University Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, IBBME) of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton (Computer Science) of the Faculty of Arts & Science have both been elected as Foreign Members of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Founded in 1964, the NAE provides engineering leadership in service to the United States and globally. Members of the NAE rank among the world’s most accomplished engineers. Shoichet and Hinton are among only four Canadians inducted to the academy this year.
“Professor Shoichet and Professor Hinton are both exceptional researchers, working across disciplines to develop innovative solutions with global impact. They are also dedicated educators and inspiring ambassadors for science and engineering” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the Faculty, I congratulate them on this richly deserved honour.”
More about Molly Shoichet
An internationally recognized expert in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, Shoichet holds the Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering. Her research focuses on using stem cells, biocompatible polymers and lab-grown tissues to develop new treatments for cancer, blindness, stroke and other degenerative conditions. Her research has resulted more than 400 papers, 32 patents and three spin-off companies.
Shoichet is the only person to be elected a fellow of Canada’s three national academies: the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and an International Fellow of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. In 2015 she was named the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science North American laureate and listed as one of Chatelaine Magazine’s Women of the Year.
In 2014, Shoichet was appointed senior advisor on science and engineering engagement to U of T President Meric Gertler. Among her many science outreach activities, she founded the groundbreaking initiative Research2Reality, which uses digital media to engage and educate the public on the cutting-edge research performed in Canada. Shoichet received the 2015 Fleming Medal and Citation from the Royal Canadian Institute in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the public understanding of science.
More about Geoffrey Hinton
Professor Hinton is one of the world’s leading experts on machine learning. His research focuses on enabling computers to analyze large, multilayered datasets by developing algorithms — described as neural networks — that function in similar ways to the human brain. This includes teaching computers to recognize faces, categorize images, identify voices and complete other tasks that are currently easy for humans, but hard for machines. His contributions to deep learning have significantly advanced the artificial intelligence capabilities of computers.
In 2013, Hinton and two of his graduate students, Alex Krizhevsky and Ilya Sutskever, sold their startup DNNresearch Inc., based on their deep neural networks research, to Google Inc. Hinton is also a Distinguished Researcher at Google.
Hinton is a fellow of the Royal Society (UK), the Royal Society of Canada, and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. He is an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a former president of the Cognitive Science Society. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Sherbrooke, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Sussex. He was awarded the first David E. Rumelhart prize (2001), the IJCAI award for research excellence (2005), the IEEE Neural Network Pioneer Award (1998), IEEE Frank Rosenblatt Award (2014), IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal (2016), and the ITAC/NSERC Award for contributions to information technology (1992). In 2012 he received the Killam Prize for Engineering from the Canada Council for the Arts, and in 2010 he was awarded the NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal, Canada’s top award in science and engineering.
This post originally appeared on Engineering Alumni & Friends
Since 1885, the University of Toronto Engineering Society (EngSoc) has brought students together and fostered a unique sense of camaraderie that has become a hallmark of U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. On March 24, all past and present EngSoc officers are invited to attend the EngSoc Heritage Event to reconnect with their peers, share stories and meet the latest generation of U of T Engineering leaders.
In anticipation of this event, last year’s EngSoc president Teresa Nguyen (CivE 1T4 + PEY) and current president Ernesto Diaz Lozano Patiño (Year 4 CivE + PEY) shared their perspectives on U of T Engineering’s unique spirit and the benefits of staying involved long after graduation.
Why did you want to become EngSoc president and what are/were your goals?
Teresa Nguyen (TN): I had been involved with EngSoc over my entire five years of undergrad thanks to some great upper-year mentors. From meeting so many incredible people, I grew very fond of the Skule™ community and the unique brand of services EngSoc provides to Skule™.
I firmly believe that before you complain about a problem, you should try doing something about it first. I put my name down to run in the 2014 EngSoc officer election with the hope of being able to “do something about it.”
In hindsight, my main goals were to preserve and advance the calibre of U of T Engineering’s renowned tight-knit culture, improve legacy operations and pursue new ideas in line with the evolving engineering identity.
Ernesto Diaz Lozano Patiño (EDLP): I wanted to give back to the U of T Engineering community. I saw the opportunity of running for president as a chance to improve the services and representation EngSoc offered — to build a better community.
I have five goals: engage more members to get involved while retaining current volunteers; increase the transparency of our operations and make sure everyone is accountable for their actions; advocate engineering students’ needs more effectively and get more students interested in academic advocacy; foster a sense of unity and collaboration among our community; make sure EngSoc properly represents its constituents and is recognized as the official voice for undergraduate engineering students.
