Department news

Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP) news

Professor Lydia Wilkinson joined ISTEP as a faculty member in January 2021 after nearly 15 years of teaching at U of T Engineering. (Photo courtesy Lydia Wilkinson)

ISTEP welcomes new faculty member Lydia Wilkinson

Informed by her academic background in education and the humanities, Wilkinson says she’s excited to help ISTEP redefine engineering education

As an ISTEP faculty member, Professor Shai Cohen hopes to improve how mathematics is taught to engineering students. (Photo courtesy of ISTEP)

ISTEP welcomes new faculty member Shai Cohen

“I believe in challenging students to perform at a level they did not think they could reach,” says Cohen, who joined ISTEP in January 2021

From top left, clockwise: Professors Chirag Variawa (ISTEP), Marianne Touchie (CivMin), Aimy Bazylak (MIE), Natalie Enright Jerger (ECE) and Elham Marzi (ISTEP). (Photos: Laura Pederson, Kevin Soobrian, Neda Demiri and Roberta Baker)

Five U of T Engineering professors on how they’re preparing for an unprecedented Back to Skule™

Instructors reimagine approaches to teaching as the Faculty gears up for a remote start to fall term

A steel-tethered airship, known as an aerostat, designed by Solar Ship, Inc. The company is one of several clients whose projects are facilitated by U of T Engineering’s International Virtual Engineering Student Teams (InVEST) initiative. (Photo: Solar Ship, Inc.)

How to work effectively when your team is both global and virtual

InVEST program enables engineering students to gain experience collaborating across cultures and disciplines

Professor Philip Asare (ISTEP, EngSci). (Photo: Dustin Fenstermacher)

Meet Professor Philip Asare

The newest professor to join the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice (ISTEP) and Division of Engineering Science (EngSci) sees engineering as a “humanist enterprise”

“The talent gap isn’t closing,” says U of T Engineering alumna Kimberly Ren (EngSci 2T0), who led the first study to quantitatively establish predictors for women pursuing ML/AI careers. (Photo courtesy of Kimberly Ren)

What’s contributing to the striking gender gap in the AI field? U of T Engineering study takes a closer look

Gender discrimination from teaching staff found to have significant impact on female students’ decisions to pursue ML/AI careers, with discrimination from peers more prevalent for women than men

Professor Lisa Romkey (ISTEP/EngSci) is one of four U of T Engineering professors who have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA-ACEG). (Photo: Engineering Strategic Communications)

Four U of T Engineering professors inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Engineering Education Association

Inductees honoured for service to engineering education, engineering leadership, or engineering design education

Alison Olechowski (MIE, ISTEP) studies the future of work and how engineering teams reach reliable decisions when designing new products. (Photo: Pam Walls)

How engineers can keep innovating — while working from home

Professor Alison Olechowski (MIE, ISTEP) shares tips on improving virtual collaboration during a pandemic

Emissions are seen rising from an industrial facility. Professor Greg Evans (ChemE) studies connections between air pollution and human health. (Photo: Ella Ivanescu / Unsplash)

Can lowering emissions improve the odds against COVID-19? A U of T Engineering expert examines the evidence

Professor Greg Evans discusses the impact of air pollution on COVID-19 cases