Attendees of the 2016 Young Women in Engineering Symposium participate in an engineering design workshop led by Professors Chirag Variawa and Jason Foster. (Credit: Alan Yusheng Wu)

October 4, 2016 — More than 50 aspiring female engineers gathered at the University of Toronto for the annualYoung Women in Engineering Symposium (YWIES) on Saturday, October 1.

Now in its third year, the symposium brought together high-achieving high-school students for a day of hands-on workshops, talks and discussion panels designed to inspire young women to choose U of T Engineering.

The day opened with a welcome and presentation by Associate Director of the Engineering Student Recruitment & Retention Office Michelle Beaton. Current U of T Engineering student ambassadors then led YWIES delegates in icebreaker activities, before attendees participated in workshops facilitated by Professor Jason Foster (EngSci) and First-year Office Professor Chirag Variawa (IndE PhD 1T4) in the Faculty’s unique Technology-Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) rooms.

Following lunch, University Professor Molly Shoichet (IBBME, ChemE), a world-renowned researcher and pioneering biomedical engineer, delivered the keynote address. YWIES 2016 concluded with a ‘Mythbusters Panel’ of engineering students. Moderated by Tessa Pietropaolo (Year 4 MIE), symposium attendees heard first-hand about academics, student life and more from Anike Morrison (Year 2 ECE), Xinli Tu (Year 2 CivE), Adriana Karababas(Year 3 ChemE), Julia Filiplic (Year 3 MIE) and Jenn Dixon (Year 3 MSE).

Diversity is a core value of U of T Engineering — for the past three years, more than 30 per cent of incoming first-year students have been women, and this past fall that number reached 39.6 per cent, the highest proportion in the Faculty’s history. U of T Engineering undergraduate students come from 75 countries around the world, enriching the student experience with a wide array of ideas and perspectives.

The YWIES is just one component of the Faculty’s commitment to enhancing diversity, alongside innovative outreach programs such as the Girls Leadership in Engineering Experience (GLEE) and Girls’ Jr. DEEP events.

Learn more about how U of T Engineering is enriching diveristy in engineering

September 30, 2016 — Creating solutions to pressing global challenges — from clean water, to renewable energy, to health care innovations — requires a plurality of perspectives, delegates at the sixth Americas Competitiveness Exchange (ACE) heard Tuesday.

A panel of experts discussed strategies to promote, encourage and support gender and cultural diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and entrepreneurship.

“Diversity drives innovation, enhances the student experience and enriches the engineering profession with different perspectives and ideas,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and a panellist at the event. “I believe mentorship plays an essential role: we need to open doors, to create opportunities and networks for both women and men to first study STEM, and later to thrive in these professions.”

Shaping the next generation of robotics

U of T Engineering showcased its critical mass of expertise in robotics, mechatronics and automation as part of three panels and demonstrations on the topics. Professors Goldie Nejat (MIE) and Tim Barfoot (UTIAS) joined Richard Zemel and Raquel Urtasun of the Department of Computer Science, and Elissa Strome of the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform to discuss the intersection of machine learning, big data and robotics.

“Traditionally robots have been found in factories, where they do one job,” said Nejat. “We’re looking at bringing robots out of the factory and into people’s homes … by 2050, there will be a robot in every home.”

Nejat and her team demonstrated two of the assistive robots her lab is developing, Tangy and Casper, to help aging populations manage daily tasks in the home and provide cognitive stimulation. Tangy led a group of graduate students in a game of BINGO, calling out the numbers, evaluating the winning card, and celebrating with the winner by playing music and congratulating him.

The ACE delegates then walked to the University of Toronto’s Back Campus field to take in an aerial robotics demonstration by Professor Hugh Liu (UTIAS). Liu’s group debuted a new flight algorithm, in which 20 drones flew in perfect synchronization, forming a cube and rotating in midair.

Read more at U of T Engineering News.

September 21, 2016 — Robotics innovation and research has become a significant drawing card for students at universities and colleges, says MIE Professor Goldie Nejat. Read more.