What do you think makes U of T Engineering such a close-knit community?
TN: I think it’s a mix of a few things. The reinforcement of the close-knit community comes in the form of traditions and annual events, such as the firing of Ye Olde Mighty Skule™ Cannon at various events, annual dinner dances, F!rosh Week, Godiva Week and Iron Ring, just to name a few. Professors also play a role in supporting the community by staying engaged with their students and student leaders. In addition, the community is quite privileged to have an academic and professional identity all members can relate to.
EDLP: I think U of T Engineering’s history and traditions constitute the foundations of the united community. As I mentioned, one of our goals is unity and we’ve worked with affiliated organizations to identify strategies to foster more collaboration.
Alumni can find many ways to get involved on EngSoc’s Skule™ Alumni Outreach (Skule AO) website, including mentoring, speaking, judging competitions and just attending events and networking with students. Can you share an example that stands out in your mind of a great alumni volunteer experience?
TN: One of my personal favourite volunteer opportunities is judging the High School Design Competition run by Hi-Skule, EngSoc’s outreach committee. It’s fun to see what high school students are being taught in their math and science classes, what they know about engineering and to inform attending high school teachers all about Skule™.
EDLP: Many of our design teams have great engagement with alumni who mentor junior design leads. Another great event is Skule™ Nite, which is always directed by alumni. This year’s director is alumnus Michael Manning (EngSci 1T3 + PEY).
How do you plan to stay involved with Skule™ after graduation?
TN: I’m an Engineer-in-Training (EIT) in the building science industry right now, but in the future I’d like to guest speak or provide a lecture for one of the building science courses at theDepartment of Civil Engineering offers. I’m sure I’ll find ways to support EngSoc’s future students leaders, too.
EDLP: I’ll stay involved with some of the clubs I participated in while I was an undergrad, such as the U of T student chapter of the Canadian Electrical Contractors Association. I’ll also make sure I don’t miss Alumni SUDS at Spring Reunion if I’m in Toronto.
What’s the most useful advice you’ve received from Skule™ alumni so far?
TN: If you want to achieve something and you need a team to do it, surround yourself with your supporters, let them do the things they do best, and take only the constructive criticism coming from those who say “you can’t do it.”
EDLP: Being president is very stressful and there’s a lot of work. But don’t forget to have fun — it’s a once in a lifetime experience!
This story originally appeared on U of T News.
The vibrant startup community in and around the University of Toronto is continuing to grow and now it needs what all successful companies need: great people.
You’re Next Career Network’s (YNCN) Startup Career Expo is designed to give job-hunting students a glimpse into the world of startups. This year’s day-long event is taking place on Jan. 29 on the lower and main levels of MaRS, across the street from U of T’s downtown Toronto campus. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. attendees will have free access to more than 90 startups looking for top talent to add to their teams, with opportunities including summer internships, Professional Experience Years (PEY) and full-time positions.
Now in its fifth year, the event aims to give students and young professionals the opportunity to directly connect with more than 90 hiring startups during Canada’s largest startup career fair.
Think of it this way, said U of T engineering undergrad Frank Gu (Year 2 ECE), “when you want to get to know someone, do you look at their resume/CV or would you prefer to have a face-to-face conversation with them?”
Gu was among roughly 2,000 students who attended last year’s event and, after connecting with Nanoleaf’s co-founder Gimmy Chu (ElecE 0T6), he successfully nabbed an internship with the innovative lighting startup. (Read more about Frank Gu and Nanoleaf)
A company’s website can give students an introduction to a startup in the same way that a resume gives employers an introduction to a potential employee, Gu said, but “the Startup Career Expo, on the other hand, brings the students and potential employers together in an exciting social environment where they can connect and mingle.”
“The exhibiting startups will span a wide range of industries including finance, healthcare, robotics, software, Internet of Things and the list goes on,” said Daksh Sikri (Year 3 IndE), managing director, startup of You’re Next Career Network and a U of T engineering undergrad.
“Apart from speaking with these incredible people about internships/PEY/full time opportunities, students can also come to the event to get a taste of Toronto’s startup ecosystem.”
Read more about Professional Experience Year internships
Among the exhibitors will be U of T startups Magniware, Knowtions, TapTrack, DNAstack, iamsick.ca and ConferenceCloud. Nanoleaf will also be returning this year to seek out talented students to join their expanding team.
