Alumnus Rahul Udasi (MIE MEng 1T6) featured in article about his company Trexo Robotics that develops wearable robotic devices for children with mobility challenges (Betakit)
Professor Susan McCahan wins the 2019 Angela Hildyard Recognition Award – Influential Leader (Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada)
MIE welcomes Celeste Esteves as new Graduate Program Administrator
April 1, 2019 – MIE’s graduate office has a new Program Administrator, Celeste Esteves. Communications Coordinator Pam Walls sat down with Celeste for a short Q & A:
Pam: So Celeste, how long have you worked at the University of Toronto?
Celeste: About 20 years. This is my first Engineering post. Until now, I was at the Faculty of Arts & Science for my entire U of T career. I’ve worked at Woodsworth College, New College and at the main Faculty offices as well. Before coming to Engineering, I was with the Department of Computer Science for eight years as the Graduate Administrator.
Pam: And why did you want to come over to Engineering?
Celeste: Really just that, to come over to engineering. After 20 years at Arts & Science, I thought, you know what? Let’s see if I can do another 20 years at Engineering.
Pam: [Laughs] You’re on record to stay for the next 20 years now.
[Celeste laughs]
Pam: And, off the clock, what do you enjoy doing?
Celeste: I enjoy power lifting. I’m going after my 315 lb dead lift. I’ve got my 310 down, it’s just been those last 5 pounds that have been a bit of a struggle. That’s a fairly short term goal for now, but power lifting is what I’m a bit obsessed with off clock – other than my three kids and my husband of course! [Celeste and Pam laugh]
Pam: Any other fun facts about Celeste?
Celeste: My favourite kind of food is Thai. I really like Thai Basil on Spadina, Hung Long at Keele and Wilson, Spoon and Fork.. I can keep going!
Pam: I’ll definitely have to check those out. Thanks for chatting with me today, Celeste, and welcome to MIE!
Celeste: Thanks, I’m excited to be here and join such a great team.
Professor Mark Fox interviewed about creating smarter, safer and more inclusive communities (Futurithmic)
Adjunct Professor Murray Metcalfe talks about training future sustainable cities engineers (U of T Engineering News)
MIE undergraduate students receive 3T5, 5T0 and 5T6 Engineering Alumni Awards
MIE Chair and Professor Markus Bussmann with students Kyle Bimm, Kapilkumar Ramchandani and Chetanya Choudhary
March 29, 2019 – This month, University of Toronto (U of T) Engineering alumni gathered to celebrate the achievements of undergraduate students who have excelled both in and out of the classroom at the 3T5, 5T0, 5T3 and 5T6 Engineering Students Award Lunch. Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE) students Kyle Bimm,Chetanya Choudhary and Kapilkumar Ramchandani received three of the four alumni awards: the Class of 3T5 “Second Mile Engineer” Award, the Class of 5T0 Engineering Leadership Award and the Class of 5T6 Award, respectively.
Past recipients of the Class of 3T5 award Lang Moffatt (IndE 5T1) and Tom Woods (IndE 7T5) were at the event to personally present the certificate to fourth year mechanical engineering student Kyle Bimm. The Class of 3T5 “Second Mile Engineer” Award was inspired by engineering educator William E. Wickenden’s call for engineers to broaden their education in his 1935 address Engineering Education Needs a ‘Second Mile.’ The award is given to a student who is professionally competent, but also aware of their responsibilities to humanity in general.
Kyle has exhibited leadership qualities throughout his time at U of T. He helped revive the Toronto chapter of the Tetra Design Society, creating assistive devices for those in need. In lieu of a traditional Professional Experience Year (PEY) position, Kyle chose to start his own company called Liscena, a technology venture with a focus on building artificial intelligence products for the financial services industry. He has served as a Head Leader multiple times during Frosh Week and also devotes time to mentor aspiring entrepreneurs in the U of T community.
Kyle Bimm with past recipients of the Class of 3T5 award Lang Moffatt (IndE 5T1) and Tom Woods (IndE 7T5), and Bob Perry, chair of the 3T5 awards committee.
