High-tech entrepreneur/environmentalist discusses 'green' technology at public lecture

The co-developer of North America's greenest hotel and a high-tech entrepreneur who focuses his efforts on carbon mitigation will discuss how to kick the fossil fuel habit at a free public lecture Wednesday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. in the Matthews Auditorium (room 137), Kaneff Centre, U of T Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd. N.

Tom Rand, a venture capitalist and environmentalist, will speak about Kicking the Fossil Fuel Habit - Possibilities & Opportunities: A Convergence of Capital, Science and Technology at the 2010-11 U of T Mississauga Snider Lecture.

In 2008-09, Rand and a partner converted an abandoned building in downtown Toronto into a 100-bed hostel/hotel for young people. The building, Planet Traveler, is a low-carbon hotel that aims to reduce by three-quarters carbon emissions from business operations.

Rand is the author of Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: 10 Clean Technologies to Save Our World (Greenleaf Book, U.S.; Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Canada), a book that addresses achievable solutions for the future. He also serves as lead adviser in the Cleantech Practice at the MaRS Discovery District. An engineer by trade, Rand holds an MSc in the philosophy of science from the University of London/London School of Economics and an MA and PhD in philosophy from U of T.

Rand's lecture is sponsored by the Snider Committee at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jane Stirling
Marketing and Communications
U of T Mississauga
905-569-4350
jane.stirling@utoronto.ca