kostanjevec is here five to six days a week after school, every night and often on weekends. Sometimes it’s until 11 at night. It’s a commitment. This isn’t for the weak of heart.” Daesa Minaudo, 13, loves being a part of robotics because of the life lessons she gleans. “One skill that this team has taught us is to be more balanced. We have to balance our home life, school life, social life, and robotics life. I’m in this to learn for the future.” Others in the group talk about how they were introverted before joining robotics, but now they’ve made new friends and have different opportunities to socially engage, which increases their confidence levels and communication skills. Charlie Liebrock, a seventh grader on the team, believes she learned a lot this year. “Presenting in front of a whole gymnasium was a milestone for me. I used to have trouble presenting just in class. Now I feel like presenting to a class is no problem.” FIRST Lego League is “a program that supports children and youngsters in order to introduce them to science and technology in a sporty atmosphere.” Dean Kamen, 36
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the man who invented the Segway and the a lot of different illnesses, one being problems touched down—was worth every minute as diabetes pump, came up with FIRST robotics in their microbiota. H2Go allows the astro- they laugh and smile, remembering the joys 20 years ago. nauts to wash their body and scrub vigorously they experienced there. This year’s Razorback Invitational was in an enclosed design.” “I’m happy that we could go to Arkansas in Arkansas and the students receive scores The team took a field trip to meet with and meet other teams and spend more time in three different areas: core values, project, Dr. Kristiina Mai, an engineering professor together as a team,” 14-year-old Matthew and robot. at Ryerson University, and had multiple Preston says. Teams came from all around the Core values grades the students on how meetings with Frank Frabotta, the owner and world, bringing their own levels of expertise, they work together as a team. The judges head engineer of Baymar, who taught them experiences, and items to share. notice if the students are having fun, smiling, about velocity. Kostanjevec, who has always been involved letting others take turns in speaking, and general cooperation. The team also applies core values to their school, so that their impact goes beyond their team. For example, this group started a Lenten meal project for Easter to supply food baskets to those in need.
Ricci-Minaudo explains, “There’s a true testament to their dedication and loyalty to this project. We had middle school kids coming into school on a Sunday in the middle of a snowstorm to learn from Mr. Frabotta and he came in with so much care to teach them.”
in extracurriculars, is happy to be a part of robotics after his years involved in sports. “I recognized the benefits of robotics because it causes them to think like scientists and engineers and I got very excited about that. The same coaching things you learn on a In the last session, the students were tested basketball or soccer team are what you’re on their robot, which involved research, learning here. Same skill sets, except it’s more coding, and building so that their robot than just the teamwork.” successfully ran missions on a table. Lucas Makhlouf, 14, agrees. “Robotics has taught me that it’s okay to take a break. I took Making their way to the competition in a break by doing other clubs like Me to We. heavy tornado season—the team had to go to
The project section is based on a subject given to teams around the world at the beginning of the year. This year’s theme was “Into Orbit,” so the group decided to create a prototype of a shower for astronauts. “H2Go is a shower for space,” eighth-grade team member Vanessa Jacobs explains. “Spot-washing causes the basement one day when 52 tornadoes had THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
“It’s a challenging focus,” he smiles.
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Chair Man Gets Paid
WINDSOR’S ANTHONY LEMMO IS A SINGULARLY PASSIONATE BRAIN GURU, FURNITURE INVENTOR, AND UNLIKELY HIPHOP ARTIST WHO WANTS TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD
By Jesse Ziter | Photography: Syx Langemann
It’s a springtime afternoon and I’m inside an examination room awash in fluorescent light. I’m sitting in a highway-side brain trauma facility, and an adult man is rapping at me earnestly. He is fascinating. In normal circumstances, Windsor’s Anthony Lemmo is a chiropractor who operates an alternative brain care facility in an area outside mainstream medicine called “clinical neuroscience.” While some physicians question his methods, he currently treats dozens of active and retired professional hockey and football players, notably including 2018 NHL MVP and Windsor Spitfires alum Taylor Hall. Today, though, he doesn’t want to talk about that. A self-styled renaissance man who identifies as an inventor and entertainer, Lemmo is currently obsessed with something else entirely: the idea of the perfect lounge chair. “The question I ask you,” he asks me, “is, when you go to a lounge chair at a beach or pool, why don’t you lie on your stomach? I started constructing an apparatus that allows you to answer that question.” It’s not a question I’d ever considered, but I get the sense Lemmo’s electrically passionate monomania for addressing it could light up any Ikea showroom for weeks. The actual product is The Lay Chair, a piece of luxury furniture Lemmo has been trying for the better part of a decade to bring to market. It appears to marry features of a conventional poolside fabric lounge chair and a