It’s estimated that more than two million Canadians live with diabetes, many of whom must monitor their blood glucose levels with painful pinpricks several times a day. An implantable glucose meter could offer an alternative, but according to Professor Kamran Behdinan (MIE) such devices have a key drawback: the battery. 

 “Implantable or wearable electronic devices need to be highly biocompatible, resilient and efficient,” says Behdinan, who heads the Advanced Research Laboratory for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures. 

 “We’re getting there: current devices are very small and have low power requirements. But the need for battery power is a real bottleneck. Batteries are bulky, and they need to be replaced regularly, which interrupts the operation of the device. Also, if they leak, they can be very toxic.” 

Behdinan and his team are experts in designing and characterizing multifunctional materials and structures that are capable of harvesting biomechanical energies from physical movements. In the lab, they design piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs), which can be configured to generate electricity from repeated human movements such as walking, or even the regular expansion and contraction of lung and heart tissue. 

 In the future, electricity generated in this way could be used to provide power for various medical devices such as implantable glucose meters, artificial retina systems, smart contact lenses or even cardiac pacemakers. 

 The research is one of four projects supported by the 2021 Connaught Global Challenge Awards. This funding is designed to heighten U of T’s contribution to important issues facing society through the advancement of knowledge and the transfer and application of solutions.  

 Behdinan plans to use the funding to create a multidisciplinary global network of experts in the field of energy harvesting for biomedical applications. 

“Through collaboration, this network will speed up the development of new devices and train a new generation of experts in this emerging field,” he says. “Harvesting energy from body movement is an efficient and promising technique, and a crucial step toward true self-powered devices.”

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on October 22, 2021 by Tyler Irving

A newly developed coating that allows for certain liquids to move across surfaces without fluid loss could usher in new advances in a range of fields including medical testing.

This new coating – developed at The DREAM (Durable Repellent Engineered Advanced Materials) Laboratory, led by Professor Kevin Golovin (MIE) – was inspired by the natural world.

“Nature has already developed strategies to transport liquids across surfaces in order to survive,” says MIE PhD Candidate Mohammad Soltani, lead author of a new paper recently published in Advanced Functional Materials.

“We were inspired by the structural model of natural materials such as cactus leaves or spider silk. Our new technology can directionally transport not only water droplets, but also low surface tension liquids that easily spread on most surfaces.”

The innovation has important implications for microfluidics, a field where small quantities of liquids are transported within tiny channels, often less than a millimetre wide. This technique has many applications, one of them being to miniaturize the standard analytical tests that are currently preformed in chemical laboratories.

By reducing the quantity of sample and reagents required and automating protocols for working with them, microfluidics can power “lab-on-a-chip” devices that offer fast, inexpensive medical tests. Proponents dream of diagnosing multiple conditions in minutes using only a drop or two of blood.

But current microfluidic devices have a key limitation: they can only effectively handle liquids with high surface tension, such as water. This property, also known as cohesion, means that the liquid has a greater tendency to stick to itself than to the sides of the channel it is being transported through.

High surface tension liquids form discrete droplets that can be moved around independently, like raindrops on window glass. Cohesion can even be exploited to pull the liquid droplets along the channel through a process known as capillary action.

By contrast, low surface tension liquids such as alcohols or other solvents tend to stick to the sides of the channels, and can currently be transported for only about 10 mm before the droplet completely disintegrates. Capillary action no longer applies, so this transport requires an external force, such as magnetism or heat, to move the droplets.

The new coating developed by Golovin and his team enables low surface tension liquids to be transported over distances of over 150mm without losing any of the liquid, about 15 times as long as currently possible.

This video by Mohamad Soltani shows the precision with which liquids can move across surfaces with the newly developed coating. 

The technology uses two newly developed polymer coatings, one of which is more liquid-repellent than the other. Both are composed of “liquid like” polymer brushes. The more repellent coating acts as a background, surrounding the less repellent coating and creating tiny channels along the surface. The channels allow for the liquids to move in a desired pattern or direction without losing any of the liquid during transport or requiring additional energy input.

