Latest news with #Gu
Calgary Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Alberta government commits $50M to bolster tailings pond reclamation technology
The Alberta government has announced a $50-million Tailings Technology Challenge, a funding competition that aims to drive the development of technologies that reduce oilsands mine water and help reclaim tailings ponds. Article content The awarded funds will range from $1 million to $15 million, with the award accounting for no more than 50 per cent of an application's total budget. Article content Article content Article content 'Like all of our funding, the private sector has to be at the table and always do, often by far more than our minimum requirement,' said Justin Riemer, the CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta, the organization in charge of allocating the funds. Riemer said the criteria are intentionally broad. Water treatment, tailing mitigation, and improved monitoring systems are all eligible in the competition. Article content Article content Frank Gu hopes to be one of the selected applicants. He is a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto, and has been researching tailings for a decade. He is also the co-founder of H2nanO, a company currently developing solar-powered floating materials to purify tailing water. Article content Gu sees the tailings pond problem as twofold given the water's complexity and the sheer scale of the issue. Article content Article content The province's tailings ponds currently contain 1.4 billion cubic metres of fluid tailings and more than 390 thousand cubic metres of water, according to Rebecca Schulz, Alberta's minister of environment. Article content 'Collecting more and more water, with no end in sight, is not sustainable. We don't believe it's sustainable, and the companies don't believe it is sustainable,' Schulz said. Article content Article content 'The vast majority of the components in there, if not the majority, are not harmful to wildlife,' Gu said. 'So the challenging part is, how do you separate the piece that needs to be treated? But at this moment, there's no federal or provincial regulation in place to say what needs to be treated, or what to target.' Article content That problem is compounded by the wide differences between each pond. Sites age with their own environments over time, making each tailings pond unique, and the challenges they represent unable to be generalized.
Forbes
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Phoebe Gates And Sophia Kianni Sit Down With Olympian Eileen Gu On The Burnouts
Filmed in New York City the week her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue hit stands, champion freestyle skier, Gu, joined former Stanford peers Gates and Kianni for a candid conversation about cultural identity, belonging, and what it means to come of age in the public eye. Together, the three women explored the realities of life in their early 20s—navigating global visibility, solo travel, building businesses, and learning who they are through self-exploration. Gu reflected on her meteoric rise, including the surreal moment of waking up to hear Tucker Carlson speaking about her, the pressure of answering geopolitical questions moments after winning Olympic gold, and what it meant to take bold leaps with Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated. Her exchange with Phoebe and Sophia is a window into the nuance of female ambition—how culture, identity, and power shape the journey, but remain deeply personal and singular to each woman. Gu made history at the 2022 Winter Olympics, securing two golds and a silver medal, becoming the only action sports athlete to clinch three medals in a single Olympic event. At age 18, she set the record for the youngest freeski Olympic gold medalist. Gu's extraordinary feats extend beyond the Olympics; she's the first snowsport athlete to claim three medals at both the 2021 XGames and FIS World Championships and the inaugural female freeskier to execute a double cork 1440 and unnatural double cork 1620 in competition. Gu also currently holds the win record for any freeski athlete, male or female, with 18 FIS World Cup victories. When asked about the criticism she received for choosing to represent China instead of the U.S. in the Olympics, she explained that her focus was always on her passion for skiing rather than geopolitical issues, 'And so there was a press conference right after the Olympics, like literally right after I won the Olympics. I was taken into this press room by myself. No agent, no mom, no family, nothing. Totally vulnerable, just me and in front of me, there's a room of reporters. They asked, 'So what do you think about US-China geopolitics?' And I'm like, I just won the Olympics. Like you were asking me to solve problems. I'm just trying to focus on what is relevant to me, what I actually can have an impact on, and also what I'm passionate about.' She is not just a champion on the slopes but also a voice for young people, particularly girls. Her advocacy for female empowerment earned her the Vogue Aurora Award in 2019. Gu has also made her mark on the fashion world since the age of 15, including walking the runway for Louis Vuitton, closing the Brunello Cucinelli 2025 show, and opening and closing the Bosideng 2024 show at Milan Fashion Week. She was one of the Founding Collective members of Victoria's Secret, and has brand ambassadorships with brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, IWC, and Porsche. She has been featured on covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, V Magazine, L'Officiel and Marie Claire. For her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover Gu embodied her inner femininity, 'I wanted to embody strength. I wanted to embody femininity and the intersection of beauty and power.' She even wrote her college essay on this topic. With Gu only being 21, the conversation left you eager to see where you accomplishments take her next. The Burnouts recently launched this past April in partnership with Alex Cooper's Unwell Network and dives into the unfiltered reality of building a startup as two 20-something women in NYC. Season one guests have thus far included Kris Jenner, Sara Blakely, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and Chelsea Handler. Both Gates and Kianni are also co-founders of Phia, a viral venture-backed AI shopping tool that finds the best prices on fashion across 40,000+ retail and resale sites, coined as the Google Flights for fashion. Phia debuted at #21 in the App Store within 48 hours after launch, with over 100k+ downloads. Together, Phoebe and Sophia have 1.5M+ followers and 100M+ social impressions, and are quickly becoming the new faces within the zeitgeist of Gen Z entrepreneurship.
