A first-time donation of $3.5 million by alumnus Henry Wu (EngSci 7T5, ChemE MASc 7T9) will help support the construction of the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CEIE).
In recognition of the gift, and in honour of Wu’s late father who was an instrumental figure in Hong Kong’s business landscape, the top floor of the CEIE will be named the Dr. Woo Hon Fai Innovation Floor. It will house conference rooms, a terrace and new spaces for the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) and the Institute for Water Innovation (IWI).
“We are profoundly grateful for Henry Wu’s generous gift, which will help position U of T Engineering as a leader in global water innovation and sustainable energy research,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “First-time gifts to the Faculty at this level signal the deep pride our alumni feel in being a part of our community and their confidence in our world-class researchers. Mr. Wu’s commitment to the CEIE serves as a tremendous example to his fellow alumni and will enable us to address some of the world’s greatest challenges.”
The IWI will be a focal point for research and industry collaboration in water sustainability, treatment and management. Led by the Departments of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, Civil Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, researchers at the IWI will also collaborate with the Lassonde Institute of Mining, the Pulp and Paper Centre and the Drinking Water Research Group.
The ISE will be an inclusive, multidisciplinary institute with a goal to increase energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of energy use and conversion. It will bring together researchers, students and teachers from across the university, along with partners from industry and government.
Wu, who is the executive director at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers Ltd., is also actively engaged in public service in Hong Kong. He is the honourary president of the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong, an organization he has served since 1989, and the president of the Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association.
U of T Engineering’s Jamie Hunter recently spoke with Wu about his longstanding connection to U of T Engineering.
Your $3.5-million gift towards the CEIE is incredibly generous. What inspired you to give back to your alma mater at this time?
The $3.5 million gift is a first for me. It was much more than all of my previous donations to other organizations and charities. The simple matter is that I wanted to support U of T, in particular the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, in moving forward and staying ahead of the competition. I’m glad that I can help.
Looking back, I was able to apply what I had learned during my undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering to another role in finance. It was a good training experience for me and I really appreciate what I was taught. This is only a token of appreciation to the Faculty and the University for giving me the chance to learn and for making me a better person.
My donation also gives me an opportunity to commemorate my late father, who passed away in 1985. He gave me the support, both financially and spiritually, during what I call the ‘difficult years’ of study. It was a hard time and his support was really important to me.
You graduated from U of T with a degree in engineering science and a master’s degree in chemical engineering, specializing in nuclear energy. So why did you decide to support water innovation and research?
When I first looked into supporting the University in 2012, I wasn’t aware of all of the different centres and institutes. The one that I was most familiar with was the Institute for Sustainable Energy. Obviously, that was more aligned to what I had been trained for when I was studying at U of T Engineering. But afterwards, I discovered the Institute for Water Innovation. And this is another area that I think is very important and I was really happy to provide my support.
I care about water sustainability. I have visited the remote mountainous regions in China to help them out, and I have experienced first-hand how difficult it is for them to access water. U of T is doing a great thing, and I’m happy to support water innovation research.
Were you involved in the engineering community when you attended U of T?
Unfortunately, I was not. At the time, I had to work a few part-time jobs. Every week, I’d work in the computer centre or the library. And of course, I had my studies. But I also had to do laundry, grocery shopping and housework. I didn’t live in a dorm. I had to live away from campus by myself. And I didn’t come from a well-off family, so I had to basically support myself—especially during my senior years—and work full-time during the summer months. I didn’t have the time to involve myself in the engineering community. But I tried to take part as much as possible to celebrate with the others at more significant Skule™ events.
How do you see your relationship with U of T Engineering continuing to evolve in the next few years?
There must be other ways for me to be involved once the CEIE opens—and alumni outreach has really improved. We actually have regular visits in Hong Kong and around the world with faculty and staff from U of T Engineering. And we’ve developed a much closer relationship. I’m looking forward to future communications about the institutes and centres at U of T Engineering to see what kind of research they are doing.
What does “giving back” mean to you?
There’s an old Chinese saying that literally means: ‘When you drink water, remember the spring.’ Giving back is part of the culture I was raised in. It’s about showing appreciation for what one has been provided.
There is no limit to giving back—it’s boundless. It could very well be a simple ‘thank you’ or a smile. That’s what I was taught in growing up. It could also be in the form of a donation or volunteering your services. Giving back is never too big or too small, and it applies to all ages.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, 500 rookie coders descend on MaRS when Canada’s largest learn-to-code event—The HTML500—comes to Toronto for the first time.
The HTML500 is a one-day crash-course on programming basics, teaching those with little coding knowledge how to build their own website from scratch. With U of T Engineering’s Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering as the event’s official Toronto education partner, The HTML500 encourages the coder in everybody.
