The Engineering alumni behind a wearable device called the “Nymi” – a bracelet-style product that uses your unique heart rhythm as a password to unlock or active devices – secured $14 million in investment this week from key industry players including Ignition Partners, Relay Ventures and MasterCard.
Developers Foteini Agrafioti (ElecE MASc 0T9, PhD 1T1) and Karl Martin (ElecE 0T1, MASc 0T3, PhD 1T0) created the technology as a research project while studying at U of T Engineering; commercializing it through a startup they called Bionym.
The “Nymi” detects and distinguishes a person’s unique heartbeat (cardiac signal) through built-in sensors. It can be used to secure various devices with an accuracy greater than 99%, roughly the same as current fingerprint-enabled security systems.
“[Bionym’s] at the forefront of a revolution in identity-based interactions with devices and services and our momentum continues to grow,” said Martin, the startup’s CEO. “This round of financing is providing us with the resources needed to bring the platform to market.”
To understand how the “Nymi” went from idea to finished product, U of T News’ Brianna Goldberg spoke with Jesse Rodgers, director of the Creative Destruction Lab program at the Rotman School of Management, and Kurtis Scissons, entrepreneurship manager at U of T’s Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) and co-director of the UTEST accelerator for early-stage software companies. Through their roles on campus, both contributed to the startup’s significant success.
What qualities of promise did you see in Bionym in the early days when they worked with you?
Scissons: Obviously they have a very interesting technology but more so it was the great balance of technical skill with business drive within the founding team. Coachability was a key personality trait for Karl and his co-founder, who both listened, respected and appreciated when others took time to provide advisory support.
Rodgers: Bionym is founded on research. The determination and dedication it takes to do that research is a quality that has carried them to where they are today.
What’s been the key to their success, from your perspective?
Scissons: A few things. Their technology was both created and proven effective by world-class researchers at U of T, which gave it credibility. Their timing was also impeccable. Wearable computing is a burgeoning industry and there is a growing interest in it in light of prevalent security issues and data breaches with current state of the art authentication protocols. Their ECG model is a novel approach.
Finally, they had a great team. The founders had the right mix of talent and passion for entrepreneurship. Today the team has continued to grow “organically,” meaning that the roughly 40-person Bionym team continues to find talent primarily from the University of Toronto. They are a great example of entrepreneurs that fully took advantage of the entrepreneurship eco-system here at U of T by engaging with the Innovations & Partnerships Office, the Creative Destruction Lab, Next36 founders and MaRS.
Rodgers: They have been successful at raising capital from great investors and building interest in their product. Those are great first steps towards long-term success. They got there with a positive attitude, a desire to learn and be coached, and a vision on how their research can used by everyone.
What does the Bionym example say to the young companies you’re working with at UTEST and Creative Destruction Lab?
Scissons: This is not an overnight success. The technology was developed for years within the U of T Biometrics Security Laboratory. The team came up against challenges in the early commercialization days but overcame them. Their successful pivot is a strong example for current UTEST companies that may struggle. Karl Martin also continues to give back to the U of T entrepreneurship community, lending his time to speak with and advise current UTEST companies.
Rodgers: At the Lab we use their personal growth in understanding research alone isn’t enough to build a company with; a product mindset is essential. That change in thinking towards product has helped the company grow to where it is now.
Learn more about entrepreneurship at U of T Engineering.
In Canada, we often take safe drinking water and a stable food supply for granted. But in many parts of the world, people are much less fortunate.
Two recently announced Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) grants will allow U of T Engineering researchers to bring their expertise to bear on some of the most urgent global health issues using scientific, technical, social and business innovation.
The grants were included in the latest round of GCC grants, with two previous grants this year given to U of T engineers for new methods that detect defective drugs and a 3D printer that makes skin grafts.
The latest two project teams will receive $112,000 in seed funding to implement their innovative products in the developing world.
Fighting childhood malnutrition one bottle at a time
Breast milk is a complete meal that gives infants all they need to thrive. But millions of women in the developing world must return to work quickly – which means the end of breastfeeding and the start of malnutrition that can have life-long effects for the child.
A new project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, called Mother’s Milk will install hospital-grade breast pumps in factories where women work, along with a simple heating system so that breast milk can be pasteurized on site in as little as 30 seconds. Mothers will be able to safely store the milk to help feed their babies when they are away from home.
“Our goal is to lower the rate of infant malnutrition,” said PhD student Scott Genin (ChemE PhD 1T5), a member of the project team. “As a side benefit, we anticipate that factories with this system will also have lower worker turnover, as this will be an attractive benefit for their workers.”
