University of Ontario Institute of Technology

The North campus is located at 2000 Simcoe St North and is considered the 'main' campus. The Faculty of Business and Information Technology (FBIT), the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science (FESNS), the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS), the Faculty of Science (FS), the Faculty of Health Science (FHS), and the Faculty of Graduate Studies are located on the North Campus.[15]

Facilities on the North campus include: the award-winning Campus Library, the Science Building, the Business and Information Technology Building, the Energy Systems and Nuclear Science Research Centre (ERC), the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) building, the one-of-a-kind Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE), the Software and Informatics Research Centre (SIRC), the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC), the University Pavilion (UP), the Student Life building, and student housing. The North campus is co-located with Durham College's campus and both institutions share various facilities including the Campus Library, the CRWC, and the bookstore and various services including parking, security, and IT services.[15] The university has plans in conjunction with Durham College to expand further north in Oshawa over the next few years, on land that they have already purchased.[15] Part of this plan includes the Centre for Cybercrime Research, a university-owned building focusing on research and education in various aspects of cybercrime.[20]

General Motors of Canada Automotive Centre of Excellence

The Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) is a multi-level testing and research centre including a five-storey high wind tunnel that allows for climatic, durability, and life cycle testing. It was built by the university in partnership with General Motors (GM) Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada and the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).[15] The total cost of the facility was approximately $100 million. [21] It is used by the university for research and education and is also used by GM Canada and its other sponsors for various purposes, including testing new car prototypes.[15] It is divided into two sections: a core research facility (CRF) and an integrated research and training facility (IRTF), with a total area of approximately 16,300 square metres.[22]

The IRTF is the main portion of the building, spanning five floors with space for research and education. This portion of the ACE building is open to university students and is used as a place to study.[15] The CRF, usually referred to as 'the wind tunnel', has full-size chambers for full climatic, structural durability and life cycle testing including a climatic wind tunnel. In this test chamber, wind speeds can exceed 240 kilometres per hour, temperatures range from -40 to +60 °C and relative humidity ranges from 5 to 95 per cent. The climatic wind tunnel has a variable nozzle that can optimize the airflow from 7 to 13 square metres (and larger) as well as a large flexible chassis dynamometer integrated into a 11.5-metre turntable; these allow for vehicles in a wide range of sizes to be tested at various angles of windflow, including crosswind. The chamber also includes a solar array that can replicate the effects of the sun.[23]

The Energy Research Centre (ERC) is a 9,290-square-metre, four-storey facility focusing on clean energy technologies that houses Ontario Tech's nuclear engineering undergraduate program, the only program of its kind in Canada. This building is used for research in geothermal, hydraulic, hydrogen, natural gas, nuclear, solar, and wind energy technologies. The ERC is the result of a joint $45.4-million investment from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario as part of the Knowledge Infrastructure Program.[24]

The ERC contains a 72-seat lecture theatre, three 50-seat classrooms, two 30-seat tutorial rooms with flexible seating, 11 student-study (breakout) rooms, 12 labs, dedicated working stations for graduate students, and administrative space and offices for staff and faculty. One of the more notable labs is an extensive nuclear power plant computer simulation, the most extensive of its kind. [25] The second, third, and fourth floors of the ERC have indoor connections to the adjacent Business and Information Technology building.[15] The ERC features a glass-covered atrium with a large hanging metal-wire sculpture of Northern Dancer, the famous, award-winning Canadian horse from Windfields Farm. Ontario Tech and Durham College purchased the core area of Windfield Farms in 2013, including the site where Northern Dancer was buried; the sculpture is a tribute.[26]

The Downtown campus is located in the downtown region of Oshawa, approximately ten minutes away from the North campus. Most of Ontario Tech's buildings in the downtown campus have not yet been named and are instead referred to by the address at which they are located. The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSH) and the Faculty of Education (FE) are located at the downtown campus.[15]

Facilities at the Downtown campus include: Bordessa Hall, 61 Charles Street, Regent Theatre, 2 Simcoe Street South, 11 Simcoe Street North, and the UOIT-Baagwating Indigenous Student Centre (UBISC).[27]

The Regent Theatre is a 609-seat lecture theatre used by the university that, despite being a historic location, is fully outfitted with electric sockets and fold-down side-desks for students' computers. When not in use by the university, the theatre is also rented out for events in the evenings and on weekends,[16] including regular use by the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, who hold most of their concerts in the Regent Theatre.[28]

The residences for Ontario Tech are shared by Ontario Tech and Durham College students, as well as Trent University students studying at Trent's Oshawa campus. There are two separate residences on campus: Simcoe Village and South Village. Both of these residences are managed by Campus Living Centres.

Ontario Tech has many 'green energy' features on campus, including solar panels on the roof of the Promenade, geothermal heating sourced from deep under the Polonsky Commons, and green roofs to reduce heating and cooling costs. [29]

• Dr. Gary Polonsky 2002–2006
• Dr. Ronald Bordessa 2006–2011
• Dr. Tim McTiernan 2011–2017
• Dr. Steven Murphy 2017–present

• Lyn McLeod 2002–2008
• Perrin Beatty 2008–present

The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks are members of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), and compete in sports including rowing, curling, golf, badminton, and men's and women's hockey and soccer.[42]

The students of Ontario Tech are represented by the Ontario Tech Student Union (OTSU). This organization provides advocacy and student services for students at all of Ontario Tech's campuses.

Before the 2017/2018 academic year, the students of Ontario Tech were represented by the UOIT-DC Student Association (SA) which served students from both Ontario Tech and Durham College; various issues and conflicts eventually resulted in a court-mandated separation in early 2017. [43]

The SA was known for the annual CampusFest it hosted, especially the CampusFest concert. Past concert performers include Loud Luxury, Anders, 3LAU, Avicii, 20 Amp Soundchild, Monster Truck, Tommy Trash, The Chainsmokers, and Wolfgang Gartner. The OTSU currently hosts an O-Week every year including a concert.

Ontario Tech, as a rule, does not grant recognition to any fraternities or sororities and states that they are entirely independent of the university and not sanctioned.[44] Despite this, there are several fraternities and sororities located around campus. These organizations, some of which are residential and some of which are not, host events for students and do philanthropy work for the surrounding community: Tau Kappa Epsilon has an annual charity event known as "Teke in a box" that raises money for the campus food centre[45] and Zeta Psi has an annual charity event known as "Zete car push".[46]

The fraternities located around Ontario Tech include Zeta Psi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Delta Lambda Phi. The sororities located around Ontario Tech include Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Psi Delta, Delta Phi Nu, Kappa Sigma Psi, and Alpha Sigma Chi (inactive as of 2017).

In September 2018, a proposal for a name change surfaced stating the abbreviation 'UOIT' to be hard to pronounce, thus making marketing difficult.[48] The subject became a topic of discussion in the proceeding months, followed by feedback from both the stakeholders and the school. In March 2019, the university officially launched their new brand identity, "Ontario Tech University".[49] Subsequently, a system wide revamp was observed in all promotional materials including banners, merchandise, and the website. The change was met with mixed reviews.[50] The official name of the institution, however, is to remain ‘University of Ontario Institute of Technology’ in formal documents, since it is included in the provincial legislation that created the university.[51]