massage table. The convertible, stackable piece of furniture allows users to lie comfortably in a face-down position—taking advantage of a patented face exposure—or on their back, covering the opening with a removable padded cushion. According to Lemmo, the chair has been meticulously engineered to achieve specific degrees of tilt, balance, and support independent of the user’s body type. He says he holds a “global” or “world” patent for the device, the documentation for which includes a 50-page dissertation. The idea’s origin story, which dates to 2012, is simple enough: “I was down in Florida, and my neck was bothering me,” says Lemmo, a former junior hockey player. “I took the strips on the lounge chair I was sitting on, and I pushed them apart and put my head down. One thing led to another and I realized there is not a patent on that. So, I just developed it. I sat in front of a thousand MRIs and CT scans, and I measured, and measured, and measured.” From there, Lemmo attended trade shows in New York City in an attempt to connect with existing furniture manufacturers, but, as he describes it, the establishment rejected the radical unorthodoxy of his idea. So, he decided to go it alone. Lemmo physically visited exactly 41 tool-and-die shops in Michigan, Ohio, and 38
TECH DRIVE Ontario looking for help designing and building a prototype. “I went around with a little piece of bent aluminum saying, ‘Can you bend it like this? Can you bend it like that?’” he recalls. Evidently, nobody could bend it quite right. Eventually Lemmo connected with Euclide Cecchin, president of Oldcastle’s Omega Tool Corporation. Cecchin was impressed by his dogged determination, and the pair got to work. After 28 prototype stages, Lemmo found a company in Hong Kong that was willing to manufacture an order of 50 units. Today, Lemmo is in negotiations with three companies interested in licensing his intellectual property. “I’ve met with distributors and manufacturers in the United States,” he relates. “I just want royalties: give them the product, have them run with it, but I still own the patent. I’ll give them dibs on the next one I do.” Lemmo would also like to talk about his promotional strategy for the chair, a process in which he is predictably hands-on. He shows me a highly stylized black-and-white commercial video in which an impossibly handsome young man in a crisp white shirt—a male model named Patrick Rui—reclines face down on Lemmo’s chair, losing his shirt somewhere offscreen. In ostensibly blissful comfort, he dreams in colour. (Full disclosure: The DRIVE photographer Syx Langemann shot the commercial.) “I wrote and directed this entire script,” says Lemmo, who notes he was aiming for a James Bond or Inspector Clouseau vibe. “I loved every second of it.” Notably, Lemmo was also involved heavily in the video’s soundtrack. As I alluded to earlier, he also writes, produces, and records hip-hop music. A trained saxophonist and accomplished pianist, Lemmo is most passionate about rap. He attests to this by showing me an iPhone video of himself delivering an enthusiastic on-stage interpretation of Jay-Z’s 2003 track “Encore” at his brother’s wedding. “We’re gonna chill it up a little bit,” he promises, thumb hovering over the Play button. Lemmo begins to flow, both onscreen and in-office. “Who you know fresher than Lem?” he asks, only possibly rhetorically, as he temporarily but wholly embodies his rap persona. “Dude, I’ve been doing this my whole life,” insists Lemmo, who is currently working with rappers and producers in the United States to elevate his career as a hip-hop lyricist. “My whole life, bro.” It’s a surprising ambition, but you wouldn’t necessarily bet against him. Certainly, when he gets in a groove, Lemmo has a predilection for grandiosity. Sometimes, this tendency manifests itself as hyperbole. Other times, it produces excitable, eyebrow-raising proclamations that don’t seem impervious to invalidation. A Windsor native of Italian-Ukranian stock, Dr. Lemmo says he speaks “eight or nine” languages, five fluently. As a child, Lemmo suggests, he independently invented the idea of a heated concrete driveway. Sometimes, talking to Lemmo makes one question what is and isn’t possible, which can be an exciting thing to do. What is unimpeachable, though, is the man’s self-belief—his internal, laser-focused conviction that he has the capacity to do things nobody else dares even attempt. And can I tell you something real? The chair looks very comfortable. D. THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
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TECH DRIVE
Eric Kukucka shows his teeth “ DIGITAL DENTURES” SOUNDS LIKE AN OXYMORON, BUT ONE WINDSOR PROFESSIONAL IS HELPING TEACH THE WORLD’S DENTURISTS HOW TO BUILD NEW SMILES USING CUTTINGEDGE TECHNOLOGY By Jesse Ziter | Photography: Syx Langemann
Doug Roberts reckons he’s had more than It worked out. Today, Roberts is still 100 sets of teeth in his mouth. All but one of smiling, and Kukucka is president and owner of The Denture Center—a network of them have been Eric Kukucka’s. Nearly 10 years ago, Roberts, who strug- denturism clinics in Windsor, Leamington, gled with an addiction, opened wide and and Oakville—and a bona fide world leader in his field. cleanly pulled out one of his chompers while For nearly a decade, Roberts has been sitting on his living room couch. “No bleeding, hitched to Kukucka’s rising star. He’s volunno nothing,” he now recalls. teered for further studies and participated in A subcontractor working in construction, a number of live demonstrations. Roberts had recently moved to Windsor from “I call myself a guinea pig,” says Roberts, Brampton in an attempt to get clean. He