Originally published in the Fall 2014 issue of Edge Magazine.
There’s a revolution happening in the world of lighting, and Professor Zheng-Hong Lu’s (MSE) research into organic LEDs is leading the charge.
The award-winning researcher from the Department of Materials Science & Engineering is delving into the centuries-old puzzle of energy efficiency: how to provide high-quality light for a wide array of uses at an affordable cost.
Organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, are one of the latest breakthroughs in energy- efficient lighting that will alter the way we light our homes and cities in the future.
“OLEDs are very light, bendable and environmentally friendly—they are relatively safe to dispose of,” said Lu, the Canada Research Chair in Organic Optoelectronics and recent recipient of the University of Toronto’s 2013 Connaught Innovation Award.
Energy efficiency has driven innovation in the lighting world since Thomas Edison patented his incandescent light bulb in 1879. In the late 20th century, energy crises led to the creation of the more efficient compact fluorescent bulb that is still widely used for commercial and residential lighting needs.
LEDs emerged as an alternative, albeit with some bugs to be worked out. The early models were only as efficient as incandescent bulbs, they were costly to produce and the quality of the light they emitted was low.
Recent improvements to efficiency, quality and cost mean LEDs are now seeing widespread use for both commercial and residential purposes. However, they are still too expensive for larger scale applications, like lighting a large room or powering giant digital signage.
“Another major shortcoming of LEDs is their inability to reproduce or render all colors the same way as natural sunlight does, and solar grade lighting does have a positive impact on our physiological system,” added Lu.
OLEDs, the next advance in lighting, differ from LEDs in that the semiconductors used to convert electricity into light are not synthetic single crystals but rather films composed of organic molecules. While this organic component makes them lighter and greener, challenges still exist in translating this technology into widespread use.
“The current application of organic LEDS is for small, portable displays like cell phones,” said Lu. “This technology is capable of producing solar grade lighting and can replace incandescent light bulbs (for general lighting), but to do that, you really need to increase the brightness and make it more affordable.”
A research breakthrough in Lu’s lab involving chlorine appears to have tackled both issues. Two PhD candidates on Lu’s research team, Michael G. Helander (EngSci 0T7, MSE PhD 1T2) and Zhibin Wang (MSE PhD 1T2), observed that a sheet of indium tin oxide (ITO)—the substance used to make flat-panel displays—became brighter after it was cleaned with a solution containing chlorine.
Further research determined that when ITO is treated with a one-atom-thick layer of chlorine, just two OLEDs need to be stacked to produce bright light rather than several. The simpler design also means that an OLED flat panel display is very thin and flexible —you can actually bend it.
The end result is high brightness at a high efficiency, said Lu, plus a simpler manufacturing process that translates into a more affordable, high-quality lighting solution.
“Right now the major barrier is cost. When cost is down, people can use them everywhere—for signage, displays, anywhere you need a lot of light. Our solutions will make it more affordable.”
The breakthrough earned Lu and his research team a $100,000 Connaught Innovation Award.
Lu said the funding has been used to support the work of his PhD students to “mature the technology” and to support ongoing research and commercialization of the technology through a start-up company, called OTI Lumionics.
Lu believes the widespread use of OLEDs for general lighting and digital signage is still five to 10 years away. But he notes that LEDs are already available at retailers like Home Depot and Canadian Tire and it is only a matter of time before OLEDs become a mainstream lighting solution.
“It’s coming,” said Lu. “It’s really going to change the whole lighting technology, and we will be part of that revolution.”
Read about other Connaught Fund-related U of T stories in the Fall issue of Edge Magazine.
On November 17, 2014, the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering lost Dean Emeritus Anastasios Venetsanopoulos, better known as “Tas.” He was a pillar of U of T Engineering, known not only for his pioneering research and strong leadership, but also for being a mentor and friend to many colleagues. He was a guiding light for generations of students.
Tas earned his Bachelor of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering degree from the National Technical University of Athens in 1965, and a Master of Applied Science, a Master of Philosophy and a Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering from Yale University in 1966, 1968 and 1969 respectively. He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto in September 1968 as a lecturer and was promoted to assistant professor, then associate professor with tenure in July 1974. He was promoted to full professor in July 1981.
Tas was an internationally renowned researcher in the fields of multimedia systems, digital signal and image processing, digital communications, biometrics and neural networks. He wrote nine books and more than 850 papers, which have been cited more than 14,000 times according to a recent Google Scholar count. Among a long list of professional accolades, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering Institute of Canada, as well as a member of the New York Academy of Science. Tas was awarded the IEEE’s prestigious Millennium Medal and McNaughton Medal. He was a Fulbright Scholar and a Schmitt Scholar, and in 1994 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, the National Technical University of Athens.
