How do you teach advanced manufacturing to an audience of 10-year-olds? Reach for the art supplies.

“Today, we’re using Play-Doh and melted crayons to illustrate the manufacturing process known as sand casting, which is used to make everything from pipe fittings to auto parts,” says Peter Serles (MIE PhD candidate). “The students will be making gears, which are a key concept in the elementary science curriculum.”

The colourful project was one of about a dozen hands-on learning activities developed for STEM Day, held for the first time at U of T Engineering on Nov. 6, 2019. The event brought together two groups: graduate students interested in pursuing a career as professors or instructors, and elementary school students who want to explore potential careers in science, technology, education or math (STEM).

Held in the Technology Enhanced Active Learning Rooms within U of T Engineering’s Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship, STEM Day attendees had the opportunity to learn about everything from facial recognition technology to environmental remediation.

STEM Day is part of the graduate course APS1203: Teaching Engineering in Higher Education, itself part of U of T Engineering’s Prospective Professors in Training program. As Professor Chirag Variawa (ISTEP) explains, STEM Day was designed to put some of the key concepts from the course into action.

“In this course, PhD students practice effectively communicating ideas from their research to undergraduate students,” says Variawa, the course instructor. “We thought, why stop there? Younger students tend to speak their minds — we’ll know right away if the translation has been successful.”

Variawa partnered with the Engineering Outreach office, which delivers interactive educational programs to thousands of pre-university students throughout the year. Together, they reached out to local elementary schools, inviting more than 60 students to campus to try out the learning activities designed by the prospective professors.

“We’ve been attending Go North Youth at U of T for the last couple of years,” says Rosemary Colangelo, a Grade 4/5 teacher at Secord Elementary School in Toronto. “Every time we get back, the kids can’t stop talking about all the cool things they got to tinker with. They start asking questions that they weren’t asking before.”

“We learned about the brain, we learned about energy, and so many other things,” says Robin Howard, a Grade 5 student in Colangelo’s class. “I thought engineering was strictly about buildings, but now I realize it’s not. There are a lot of ideas and creativity.”

Another key figure in organizing STEM Day is Michael Waldman, a STEM teacher with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). In September, Waldman joined the Engineering Outreach team as the STEM Educator in Residence, working to further enhance collaborations between the University and local elementary teachers.

Waldman plans to host future events where elementary students can visit the Myhal Centre’s fabrication equipment facilities to learn first-hand how 3D printers and laser cutters work. “We also plan to reach out to engineering student mentors for a large-scale project,” he says.

“Those types of experiences can get students thinking about engineering in a different way, which is especially valuable for the type of kids who might not traditionally have considered an engineering education. It’s a really exciting partnership.”

 

-This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on November 11, 2019 by Tyler Irving

 

The Women’s Executive Network (WXN) has announced its list of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 for 2019, and Dean Emerita Cristina Amon (MIE) is one of 12 selected in the category CIBC Trailblazers and Trendsetters.

The list recognizes the country’s highest achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

“During her term as dean, Cristina Amon had a transformative effect on this Faculty. She championed equity, diversity and inclusion among students and faculty, while her leadership enabled innovative educational and research programs,” says U of T Engineering Dean Christopher Yip. “On behalf of the Faculty, my warmest congratulations to her on this well-deserved honour.”

Amon served as dean of U of T Engineering from 2006 to 2019. As the Faculty’s first woman dean, she increased both the presence and leadership of women and other underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

For the past three years, the first-year cohort at U of T Engineering has been 40% women; this year’s cohort is 42% women, up from 20% in 2006 and the highest percentage in Canada. During Amon’s deanship, the number of women faculty members tripled, from 19 to 57. Nearly 40% of the Faculty’s Canada Research Chairs are now women, compared to 10% in 2006, and women lead many multidisciplinary research centres and institutes at U of T Engineering.

Under Amon’s leadership, the international profile of U of T Engineering has risen to be known as one of the world’s top public engineering schools in all international rankings.

This is due in large part to her successful efforts to foster multidisciplinary research and education, equipping graduates to be innovators and leaders. Amon spearheaded a new emphasis on design education, establishing the University of Toronto Institute for Multidisciplinary Design & Innovation (UT-IMDI) and multidisciplinary capstone design initiatives in partnership with industry.

Beyond the classroom, she created programming which offers students opportunities to develop the leadership, multidisciplinary teamwork, entrepreneurial, global and business competencies necessary to be at the forefront of technological and societal prosperity.

She established multidisciplinary initiatives to accelerate innovation and foster a culture of collaborative research excellence, including the creation of centres and institutes such as BioZone, the Robotics Institute and the Centre for Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering (CARTE).  Key to this was the Faculty’s new building, the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship, for which she led the design and fundraising.