September 13, 2016 — A robotic exoskeleton for children with physical disabilities; an electronic “smart skin” that helps surgeons avoid errors; a meal replacement that promotes cognitive health — these are just a few of the U of T Engineering innovations featured at last Thursday’s Hatchery Demo Day.

A total of 14 student teams pitched their business ideas to a panel of expert judges as part of the Dragons’ Den-style event, hosted annually by The Entrepreneurship Hatchery, a startup accelerator at U of T Engineering. Competitors were vying for a share of $32,500 in seed funding and the attention of potential investors.

“Thank you to all of the teams for your energy, your passion, and for being hungry,” saidJoseph Orozco, executive director of The Entrepreneurship Hatchery in his opening remarks. “You are the future.”

Demo Day is the culmination of The Hatchery’s intensive summer program, where student teams work with experienced mentors — including executives, lawyers, medical professionals and engineers — to develop their business ideas and competencies. They receive detailed feedback and guidance on everything from patent applications and incorporation to honing their pitches and building prototypes, which they create using 3D printers and other fabrication resources provided by The Hatchery.

The seed funding at stake at Demo Day includes a grand prize of $20,000 and a runner-up prize of $10,000, donated by alumnus Anthony Lacavera (CompE 9T7), founder and chairman of Globalive Holdings and former CEO of WIND Mobile. An additional $2,500 Orozco prize is provided through funds raised by the students themselves.

“The University of Toronto was recently named the top University in North America for research-based startups, and the presentations we have seen tonight are a testament to that position,” said Cristina Amon, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “We are very proud to celebrate the creativity, talent and hard work of these emerging entrepreneurs.”

This year’s winners were:

$20,000 Lacavera Prize: BOMBERobotics — Exoskeletons for physiotherapy

Maggu and his friend Rahul Udasi(MIE MEng candidate) began investigating ways that robotic exoskeletons could be used in physiotherapy for children with CP and other physical disabilities. They learned that although some robotic therapies exist, the exoskeletons typically cost a whopping $500,000, and are found in only a handful of clinics worldwide.

Maggu and Udasi set about building a smaller robotic exoskeleton, dubbed Trexo, that would be more portable and less costly and provide the same benefits as larger systems. They also designed Trexo to be modular so that it can adjust and grow with the child. By combining innovations in many parts of the system — from redesigned mechanical components to new software —  they were able to reduce the cost of the system by a factor of 10. In July 2016 they flew to India to test Trexo with Maggu’s nephew and received very positive feedback.

“We are really fortunate to be part of the Hatchery,” says Manmeet. “We had access to amazing resources and amazing mentors.” The team plans to use the prize money to pursue regulatory approval from Health Canada. Their initial plan is to target the 120,000 physiotherapy clinics across North America. They also believe some families will want to purchase the device for themselves.

“Parents want to try everything, and they want the best technology available,” says Maggu. “We’re not saying robots will replace people, but our exoskeleton could help physiotherapists provide better care.”

BOMBERobotics also received support from U of T’s Health Innovation Hub (H2i) and from theDepartment of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL). Read more about the team on theFaculty of Medicine website.

$10,000 Lacavera Prize: SensOR — Force-feedback for safer surgery

SensOR is a company that makes it easier for surgeons to operate at a distance by providing a way to sense the amount of force being applied to their instruments. The team includes (from left to right): Justin Wee (ECE 1T3, IBBME PhD candidate), co-founder and chief technical officer; Leigh Masotti, head of business development; and Robert Brooks (MIE PhD 1T5), co-founder and chief executive officer. (Photo: Neil Ta)

Approximately two-thirds of modern general surgeries use minimally invasive techniques, with smaller incisions and longer instruments, to reduce trauma and accelerate healing time. But remotely operated or  robotic tools make it harder for a surgeon to feel the response of the tissues they are operating on. This can increase the chance of causing additional injury: up to 12 per cent of medical errors are caused by inappropriate application of force during surgery.