The Herald Scotland
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Starbucks names first global barista championship winner
"She smiled and said, 'Well done, so far. I'm so proud of you,'" he said. "That coffee wasn't perfect, but it was the best cup I've ever had. Why? Because it made me feel warm. Even after I drank it, something stayed with me." That experience influenced Shimode's performance at Starbucks' inaugural Global Barista Championship, a three-day competition in Las Vegas where 12 employees from around the world showed off their skills in latte art, storytelling and more for the chance to be crowned champion. Shimode said he wanted to create a coffee that gives his customers the same warm feeling he found in his mother's coffee. Shimode, who was named global champion on June 11, had just eight minutes during the final competition to craft two lattes topped with art, pour four cups of coffee from a French press and craft his signature beverage for a panel of judges. All the while, a crowd of roughly 14,000 cheered him on, including more than a dozen friends, family members and co-workers waving a banner and customized signs. Shimode's said his signature drink - the Blooming Yuzu Espresso - is a "very refreshing beverage" with citrus notes and a long, sweet aftertaste, perfect for both coffee lovers and coffee-averse customers. "(It's) a drink that makes people say, 'I would love to have that again," he said. As global champion, Shimode will have the opportunity to co-create a beverage to be sold at Starbucks stores across North America "in the near future," according to the company's website. Shimode and the 11 other baristas were narrowed down from 84,000 employees who competed in regional competitions, with one representative for each of the company's six regions (North America, China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and each Reserve Roastery location (Seattle, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Milan). The baristas faced a number of challenges throughout the event, such as making the perfect latte art tulip or guessing the correct coffee roast based on taste and smell alone, with contestants noting flavors like a "rich molasses and caramel" or "hints of nuts and dried fruit" after each slurp. A number of competitors told USA TODAY the blind tasting was their most challenging test, including Chico Gu from the Reserve Roastery in Shanghai. Gu said it took a while to mail the six microblends in the competition to China, and he had just two weeks to memorize each flavor. "I spent a lot of time preparing for this competition," Gu said through a translator. "This is a milestone, and also I think a highlight of my life, talking from the moment I was born to now." Ivan Diana, representing the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan, said he trained at least three times a week for two hours in the months leading up to the competition, practicing latte art and store rush challenges. Cali Hegeman from the Chicago Reserve Roastery trained at least four hours each week and dyed her hair a deep red to match her signature drink, a layered drink with espresso and cold milk called the Undertow. Hegeman's creation, which was inspired by cherry pie flavors, was dubbed the "Fun-dertow." Shimode, who was married in April, pushed back his honeymoon to give himself time to prepare for the competition. He also spent three months avoiding spicy curries - his favorite food - to cleanse his palate for the blind taste test. "That was the biggest challenge for me," along with writing his script in English, Shimode told USA TODAY through a translator. Starbucks hiring content creators: Starbucks job offering up to six figures to travel, drink coffee Now, as the first global barista championship winner, Shimode will have plenty of opportunity to catch up on travel. His grand prize as the winner includes a trip to all six Starbucks Roastery Reserves. Shimode said he's most looking forward to visiting Milan. But first, he plans to return to his store in Japan. "I want to go back to my store and work with my colleagues at my store as soon as possible," he said. "Being away from them for three months, I should have given them more support and helped them a lot more. But it was me who was supported by them." (This story was updated to include video.)