The design was created through the ‘Interdisciplinary Approach to Global Challenges’ course offered through the Centre for Global Engineering – where the Mother’s Milk project team of Scott Genin, MBA student Puja Madhok (Rotman School of Management), and Master’s students Micaela Collins (Dalla Lana School of Public Health) and Marta Blackwell (Munk School of Global Affairs) first met. The group is led by Professor Joseph Wong (Munk School of Global Affairs) and Dr. Sabrina Rashid (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LM1uBnvRok
Trying to clean up drinking water? Turn to the sun
Yu-Ling Cheng (ChemE), director of U of T’s Centre for Global Engineering, is working with collaborators in Bangladesh to address one of the most serious health issues in the developing world: access to clean drinking water.
In areas like coastal Bangladesh, large parts of the population depend on rainwater that is collected from roofs during the rainy season and stored in cisterns for use during the months-long dry season. Often this rainwater is not very clean to begin with, and nasty pathogens can multiply in the water during the long months of storage, creating an even greater health hazard for millions of people.
Professor Cheng’s team is harnessing the sun’s UV light to improve the quality of the water as it is collected, treat it during storage and then further decontaminate it just before it’s consumed. Called Enhanced Solar Disinfection (eSODIS), the method will use ingenious cistern design and a small “just-in-time” solar-activated disinfection/dispensing module to increase the effectiveness of UV disinfection.
“I am proud of all of the projects that have come out of the Centre for Global Engineering, including the two being funded here by Grand Challenges Canada,” said Cheng. “They are examples of really important problems in the developing world where the skills and expertise of our faculty members and students can be applied to great effect.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7p1YJB5LQY
If emerging economies are to prosper and compete in the 21st century, Enrique García, president and CEO of Latin America’s largest development bank, says there are two areas in need of critical attention:
“Education and infrastructure…that is why we are here at the University of Toronto.”
Last Thursday, García and a delegation from CAF — the development bank of Latin America — signed a letter of intent with U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering to explore innovative methods for sustainable urban development.
“U of T Engineering is a global leader in transportation, water, energy and infrastructure research for sustainable cities,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “We are excited to collaborate with CAF on developing innovative solutions that will benefit communities in Latin America and around the world.”
CAF is one of the largest sources of financing for infrastructure in South America, providing more funding for projects than the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank combined. The organization stresses sustainable growth and regional integration, involving 18 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, as well as 14 private banks in the Andean region.
Senior CAF officials, including García and Antonia Juan Sosa, CAF’s vice-president of infrastructure, travelled to U of T last week for a day’s worth of knowledge sharing, research exploration and facility tours.
“Their visit provided an extraordinary opportunity for U of T to showcase our extensive research in sustainable infrastructure and urban development, while learning firsthand about challenges in Latin America,” said Eric Miller, director of the University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute (UTTRI), which hosted the group.
UTTRI will be the focal point for the University’s collaboration with CAF. Launched earlier this year, the Institute is a transportation research hub led by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. It brings together experts from engineering, economics, policy, urban geography and planning, computer science and more from across U of T.
“Our new agreement will leverage UTTRI’s campus-wide research network,” said Miller. “Building on our recent exchange of knowledge and ideas, the next step is to identify an initial set of projects for the two organizations to collaborate on.”
Last Thursday’s visit also involved keynote addresses from García and Sosa to an audience of U of T researchers and Canadian business and government leaders, as well as a panel discussion on Latin American infrastructure with John M. Beck, executive chairman of Aecon Group Inc., Riccardo Cossentino, vice-president of infrastructure investment with SNC-Lavalin Capital, and Martin Doble, global managing director of infrastructure for Hatch.
“The link between research and development is very tight,” said García. “Applied research is a direct vehicle for the advancement of societies and the promotion of its productive capacities.”
CAF has also recently signed with several other major universities, including Harvard, Oxford and the London School of Economics.
With 70,000 undergraduate students – a population that rivals some smaller Canadian cities – the University of Toronto can feel like a colossal institution.
But as several international students affirmed at a recent U of T Engineering Exchange Student Welcome Breakfast, the sheer size of the University is matched by the opportunities it offers.
“U of T…is enormous and gorgeous,” said Paula Pecanha Gonçalves, a Brazilian computer engineering student enrolled at U of T through the Science without Borders program. “It was amazing receiving my letter of acceptance. I started imagining things about the University, and when I came here for the first time, it was more than I expected.”
Each year, hundreds of exchange students like Gonçalves join U of T Engineering for the chance to expand the breadth of their education. In 2014 alone, the Faculty welcomed 57 international exchange and 301 Science without Borders (SwB) students. And year after year, U of T Engineering is the top program choice among SwB applicants.
At the welcome breakfast, Gonçalves said she chose U of T Engineering because of its academic reputation and desirable location. Born and raised in a small town in Brazil, she has found living in Toronto a unique experience because of the city’s diversity. “In every corner of the city you can find a person from a different part of the world…I hope to enjoy everything this city can offer and meet other cultures.”