Tas’s outstanding leadership in research was mirrored by the leadership he showed his students and peers. He served as president of the Canadian Society of Electrical Engineering from 1983-1986. From 1997-2001 he was associate chair, graduate studies, in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and served as its acting chair from January to June 1999. In the same year Tas became the inaugural Bell Canada Chair on Multimedia.
From 2001 to 2006, Tas led the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering as its 12th dean. During his term, he lead the Faculty through a comprehensive academic planning exercise that resulted in the 2004 strategic plan, Stepping Up. In 2006 Tas retired to become a professor emeritus.
Later that year he joined Ryerson University as the school’s founding vice-president of research and innovation. His portfolio included oversight of the university’s international activities, research ethics, Office of Research Services and Office of Innovation and Commercialization. He retired from that position in 2010 but remained a distinguished advisor to the role. Tas continued to actively supervise his research group at the University of Toronto, and was a highly sought-after consultant throughout his career.
Tas was respected by his colleagues the world over, but nowhere more so than here in Toronto. With an ever-present smile, he prepared several generations of young engineers to follow his example and become leaders themselves. His peers remember him as an enormously accomplished scholar as well as a wonderful and kind person. He will be deeply missed by students, staff and faculty alike.
On December 4, flags at the University of Toronto will fly at half-mast in memory and in honour of Dean Emeritus Venetsanopoulos. A private service was held for his family in accordance with his wishes.
Obituary in The Globe and Mail
Instead of using fossil fuels to make plastics and industrial chemicals, what if we could harness eco-friendly enzymes—nature’s smallest helpers—to do the work?
On Nov. 28, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) announced a five-year, $5-million grant to create the Industrial Biocatalysis Network (IBN). Based at the University of Toronto and led by U of T Engineering Professor Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE), the network will explore new methods of using enzymes to produce environmentally friendly chemicals, plastics and other products.
Enzymes are special biological molecules that exist in every living organism. They act as catalysts that make nearly all of nature’s chemical transformations happen. In the most basic sense, they turn one substance into another—such as changing cellulose into nutrient-rich glucose in a decomposing log, or breaking down fat and starch in your digestive system.
Through the new IBN, researchers from the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Concordia University and several industry partners will work together to find enzymes that can convert renewable resources—such as agricultural or forestry waste—into new materials. These processes could substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels.
“Recent genomic research has revealed tens of thousands of new enzymes, many of which may have capabilities relevant to industrial manufacturing,” said Edwards. “The IBN brings together a unique and world-leading combination of expertise in bioinformatics, bioengineering and fungal, yeast and bacterial enzymology to discover greener methods for manufacturing.”
Edwards’ team includes five professors from U of T Engineering’s BioZone, a research centre dedicated to bioengineering and applied bioscience, as well as graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. They will be strategically mining the genomics data of enzymes and testing them for specific functions.
“Together, we’ll find the needles in the haystack,” she said.
Edwards is a pioneer in bioremediation, a technique in which living organisms are used to clean up environmental contamination. In a recent project with Geosyntec Consultants Inc., she developed microbial cultures that can degrade chlorinated solvents and other toxic chemicals in groundwater sites that have been contaminated. This work was recognized with the NSERC Synergy Award in 2009, and it’s being used to clean up over 400 polluted sites worldwide.
At BioZone, Edwards and her colleagues recently completed a major four-year research effort in environmental genomics funded by Genome Canada that aimed to catalog enzymes from extreme environments. The project yielded large numbers of potentially useful enzymes, some of which will be put to the test in the new IBN.
“Under Professor Elizabeth Edwards’ remarkable leadership, the Industrial Biocatalysis Network will accelerate the manufacturing innovations we need for a more sustainable future,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the Faculty, I offer my deepest thanks to Elizabeth for leading this transformative initiative and to NSERC for enabling this important collaborative research network.”
The Network was created through NSERC’s highly competitive Strategic Network Grants program, which support large-scale, multidisciplinary research projects that require collaboration between academic researchers, organizations and companies. The program encourages research and training in targeted areas that show promise of enhancing Canada’s economy, society and environment within the next 10 years.
The IBN has been designed to support Canada’s growth in the emerging bio-based chemical and materials sector. Industrial partners include several manufacturing, chemical and petroleum companies, such as CanSyn Chem Corp., DuPont Canada Inc., Elanco Animal Health/Division of Eli Lilly, Lallemand Inc., Monaghan Biosciences Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc.