First launched in Vancouver to a packed hall of 500 people, with another 1,000 on the waiting list, in 2015 The HTML500 has taken its programming know-how across Canada with four events this year in Calgary, London, Toronto and Vancouver.
To explore why everybody should learn to code—and why it’s often more art than science—ECE’s Marit Mitchell sat down with computer engineering Professor Belinda Wang (ECE), who teaches the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s mandatory first-year programming course.
How did you first learn to code?
When I first came into the University, we were in the era where the computer was a giant mainframe sitting somewhere at the University of Toronto, and we were at the level of punching cards. It was very primitive then. So coding was punching holes and putting them in the right order. Back then it wasn’t even possible to afford a so-called ‘personal computer’—the whole institution had one! Then we moved very quickly into personal computers, and now it’s everybody’s business to program. Before it was only the elite.
I’m not an engineer—why should I learn to code?
We are living in the age of the computer—for anyone who wants to walk around feeling comfortable living in this environment of modern technology, we have to have some basic understanding of how to use our devices. We have to look not just at the application side, but the under-the-surface design aspect.
Lots of students arrive in my class with no coding or programming experience, completely blank. It’s time-consuming to learn to code, but I tell them every minute you spend with it, it will benefit you. Because this thing is not going away! You can’t avoid it, you may not be doing this for a living, as a professional programmer, but this knowledge and this training of how to explore on your own, makes you resourceful—that’s a skill you will need in any field.
Is there any room for creativity in coding?
Programming is an open-ended thing. And there is often no fixed answer—it’s not just 1+1=2, rather, I can achieve the goal by going this way, but you might do it another way. So it’s not just a single thing to say ‘I’m teaching programming.’ You want to lead the way for students to discover, explore by themselves, and to find their own style going into it. There’s a lot of creativity involved, and it’s a very individual thing—each person writes it differently than the next person, and can all be correct in terms of syntax, but maybe some solutions are more effective, maybe some are more efficient, some are more elegant.
A culture of entrepreneurship is exploding across Canada, and particularly in Toronto. Do you see a dovetail between learning to code and starting your own business?
Absolutely—if you run any business, and especially if you’re running a start-up, you can’t afford to have all these professional resources lining up for you. You have to do things yourself, solve your own problems as much as possible. You’ve got to get yourself into this IT world—you can’t run any business without IT these days. And now an online presence is a must, so the more of that advertising and marketing you can do yourself, the better.
Ten years ago, no one was walking around with computers in their pockets—the way we interact with digital devices has changed dramatically. What platforms are next for coders?
We absolutely haven’t seen the end of what computers are capable of—we’re merely at the beginning stages. People are now trying to make computers to work like the human brain, to do things we can do, but better and faster and to perform tasks impossible for humans. Depending on your lifetime, when you were born, you will grow up in a different society, different environment, and you will need to have different skills to thrive in this environment. We’re certainly moving into the era where we’re exploring more and more computer intelligence—what human beings are capable of will eventually be unlimited. And now we’re just trying to create more things to come help us!
U of T Engineering alumnus Shawn Qu (MSE PhD 9T5) believes in a bright future for home-grown solar technology—and he’s helping create it.
Dr. Qu is founder, chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, North America’s leading photovoltaic module manufacturer and one of the world’s largest solar power companies. Canadian Solar recently committed $400,000 to support solar cell research at U of T Engineering, where Dr. Qu earned his PhD in 1995.
Professor Francis Dawson (ECE) is the principal investigator supervising the project. His team will conduct two-dimensional simulations to optimize solar cell performance with the goal of realizing higher-efficiency and lower-cost photovoltaics.
“This funding gives our students a chance to sink their teeth into some challenging real-world problems,” said Professor Dawson. “It’s a great platform for us to train the next generation of bright young engineers, in concert with industry.”
This support comes through the TalentEdge program, a research funding collaboration between the University of Toronto and Ontario Centres of Excellence. TalentEdge provides fellowships for post-doctoral researchers to undertake projects of pressing interest to industry in the province. Canadian Solar previously contributed to the program in 2012.
“As Canada’s leading university, the University of Toronto plays an important role in scientific research and development,” said Dr. Qu in a release. “Not only are we pleased that we had the opportunity to give back to my alma matter, we are also certain that this donation will help advance solar research.”
“We in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering are conducting research with real relevance to industry,” said Professor Ted Sargent, vice-dean, research for U of T Engineering. “Dr. Qu is an international leader in photovoltaics, and his generous support demonstrates both the strength of our alumni community, and our continuing ties to engineering enterprise.”
Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions. The company has successfully deployed over eight giga-Watts of high-quality modules in more than 70 countries in the past decade.
Engineers are shining new light on an emerging family of solar-absorbing materials that could clear the way for cheaper and more efficient solar panels and LEDs.