“Polymer brush coatings reduce the fluid friction and allow the droplets to be transported passively,” says Soltani, “Less friction means more energy is available to transport the liquid. We then create a driving force by designing the channels with specific patterns.”

The ability to losslessly transport low surface tension liquids like alcohols and other solvents will allow for advancements in lab-on-a-chip devices. Researchers will be able to transport a wider variety of liquids and be able to build more complex devices. Using these unique coatings, researchers can transport liquids over a longer range, move multiple liquids at the same time along a precise pathway and even merge and split droplets – all without losing any volume or experiencing cross-contamination.

In addition to allowing for more complexity in the field of microfluidics, this technology will limit waste in research labs. With no residue being left behind on the surface of the device and therefore no risk of cross-contamination, researchers can use the same devices over and over again.

“We’re looking at using this technology for microfluidics bioassays, as this is an area where every drop of liquid is precious,” said Golovin, “This technology has a lot of potential to advance point-of-care diagnostics, for example for liver or kidney disease, where biological marker screening is often performed in non-aqueous media.”

This year, three Pearson Scholars —  Vishweswar Eswaran (Year 1 ElecE), Angel Rajotia (Year 1 EngSci) and Maansi Suri (Year 1 MechE) — chose to join U of T Engineering. Hailing from India and Dubai, they join the one-quarter of undergraduate students in the Faculty who come  from outside of Canada.

Named after Canada’s 14th prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and U of T graduate Lester Bowles Pearson, the Pearson Scholarships recognize exceptional academic achievement, creativity, leadership potential and community involvement among international students. The award covers tuition, books and incidental fees for four years.

They spoke to writer Tyler Irving via email about their journey to U of T, their experiences to date, and their hopes for the future.

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Vishweswar Eswaran

Born in Madurai, India, Eswaran went to school primarily in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Since he was a child, he has loved tinkering and exploring the way machines worked.

“Even the sturdiest toy used to have a maximum shelf-life of three days under my control,” he says.

It was when he designed a navigation aid for a visually impaired relative that Eswaran realized that engineering — which he calls “the empowering discipline” — was not only fun, but could have real impact.

Eswaran says he chose U of T Engineering for its emphasis on teamwork through courses such as Engineering Strategies and Practice, as well as the opportunity to gain work experience through the PEY Co-op Program. He has already joined the Spark Design Team, which hopes will help solidify the knowledge gained through his courses.

Eswaran dreams of a career in circuit design, though he says he is also interested in applying his electrical engineering skills in unconventional areas, such as precision agriculture.

“While I have long-term plans of working on feasible solutions to global problems, for now I want to hone my professional skills and understand the industry before embarking on a larger journey.”

Angel Rajotia

Rajotia was born and raised in Chandigarh, a small city in northern India.

“I live in a joint family, with my grandparents, parents and my younger brother,” she says. “My parents have always been very supportive of me.”

Growing up, Rajotia had a strong inclination towards both the sciences and the arts. To help her choose, she sought out mentors from all walks of life. Engineering won out because of the way it can be applied to solve problems in a wide range of contexts.

“Science and technology can help create real working solutions for the most ignored parts of the global population,” she says. “Engineering has a very vast scope for creating meaningful change, and lets me explore my interests to the best of my potential.”

Rajotia is keen to maintain an interdisciplinary perspective. For that reason, she found herself drawn to U of T’s Engineering Science program, which will enable her to pursue a structured study plan that includes the sciences, engineering and the humanities.

Equally attractive was the chance to live in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

“As soon as I landed in Toronto, I immediately fell in love with the city,” she says. “F!rosh week started off with high energy and optimism for the upcoming year. I met a lot of new people and had memorable conversations with all of them.”

Engineering Science is challenging, but Rajotia says that she draws strength from the other students in the program.

“I realize things can get overwhelming sometimes, but I know I can always reach out for help,” she says. “This is going to be a ride full of ups and downs but what I get out of the U of T education will be very rewarding. Whether I go to grad school after graduation or join the workforce, graduating with an EngSci degree will lead to a world of opportunities!”