SensOR has a solution: a thin film that easily wraps around any surgical instrument and translates physical force into electrical signals. The force-feedback data is wirelessly transmitted to a receiver and a visual display, making it easy to see how much force is being applied. These visual cues can be integrated into the monitors that surgeons already use to see inside the body.

SensOR’s CEO Robert Brooks (MIE PhD 1T5) credits the team’s Hatchery mentors with helping them to articulate their vision. “We had this wonderful technology, and we knew exactly what we were doing, but the only people who understood it were surgeons,” he says. “Our mentors were absolutely instrumental in helping us nail down exactly what our value proposition was so that we could connect with investors.”

SensOR’s initial market will be surgical training programs. Although some force-feedback simulation systems exist already, SensOR is the only one that follows student all the way from simulation into surgery and allows students to train using the same tools they will be using in practice. Once the product is approved by Health Canada, the team hopes to start using it in real surgeries. “The ultimate goal is to enable new surgical procedures that are not possible today,” says Brooks.

SensOR also received support from U of T’s Health Innovation Hub (H2i). Read more about about SensOR on the Faculty of Medicine website.

Read more at U of T Engineering News.

September 13, 2016 — Professor Hani Naguib (MIE, MSE) has been named to the 2016 cohort of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Established in 2014, the College is Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. It was created to gather young scholars, artists and scientists into a single collegium where new advances in understanding will emerge from the interaction of diverse intellectual, cultural and social perspectives. New members of the College will be inducted at the Society’s Annual General Meeting in Kingston, Ont. on November 18.

As Canada Research Chair in Smart and Functional Materials, Naguib has established an internationally renowned research program in manufacturing new multifunctional smart materials. The primary focus of his research is the fabrication, characterization and modelling of smart polymers, including bio-based polymers and polymer composites. These materials have a variety of applications, including flexible electronics, thermal management, electromagnetic shielding, energy storage and harvesting, biomedical imaging and clinical materials. Naguib is best known for his research on the design and development of electroactive polymers used for flexible and wearable electronics in biomedical and energy applications.

Naguib is the founding director of the Toronto Institute of Advanced Manufacturing. The Institute’s mandate is to create a single portal for leading expertise and infrastructure in advanced manufacturing, focusing on new technologies, materials and processes enabling improved technology transfer from an idea to a final product.

Naguib’s research has resulted in nearly 300 refereed publications in top-tier journals and conference proceedings and more than 200 conference presentations. He has supervised 64 graduate students and fostered many national and international research collaborations with academic institutions, hospitals and industry partners. His research has been recognized by the leading professional and technical societies in his field: he is a fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Plastics Engineers and the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals (IOM3) in the UK.

“Through his research and his leadership of the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing, Professor Hani Naguib has significantly advanced the development and manufacturing of smart multifunctional materials,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “I am delighted that he has been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada as one of the leaders of Canada’s next generation of scholars.”

Read more at U of T Engineering News.

September 7, 2016 — U of T Engineering Professor Javad Mostaghimi (MIE) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, one of the highest honours a Canadian researcher can achieve. The Society’s mission is to recognize scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada. New Fellows will be formally inducted at the Society’s Annual General Meeting in Kingston, Ontario on November 18.

Recognized by U of T as the Distinguished Professor in Plasma Engineering, Mostaghimi’s work relates to surface treatment through the deposition of plasma sprays, including contact of liquid droplets with heated surfaces. He has conducted groundbreaking research on simulating the dynamics of droplet impact and solidification in thermal spray coating processes, which are widely used in manufacturing. Mostaghimi has also worked extensively with industry partners in several disciplines and commercialized his work through numerous patents and three spin-off companies.

Mostaghimi is the founding director of the Centre for Advanced Coating Technologies (CACT). With a multidisciplinary team of more than 30 researchers, CACT is one of the world’s leading research centres in the area of thermal spray technology, which is integral to the aerospace, automotive, power generation and resource extraction industries. In 2010 Mostaghimi and his colleagues at CACT received the NSERC Brockhouse Prize for collaborative interdisciplinary research, and in 2014 he garnered the Faculty’s Research Leader Award for his leadership in CACT and in his research community.