The materials, called perovskites, are particularly good at absorbing visible light, but had never been studied in their purest form: as perfect single crystals.
Using a new technique, researchers grew large, pure perovskite crystals and studied how electrons move through the material as light is converted to electricity.
Led by Professor Ted Sargent of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto in collaboration with Professor Osman Bakr of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the team used a combination of laser-based techniques to measure selected properties of the perovskite crystals. By tracking down the ultrafast motion of electrons in the material, they have been able to measure the diffusion length—how far electrons can travel without getting trapped by imperfections in the material—as well as mobility—how fast the electrons can move through the material. Their work was published this week in the journal Science.
“Our work sets the bar for the ultimate solar energy-harvesting performance of perovskites,” says Riccardo Comin, a post-doctoral fellow with the Sargent Group. “With these materials it’s been a race to try to get record efficiencies, and there are no signs of stopping or slowing down.”
In recent years, perovskite efficiency has soared to over 20 per cent, very close to the current best performance of commercial-grade silicon-based solar panels you see mounted in Spanish deserts and on Californian roofs.
“In terms of efficiency, perovskites are perfectly comparable or better than materials that have already been commercialized,” says Valerio Adinolfi, a PhD candidate in the Sargent Group and co-first author on the paper. “The challenge is to make solar attractive from the business side. It’s not just matter of making it efficient—the point is to make it efficient and cheap.”
The study has obvious implications for green energy, but may also enable innovations in lighting. Think of a solar panel made of perovskite crystals as a fancy slab of glass: light hits the crystal surface and gets absorbed, exciting electrons in the material. Those electrons travel easily through the crystal to electrical contacts on its underside, where they are collected in the form of electric current. Now imagine the sequence in reverse—power the slab with electricity, inject electrons, and release energy as light. A more efficient electricity-to-light conversion means perovskites could open new frontiers for energy-efficient LEDs.
Parallel work in the Sargent Group focuses on improving nano-engineered solar-absorbing particles called colloidal quantum dots. “Perovskites are great visible-light harvesters, and quantum dots are great for infrared,” says Professor Sargent.
“In future, we will explore the opportunities for stacking together complementary absorbent materials,” says Dr. Comin. “There are very promising prospects for combining perovskite work and quantum dot work for further boosting the efficiency.”
Analysts have hailed 2015 as the “Year of Wearable Tech,” which bodes well for U of T Engineering spinoff, Nymi.
The Toronto-based company, co-founded in 2011 by alumni Foteini Agrafioti (ElecE MASc 0T9, PhD 1T1) and Karl Martin (EngSci 0T1, ElecE MASc 0T3, PhD 1T0), has generated serious buzz with its Nymi Band, the world’s first wearable authentication system. Martin will be discussing the future of wearable technology, digital security and biometric authentication at BizSkule’s upcoming speaking event, The Heart of the Matter: The Future of Wearable Technology, in Palo Alto, Calif. on Feb. 25, 2015.
Worn around the wrist, Nymi Band is embedded with an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor that uses your heartbeat as a unique ID to seamlessly unlock mobile devices, remember passwords and even make retail payments—an all-in-one solution to the security measures we are inundated with on a daily basis.
After receiving $14 million in Series A funding last year, and having pre-sold more than 10,000 units, Nymi is set to make a major impact on the wearable tech sector.
U of T Engineering’s Jamie Hunter recently caught up with Martin, who shared his insights into Toronto’s flourishing wearable tech community and the near-limitless potential in the field.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER-JsYdcu0c&w=560&h=315]
The Globe and Mail referenced Toronto as “a hotbed of pioneering wearable technology”—thanks, in part, to the success of Nymi. In your opinion, what do you think it is about the city that’s producing a flurry of development in the wearable tech space?
In some ways, I would consider it a lucky alignment of factors—but luck always favours the prepared. The reality is that Toronto and the surrounding areas have a wealth of talent coming out of the University of Toronto and other universities in the region, much of it around electrical, computer and mechatronics engineering. Furthermore, there is a lack of mature companies innovating in hardware development. This has led many in these fields to take the entrepreneurial route. With some of the earlier players, like InteraXon, serving as role models, there is now a snowball effect of young talent willing to take a leap and try something truly innovative.
Where does your interest in wearable technology come from?
Wearable technology is really hot right now, but in many ways it was something we were pulled into by necessity rather than a direct interest. We had a vision of how continuous authentication could change the way that people interact with technology, and it took two years to realize that wearable technology was the way to bring that to fruition. That being said, I personally find the potential of wearable tech to be nearly limitless. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg; the potential insights from continuous, on-body sensor data are massive.
Has your identity or personal information ever been compromised?