Maansi Suri

Suri was born in Dubai, but holds Indian citizenship and completed her schooling in India. Her early exposure to engineering included internships at Mace International — where she worked on the Ain Dubai, the largest observational Ferris wheel in the world — and Jacobs Engineering. She also took summer courses at Emirates Aviation University and the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.

It was while studying at a medical summer program at St. George’s University in Grenada that Suri realized she was more inclined towards bioengineering.

“I loved learning about developments in recent technologies like robotic surgery, the development of biohybrid materials and the use of augmented reality in medicine,” she says. “The fact that I could specialize in this field was a big factor in choosing U of T Engineering.”

Suri says her most memorable experiences include F!rosh week and studying with friends in the urban lounge at Chestnut residence.

“Both these experiences help establish and foster a sense of community that helps us cope with the challenging workload,” she says. “It is comforting to know that we’re not experiencing such a significant shift alone.”

Having learned six different styles of dance in high school, Suri is excited to audition and be a part of various U of T dance teams. She also plans to join other clubs and student societies, and to pursue opportunities to learn more about business.

“I took business management in high school and became very interested in entrepreneurship as it relates to engineering,” she says. “I plan to pursue the Engineering Business minor, and work either as a consultant, or on research and innovation in the field of prosthetics.”

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on October 18, 2021 by Tyler Irving

U of T Engineering remains Canada’s top-ranked engineering school and is now ranked #26 in the world, according to Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for Engineering 2022.

The rankings, released today, mark an increase from last year’s position of #28. Among North American public universities, our closest competitors, U of T Engineering ranks seventh. 

“The continued rise in our international reputation is a direct reflection of the talent and dedication of our community: faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners,” said Dean Chris Yip.  

“You can see it in the global impact of our research, the richness of our student experience, and the achievements of our graduates in all corners of the world. I’m so proud of the role we play in nurturing the next generation of engineering leaders.” 

In terms of overall institution-level rankings, U of T was #18 in the world, a position it has held for the last three years. It shares the spot with University College London. 

“I am delighted to see the University of Toronto once again ranked among the top 20 schools in the world in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. 

 “U of T’s consistently strong performance in these and other global rankings reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence in research and teaching across a wide array of disciplines, as well as our global reputation as one of the world’s very best public universities.” 

 The THE World University Rankings measure a university’s performance based on 13 indicators, grouped into five “pillars.” The most important categories are research, citations and teaching, which are weighed 30 per cent each. The remaining 10 per cent reflects a university’s international outlook, including the ratio of international to domestic students, and research income from industry. 

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on October 6, 2021 by Engineering Strategic Communications

Samin Aref joins the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in data science. Professor Aref holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Auckland and an MSc in Industrial Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. Prior to joining the U of T, he was a research scientist and a research area chair at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Laboratory of Digital and Computational Demography.

Can you tell us about your research and what you like about it?

My research falls into three broad topics: (1) analyzing complex social and informational systems using networks and optimization models, (2) modeling and solving planning problems in uncertain environments using mathematical programming and (3) studying the science of science across disciplines and geographies using large-scale digital trace data. I like these topics because they are multidisciplinary and involve using methods from several fields like computer science, operations research, applied machine learning, social sciences and data science. Working across disciplines allows me to repurpose a method from one field in another which sometimes leads to unexpected results, like accidentally solving a fundamental problem!

What attracted you to MIE at U of T?

MIE is uniquely positioned in Canada and internationally and it is an immense privilege for me to be a part of it. I appreciate the opportunity to work with renowned experts conducting cutting-edge and impactful research and get involved with inspiring topics like can artificial intelligence take social and human contexts into account? I also get to teach the mathematics behind and the applications arising from these ideas to excellent students from diverse backgrounds. In my very first interaction with the U of T faculty and students, which was during my job interview, I immediately realized that I have found the right place.

What is the most memorable experience of your career so far?