knew his oral health situation was a problem. “With chuckling, “but he won’t let me say that. I’m no teeth,” he explains, “how are you going to his research associate.” convince people to let you into their house, to Today, he also considers himself Kukucka’s build things for them?” friend. “He gave me a million-dollar smile,” Before long, Roberts had the rest of his says Roberts, audibly emotional. “The stuff front teeth surgically extracted, and his that boy has pulled off since I’ve met him is dentist put him in touch with Kukucka beyond belief.” (kuh-KOOCH-kuh), then a young denturism At 30 years old, Kukucka is a young man student who was training under an established in what is ostensibly an old person’s game, Windsor denturist. but he’s been thinking about false teeth for Roberts was a tough case, but Kukucka a long time. As a ninth grader, Kukucka took decided to take it on for free with one note of a family friend who was a successful condition: The two would travel to Toronto denturist and began to plot out a path to a together, and Roberts would volunteer as the fluoride-bright professional future. test subject for Kukucka’s licensing exam. “In high school, I wasn’t the greatest 40
student,” Kukucka admits. “My dad had a heart-to-heart with me and said ‘you’re going to go one way or the other.’ I saw that denturism was the right field, with the geriatric population and baby boomers, and I learned from studying people around me that the first thing you notice when you meet someone for the first time is their smile, regardless of whether they’re 25 or 95.” In college, Kukucka found himself in the first class to benefit from George Brown’s new relationship with Ivoclar Vidadent, a multinational oral prosthetics company headquartered in Lichtenstein. Located between Austria and Switzerland, this tiny country is a mecca of dental technology. At one point, the program’s would-be-denturists were bused to the Ivoclar’s American offices in Amherst, New York. There, Kukucka connected with Dr. Frank Lauciello, a key research and development figure at the company. “Frank and I just hit it off, and we kept in contact,” says Kukucka, who now describes him as a mentor. Six months into his career, Kukucka was surprised to receive a phone call from Lauciello, who invited him back to New York to
TECH DRIVE
discuss a line of prosthetic tooth moulds that motor dexterity of the human designer. seemed to have had issues on a global scale Because detailed patient information is stored digitally, denturists can easily reproduce a set except at Kukucka’s practice. of dentures, should one’s originals become lost “I showed some cases, what I was doing, or go missing. and how I was doing conference calls with “Digital dentures make us able to be other denturists who were having issues,” says technically and minutely precise, something Kukucka. we could never do by hand,” stresses Soon, he found himself beta testing the Kukucka, who notes that only 1% of dentures next generation of the product. The better globally are manufactured using a digital part of nine years later, he’s a key consultant system. “No matter how skilled a denturist for Ivoclar, which means he gets clinical trial is, it’s just not possible due to the limitations access to leading-edge technology before of human coordination.” almost anybody else. “We are doing things This year, Kukucka made a significant, four years before the rest of the world,” he six-figure investment in a sophisticated notes. five-axis milling machine, which he describes Exactly four years ago, Kukucka became as the most advanced denture manufacturing the first denturist to beta-test digital dentures device in the world. At press time, there are for Ivoclar Vivadent in North America. only 15 in Canada. “This is the first one of its Digital dentures eliminate the need kind in this area, putting local Windsor on a for denturists to perform physical alginate global stage,” he states proudly. “That is our impressions of a client’s teeth and gums. The most beautiful piece of technology; in fact, we new technology uses sophisticated scanners, renovated our clinic to house this device and 3-D-printed moulds, and milling methods its auxiliary components.” similar to those used in CNC machining Besides Ivoclar, Kukucka now enjoys to reduce “analog” denture design’s heavy consulting relationships with companies such reliance on the hand-eye coordination and as 3Shape, for which he validates dental design THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
software as well as intra-oral scanning devices. Kukucka also lectures internationally on his work. Within the last year, he’s addressed the International Dental Show in Cologne, Germany, a global affair attended by 160,000, and delivered a keynote address in Tokyo. “It was quite a remarkable thing to be presenting to the Japanese,” says Kukucka. “They pride themselves as the masters when it comes to denture manufacturing.” He has also lectured over 10 times this year in North America. While his jet-setting work schedule is formidably time-consuming, to hear Kukucka say it, he’d rather spend his time here in Windsor, working with people like Roberts. “I just love everything about this industry,” he insists. “Even if I don’t have anything to do, I’ll go in on Sundays and and experiment with my tools and try to get better. That’s my life. I don’t do it for material gain. I do it because I always want the best. The best patient experience, the best workflows, everything. I do it because I want to discover what’s next and how we can do this better—how can we achieve the best patient experience. “I do it because I love it.” D. 41
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MUSIC DRIVE