Whether it’s bringing the world’s best and brightest to U of T Engineering, or sending the best of U of T Engineering into the world, the Faculty maintains its commitment to finding global solutions and earning its place on the world stage. The Faculty also aims to provide visiting students with a memorable experience.
“At U of T Engineering, you have boundless opportunities to learn from and work beside some of the most innovative professors and most talented students from Canada and across the globe,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “I encourage you to take part in our many student organizations, clubs, co-curricular and research activities. These will not only contribute to broaden your horizons, but help you forge lifelong ties with our Faculty.”
Another Science without Borders students, Joao Roberto Cavalcanti de Araujo, visiting from the Federal University of Campina Grande, said he found everything at U of T on a “higher level” than he was used to. When asked why he chose U of T Engineering, Cavalcanti de Araujo said, “I chose to take courses in my field of study that I wouldn’t be able to take in Brazil…I feel like I’ll certainly make use of what I’m learning here in the future.”
While his studies are currently front-of-mind, like many of his peers, while in Canada he hopes to learn how to ice skate, snowboard and “of course, play hockey.”
From winter sports or advanced calculus, no matter what Cavalcanti de Araujo, Gonçalves or other students joining from abroad aim to learn during their time at U of T Engineering – their experience at the University will be marked by collaboration with diverse and talented peers, unprecedented challenges and expert guidance from faculty.
Learn more about U of T Engineering’s newest cohort of undergraduates.
For the better part of six decades, alumnus Donald Dowds (MechE 5T3) has been giving back to U of T Engineering. As a member of multiple awards committees, the host for many student recruitment events and an organizer of the Skule Lunch & Learn speaker series, his personal service to the engineering community is exemplary.
Donald was one of 11 remarkable U of T Engineering alumni that were recognized at the 25th annual Arbor Awards on Sept.10 at The President’s Residence.
Created by U of T in 1989, the awards are presented annually to alumni and friends whose loyalty, dedication and generosity has added substantially to the quality of the University of Toronto experience.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xijFEM6ZRko]
Full list of Arbor Award winners from U of T Engineering:
Paul Andersen (CompE 9T9)
Paul has volunteered at Hart House Theatre since 2001, overseeing the theatre’s transition to online ticket sales in the early 2000s. Without his leadership and expertise, Hart House Theatre would not have served its audiences so well over the past 12 years.
Shahir A. Daya (CompE 9T5)
Shahir has been an active member of the Alumni Mentorship Program since it was founded in 2005. He has gone above and beyond in this role by continuing to mentor students long after graduation. Recently, Shahir volunteered to become a co-chair of the mentorship program, which has flourished under his leadership. At last count, more than 90 engineering students have been paired with mentors.
Donald W. Dowds (MechE 5T3)
Donald was the president of the class of 5T3, a dedicated and enthusiastic class that embodies the spirit of “paying it forward” to future generations of U of T students through scholarships and awards. An active volunteer for more than six decades, Don has served on awards committees, hosted student recruitment events and organized the Skule Lunch & Learn series. He helped establish the Sudbury chapter of the U of T Alumni Association in the 1970s.
Constantine E. Karyannopoulos (ChemE 8T3, MASc 8T8)
Constantine has served on the Boundless Campaign Cabinet and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Board of Advisors, providing guidance on alumni engagement and strategic direction. He has served as a mentor to undergraduate and graduate students and was a co-founder of the D. Basmajian Graduate Scholarship for teaching assistants.
Edward On (CivE 0T8)
Edward’s experience as a student in the Alumni Mentorship Program was so valuable that he immediately volunteered as a mentor after graduation. Edward eventually became chair of the mentorship program. In this role he introduced novel initiatives and increased program participation. Today, he continues to offer leadership to U of T Engineering as a member of the Alumni Mentorship Program Committee.
Betty Yi-Shing Lin (MSE 0T3, MASc 0T5)
Over the last eight years, Betty has mentored materials science and engineering students through the Alumni Mentorship Program. She also served as co-chair of the steering committee for U of T Engineering’s centennial event, which culminated in a wildly successful two-day celebration in the fall of 2013. Betty’s leadership has helped to attract more than 300 community members to the centennial events. She shares her experiences with the Faculty through recruitment events, panel discussions and presentations.
Mary A. Ruggiero (EngSci 7T7, MMS MASc 7T9, PhD 8T3)
As a successful leader in the field of engineering, Mary is a champion for women in a profession historically dominated by men. Through an article in Impact magazine and a subsequent guest lecture, she has inspired female engineering students to follow their dreams. With her husband she established a scholarship for engineering science students. She has also helped plan and execute events celebrating the centenary of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.
Larry A. Tricinci (CivE 8T8)
Larry has been an active volunteer with the Department of Civil Engineering for several years, participating in recruitment drives as well as career development sessions for prospective and current students. He is playing a pivotal role in the outreach to his class of 8T8, which will enhance the department’s relationship with alumni and increase participation in alumni events.