 September 1, 2016 —

Seven U of T Engineering faculty members have received the inaugural Percy Edward Hart and Erwin Edward Hart Professorships, enhancing emerging research and education across the Faculty.

The professorships were created by a landmark bequest from the estate of alumnus Erwin Edward Hart (CivE 4T0). The seven professors are all within the first 10 years of their careers and have demonstrated a high level of research excellence and exemplary graduate student mentorship.

“Our inaugural Hart Professors exemplify the richness and diversity of research and education across our Faculty,” said Cristina Amon, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “They are addressing society’s most relevant challenges, from sustainable energy to human health, while nurturing the next generation of global engineering leaders.”

Professor Tobin Filleter (MIE) – Erwin Edward Hart Professor in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Professor Filleter completed his PhD at McGill University and joined U of T Engineering in 2012. He is an expert on the mechanics of nanomaterials, especially as they relate to friction and wear, which cause premature damage to many mechanical structures. His team studies and tests ultrathin films, lubricants, and coatings that could be used in everything from automobiles to aircraft and even space systems. Some of these systems involve recently-discovered materials, including graphene and graphene oxide. In 2014, Filleter received the I.W. Smith Award from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering and in 2016, he received an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Read more at U of T Engineering News.

August 31, 2016 — Bloomberg TV made a visit to Professor Goldie Nejat’s Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Lab to learn more about building socially-assistive robots to help the elderly as they age. Watch here.

August 22, 2016 – Six U of T Engineering professors have received Early Researcher Awards (ERA) from the Government of Ontario. The ERAs provide critical support that helps promising scientists and engineers in the first five years of their academic careers build their research teams.

“Our stellar early-career professors are already making outstanding contributions to their fields, from sustainability to biomedical engineering,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “These awards recognize that excellence, and enable them to grow their research programs to address some the world’s most relevant challenges. On behalf of the Faculty, my warmest congratulations to all of them on this well-deserved honour and my thanks to the Government of Ontario for its commitment to nurturing the next generation of engineering research leaders.”

Learn more about the U of T Engineering professors who received the awards:

Read more on U of T Engineering News.

August 11, 2016 – When Professor Timothy Chan (MIE) sits down to watch a game of hockey, baseball or tennis, he isn’t taking a break from his research — he may be hard at work on a new paper. His expertise in sports analytics and decision modelling has been sought out by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) in the hopes that it could provide a competitive edge for amateur athletes.

Professional sports teams have been leveraging statistics to improve team performance for more than a decade. By examining detailed data about how each player performs in various situations, analysts can build computer models that attempt to predict long-term performance. The technique, made famous in the 2011 film Moneyball, empowers teams that can’t afford star players to make smarter use of the resources they do have.

This year, Chan’s research team attracted the attention of the COC as part of its National Sport Federation Enhancement Initiative (NSFEI). NSFEI is a four-year project designed to help Canada’s federations improve their organizational capacity, including business operations, leadership and governance, as well as their ability to effectively recruit young, talented athletes into their sports.

“National Sport Federations in Canada are resource constrained,” says David Patterson, who leads the initiative for the COC. “We see analytics as way to better allocate scarce resources. These benefits could apply both on the field of play and away from competition, where we work hard to attract and retain more Canadians to a lifestyle in sport.”

Chan came to Patterson’s attention in 2013 after he won the best paper award the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. “Sloan is the top conference in the field, so it made sense to approach Dr. Chan as the best among the best in analytics.”

This past spring, Chan travelled to Ottawa and Calgary to deliver two seminars on sports analytics. “We started to work through some areas where we thought analytics could help,” he says. “The idea is that they can narrow down the focus and propose a research project that we could execute.”

Since the seminar, Chan has been working with Tennis Canada to help increase youth participation in the sport. Chan is determining the best locations in Canada to hold winter tennis camps, based on local demand and available indoor facilities. The goal is to make sure that the resource-intensive camps reach the maximum number of potential future Eugenie Bouchards.

Learn more on U of T Engineering News.