“Strategic Network Grants foster the kind of collaboration that allows students, established researchers, businesses and others to work hand-in-hand on the discoveries and innovations that will have impact in a reduced time frame,” said NSERC President Dr. B. Mario Pinto. “The transformative breakthroughs that result from this kind of collaboration help to tackle complex research questions and accelerate solutions to some of society’s toughest challenges.”
U of T Engineering Professor Alberto Leon-Garcia (ECE) was also awarded a Strategic Networks Grant in 2011 for the NSERC Strategic Network in Smart Applications on Virtual Infrastructure, intended to foster innovative application platforms, create new job opportunities in the computing and communications sectors and allow Canadians to share digital information more quickly and easily.
More than 250 current industry partners are helping to advance U of T Engineering’s research activities and create business solutions with global impact.
That’s 250 great reasons to celebrate.
On Nov. 19, industry representatives and researchers attended a reception held at the University of Toronto’s Faculty Club. The event was hosted by U of T Engineering to both thank its partners and welcome new industry collaborators. Attendees included large established companies (such as IBM and General Electric Digital Energy) and startups (such as Konectivity and Opalux) alike.
“In the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, we greatly value our interactions with industry,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “By partnering with industry, we have the opportunity to work together on the most challenging problems while advancing technology quickly and translating research innovations effectively into the market.”
Professor Ted Sargent (ECE), vice-dean, research, also spoke at the event, emphasizing how industry partnerships can develop into much more, including alliances and affiliated programs.
“U of T’s Pulp & Paper Centre is the gold standard for an industry research consortium,” Sargent said. “Founded in 1987 to stimulate research for pulp and paper products and to encourage collaborative research, the Centre now has more than 20 companies from seven countries and has celebrated 27 successful years.”
Sargent also highlighted the Centre for Maintenance Optimization & Reliability Engineering. In operation for more than 20 years, it helps save companies millions of dollars through research in engineering asset management in the areas of condition-based maintenance, spares management, protective devices, maintenance and repair contracts, and failure-finding intervals.
Three reasons to partner with U of T Engineering
Alumnus Ted Maulucci (MechE 8T9) understands the kind of value a partnership with his alma mater can bring to his company. As chief information officer at Tridel Corporation, he has partnered with the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE) on fourth-year Capstone projects, serves on MIE’s Industry Advisory Board and often volunteers his time as a guest speaker. He shared three reasons why a partnership with U of T Engineering is invaluable for industry:
Research
“U of T Engineering was talking about big data and analytics five years ago before it became mainstream. Everything that they are talking about now is what you’re going to start to hear about in five years. It is an incredible resource to tap into.”
Fact: The Association of American Universities (AAU) index ranks U of T Engineering first in Canada and eighth in North America for publication counts between 2006-2010. The index measures research output, productivity and intensity based on publication counts over a five-year period. Among the U15 (Canada’s 15 research-intensive universities), U of T Engineering ranked first in citations per faculty member and first in citations per publication. Prevalent citations by other researchers demonstrates the relevance of U of T Engineering publications and research.
Inspiration
“I mentor a lot of students because they see the fire. They don’t care about limitations. They are the ones who show up, sometimes exhausted, and still try to reach that next goal. By being exposed to that, it encourages my colleagues and I to tirelessly pursue our goals. I’ve hired students from U of T Engineering and I’ve seen their work benefit Tridel.”
Fact: U of T Engineering’s Professional Experience Year (PEY) is one of the most recognized undergraduate paid internship programs in Canada. In 2013-14, 304 PEY employers hired U of T Engineering graduates.
Innovation
“One critical element in Canada’s success is the fact that we’ve stayed innovative. That’s why it’s fundamentally important that we create these partnerships, work together and do something great. I encourage you to actively pursue these partnerships before your competition does.”
Fact: More than 42 per cent of invention disclosures at U of T over the past five years originate with the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
“Being back here in a different capacity has been completely enriching,” said Maulucci, referencing the value of his industry partnership with U of T Engineering. “It has had a big impact on my life.”
Click here for five more great reasons to partner with U of T Engineering and further information on industry partnerships.
Although mending broken bones or prescribing medication may seem like simple tasks at a hospital, providing health care to millions of people is anything but. It requires a hugely complex system of hospitals, clinics, ambulances, research centres, suppliers and governments—and according to Professor Timothy Chan (MIE), that system needs re-engineering.