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
City of Burnaby, B.C., to apologize to Chinese Canadians for past discrimination
A formal apology is being planned by the City of Burnaby, B.C., for its role in discrimination toward people of Chinese descent who lived and worked in the city between 1892 and 1947. It has scheduled the event for Nov. 15, and will join the provincial and federal governments and two other B.C. cities — Vancouver and New Westminster — that have already apologized for discriminatory practices against the community. A report by the Community Heritage Commission, which advises council on the city's heritage program, said discriminatory bylaws, trades licenses, and labour regulations were enacted against the Chinese population during that time. Burnaby City Councillor Alison Gu, who is of Chinese descent and was elected in 2021, said she feels it is important for the city to take direct responsibility for its role in such historical discrimination. She noted that although she was raised in the city, she grew up unaware of that history. "Those historic impacts have been carried on the shoulders of families across generations," she said. "I think a formal apology brings to light their stories, the fact that we recognize what (the city) did was wrong, and make a meaningful commitment towards doing better and taking tangible actions to be able to redress those harms." The city said in a news release Wednesday that the decision to issue a formal apology was made after a community consultation process that included surveys, dialogue sessions, focus groups and individual interviews. The heritage commission's report says more than one-third of Burnaby's residents are of Chinese descent, ranging from new immigrants to fourth- or fifth-generation residents with deep roots in the community. The 2021 census puts the figure at 30 per cent. Gu said the process leading up to the apology began more than five years ago, before she was elected. The city said the findings "underscored the importance of the city acknowledging the hardships faced by early Chinese settlers and the lasting impact of historical discrimination." Gu said it is important for local governments to take responsibility for actions, including bylaws that "directly targetted Chinese people in Burnaby." That, she said, included unanimously endorsing a 1921 resolution calling on the provincial government to allow municipalities the right to prohibit Asian immigrants from buying or leasing land. "That was direct advocacy (and) unanimously passed," she said. "The city has a responsibility, not just as a level of government, but also that there were direct actions that the city of Burnaby took to further the harm of discrimination against Chinese citizens in Burnaby." Then prime minister Stephen Harper formally apologized in the House of Commons in 2006 for policies including charging a head tax for Chinese to immigrate. The B.C. government apologized in 2015 for 160 historically racist laws, regulations, and policies that were imposed by past provincial governments that discriminated against people of Chinese descent. The City of New Westminster issued its formal apology in 2010 and the City of Vancouver said it was sorry in April 2018. Burnaby's news release said that in addition to making its own formal apology, it is also committed to increasing the visibility of Chinese-Canadian history, facilitating cultural activities and reducing barriers for inclusion. 'While we cannot right the historic wrongs that were committed in Burnaby, this process has outlined a path toward ensuring Burnaby is a place that is inclusive and welcoming to everyone," Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said in the release issued Wednesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Starbucks names global barista champion after latte art, blind tasting challenges
Starbucks names global barista champion after latte art, blind tasting challenges Nobuki Shimode, a Starbucks store manager in Japan, said his favorite cup of coffee was poured by his mother. It was the morning before an important test at school, and Shimode's mother walked into his room with a fresh cup of coffee to get him ready for the day. "She smiled and said, 'Well done, so far. I'm so proud of you,'" he said. "That coffee wasn't perfect, but it was the best cup I've ever had. Why? Because it made me feel warm. Even after I drank it, something stayed with me.' That experience influenced Shimode's performance at Starbucks' inaugural Global Barista Championship, a three-day competition in Las Vegas where 12 employees from around the world showed off their skills in latte art, storytelling and more for the chance to be crowned champion. Shimode said he wanted to create a coffee that gives his customers the same warm feeling he found in his mother's coffee. Shimode, who was named global champion on June 11, had just eight minutes during the final competition to craft two lattes topped with art, pour four cups of coffee from a French press and craft his signature beverage for a panel of judges. All the while, a crowd of roughly 14,000 cheered him on, including more than a dozen friends, family members and co-workers waving a banner and customized signs. Shimode's said his signature drink – the Blooming Yuzu Espresso – is a 'very refreshing beverage' with citrus notes and a long, sweet aftertaste, perfect for both coffee lovers and coffee-averse customers. '(It's) a drink that makes people say, 'I would love to have that again,' he said. As global champion, Shimode will have the opportunity to co-create a beverage to be sold at Starbucks stores across North America 'in the near future,' according to the company's website. Shimode and the 11 other baristas were narrowed down from 84,000 employees who competed in regional competitions, with one representative for each of the company's six regions (North America, China, Japan, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and each Reserve Roastery location (Seattle, Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Milan). The baristas faced a number of challenges throughout the event, such as making the perfect latte art tulip or guessing the correct coffee roast based on taste and smell alone, with contestants noting flavors like a 'rich molasses and caramel' or 'hints of nuts and dried fruit" after each slurp. A number of competitors told USA TODAY the blind tasting was their most challenging test, including Chico Gu from the Reserve Roastery in Shanghai. Gu said it took a while to mail the six microblends in the competition to China, and he had just two weeks to memorize each flavor. 'I spent a lot of time preparing for this competition," Gu said through a translator. 'This is a milestone, and also I think a highlight of my life, talking from the moment I was born to now.' Ivan Diana, representing the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan, said he trained at least three times a week for two hours in the months leading up to the competition, practicing latte art and store rush challenges. Cali Hegeman from the Chicago Reserve Roastery trained at least four hours each week and dyed her hair a deep red to match her signature drink, a layered drink with espresso and cold milk called the Undertow. Hegeman's creation, which was inspired by cherry pie flavors, was dubbed the 'Fun-dertow.' Shimode, who was married in April, pushed back his honeymoon to give himself time to prepare for the competition. He also spent three months avoiding spicy curries – his favorite food – to cleanse his palate for the blind taste test. 'That was the biggest challenge for me,' along with writing his script in English, Shimode told USA TODAY through a translator. Starbucks hiring content creators: Starbucks job offering up to six figures to travel, drink coffee Now, as the first global barista championship winner, Shimode will have plenty of opportunity to catch up on travel. His grand prize as the winner includes a trip to all six Starbucks Roastery Reserves. Shimode said he's most looking forward to visiting Milan. But first, he plans to return to his store in Japan. "I want to go back to my store and work with my colleagues at my store as soon as possible," he said. "Being away from them for three months, I should have given them more support and helped them a lot more. But it was me who was supported by them."