As far as I know, I’ve never been a victim of identity theft. However, I have had my credit card compromised several times. Specifically, it’s been compromised after trips to the US, where the mag-stripe, which is insecure and very outdated, is the primary means for communicating credit card credentials. It’s amazing that the US has remained so far behind on credit card technology, and this is something that we’re pushing to advance with our payment partnerships.
What do you hope that attendees take away from the BizSkule event on Feb. 25th?
I hope that the Nymi story serves as inspiration for others that wish to take the entrepreneurial route, especially when deep R&D is involved. The path is often long, especially when you’re building more than just an app, but there is a way, and the journey is highly rewarding.
BizSkule Presents: Heart of the Matter – The Future of Wearable Technology
View participant bios and register for this event.
When it comes to tackling complex environmental challenges and fostering a culture of sustainability, these U of T Engineering students are generating more than just energy: they are cultivating passion, promoting change and stimulating new ideas.
“Sustainability is a mindset,” said Engineering student Parisa Najafi (MSE 1T6). “It is a way of tackling problems that values efficiency and reduces waste.”
Najafi and fellow students, Deep Prasad (IndE 1T8) and Ashrith Domun (ChemE 1T6) are leading sustainable initiatives through entrepreneurship, industry challenges and education.
Parisa Najafi (MSE 1T6): Generating passion
Two trees stand in an ice storm: one bends, the other breaks.
While in her first year, third-year materials science and engineering student Parisa Najafi was tasked with discovering why ice affects similar trees differently. She was thrilled. Examining the microscopic structures of birch and quaking aspen fascinated her, and helped her spur a passion for the natural world that has informed her education ever since.
“Nature makes the best classroom,” she said. “It’s hands-on, it’s dynamic, and its designs are usually more elegant and efficient than our own. Lucky for us, nature hasn’t patented anything yet.”
Inspired by her environment, Najafi pursued a collaborative opportunity as a research associate with nanOntario, an outreach program aimed at teaching high school students about bio-inspired technologies. Supported by the Ontario Research Fund For Research Excellence and led by Professor Uwe Erb (MSE), the program brought nature into the classroom as both a teaching tool and an inspiration for students.
“Participating in nanOntario gave me a deep appreciation for nature,” she said. “As a society, we hear a lot about sustainability and climate change. Green energy is one of the hottest fields right now. We have the responsibility as engineers to think critically about these issues because we have the skills to innovate and drive positive change.”
Ashrith Domun (ChemE 1T6): Generating change
When Ashrith Domun thinks about sustainability, he understands it is a long and bumpy road, but one we will have to travel.
“There is an urgent need to show people that sustainability is important,” said Domun, whose sustainable startup Hydron aims to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cell buses are now a viable option for fleets, such as the shuttle bus service between U of T’s Mississauga and St. George campuses.
“There are many critics and skeptics of climate change, and we have to motivate them to understand the evidence, and to persuade them that sustainable practices can be beneficial, not only to the environment, but to our economy, too.”
Domun and his co-founders started Hydron through U of T’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery. Their green business model serves as a way to show the public that there are many benefits to fostering sustainable practices on a large scale, including reduced cost and potential for job creation.
“In order to incentivize and promote the adoption of sustainable practices, we have to consider the long term impacts of our decisions,” said Domun.
Hydrogen fuel cells are already in use in some passenger vehicles, including models from Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, who choose the technology for its long range, quick refueling and reduced tailpipe emissions. However, incorporating electric technologies into heavy commercial transportation poses unique challenges.
“Ultimately, Hydron works as a business model because the technology already exists. Integrating the right technologies to complement each other and fit customer need is key to widespread adoption and, thus, to substantial environmental benefits.”
Deep Prasad (IndE 1T8): Generating ideas
You may already recognize Deep Prasad’s name. A top-ten finalist in the Next Einstein Competition and recently named Post City’s Top 20 Under 20, his novel ideas for energy conservation and generation are gaining momentum and garnering public attention.
His latest project involves interpreting household utility data to inform improvements to current policy for North American energy usage.
“Technology, as I see it, has two very powerful ways it can affect sustainability,” said Prasad. “The first is by providing data which changes the way we understand our actions and drives us toward positive change. The second is by actually improving the ways we consume energy.”
Prasad is exploring both of these opportunities, leveraging big data to interpret and influence human energy consumption, while also developing technologies that enable smarter use and storage of electricity.
“It shouldn’t take a natural disaster or a drought for us to see how important sustainable practices are. We can use data and statistics to interpret our trajectory and influence policy before we get to that point.”
As Prasad continues to develop novel green technologies, he believes that many of our energy problems could be solved through minor changes to our daily consumption habits.
“In general, we waste far more than we should. From the amount of water used in the average North American shower, to the energy wasted when no one is home, there is a lot of room for improvement. It is important that we change our behaviour instead of just relying on technology to improve efficiency.”