Among her many accolades, Amon received the Engineers Canada Award for the Support of Women and the Engineering Institute of Canada’s most prestigious award, the Sir John Kennedy Medal. She was named one of the YWCA’s Women of Distinction in 2011 and one of Canada’s 25 Most Influential Women in 2012. She has been inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Hispanic Engineer Hall of Fame, U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain and Royal Society of Canada, and elected fellow of all the major professional societies in her field.

 

-This story was originally published on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News Site on November 20, 2019 by Carolyn Farrell

Five Master of Engineering students from the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering – Maharshi Trivedi, Nikunj Viramgama, Aakash Iyer, Vaibhav Gupta and Ganesh Vedula –  were recently featured on CBC for RoboBin, their smart waste sorter that won first place at KPMG’s international AI competition.

Read more:

• Garbage or recycling? U of T students invent ‘RoboBin’ to make the decision for you (CBC News)
• U of T team wins top prize at KPMG’s international AI competition (The Varsity)

 

–Published November 20, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

 

 

The University of Toronto Institute for Multidisciplinary Design and Innovation (UT-IMDI) provides the opportunity for engineering undergraduate and graduate students to work collaboratively with industry partners. In addition to the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Course that challenges teams of undergraduate students to design solutions for industry clients, the Institute also coordinates work placements for students during the summer months.

Every year, undergraduate and Master of Engineering students are hired to work with UT-IMDI’s industry partners via the Institute’s Industry Sponsored and Collaborative Project program. Students from a range of departments — including Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Science, Aerospace Studies, Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering, among others — gain invaluable work experience with industry partners such as Bombardier, Pratt and Whitney Canada, Safran Electronics and Honeywell.

Since UT-IMDI was founded in 2012, over 200 students have completed the summer work program and on Monday, October 28, 2019, the most recent cohort of students was recognized at a celebration dinner. Over 30 students were presented with a recognition award for their completion of the program.

UT-IMDI will open application submissions for the Summer 2020 Sponsored and Collaborative Project program on Monday, November 18, 2019. Visit the UT-IMDI website to apply.

 

 

–Published November 12, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

 

PhD candidate Arturo Reza Ugalde won the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Active Materials and Soft Mechatronics, held in  Incheon, Republic of Korea October 16 to 19, 2019.

Arturo’s winning paper was titled Catalytic performance of Ni₃Sn supported on CNT/Silica as Core-Shell Structure for CO Methanation and the research was conducted under the supervision of Professor Olivera Kesler and Professor Hani Naguib.

“The paper describes the mechanism behind the catalytic conversion of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuel, more specifically, methane,” says Reza Ugalde. “The work is divided mainly into two parts. First, the catalyst fabrication, which consists of the synthesis of an intermetallic compound deposited on a silica sphere to form a core-shell structure. And second, a combination of thermodynamic and kinetic analysis of the main reactions involved in the process.”

 

–Published November 12, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

 

 

 

Tij Gupta explain his research into more efficient lithium-ion battery packs for electric vehicles in a One Minute Thesis video

 

Tij Gupta (Mech 1T4 + PEY, MASc 1T9) received his Master of Applied Science diploma last week at the University of Toronto Fall 2019 Convocation ceremony. Tij previously graduated from MIE’s Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program in 2015. During his graduate studies, Tij conducted research into creating more efficient batteries for electric vehicles as a member of the Advanced Thermal/Fluids Optimization, Modelling, and Simulation (ATOMS) Laboratory under the supervision of Dean Emerita Cristina Amon.

As part of the Fall Convocation celebration, Tij was featured in a U of T Engineering video where he explained his research in less than one minute.

• Watch Tij’s One Minute Thesis video on the U of T Engineering Youtube Channel
• View photos from Fall Convocation 2019

 

–Published November 11, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

Watch Shiksha’s Industry Spotlight talk on the MIE Youtube Channel

 

Alumna Shiksha Rai (MechE 1T3 + PEY) spoke about her career trajectory – including positions at Bombardier, UPS and the University Health Network – at MIE’s first Industry Spotlight talk of the 2019/20 academic year on Thursday, October 24, 2019.

Shiksha has used her engineering background to build a career in the healthcare system. She is currently a project manager at the University Health Network (UHN), responsible for saving the hospital millions annually. Prior to UHN, she was in the pharmaceutical industry working to streamline drug manufacturing processes to be compliant with international regulations. Shiksha is passionate about the impact of engineering on healthcare and is a co-developer of a low cost sleep apnea device.  At the talk, Shiksha spoke about how the healthcare industry is changing, and how engineering graduates can apply their own toolkit to help ensure a sustainable healthcare system.