Turning on the Tap: TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS WINDSOR MUSICIANS TO REACH A GLOBAL AUDIENCE By Anushree Dave | Photography: Syx Langemann and Tyler McIntyre
In 1959, Motown Records was founded in Detroit, which became the birthplace of the “Motown Sound” and gave rise to legends like The Supremes, The Marvelettes, and Marvin Gaye. The music industry in the area in the ’60s and early ’70s was booming as a result. In 1970, across the river in Windsor, on Drouillard Road, George Hellow opened Polaris recording studio. Only a half-hour drive away from Motown Records, Polaris attracted talent from all genres of music, including big names like The Who. As a talented drummer and sound engineer, Hellow also dedicated time to train the next generation of sound engineers, including his son, Joe Hellow. “I started [learning] with my dad when I was six years old, working in his recording studio. He trained people throughout the ’70s and they went on to become some of the best sound engineers in the industry, working with artists like Eminem and D12. I had the opportunity to learn directly from them with the support of my father.” George Hellow died in December 2014, but his legacy lives on. “When he passed away,” says Joe, “I had to remember everything that he showed me because he wasn’t there anymore. I feel like my purpose is continuing the legacy he started so long ago and to guide people where they need to go.”
Richy Nix
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Joe, along with his cousin Richy Nix, decided to use their collective industry experience to redesign Polaris and lead it for a new generation of artists. Nix started off as a musician himself, at one point charting as the number one unsigned recording artist in Canada on MySpace, and then eventually going on to sell over 30,000 albums worldwide and performing at festivals with artists like Drake, Kesha, and Weezer. Joe has built a career doing everything from rigging for artists like Celine Dion and Carrie Underwood to currently working on the road as Post Malone’s sound engineer. Post Malone—a four-time Grammy Award–nominated artist—is just one of many big-name Polaris clients today.
MUSIC DRIVE
“When we decided to take over the studio,” says Nix, “we rebranded it and got it running for a few years. But then the studio flooded. To repair everything delayed us for a year, so in the interim I decided to open up a new spot.” The new place, Red Dragon Studio, serves as a subsidiary to all of Polaris’s clients. Nix manages Red Dragon Studio, and it’s currently open for business and taking new clients. Joe shares that “in 2020, the plan is to amalgamate the two and build a bigger and better facility than what exists now.” At the moment, Joe is on the road with Polaris’s equipment. Polaris used to be a full analog recording studio, but the industry has changed with technological advancements that allow quality sound production for a much cheaper price than it used to be. “Those giant soundboards are outdated,” explains Nix. “A lot of work gets done inside the box—meaning in the computer through software. The software is processed through an interface which is a piece of hardware technology that hooks up to the computer and processes the sound.” Polaris was known to cover a wide range of genres from jazz to pop to symphony. Red Dragon Studio will be the same and Nix encourages anyone who is serious about their craft to contact the studio. “You need to be all in. The industry is different now. It isn’t how it used to be where you could be a strung-out rock star on drugs and play your instrument and get a record deal and be famous. We’re seeing artists now who are focused and can do multiple things. They can handle their business, handle recording and mixing, and they’re more involved. You have to be versatile now to leave a stamp in the industry.” The gatekeepers in the business who once dictated who gets heard and who doesn’t are not as powerful in the age of tablets, smartphones, and social media, where anyone can upload a new track online and become an overnight viral sensation. But balancing the art of music with the high-pressure demands of the business is the critical skill that sets one-hit-wonders apart from musicians who leave a lasting mark on the industry. Brandon Unis, a Windsor native and a music producer in the Edmonton-based production duo called “Towers,” believes authenticity stands out in an increasingly crowded music market. “There’s way more music out there than can be digested. But at the same time, the cream always rises to the top.” In a space that’s fast-moving and unpredictable in terms of what will be trending next, Unis reminds us that “one thing we have to avoid as producers and songwriters is trying to fit the mould of what’s popular right now. Trends move so much faster [than they used to] and I think it’s great for creativity because it forces people to be unique and be themselves. And they create what they believe in.” To describe what the future of the industry looks like, Unis recalls a class-
Joe Hallow THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
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MUSIC DRIVE Brandon Unis