Working with networks and optimization problems, there are situations when you have an intuitive idea, but cannot express it in a suitable abstract form to make the computer use the idea. I remember struggling for days not being able to formulate something embarrassingly simple in a mathematical form. One morning, I woke up; grabbed a piece of paper and wrote an equation while I was half-asleep. Then, I added the equation to my code and it worked despite how it came about! This happened after several months of hard work, without any serendipitous events, which made it even more memorable for me. This elegant equation happens to be Eq. 3.14 in my PhD thesis.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I have a few hobbies and Toronto seems to be a great place for finding new hobbies. I like listening to podcasts, cooking, swimming, cycling, playing board games and playing badminton. Having been on the move for the past couple of years, I also look forward to finding some moments of tranquility in Canada’s beautiful nature in my free time.

Do you have any advice for students starting with us this fall?

My advice is to believe in yourself and to pursue what you are passionate about. My interactions with U of T students so far have been astounding. I knew they would be super smart and motivated, yet they manage to astonish newcomers like me by showing remarkable capabilities and potential, which they may take for granted. The past 18 months were difficult for many of us and seeing excited and energized students back on campus really brightens up the day.

-Published September 28, 2021 by Lynsey Mellon, lynsey@mie.utoronto.ca

On September 20^th 2021, Professor Craig Simmons was inducted as a Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) fellow among 19 other internationally recognized scientists and engineers. As a BMES fellow, Dr. Simmons was recognized internationally for his innovative and wide-ranging contributions to both fundamental science and practical applications in the field of mechanobiology.

Over the course of his professional career, Professor Simmons has published more than 135 peer-reviewed research articles in high-impact journals that have received close to 12,000 citations. He had also authored the textbook, Introductory Biomechanics: From cells to organisms, and contributed to various book chapters related to mechanobiology, cardiovascular health, and cellular transport. Professor Simmons has contributed greatly to scientific translation, with 4 patents and 8 invention disclosures under his name.

During his tenure at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE), Professor Simmons has mentored 34 Ph.D. candidates, 23 MASc candidates, and hundreds of undergraduate thesis students and high school trainees. Many of his mentees have flourished in academia, start-ups, and various industry ventures.

After serving as the interim director at BME in 2017, Professor Simmons is now serving as the Scientific Director of the Translational Biology and Engineering Program (TBEP), which places a heavy emphasis on developing strategies that regenerate heart muscles through the interface of engineering and medicine.

The impact of Professor Simmons’ research has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Canada Research Chair in Mechanobiology; the Ontario Early Researcher Award; the McCharles; the McLean Award, Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering; and the Heart and Stroke Foundation CP Has Heart Award.

“It is wonderful to see Dr. Simmons continue to receive accolades for his research and teaching.” said Professor Warren Chan, Director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

“Congratulations to Craig Simmons. This award recognizes the impact of the work he’s done and will continue to do, and his place among the very best in his field.” said Professor Markus Bussmann, Chair of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering.

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Biomedical Engineering News page on September 24, 2021 by BME Communications

In the future, socially interactive robots could help seniors age in place or assist residents of long-term care facilities with their activities of daily living. But will people actually accept advice or instructions from a robot? A new study suggests that the answer hinges on how that robot behaves.

“When robots present themselves as human-like social agents, we tend to play along with that sense of humanity and treat them much like we would a person,” says Shane Saunderson (MIE PhD candidate), lead author of a new paper published in Science Robotics.

“But even simple tasks, like asking someone to take their medication, have a lot of social depth to them. If we want to put robots in those situations, we need to better understand the psychology of robot-human interactions.”

Saunderson says that even in the human world, there’s no magic bullet when it comes to persuasion. But one key concept is authority, which can be further divided into two types: formal authority and real authority.

“Formal authority comes from your role: if someone is your boss, your teacher or your parent, they have a certain amount of formal authority,” he says. “Real authority has to do with the control of decisions, often for entities such as financial rewards or punishments.”

To simulate these concepts, Saunderson set up an experiment where a humanoid robot named Pepper was used to help 32 volunteer test subjects complete a series of simple tasks, such as memorizing and recalling items in a sequence.