“Nanoleaf is proudly founded by three U of T alums and we believe that some of the best talent in Canada comes straight from U of T,” said Chu. “We are hopeful that this year will bring us some fresh new faces to add to the team.”
Along with a diverse set of startups and sectors represented, a wide range of positions will be up for grabs.
“Knowtions is looking for engineering, marketing and communication experts who are comfortable with uncertainties and excited about super-charged growth to join our recently funded startup,” said Christina Cai, co-founder of Knowtions. “As an alumni-run startup, we are very excited to attract and nurture a new generation of U of T talent,”
YNCN is a non-profit run by 40 U of T student volunteers and was originally started six years ago by the Engineering Society.
“A group of students recognized the problems faced by their peers while job hunting and decided to solve them,” explained Sikri. “Since then, the network has only grown. Today, it is the largest student-run career network on campus, bringing in 170+ companies and connecting them to 3,000+ students every year.”
Their goal is to provide opportunities to students by offering career development programs including corporate career fairs, student development events and the Startup Career Expo.
This year YNCN is also hosting its inaugural pre-startup expo social, the Summit. The event will allow startup founders, employees, faculty members, alumni, accelerators, VCs and senior executives from technology companies to interact in a fun and relaxed environment prior to the main event.
Both events are free, but the Summit requires a ticket for entry. The Startup Career Expo? No ticket necessary, says Sikri. “Just bring your resume and smile.”
There is only one rule at Hatchery Accelerator weekend: there are no rules.
Fuelled by coffee, snacks and sage advice, on January 22 and 23, students worked furiously to transform their wildest entrepreneurial ideas into viable business models in just 28 hours. The competition, hosted by The Entrepreneurship Hatchery, was kicked off by a special panel presentation from Silicon Valley seed accelerator Y Combinator, the incubator that has launched companies such as Dropbox, Reddit, and Thalmic.
Students worked in teams of four to create viable business models, judged by a panel of industry experts and entrepreneurs, including Isi Caulder (EngSci 8T9), Richard Helbig (GeoE 7T3), Michael Augustanavicous (ElecE 7T6), Dag Enhorning and Richard Louttet. Other mentors joined online, such as Catherine Lacavera (CompE 9T7), director of intellectual property and litigation at Google, who gave a presentation on intellectual property via Google Hangouts. The top team took home a grand cash prize of $2,000, and the runner up won $1,000.
“Accelerator Weekend 2016 was a huge success. One hundred students, 23 teams, six finalists, and two prizes. The 28-hour journey that participants went through is a true representation of the journey of an entrepreneur that normally takes years,” said Joseph Orozco, executive director of The Entrepreneurship Hatchery. “We are excited to see the student’s entrepreneurial spirit growing year after year. “
U of T Engineering News caught up with the two teams that came out on top:
First prize—$2,000: TouchDown
Members: Kyle Bimm (Year 2 MechE), Bryan De Bourbon, Sam Fang (Year 3 IndE), Bowen Wu (Year 3 Civil)
Elevator pitch: TouchDown is a parking management system to streamline parking for customers commuting into large cities. The system uses physical modules with Google Maps integration to help commuters find a registered parking spot before they start driving. After a quick selection, their parking space is booked and paid for, via in-app purchase, so commuters no longer have to worry about their parking situation once they start driving. This eliminates time wasted and money spent looking for parking for commuters as well as eliminates unnecessary parking enforcement for municipalities.
What problem does TouchDown solve?
Bryan: As a student that has to regularly commute between the Misssissauga (UTM) and the St.George Campus (UTSG), I became frustrated in my ability to make it on time to UTSG while still in my car, but still arrive 10 to 20 minutes late to my planned events because of the inability to find parking quickly and easily while driving around campus at saturated times. I thought “what if there was a system to allow me to see readily available parking spots before I even planned my route?” With a few more iterations we arrived at TouchDown!
What challenges did your team overcome during the competition?
Kyle: The team faced several challenges over the course of the competition that required a substantial amount of pivoting. The first obstacle we faced was the discovery of existing competition rather late on the first day. Hours spent scouring the internet for existing solutions to the problem proved little was being done in North America, and almost nothing in Canada in the way of smart parking. Upon research into parking related ideas for the company, after many other teams had already called it a night, we stumbled upon several different services that had flown under the radar up until that point. This forced us to rethink our business model and re-establish ourselves as an innovator in the parking world. We decided to create an all-in-one parking system that could not only link parking spot owners and commuters, but enhance security in commercial facilities and eliminate the need for regular, manned parking enforcement. The second challenge the team encountered was the strict regulations involving parking in private facilities like condos that require key access. This, coupled with the lack of previous information available on partnerships between parking services and commercial organizations, motivated the team to design the product launch with mainly the typical “house and driveway” consumer in mind, as a beta launch of sorts. Once a desire for the service was proven in the market, we would have the necessary backup to approach larger scale operations about joint business ventures with confidence.