room lesson he had over 10 years ago when he was a student at Fanshawe College. “We’re moving into a streaming society. I remember a professor shared a theory where he described music like water. You turn your tap on and unlimited water comes out. His prediction was that we’re going to be paying for music like a utility.” The professor was right. Platforms like Spotify—a monthly subscription service that allows unlimited music streaming—are reflective of what the future of music consumption looks like. Purchasing entire albums may eventually become obsolete. Unis has worked with notable people in the business like Juno Award–winning producer and Grammy-nominated musician Kevin Doyle, and has written and composed songs with Juno-nominated artist Karl Wolf. He has also interned in Nashville at the famous Quad Studios and was a partner at Cylinder Sound & Film in Toronto. His most recent move was to Edmonton, Alberta. A decade or two ago, Edmonton may have seemed like an unusual city to live in to pursue a successful career as a music producer. But now, with the help of technology and social media, great music can be made and distributed from anywhere. This is one of the many reasons Nix decided to set up a studio in Windsor instead of in a large, crowded, metropolitan city. “There’s a stigma that if you’re from Windsor, you’ll never make it big outside of Windsor because it’s not a happening city. But if we want cool things to happen in Windsor we need to make cool things. Just like in any other city. Those cities didn’t just appear— people created them. People went out and made things. There’s no studio in Windsor? Let’s make one. There’s no record label? Let’s create one. It’s a matter of doing things. With the state-of-the-art technology available at Red Dragon Studios, Nix is hopeful that the next big artist will come out of Windsor. “There’s no lack of talent. There’s a plethora of good talent here. I’m willing to help people in the city and I hope more people are like me and are willing to make cool things so that artists can change that train of thought that if they’re from Windsor, they won’t make it big outside of here.” Red Dragon Studio/ Richy Nix: https://www.facebook.com/richynixmusic/ Brandon Unis: Towers: https://www.instagram.com/ProducedByTowers/ D.
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MUSIC DRIVE
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PSYCH DRIVE
THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES
By Dr. Andrea Dinardo
A friend of mine recently returned home from vacation to find his newly constructed house flooded. The feelings of helplessness that followed were magnified by the story he was telling himself on repeat: that he was an idiot, naïve, a loser. That he was stupid for not knowing better—that the flood was all his fault.
LOSS OF CONTROL What had happened was completely beyond his control. Yet there he was battling Mother Nature head on, making himself entirely responsible for the deluge of rain. In his narrative, he was all-powerful yet completely powerless—imprisoned by his thoughts alone. He and his wife had lived in their new home for only 18 months. This dream house had been built for their retirement. Every aspect of the design had been painstakingly conceived, which only amplified his despair.
Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing: your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.
’’
INFINITE RUMINATION In that moment, the story in his mind was filled with self-accusation and punishment. He was second-guessing himself on repeat. This is what happens when we lose control of external circumstances: we attempt to control it internally.
OVERCOME BY EMOTION Logically, he knew that the flooding was not the end of the world, that there were far worse things that could have happened and have happened in his life. But in times of panic, our emotional brain (the amygdala) hijacks our thinking brain and we can no longer think rationally. And that’s okay. In order to heal, we must first bear witness to our pain. Only then can we move on and beyond.
BREATHING SPACE It has been four days since the flood and thank goodness the overwhelming feelings of helplessness have subsided for my friend. Time heals, especially with a wife’s love, the kindness of neighbours, and his parents’ emotional support. The flood happened, but now he is strengthened. He will thrive.
CHANGE THE STORY Now when he passes the construction zone in his house, instead of chastising himself, he thinks of how lucky he is to have a basement renovation just 18 months after moving in. Same basement—different narrative.
TIPS FOR TRANSFORMING THE PAINFUL STORY IN YOUR LIFE: • Talk to others who have overcome similar circumstances. Be open to their lessons. • Ask five people to identify five strengths. Refer to them during the low points in your day. • Reflect on times in your life when you have successfully overcome adversity. • Be proud of what you’ve been through and have faith in where you’re going. D.
Dr. Andrea Dinardo is a psychology professor, author, and speaker who is passionate about helping people live their best lives. Visit DrAndreaDinardo.com to learn more about her TEDx talk and psychology workshops. Disclaimer. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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TECHNO
ART
Technology has drastically changed the lives of artists in the past 10 years. With digital software and social networks, artists create and audiences interact in different ways. Below are three artists who use technology as a vital part of their art practice. Maya Ben David: Video Performer Based in Toronto, video performance artist Maya Ben David believes she wouldn’t “have much of an art career if [she] didn’t have technology.” In her practice, she first creates a character and a universe for that character, then explores them and their world by drawing, making a video, and “expressing their personality online.” Cosplay (costume play) roots itself in dressing up as recognizable characters from mainstream popular culture, but Ben David creates her characters from scratch. “I always felt a little outside of cosplay even though I consider my costuming to be cosplay.”
HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE ART WORLD By Tita Kyrtsakas Select photography by Syx Langemann
community online where people draw sexy George Chaama: Digital Artist airplanes and I liked how well an airplane George Chaama is over 90 years old and lent itself to having breasts and curves and she still creating visual art from his home in could be this enormous beautiful creature in California. Before the computer, Chaama the sky like a whale.” used different mediums to “realize” his works After noticing that in airplane cosplay all but as he’s gotten older, his hands began to countries except for Canada were represented, hurt and their mobility diminished. Now he Maya decided to create Air Canada Gal and uses Microsoft Publisher to produce all his made her first video. Inspired also by music, digital designs. she had Air Canada Gal posing and moving “As a member of Facebook, I spend my to the jingle of selloffvacations.com. time browsing photos daily. Some of them She believes, “sometimes contemporary art attract my eyes and I enjoy modifying these can be overly intellectual, and missed out on photos in a way that is completely different the magic that the masses enjoy, like Marvel from the original. Each photo takes up to 45 movies. I want to appeal to people outside of minutes. I use Publisher to create designs that the art world.” come to my mind and it could take me hours Platforms like Instagram and Vimeo are to produce an original digital design.” pivotal in the distribution of her art. “I’ve For Chaama, there are endless possibilities had connections with other friends on the when it comes to being inspired by the world— internet for years and we watch each other’s having technology and the use of a computer art practice grow and I don’t think I could’ve allows him to continue his art as a hobby. done the same thing if it was in a gallery. It would have felt a lot different.” You can find Maya’s work on Instagram @maya.bendavid. (Her video performance of Air Canada Gal is also currently being shown at Artcite Gallery.)
MAYA BEN DAVID
Maya created her first character, Air Canada Gal, after she had been interested in anthropomorphic airplanes. “There’s a
ART DRIVE
THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
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DAYNA WAGNER
GEORGE CHAMAA
ART DRIVE
Dayna Wagner: Potter
“self-taught” and has been in her studio every day the clay. No clay goes to waste, and the pugmill Dayna Wagner has run her company, The since. Wagner started out on a kick wheel and also helps ease the stress on her body. Pottery Cupboard, for the last 15 years, and it a manual kiln. But after two years, she realized Techno spaces like Facebook and Instahasn’t always been easy. “I cried for the first she needed a technological fix. gram have also “changed the scene” of her five years, but I kept going.” “Without the computer-controlled kiln, work because people can tag her work and it’s manual, so you have to manually turn the spread the word. She has contracts across the Wagner and her husband were both temperature up on the dials. I wouldn’t have country and is booked for the rest of the year. engineers until one day the two looked at each other and asked, What do you wish you were been able to have a family life and sit by the “Fifteen years later I have a kiln to open doing with your life? “And we just started inves- kiln for 13 hours with the process of cooling and I’m still excited to open it.” tigating, both of us, and I took a pottery class up and cooling down. I have more control and I was like, this is what I want to be doing.” with the computerized kiln.” You can follow Wagner on her social Wagner also uses a pugmill, a machine media accounts and order her work online or With only a quick crash course at Haliburton School of the Arts, Wagner calls herself mostly where she puts the extra trimmings and reuses purchase at Whiskeyjack Boutique. D. 52
PROFILE
MR. Meat Market
Sponsored by MR. Meat Market
With summer in full swing comes the craving for BBQ dinner every night. M.R. Meat Market makes BBQ season easy; the only thing they don’t do is fire up the grill for you. This local business has been feeding the Windsor foodie community since 2005. They know that you want to bring home only the best for your friends and family, and with quality meat being hard to come by, M.R. Meat Market’s mission is that good meat shouldn’t also come at a higher cost. “Being an expert in business for all of my life, I know what the cost of products should be, and how it should be retailed and merchandised. I felt like the big-box stores got away from the customer service aspect of business and lost quality in their product. I wanted to do something about it,” M.R. Meat Market’s President Marc Romualdi says. When Marc opened M.R. Meat Market, he ensured that those three pillars would always be the forefront of his business: having the best quality, best service, and best price. By collaborating with premium farmers and major federal packers, he never had to compromise one for the others. This is why within a year of opening, M.R. Meat Market was embraced as the number one independent meat market in the city, and how they became one of Canada’s leading volume meat stores. “We always say that the prices bring the customers in, quality brings them back, and service lets them leave with a smile on their faces,” Marc adds about the family feel of the market. The efficiently designed space means a customer can walk in and choose the self-serve option to quickly pick up what they need, while also having the option of going up to the counter for customized cuts to suit their individual cooking needs. M.R. Meat Market is praised around Windsor-Essex for their exclusive brand that they carry. “Marco’s Own Famous Recipes” have been passed down from four generations, making fresh in-house products using only the best ingredients. The products are made lowsodium, high-protein, and are gluten-free, which makes shopping convenient for anyone living the Keto lifestyle.
