ZACK BAJIN

PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING

CENTRE FOR ARTS, DESIGN and INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE, TORONTO

2025

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PANDEMIC YEARS IN RETROSPECT

Physicist by education, Zack developed interest in computers in the early seventies, while being a researcher at University of Waterloo and an engineering investigative specialist at Canadian General Electric.

In 1974, he was employed by the Academic Studies at George Brown College.

In the eighties Zack implemented, coordinated, and taught Energy Conversion Technology, a three year technologist program at George Brown College, which he proposed in 1979. Throughout the decade he organized, chaired, and/or presented at conferences on energy and alternatives locally and globally until his program was discontinued in 1989.

In the nineties, Zack coordinated and taught a 36 week program on PowerMac Engineering. As president of Club Mac, a Toronto based Apple user group with over 700 members, and founding president of Canadian Consortium of User Groups, he organized, chaired, and/or presented at computer and education conferences, symposia and workshops and hosted a convention of North American User Group Leaders. In 1995 Zack was invited by the International Programmers Guild to become Director of the IPG Academy, and in the same year, he was listed in the International Who’s Who of Professionals.

In the early 2000’s Zack was a Resource Member on Brain Compatible Teaching, in the Centre for Teaching Excellence at GBC and, together with the other CTE members, recipient of the 2004 Exemplary Leader Award, Chair Academy’s 13th Annual International Conference for Community College Leaders, Reston,VA.

Throughout his life Zack has been influenced by two unparalleled models: One 24 years his senoir, Richard Feynman and one 13 years his junior, Steve Jobs. Richard Feynman is known for his famous Messenger lectures that motivated many renowned scientists to more effectively teach what they know. Steve Jobs was another natural, transformational envelope pusher and innovator. Both, Feynman and Jobs were subscribing to the KISS principle and were able to open up the gates to a completely new world.

To-date, Zack has taught over 50 different courses in science, engineering and computing. One of the courses he developed at the beginning of the Millenium was Operations Research for international students in Wireless Technology. In every subject he teaches, Zack emphasizes the “Aha” experience. He considers teaching an avocation rather than a job.

Throughout his working life Zack has experienced at least seven career changes, proving the fact that the only “constant” IS change.

TIMELINE

1942 - 45 Niš, Serbia

1945 - 49 Zrenjanin, Serbia

1949 - 56 Ljubljana, Slovenia

1956 - 60 Grevenbroich, Germany

1960 - 64 Oberlenningen, Germany

1964 - 70 Stuttgart, Germany

1970 - 71 Toronto/North York, ON, Canada

1971 - 73 Waterloo, ON, Canada

1973 - 76 Toronto/Etobicoke, ON, Canada

1976 - 86 Mississauga/Peel, ON, Canada