John H. Weber (MechE 7T9)
John is chair of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Advisory Board. John also engages with alumni, supports board recruitment for senior volunteers and leads fundraising initiatives for the department. John is also a member of the Boundless Campaign Committee for the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
George E. Wildish (MechE 5T3)
George is the representative for the mechanical engineering class of 5T3. He has been a member of the Skule Lunch & Learn Executive Committee (formerly known as the Class of 5T3 Lunch and Learn). George has volunteered for many years as a registration table host for the Skule Lunch & Learn speaker series.
Thomas D. Woods (IndE 7T5)
Tom is a 1975 graduate from industrial engineering and has been a member of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Advisory Board since 2009. Tom assists with engagement of senior volunteers, is a financial supporter of the U of T Men’s Volleyball program and was a keynote speaker at the 2011 celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of industrial engineering.
Learn more about ways you can volunteer at your alma mater.
Two thousand metres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, tiny bacteria survive in near-darkness by harvesting the dim light released from hydrothermal vents.
As humans increasingly look to the sun as a renewable energy source, what better model than these and other remarkably efficient organisms found in nature?
From October 8–9, a group of world experts in solar cell research are gathering at the University of Toronto to explore the question: what can plants teach humans about solar energy?
Hosted as part of the $1-million 2014 Connaught Global Challenge, the symposium, Bio-Inspired Ideas for Sustainable Energy, includes invited talks, poster sessions, industry networking and a public talk by special guest Sir Richard Friend of Cambridge University.
Led by Professor Ted Sargent (ECE), U of T Engineering’s vice dean, research, the symposium is inviting all U of T faculty and staff interested in sustainable energy to register for free.
To learn more about the event, U of T Engineering’s Sydney Goodfellow spoke with Professor Sargent:
Finding new solutions to our global energy crisis is no easy task – why is the Connaught Global Challenge symposium unique?
This symposium is exciting because great minds from around the world are converging in Toronto, and it’s a whole new combination of brainpower. These aren’t just leaders from one field, they’re from a whole range of different fields, and they’re coming here to learn from each other, to work towards a common goal.
People in the field of quantum biology and photobiology – specialists in the mechanisms underpinning photosynthesis – have been saying for a long time that we should look to nature to make our energy production more efficient, but nobody’s been asking how. At this symposium, we are coming together to learn from each other. Our goal is to see projects and partnerships emerge from it that will lead to further progress in solar energy – both electricity and stored fuels.
With all of these world experts converging in Toronto, could you share who at the University of Toronto and across the city may benefit from attending?
The symposium is very inclusive. Many of the attendees will be engineering and science graduate students, but it’s open across campus and appeals to a number of different fields. The more people who join from different academic and professional backgrounds the better, from physicists to materials scientists to political and environmental science students interested in energy policy.
Part of the symposium is a public lecture with Sir Richard Friend. Who is Sir Friend and what can we expect from his lecture?
[Sir Richard Friend] is a pioneer in plastic electronics, or flexible electronics. He’s had a tremendous amount of global success with turning flexible plastic materials into active devices for displays, lasing, and energy conversion.
Sparked by the ideas of photobiologists, Richard says in the abstract for his lecture that, when it comes to solar energy, nature has us beat every time: they reproduce and propagate naturally with only the power of the sun; they’re extremely efficient at using a broad spectrum of light and they remove carbon dioxide from the air in the process.
He is both inspiring and inspired by the general thrust of the symposium. We invited him to think big, to lay out the vision for the next few decades of energy generation, in particular in the role of renewable resources and natural energy production.
What are the intended outcomes of this conference?
We seek to spark a new field. This symposium is, at its core, a conversation between some of the world’s energy leaders, and the next stage will be to begin collaboration across traditional [research] boundaries to solve problems together. When the conference is done, we’ll set to work towards these goals – advances in clean energy technology that are crucial to society’s future.
In my research group, we create solar cells based on plastic flexible spray coating. We make cells that are particularly good at absorbing more of the sun’s spectrum, from the visible into the infrared. We get our inspiration from nature, because nature is great at harvesting the full rainbow spectrum of sun. Algae, for example, stack themselves in layers – a green layer, a blue layer, and so on – until they make up the full spectrum. They’re extremely efficient in handling the sun’s broad spectrum, and we gain inspiration and learn from them.
In addition, we work with soft materials that you spray down as a coating. But because they’re soft, they have all sorts of imperfections. This makes it hard for electrons to travel across their surface, but plants have these same imperfections and they transport energy very well. We’re trying to improve our electron transport abilities by looking at how nature does it. We’re also looking into antenna technology, modeling again off of plants, which will increase the rate at which our materials are able to absorb light.
Learn more about the Connaught Global Challenge Symposium: Bio-Inspired Ideas for Sustainable Energy.