MR.Meat Market West Windsor 2451 Tecumseh Rd. Windsor, ON N9B 3R6 519-987-0555 South Windsor 4318 Walker Rd. Windsor, ON, N8W 3T5 519-969-6328 www.mrmeatmarkets.ca
“Our products are all marinated and seasoned overnight so it’s already done for the customer when they walk through the doors,” Mark says about the top-of-theline products. Customers can enjoy ready-prepped meats like Honey Garlic Souvlaki, BBQ Chicken Kabobs, and Super Meaty Pork Back Ribs, or they can experiment on their own using the Marco’s branded bottled mild and hot sauces for an extra kick. They’ve even shared some of their famous recipes online, like the Beer Can Chicken, Summer Grilled Pork Chops, or a “howto” way to achieve that perfectly grilled summer steak. M.R. Meat Market is proud to serve the Windsor community, and to help take the stress out of cooking and to fill it instead with deliciously smoky fun.
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ART DRIVE
META MAKERS COOPERATIVE a space for every maker INTRODUCING WINDSOR’S NEWEST HUB FOR MAKERS, CREATORS, AND INNOVATORS 56
ART DRIVE
By Layan Barakat | Photography: Syx Langemann
Heavy rain washed over the city as I walked to the coffee shop where I was set to meet the Meta Makers. The thick covering of grey clouds accentuated Windsor’s industrial skyline, a backdrop that fittingly celebrates the makers, the creators, and the ones who have built this city with their own hands. I wasn’t sure what to expect or who I was going to meet, a scenario that always twists my stomach into knots. As I ducked into the bustling café on that Thursday night, I was met with five smiling faces and the worry melted away. “Meta Makers?” I asked, half-knowingly. “That’s us!” Jo Taylor, Nik Steel, Pauline Burnett, Roberto Caruso, and Shawn Wilson are the visionaries behind the Meta Makers Cooperative, a makerspace looking to unite Windsor’s splintered artist community into one collaborative workspace. From the moment I sat down with them, the conversation was effortless. Quick introductions seamlessly transitioned into in-depth discussions of art and tech within the Windsor community. Each of the five founders is a maker in their own right, with skills ranging from software development and electronics to woodworking and pottery, just to name a few.
discussing the possibility of creating a makerspace. The vision came about after a visit to i3Detroit, Detroit’s largest community-run workshop. That group not only served as the inspiration for the Meta Makers Cooperative, but has also provided support and guidance for the new makerspace. Shawn and Roberto wanted to create something similar, a space where members could hone their skills, learn new skills, and meet like-minded makers in the area.
quarterly—are open to everyone over the age of 18—whether you’re interested in learning about creative outlets, you’re a do-it-yourselfer, or you just like to tinker and create, Meta Makers Cooperative provides a platform for ideas to grow. “Sometimes you have that mentality where you’re restless if you’re not working with your hands or your mind, and you don’t know where to go,” said Jo. Now those restless hands have a second home located at 628 Monmouth Road in Windsor’s “We talked about starting it, but we historic Walkerville neighbourhood. had no idea what we were doing. We were As to when the space will open, “that all trying to figure out how to make a co-op,” depends on sponsorships,” said Pauline. “We said Shawn. “We didn’t know how to make hope to be open by the fall, but with the a co-op, we didn’t know how to make a right sponsorship, we could be open earlier.” company, we didn’t know anything about Although the group hopes to sustain itself anything.” The pair worked together for over with their membership program, the Meta a year, learning the ins and outs of building a Makers are still looking for sponsorships to company and creating a co-op. Founded on the help launch the makerspace. With visions concept of participatory governance, coopera- of 3-D printers, laser cutters, woodworking tives (or co-ops) are based on the principles stations, and more, the group hopes to of education, community, and empowerment. receive more funding to help their business For the Meta Makers, this means members model grow and succeed to provide tools and could truly help mould the space while also resources to suit any and all makers. practising existing skills and acquiring new “The model is self-sustaining with enough ones. “Members could even learn new skills membership. Any extra money that comes they can apply to a second career,” added Jo. in gets channeled into making it bigger Shortly after, Nik, a software developer with experience in music and the arts joined the newly formed group. Their vision was slowly coming together but they were missing one key component. “The guys had said they really wanted to get the female perspective, to bring the craft element into this because they’re tech guys,” said Pauline. That’s when she and Jo, a self-proclaimed “Jo of all trades,” joined the team.