What’s next for Touchdown—will you all continue to work on the business?
Team: All of us are considering the practicality of the project in industry given the availability of necessary technology and regulations currently in place. As of now time constraints among the group seem to be the biggest issue to get TouchDown to market, but we all are super excited about trying to do so.
Runner up—$1,000: Aurum
Members: Bonny Khanna (MechE 1T5), Min Lee, Rod Parsa, Lucas Huang
Elevator pitch: Aurum is a noise-cancelling product that dampens the constant background buzz we all hear while living and working in a city like Toronto.
What problem does Aurum solve?
Rod: Studies have shown that noise pollution has adverse health effects including higher stress levels, sleep disturbance, hypertension and tinnitus. Most of us go about our days without giving it a second thought, only to wonder why we aren’t working as hard as we’re capable of doing, or wake up groggy in the mornings. Furthermore, noise pollution has been linked to a 10-per cent decrease in housing prices in dense cities. Aurum solves this problem by bringing active noise cancellation to your living room, bedroom or office, creating an aura of tranquility conducive to studying, sleeping or just relaxing. This technology has already been put to use on a large scale in certain commercial aircrafts (where engine noise is a concern), as well as on a small scale in popular noise-cancelling headphones like the Bose QC series. Aurum bridges the size gap and creates a solution that doesn’t necessitate the use of bulky headphones or expensive installations. We came up with the idea when my teammate Bonny mentioned that ever since he had moved closer to a subway line, he’d had trouble sleeping. We did a bit of brainstorming and realized that short of expensive, thick, sound-proof glass windows, there was no real solution out there – we’d all have to suck it up if we wanted to live in the city.
What challenges did your team overcome during the competition?
Rod: I don’t think there were any major hiccups, maybe just a few minor ones. Our greatest concern was that we couldn’t show the judges any sort of proof of concept. Unlike many other app-based ideas, a product like ours may require millions in R&D before its viability can be ascertained. Nonetheless, we were confident in the value that it offered, should it come to fruition; nearly everyone who heard about our idea wanted one and was willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a working solution. In the short context of the 28-hour marathon, we figured we’d make promises first and apologize later.
What’s next for Aurum—will you all continue to work on the business?
With regard to the future, we’re considering applying for the Hatchery summer incubator program. Our mentor Rob Klein is very supportive of us, and it would allow us to get started on a functional proof of concept in the form of a primitive prototype.
Students from across the University of Toronto can apply to participate in the Hatchery Incubator summer internship program. Deadline to apply to the 2016 cohort is Jan. 31, 2016.
Read more about the Hatchery summer internship program
U of T engineers have partnered with residents of Pedro Arauz, Nicaragua to design and construct a water-pumping windmill, providing critical irrigation during the area’s long dry season.
The project was led by Professor Amy Bilton (MIE) and was part of MIE 491: Capstone Design, a fourth-year course in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. Over the last two years, three different teams of undergraduate students have worked closely with members of the community as well as the Winds of Change initiative to make the windmill a reality.
The initial idea was sparked in February 2014 when two Canadians, engineer John Shoust and management consultant Rob Scott, travelled to Nicaragua on a volunteer trip. There they saw first-hand the need for a better method of irrigation.
“For six months of the year, the land basically goes dry,” says Shoust. “Cattle literally drop dead from starvation and lack of water. If we could somehow find a fix for that dry season, it would have a huge impact on the community.”
The area has plenty of groundwater and dug wells, but what is lacking is the technology to efficiently pump the water out of them. Hand pumps — currently the most widespread technology — are simply not powerful enough to produce the thousands of gallons of water required for crop irrigation. The use of diesel and electrical pumps is limited by a lack of infrastructure, high cost and difficulties with the importing of goods.
By contrast, wind pumps can be built and maintained using locally available materials, and the climate in Nicaragua is windy enough to provide the required energy. With this in mind, Shoust and Scott started the Winds of Change initiative and began searching for a team of engineers who could take on the project of designing a low-cost windmill for the people of Pedro Arauz.
“We sent out a message to a few universities, and U of T came back with the best proposal,” says Shoust. “The Institute for Sustainable Energy and Professor Amy Bilton were extremely eager to get involved in the project.”