Chan is the new director of U of T Engineering’s Centre for Healthcare Engineering (CHE) (formerly the Centre for Research in Healthcare Engineering). The collaborative hub brings a highly interdisciplinary, systems engineering approach to drastically improve how health care works.
“Health-care systems are a lot like giant factories—they involve a large number of people and processes all working together in different stages to meet one goal,” said Chan. “At the CHE, we pioneer research that optimizes many of those stages, making health-care delivery more efficient, less costly and quicker.”
Engineering’s RJ Taylor spoke with Chan to learn more about how the Centre is taking the “waiting” out of “waiting room”.
New medical breakthroughs make headlines every day, but they aren’t the only way to improve health care—what’s unique about what CHE contributes?
Each year, Canadians spend over $200 billion on health care—that’s almost $6,000 a person. Health care spending can consume over 40 per cent of the annual budget of some Canadian provinces. With numbers like these, even small efficiencies can lead to significant cost savings and decreased wait times.
At the Centre for Healthcare Engineering, we use systems engineering to find and take action on these efficiencies. Hailing from many different fields, our researchers focus on optimizing health-care delivery, decision-making and policy. We collaborate directly with industry partners, lead fundamental research and also focus on educating the next generation of health-care engineers.
Can you explain what systems engineering is?
Systems engineering is a multidisciplinary field that looks at how a process or processes operate—and often how to improve them. Projects can involve leveraging vast amounts of data to create computer simulation models—models that we can use to test variables and mimic potential outcomes, leading to better decision-making.
The field is rooted in industrial engineering, which historically examined the most efficient layouts for manufacturing facilities. Today, systems engineering can involve virtually any discipline linked to the process you’re trying to build or improve. With healthcare engineering, this can include public health, medicine, business, law, political science and more.
Can you give us some examples of how you’re using this systems engineering approach in your research?
Have you ever had to wait well beyond your appointment time at the doctor’s office? It was probably because of inefficient scheduling. Recently, Professor Michael Carter (MIE) and I worked with Women’s College Hospital in Toronto to redesign their entire clinics scheduling system from scratch. By shifting clinic schedules to better balance resources—like not booking clinics that require time-consuming blood tests all at once—we were able to keep waiting to a minimum for both patients and staff.
Another project I’m working on looks at automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), which are publicly available devices to treat patients suffering from cardiac arrest. With data on historical cardiac arrests, building layouts and current AED locations, my team and I can determine the ideal places to put these machines. Our computer models show that by using such comprehensive data—as opposed to merely placing AEDs according to population density—we can triple the number of cardiac arrests that are supported within 100 metres of a defibrillator.
Internationally, I’m also involved in a collaboration to improve emergency medical care in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Unlike Toronto, Dhaka’s roads are congested with motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians that can be barriers for ambulances. We are developing models that use GPS data from cell phones to depict how traffic is moving in real time—recommending the best routes to an emergency scene. This can significantly cut down on response times and help emergency medical responders save more lives.
What about others at the CHE?
Radiation treatment for cancer can be a complex balancing act, as doctor’s deal with many different variables when trying to make sure that the right amount of radiation gets into a tumour without too much getting into healthy tissues. Professor Dionne Aleman (MIE) and her team simplified this treatment by creating mathematical models and algorithms that can balance the many factors involved. These models target tumours with greater than 90 per cent accuracy, a significant improvement on current plans. Working with Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Hospital and Elekta AB (a Swedish radiation equipment manufacturer), her team has already demonstrated that their models can save time and money, with better treatment.
A few years ago, Professor Carter also worked with the Ontario Ministry of Health to develop a plan that reduced wait times for cataract operations. The goal was to bring down the wait times from an average of one year down to six months—and his model figured out how many additional surgeries were required to meet the target. When implemented, his numbers accurately predicted the real-life numbers.
Where do students fit into CHE’s mandate?
Great question. With our researchers leading such groundbreaking research, we definitely want them to share it—as well as their expertise—with students. We offer a number of graduate and undergraduate courses in health-care engineering, systems and policy, as well as fundamental engineering methodologies that are applicable to health care. At the graduate level, we offer a Master of Engineering emphasis in Healthcare Engineering, which includes specialized courses and an opportunity to work directly on an industry-related project. We are also looking to expand beyond Engineering and engage students from across U of T campus.
What’s next?
At the Centre for Healthcare Engineering, we have ambitious plans to expand well beyond our home in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE). We are looking to actively involve researchers and students from across U of T—medicine, law, business, public health, you name it. We want to bring more diverse perspectives, add more collaborative projects, increase industry engagement and expand our student opportunities. And of course, we want to improve health care for everybody around the world.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
A new frontier in cardiac health care
On November 20, the Rogers family donated an unprecedented $130 million to create the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research (TRCHR).