“Should we head over?” said Jo, suggesting that we make our way to the makerspace located on the second floor of Sho Art, Spirit & Performance studios. I tried to hide my excitement knowing I was getting my first “We were specifically looking to cast a wide sneak peek into Windsor’s newest makerspace. We continued our conversation during net, to bring in everybody. Every age, everythe quick walk over, the buzz building with thing across the board,” said Shawn. “If you stick in a narrow interest it tends to become an every step. The barren walls of the newly acquired echo chamber; it tends to become stagnant.” space were already filled with intention; the creative energy was undeniable. After a quick tour where they described their vision for the space, the six of us sat down in a perfect circle in the middle of what will soon become a hub for creators, innovators, and makers of every kind. “It started over some beer,” said Roberto, causing a roar of laughter in the group, a recurring joke that had made its way into most of our conversations that night. His story took us back to the bud of inspiration that motivated him and Shawn to begin THEDRIVEMAGAZINE.COM
Since its inception, the Meta Makers have dedicated countless hours to turning their innovative dreams into reality—dreams that include a 24-hour workspace where all members can safely learn, create, and socialize. “You can walk in with a certain background and someone is in there doing something you never even knew could be done,” said Nik when asked about their vision. “You see them doing it and you’re like, ‘oh that looks like a piece of cake.’ Then you start talking and you create.” Membership opportunities—annual, semi-annual, or
and better—bigger space, better equipment, whatever the membership decides at the time,” said Jo. Community outreach is a major part of the Meta Makers mandate, with long-term goals of eventually becoming a registered charity. “Our multi-talented member base will now have the means to connect with the community and offer classes/workshops to include kids, youth, and seniors,” said Pauline. At its core, Windsor is a city of makers. We take pride in our tradespeople, our artists, the hardworking members of our community who have put our city on the map. “It’s always surprising,” said Nik. “The more you kind of lurk around downtown or in the Walkerville area, you find out that there’s really an interesting arts community in Windsor. There are a lot of galleries and a lot of artist groups, performance groups, music groups. There is really a lot going on but they don’t advertise themselves maybe as well as they do in another city, so that’s also something we’re trying to do. To unite those groups.” To learn more about the Meta Makers Cooperative, please visit their website at www.metamakers.org and check out their Facebook page Meta Makers Cooperative to stay up-to-date on their journey. D. 57
ART DRIVE
Artist
ASK AN
By Asaph Maurer | Photography: Syx Langemann
HOW CAN YOU GROW YOUR ART BUSINESS USING THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA? Building a profitable art business is like most things in life: simple, but not easy. Successful artists and people have a bias towards action. They shoot first and ask questions later because any action is better than no action.
post on one will automatically post everywhere else.
What if you’re not happy with the piece of art you’ve made? Post it anyway. People like to see progress and growth towards a goal, not just the perfect final outcome. We In today’s industry, every artist is an relate to people in the process of achieveentrepreneur. We’re in a time where an art ment as much as the end result. Making business—or any business for that matter—is bad art is better than making none, and you nothing without social media. If they can’t could even use it to your advantage: if you find you online, you don’t exist. post a work you’re not satisfied with, but are later hit with inspiration to improve it, post To that end, my fellow artists and businessfolk, let’s take a look at some ideas of both pieces for your online audience to give ways to advertise yourself online. Try some of them some insight to your process. these techniques to get closer to the goal of Give art away on the socials. Yes, we being able to fully support yourself finanget asked for free art or cheap art all the cially through your art. time in exchange for “exposure.” (I like to joke that it would be great if I could pay my First of all, I urge you to use Instagram. rent with a thousand exposures.) However, Right now, Instagram is the best social when you take the initiative to offer art media platform to showcase and promote for free it is part of your service to the your art. It creates an interactive online world. Make art and specifically offer it to album of your art that is chronologically a charity auction or other cause. Don’t be sorted and easily accessible for anyone in so attached to your art that you can’t let it the world to see. Do all the social media go. Getting it out the door is so important you can of course, but prioritize the ’Gram. Also, link your Instagram account with your to improving, and it clears the slate for the Facebook page and Twitter account, so that a universe to give fresh inspiration.
When using social media to promote your work, stay engaged. As you do the endless scroll through your social feeds, don’t just consume and read the comments— interact with the commenters. Every comment is an opportunity to build relationships. Respond to questions about the art, and thank people for their praise (or even their criticism). Remember not to engage with the trolls: you don’t want people to see you turning someone’s nasty comment into a full-blown argument. Succeding as an artist is not one big thing, it is 100 small things, repeated. That applies not only to the gradual improvement of one piece of art created after another but to a consistent online presence. Remember, a key aspect of what we do is service. Our job as artists is to bring beauty into the world, and to give people a moment to think about their lives and connect to our common humanness. Even though posting your work is self-promotion, it is also a gift to those who are viewing it. Final thought: at all costs do not let the art die within you. Your job is to create the art and present it to the world, and in this day and age, that means being online. D.
Asaph Maurer is a Windsor-based visual artist who has been a professional artist for two years. He is deeply involved in the arts community in the city and his mission is to help each artist grow by coaching the new global talent forward. www.asaphmaurer.com
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