When Bilton proposed the project in her fourth-year capstone design course, she was inundated with applications from students who wanted to participate. “It was definitely the project with the most social relevance, which I think is why so many teams were interested,” says Kshitij Gupta (MIE 1T5), one of the first team members to work on the project.
Along with his teammates Akash Kumar, Tiffany Hu and Eleanor Li (all MIE 1T5), Gupta travelled to Nicaragua in October 2014. The team took wind speed measurements and consulted extensively with community members about their irrigation needs, as well as the resources they had. “What I remember the most was how enthusiastic the locals were about our project,” says Li. “Everyone was very nice and they welcomed us with a cultural performance. It was rare for them to see anyone to go there and try to help them make a better life.”
The team spent the next several months designing the windmill from scratch, using materials they knew would be accessible to the locals. One of the key questions was how to maximize power from the blades, and match it to a pump strong enough to provide adequate irrigation. In the end, they designed and built a prototype of a windmill that, when built at scale, could deliver 15 cubic metres of water every day.
Bilton and the Winds of Change team returned to Pedro Arauz a second time in the spring of 2015 and, with the help of community members, succeeded in digging a foundation for the windmill. Over the summer, she recruited two more teams of undergraduates to address a couple of outstanding design issues.
One team, consisting of James-Evan Boyce, Emma Bowman, Austin McLean, and Greg Pollieri (all Year 4 MIE) focused on creating a braking mechanism that could stop the windmill to perform maintenance, or shut it down if wind speeds rose dangerously high. The other, composed of Xingjian Gan, Grant Gruenspan, Gene Ortega, and Jikeon Yoo (all Year 4 MIE) refined the technical design of the pumping mechanism.
This month, five of the eight students accompanied Bilton on her third trip to Pedro Arauz. In collaboration with community members, the team built a windmill out of wire, sheet metal and PVC piping in four and a half days. “It pumped water for the first time just before we headed home, so students were really excited about that,” she says.
For Bilton and the students, the project was an extremely valuable learning experience. “Challenges like this provide a really interesting engineering environment that requires a really inventive design,” she says. However, she believes the key to making it all work was the participation of local residents in all stages of the process.
“From the beginning, it was student engineers working together with community members who provided great suggestions in terms the local practices and available resources,” says Bilton. “Everyone was so kind and so welcoming. I think that was really what moved the students and helped motivate them as they worked on the project.”
Professor Craig Simmons (MIE, IBBME) has been named the University of Toronto Distinguished Professor of Mechanobiology, an honour that recognizes his exceptional career accomplishments and promise.
Issued by the U of T Office of the Vice-President and Provost, Simmons will hold the title for a five-year period, beginning July 1, 2016. He is one of 29 U of T faculty members and seven Engineering professors that currently hold this distinction.
“On behalf of the Faculty, I warmly congratulate Professor Craig Simmons on this appointment,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “It is a richly-deserved recognition of his excellence in research, education and leadership within our community.”
As a mechanobiology expert, Simmons is recognized internationally for his work that combines mechanical engineering, biomaterials science, and cell and molecular biology to develop new methods of treating cardiovascular disease. Specifically, his research focuses on investigating new treatments for damaged or diseased heart valves and blood vessels, including strategies to regenerate cardiovascular tissues using stem cells and biomaterials.
His lab also leads the development of a 3D human liver model for the purpose of improving drug testing. Collaborating with University Professor Michael Sefton (ChemE, IBBME) and other team members, the model allows for the safe and accurate screening of chemical compounds in new drugs that could lead to potential negative effects on the human body.
Professor Simmons is also a committed educator who has won multiple teaching awards, including the 2009 Early Career Teaching award from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and the 2015 Teaching Award from the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering.
Beyond his own research and teaching, Professor Simmons has supported research at U of T in multiple administrative roles. From 2009-2015, he served as director of the NSERC CREATE program in Microfluidic Applications & Training in Cardiovascular Health (MATCH), which provided interdisciplinary scientific and professional training to over 75 graduate students. He has also served as the associate director of research in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) since 2013, where he has successfully implemented new seed grant programs, grant writing workshops and review processes.
In 2015, Simmons was appointed as the scientific director of the Translational Biology & Engineering Program (TBEP) in the recently established Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Located in the MaRS Discovery District, this unique, interdisciplinary research initiative brings together leading experts in engineering and medicine from U of T and its partner hospitals to advance discoveries and accelerate new treatments for cardiovascular disease.