Entrepreneurship news

Over the past two decades, U of T Engineering has spun out more than 100 new companies. Programs such as our Entrepreneurship Hatchery, our Engineering Business minor and our Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (Troost ILEAD) provide rich opportunities to commercialize research and grow startups into thriving businesses.

A four-armed robotic manipulator

Three commercialization fellowships bring new U of T Engineering research to market

Three promising new technologies from U of T engineers are one step closer to market thanks to the latest round of Heffernan Commercialization Fellowships. Researchers are awarded $17,000 per year, with the possibility of a one-year renewal. This year’s recipients include an alumnus from IBBME and EngSci who is creating a smaller, less expensive machine […]

Hugh Liu

U of T Engineering receives $1.65 million from NSERC to CREATE 150 drone experts

The word ‘drone’ often conjures up invasive images of military aircraft, but if Professor Hugh Liu of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) has his way, that perception is about to change. Liu has just received $1.65 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to train 150 new experts in the […]

Peter Lewis, Meric Gertler, Parham Aarabi, Vivek Goel and Jennifer Fraser

Three U of T engineers named Inventors of the Year

Engineering professors Parham Aarabi (ECE), Richard Cobbold (IBBME, ECE) and Hugh Liu (UTIAS) have been named Inventors of the Year by the University of Toronto. The honour recognizes exceptional researchers who are commercializing new technologies that can benefit society. Three of the five winning inventions announced at the U of T Celebrates Innovation event on May 7, 2015 came from researchers […]

Historic photo of Frederick Banting's laboratory

A closer look at the Banting & Best Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery of insulin by Frederick Banting and Charles Best remains one of the most significant research achievements from the labs at U of T. But discovery alone is not enough; the drug is still saving the lives of diabetics around the world today because those researchers commercialized their discovery. “Banting wasn’t an entrepreneur. Best wasn’t […]

Nanoleaf lights in a kitchen

Engineering alumni startup Nanoleaf creating green jobs in Toronto, China

It started with a viral campaign for the world’s most energy-efficient light bulb in 2013. Now, international media are also calling Nanoleaf a “green job” leader. Founded by University of Toronto engineering alumni Gimmy Chu (ElecE 0T6), Tom Rodinger (IBBME PhD 0T7) and Christian Yan (ElecE 0T6), the company has grown from its days as a crowdfunded venture working from […]

In a letter of commitment presented to President Barack Obama today, U of T Engineering joined more than 120 engineering schools who announced plans to educate a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century (Photo: Neil Ta).

University of Toronto joins U.S. engineering education initiative announced at White House

University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering has joined more than 120 U.S. engineering schools leading a transformative movement in engineering education announced at the White House today—the only Canadian engineering school to do so. In a letter presented to President Barack Obama, the University of Toronto and peer institutions committed to establish […]

A doctor performs an HIV test in Munoko, Uganda (Photo: Arne Hoel via Flickr).

Portable HIV testing device developed at U of T Engineering receives $5 million in venture capital

Imagine having blood drawn for HIV-related testing, and then never finding out the results. In developing countries around the world, it can be common for patients not to receive test results for treatable diseases such as HIV. But what if the testing could be brought to them and performed on the spot? This is the […]

TEABOT!

Engineering student brews business one cup at a time

A new startup from PhD candidate Rehman Merali (UTIAS PhD 1T5) enables tea-lovers to make a personalized cup of tea from a beverage-weilding robot in under 30 seconds. “It’s not just a great cup of tea, it’s also the experience,” said Merali, who co-founded teaBOT with his childhood friend, Brian Lee. “You see each ingredient […]

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The organic LED age is here: Meet the U of T engineers behind OTI Lumionics

Originally published in the 2015 issue of Impact Magazine. Google “OLED,” and you’ll find scores of articles confidently predicting that this is the year of the organic light-emitting diode. Some of those articles are ten years old. Still, there are reasons to believe the OLED age is finally dawning. In fact, engineering alumnus Michael Helander (EngSci 0T7, MSE PhD 1T2) is betting on […]