For some participants, Pepper was presented as a formal authority figure: it was the experimenter and the only ‘person’ the subjects interacted with. For others, Saunderson was presented as the experimenter, and Pepper was introduced to help the subjects complete the tasks.

Each participant ran through a set of three tasks twice: first, Pepper offered financial rewards for correct answers to simulate positive real authority. Second, Pepper offered financial penalties for incorrect answers, simulating negative real authority.

Generally, Pepper was less persuasive when it was presented as an authority figure than when it was presented as a peer helper. Saunderson says that this result might stem from a question of legitimacy.

“Social robots are not commonplace today, and in North America at least, people lack both relationships and a sense of shared identity with robots,” he says. “It might be hard for them to come to see them as a legitimate authority.”

Another possibility is that people might disobey an authoritative robot because they feel threatened by it. Saunderson notes that the aversion to being persuaded by a robot acting authoritatively seemed to be particularly strong among male participants, who have been shown in previous studies to be more defiant to authority figures than females, and who may perceive an authoritative robot as a threat to their status or autonomy.

“A robot’s social behaviours are critical to acceptance, use and trust in this type of distributive technology, by society as a whole,” says Professor Goldie Nejat (MIE), Saunderson’s supervisor and the other co-author on the new paper.

Nejat holds the Canada Research Chair in Robots for Society, and is a member of U of T’s Robotics Institute. She and Saunderson conducted the work with support from AGE-WELL, a national network dedicated to the creation of technologies and services that benefit older adults and caregivers, as well as CIFAR.

“This ground-breaking research provides an understanding of how persuasive robots should be developed and deployed in everyday life, and how they should behave to help different demographics, including our vulnerable populations such as older adults,” she says.

Saunderson says that the big take-away for designers of social robots is to position them as collaborative and peer-oriented, rather than dominant and authoritative.

“Our research suggests that robots face additional barriers to successful persuasion than the ones that humans face,” he says. “If they are to take on these new roles in our society, their designers will have to be mindful of that and find ways to create positive experiences through their behaviour.”

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on September 22, 2021 by Tyler Irving

Professor Mohini Sain (MIE) has been elected a 2021 fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). The RSC’s mission is to recognize excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada. Fellowship in the RSC is one of the highest honours a Canadian scholar can achieve. 

Sain has provided leadership across several disciplines in the area of advanced low-carbon materials and sustainable bio-manufacturing. His research has successfully addressed multiple scientific and technological challenges related to the low energy conversion of industrial waste and byproducts to low-carbon and carbon-neutral materials that are multifunctional, lightweight and durable. These materials are now widely used in many sectors.  

Recently, Sain has applied his research to several projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including N95 mask recycling and 3D-printed PPE using renewables developed in his lab.

Sain served as Dean of U of T’s Faculty of Forestry from 2012–2017. He is the founding director of the Centre for Biocomposites & Biomaterials Processing (CBBP), a leading hub for research and learning in low-carbon materials engineering. The CBBP was one of the first research centres to position itself at the interface of academia and industry; it has since become a model for many other academic institutions. Sain is also a founding member of the Canadian Natural Composites Council, the Ontario BioAuto Council and the Ontario-Jianshu Nano-Innovation Centre. He is involved in many global strategic research councils in an advisory role and has helped to grow the wood-plastic composite industry to a five-billion-dollar market.

Sain has authored more than 600 highly-cited scientific publications and co-authored the world’s first book on cellulose nanocomposites. With more than 30 patents, he has helped create new companies that manufacture products such as biomedical devices, packaging solutions, flexible electronics and building and transportation materials.

Sain is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K. He has received several prestigious national and international awards, including the Society of Chemical Industry’s Kalev Pugi Award, the NSERC Synergy Award and the Canadian Plastics Industry Innovation Award.

“As a pioneer in the field of biomass-based composites, Professor Sain has made tremendous contributions not only to his research field, but to sustainable manufacturing on a global scale,” said Christopher Yip, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the Faculty, I offer my warmest congratulations on this well-deserved honour.” 

– This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on September 7, 2021 by Carolyn Farrell