Shiksha is a Project Manager currently working at University Health Network (UHN). She has her Professional Engineer (P.Eng), Project Management Professional (PMP) and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt credentials. Her previous work experience includes Bombardier Aerospace, UPS Supply Chain Solutions and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). She has her BASc in Mechanical Engineering from UofT (1T3 + PEY) and is working towards a graduate degree from Stanford in Management Science and Engineering.  Outside of work, she is a Zumba dance instructor at numerous GTA locations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

–Published November 8, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

Leaders in the field of robotics are conducting groundbreaking research in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) at the University of Toronto. Robotics is one of eight research areas at MIE and the department is home to cutting-edge researchers including professors Eric Diller and Xinyu Liu who are making waves in their respective subfields. Diller’s focus is on microrobots – some as small as a single cell – as alternatives to invasive medical procedures, and Liu has several projects on the go including the recent development of a highly stretchable robotic skin that can sense strain and humidity. Pam Walls spoke with Diller and Liu about their innovative work in more detail.

“I always liked machines and tinkering with hardware and things that I could touch with my hands and take apart,” says Diller, “So robotics was naturally appealing to me from a young age.” It really clicked for Diller during his undergraduate studies when he realized that the mathematical principles he had learned in high school and his first years of university enabled him to do new things like control the motion of a robot arm. That spark inspired Diller to pursue a career in the field of robotics, where he now specializes in the subfield of microrobotics.

Today, Diller develops tiny robots in his Microrobotics Laboratory that could one day be swallowed or injected into the body and then controlled wirelessly. Using a video game controller, Diller is able to manipulate the robot and drive it to a target area. Banks of precisely controlled magnets allow Diller to manipulate the robots remotely and rotate them in any direction. There are many possibilities for the mini robots such as taking biopsy samples using their tiny grippers or releasing drugs from their trap doors.

 

Video demonstration of a magnetic microrobot with grippers developed in Eric Diller’s Microrobotics Laboratory.

 

Diller works closely with collaborators at Sick Kids Hospital to develop his non-invasive medical devices. In partnership with neurosurgeon James Drake, Diller is also studying the capabilities of his microrobots to navigate the brain. “We’re working on wireless versions of microrobots that are inserted through a very small hole in the skull,” says Diller, “The robot would then be free floating inside the cavities of the brain where we could drive it to a tumor site and perform grasping and cutting right there.”

In addition to Diller’s research, he also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. In his third year undergraduate course MIE 301, he demonstrates how students can mathematically analyze machine motion. The students are tasked with improving upon a real world product with moving parts – such as the landing gear of an airplane , a sofa bed mechanism or the transmission of a car – and then presenting their ideas to him as if he were their client or manager.

“It’s really rewarding to see students do the same thing I did,” says Diller. “They have taken all of these math courses and in my course, they see that they can use their calculus to study real world problems.”

 

Small scale robotics is also one of the areas that interests Xinyu Liu. When he was working on his PhD at MIE under the supervision of Professor Yu Sun, he shifted away from more traditional, large scale robotics and turned his focus to the smaller scale. His thesis  centered on how to use robotic systems to manipulate micrometer-sized cells for biomedical studies.

After completing his PhD at MIE, Liu pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University in the chemistry department, which further expanded his research interests. It was here that he was exposed to soft body robotics, machines that are inspired by creatures found in the natural world, such as octopi and inchworms. Applying design principles found in nature, Liu began to design his own soft body robots. “As an engineer,” says Liu, “I want to design interesting structures by learning from natural systems.”

Following his time at Harvard, Liu  joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University before returning to MIE as an Associate Professor in 2017. Liu’s research group, the Microfluidics and BioMEMS Lab, has many projects on the go including micro-sized robots that respond to light, soft bodied robots that can climb walls and, most recently, a stretchable robotic skin with sensors that can detect touch, bending and ambient humidity. The robotic skin is a hydrogel material  made of double polymer networks with artificial ion junctions. The mechanical properties and sensory principles of the hydrogel are very close to those of human skin.

 

 

Many of Liu’s projects are exploratory and at the fundamental research level. “We propose new sensing and actuation mechanisms or system level designs to demonstrate novel capabilities,” says Liu.

The work done at Liu and Diller’s labs is part of a large, collaborative network of faculty members, students and industry partners in the robotics field. The recently launched Robotics Institute, headed by Sun, brings that community together.

“Many researchers at MIE are leaders in robotics,” says Liu. “I think the diversity and the strengths of our robotics researchers is definitely one of the most attractive features of our program.”

 

-Published October 29, 2019 by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca

 

Related:

• Video: Magnetic Micro-Robots featuring Eric Diller (Veritasium Youtube Channel)
• No assembly required: U of T Engineering researchers automate microrobotic designs (U of T Engineering News)