Department news

Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE) news

U of T Engineering Alum Recognized for Professional Leadership

Alumnus David Poirier (IndE 8T1) was named the recipient of the 2011 Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) Medallion Award. He was honoured for his exceptional leadership as an advisor in developing and promoting young engineers, creating a body of knowledge for the practice of industrial engineering, as well as organizing educational materials that advance the […]

Five Engineering Researchers Awarded Connaught Grants

Winners of the newly revamped Connaught New Researcher Awards, fostering excellence in research and innovation by assistant professors, include five researchers from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. They are: Professor Jason Anderson (ECE, MASc 9T7, PhD 0T5) – A self-accelerating adaptive processor: automatic software-to-hardware synthesis Professor Timothy Bender (ChemE) – Integration of the Nocel F5BsubPc […]

Professor Frank Hooper Recognized for Pioneering Research

Canada’s Association of Geothermal Heating and Cooling (CAGHC) celebrated and recognized the achievements of Professor Emeritus Frank Hooper (MIE), May 4, for his groundbreaking research on ground source heat pump heating and cooling technology. The award was presented to Professor Hooper at the Faculty Club of the University of Toronto where the association also unveiled Canada’s […]

Nine U of T Researchers Honoured with Inaugural Inventor of the Year Award

U of T honoured nine faculty members – including Engineering Professors Yu Sun and Constantin Christopoulos – with awards in the first-ever Inventor of the Year competition. The ceremony today at Toronto’s MaRS Centre capped a competition that drew 21 entrants from across the university. “The Inventor of the Year program recognizes the superb contributions […]

Halloween Science: The Bleeding Edge of Forensics

In fictional television shows such as Dexter and CSI, patterns in blood splatters at the scene of the crime can be counted on to lead investigators to the killer. In real life, they’re a useful tool, but an imperfect one. Scientists who have spent their careers studying the behaviours of liquids are putting forensic techniques to the test. […]

Professor’s Company to Develop Canada’s New Space Arm Technologies

Engineering Services Inc. (ESI) announced today that it has signed a $3-million contract with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to develop robotic arm technologies for lunar missions, with an option for a second arm in a contract worth $500,000. Along with a micro-rover and a smaller robotic arm, this is the third robot that ESI […]

Telus Puts Faith in High-Tech Health Care

Canada’s health records system, based largely on paper and bracelets, is “arcane,” says Darren Entwistle, chief executive officer of Telus Corp., and in bringing it into the 21st century there is the opportunity for both profit and social good. Several years ago the Vancouver-based telecommunications giant set about to help computerize it. And with the […]

Research Team Develops Morphed Wing for UAVs

Flight-testing is scheduled to begin in 2011 on a morphed wing prototype for unmanned air vehicles using in-built shape memory alloy actuators that deform the shape of the wing when heated. The prototype is being developed by MIE on behalf of Singaporean defence research and development institution DSO National Laboratories. “The major difference to the […]

Artery-on-a-Chip Studies Heart Disease

Professor Axel Guenther (MIE, IBBME) and colleagues have developed a microfluidic platform on which fragile blood vessels can be fixed, allowing the factors that promote and sustain cardiovascular diseases to be studied. Microvascular structure and function are currently studied using either an isometric approach, where small arteries are mounted on two wires, or an isobaric method, where […]