The Class of 5T0 established their award to recognize a student entering their second year of study who has demonstrated a high academic performance as well as leadership skills. Mechanical engineering student Chetanya Choudhary, who is also pursuing a minor in business, says his passion for engineering and business stems from a desire to create effective solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. He has led design teams to create kitchen tools for arthritis patients, solar-powered portable water purifiers and intelligent energy optimization tools for large buildings. He is also a co-founder of the Interplanetary Space Exploration Team, a 25 member U of T design team engineering solutions towards Martian colonization.
“The Class of 5T0 award means a great deal to me,” said Chetanya. “It is affirming of my leadership initiatives and their impact in inspiring my peers to tackle both present and future engineering and community challenges.”
Nominations for the Class of 5T6 Award are made by U of T’s Engineering Society, the student body for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, in consultation with the Class of 5T6. The award is granted to a student who not only excels in their academic studies during their first year, but also demonstrates leadership within U of T and beyond.
This year’s recipient of the Class of 5T6 Award, Kapilkumar Ramchandani, enjoys building both his technical and creative skills. He has a passion for mechatronics and robotics engineering, driven by a desire to develop assistive technologies with the potential to better society. He also has a love of art, design and cooking. He even created a cook book featuring healthy Indian recipes. This summer, Kapilkumar will travel to Japan to study nuclear energy, renewable energy and risk mitigation as part of the Green Program. He says his focus is to learn on a daily basis and create a sense of community wherever he goes.
“As a child, while other children would carry around rattlers, I would carry around a screwdriver,” said Kapilkumar. “Over time, I have grown to not only acknowledge, but also learn the true nuts and bolts of the world and where I must play my part. With a naturally driven desire to develop new technologies with the potential to help society on a larger scale, this recognition acts as a mark of my diligence, perseverance and hard work.”
Graduating MIE students reflect on what the Iron Ring means to them
March 18, 2019 – Undergraduate engineering students in the last year of their program reached a major milestone this month – they participated in the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer and received their Iron Rings. Now wearing the rings – hammered out of either stainless steel or the traditional iron – on their working hand, the students have joined a global community that has vowed to live by a high standard of professional conduct.
“I have seen, and take pride in, these students’ hard work and dedication these past few years,” said Professor Markus Bussmann, Chair of MIE. “They have earned the right to wear the Iron Ring and will join an exceptional community of engineers here at U of T and beyond.”
We invited students to share their thoughts on what their newly acquired Iron Ring means to them:
“I was on a very different course before I began engineering and my iron ring is symbolic of how far I’ve come since then. It’s a reminder of everything from the hysterical nights spent in the labs with my friends to the dinner dances where we’ve cleaned up so well, no one would have guessed we were engineering students. Above all, my iron ring is a reminder to be thankful for everyone who has helped me get to this point and to be thankful to myself for not giving up on me. Congratulations, class — we made it!”
–Jade Khiev (Year 4 IndE)
“This is something that I never thought was possible, or was so far off that I couldn’t even imagine it happening. I have changed so much over these past five years, both personally and academically. The Katherine who was first introduced to iron rings five years ago is not the Katherine now – and I mean that in the best way possible.”
–Katherine Pryszlak (Year 4 MechE)
“The Iron Ring represents not only the years of hard work, struggle, joy and tears in receiving this ring, but moreover, the moral obligation of engineers to perform our duties diligently, ethically and with pride for the betterment of society. It feels fantastic following in the footsteps of thousands of Canadian engineers who wear this ring today, as well as thousands more in the future that I hope will strive to become engineers as well!”
–Saurabh Agrawal (Year 4 IndE)
Graduating mechanical engineering students with their Iron Rings
Graduating industrial engineering students with their Iron Rings
by Pam Walls, pam@mie.utoronto.ca
Post-doctoral fellow Silas Alves interviewed about research conducted at MIE’s Autonomous Systems and Biomechatonics Lab (Scholastic News Kids Press Corps)
Professor Mark Chignell and Professor Andreas Mandelis win Connaught Innovation Awards (U of T News)
Professor Yu Sun and his team have built magnetic ‘tweezers’ that can probe inside human cells with unprecedented precision (U of T Engineering News)