The new Centre unites research expertise from the University of Toronto, the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the University Health Network (UHN). Together, these organizations are matching the Rogers family gift with $139 million, for a total investment of $269 million.
With a goal of reducing hospitalization for heart failure by 50 per cent in Canada over the next decade, the cross-disciplinary TRCHR was conceived in memory of the late Ted Rogers, who spent his life embracing new technologies and also had first-hand experience with heart disease.
U of T Engineering received $20.5 million of the donation, which will be dedicated to transformative research and commercialization at the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME)—a unique, multidisciplinary graduate research unit at the cutting edge of innovation in biomedical engineering.
Advancing U of T Engineering’s innovative research and collaboration
Several U of T Engineering faculty members and graduate students will join the TRCHR as part of a new Ted Rogers Program in Translational Biology and Engineering. Here, they will combine stem cell technology with tissue engineering to regenerate heart tissue, heart valves and cardiovascular vessels. The research will reveal new possibilities for more effective heart therapies and create new technologies for improving heart diagnosis and monitoring in clinics.
“This remarkable collaboration builds on U of T Engineering’s unparalleled strengths in bioengineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and regenerative medicine,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “These are fields where our Faculty leads pioneering research and commercializes innovative technologies that make a difference around the world.”
The donation enables the expansion of IBBME’s state-of-the-art laboratories, and also creates two new Chairs—one in Immuno-Bioengineering and another in Cellular Systems Modelling—both located at IBBME and cross-appointed to UHN’s McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine.
Professor Peter Zandstra (IBBME) will be the lead U of T investigator at the Centre—accepting the role of interim scientific director for the Ted Rogers Program in Translational Biology and Engineering—where he will be joined by IBBME professors Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez (IBBME), Milica Radisic (IBBME, ChemE), Paul Santerre (IBBME, Dentistry) and Craig Simmons (MIE, IBBME). Mansoor Husain, director of the Toronto General Research Institute, will be the TRCHR’s interim executive director.
“The first step is examining how we can build living replacement heart tissues using stem cells and biomaterials and tissue engineering approaches,” explained Professor Simmons, whose research focuses on the interface between mechanical engineering and biology. “And then we have to understand the best method to produce structures that have the mechanical integrity and functional features they need to work in the body.”
“The [TRCHR] represents a unique marriage of the engineering and science strengths of IBBME with the clinical expertise of UHN and SickKids—it’s a truly natural and powerful partnership,” said IBBME Director Christopher Yip. “IBBME has a long-standing history of exceptional collaborations with organizations across Toronto, and indeed the world, that are focused on advancing and translating health research and innovation”.
Currently, IBBME faculty members are working with UHN researchers on new methods to treat diseased heart valves. They are also engaged with SickKids clinicians and researchers to engineer new heart valves that replace those of children who were born with heart valve defects.
The Institute continues to attract significant philanthropic investment from Engineering alumni and friends, such as a $1-million gift from the Milligan family to establish Milligan Graduate Fellowships for trailblazing biomedical engineering students. (Read about U of T Engineering’s banner fundraising year in 2013–14)
A continued legacy at U of T Engineering
The Rogers family donation is not the first in their support of U of T’s Engineering’s research and teaching excellence. In 2000, they gave $25 million to establish two research chairs—the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Chair in Engineering and Velma M. Rogers Graham Chair in Engineering—and to endow graduate and undergraduate scholarships that supported 150 students in the last year alone and more than 1,600 students since it was established.
The Faculty also renamed the electrical and computer engineering department in honour of Ted Rogers’ father—Edward S. Rogers Sr.—who was a student in the department from 1919 to 1921. With his technical inventions and business savvy, Rogers Sr. revolutionized the Canadian radio industry, launching the Rogers communications empire that exists today. One of his early radios from 1931 is still on display in the Faculty’s Galbraith building.
“On behalf of the entire Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, I offer my deepest thanks to the Rogers family for their monumental support, for their leadership and for enabling research that will improve the lives of millions in the decades ahead,” said Dean Amon.
While Professor Simmons’ colleagues will be building and fixing next-generation computer chips at The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering—at the new Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, Simmons will be “fixing broken valves and repairing hearts to make people better.”
“I think we’ll be able to push some of our most promising technologies and ideas to the patients quicker and more effectively than ever before,” he said. “It excites me that we have that opportunity to make that difference.”