Fourth-year pharmacy student Michael Zhang was so enriched by his experience in developing his start-up company CrowdQuarter at the U of T Engineering’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery that he contributed his $10,000 prize from the national Walmart Green Student Challenge right back to the Hatchery.
Last summer, Zhang partnered with Satyam Merja (EngSci 1T5) at the Hatchery to develop a social media customer rewards app for retailers called DealsHype. They were recognized for their great idea with an Orozco Prize, named after the Hatchery’s executive director, Joseph Orozco, and sponsored by ECE Professors Jonathan Rose and Vaughn Betz. DealsHype allows users to earn rewards for sharing photos of their favourite brands or venues via social media, which, in turn, provides retailers with valuable analytics and enables them to offer more targeted loyalty programs.
“Our experience at the Hatchery was absolutely amazing and we were able to gain great advice from our advisors, Professor Betz and Rotman student Elton Law,” says Zhang. “Their insights in software development and business strategy have truly helped us develop a successful technology start-up.”
Since then, Zhang and a team of marketers and engineers formed CrowdQuarter at U of T to further develop analytics tools and mobile apps. They took one of their ideas to the Walmart Green Student Challenge: an app that helps people make healthy and sustainable shopping choices by leveraging personalized analytics and their network of friends. It was awarded the $10,000 first-place prize by a panel of executives from Walmart Canada, Google Canada, Ford, S.C. Johnson and Son, Bullfrog Power and Canadian National Railway. CrowdQuarter promptly contributed the prize money to the Hatchery.
“I hope that this donation will help to support and expand the amazing work that is being done at the Hatchery,” says Zhang. “From our personal experience in the program, we knew exactly the kinds of challenges that would be faced by future entrepreneurs. We felt that the donation would greatly help to fund summer fellowships and awards for future start-ups, which are crucial in helping others scale their businesses at the Hatchery.”
A new study from the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) is challenging some of science’s fundamental understandings of cellular behaviour.
The foundational study, published in this month’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggests that unlike what was previously understood, cells do not communicate movements by being joined, but instead move along pathways determined by physical space and ‘crowd’ flow.
“Since the 30s we’ve known that cells will follow features on their substrate. If you scratch a slide, cells with move along the scratch,” said Camila Londono (IBBME), first author of the study and PhD candidate.
Playing with this theory, the researchers had a special plate created that had striations or grooves on the surface of one side of the well, and remained flat on the other side. Cells were treated so that they would not be able to connect with one another, and then were formed into a sheet on the surface of the dual-topography wells.
In keeping with previous knowledge, the researchers found that cells moved along the grooves in groups. But what surprised the team were the cells on the flat surface in the same well.
“We found that a small fringe of cells moved as if they were on a line, as well,” states Londono.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWVW11Gq1ig]
“The best way to describe it is to say that the cells move like a school of fish,” explains Assistant Professor Alison McGuigan (ChemE/IBBME), corresponding author of the study.
The results of the study, Londono argues, point to something about cellular communication that was previously unknown.
“Researchers have always thought that signals are transferred to cells through connections to one another. But even when we prevented those connections from forming we didn’t see any difference in the signal propagation,” she said, citing that the results suggest that the cells move where they have space to move – a purely physical communication.
While the results of the study are “really new and unexpected,” according to Londono, “it’s only recently that we’ve been able to do data collection on group cell migration” due to the sheer amount of data to be collected, and the need for specific tools. In fact, the researchers collaborated with Professor Stewart Aitchison (ECE) to make the special well plate for the group.
U of T Engineering alumni behind a wearable device that eliminates the need for passwords, PIN codes and more, are making news around the world again as they prepare to launch a new Bitcoin wallet feature for their Nymi wristband.
Bionym was recently featured in a video as part of U of T’s Spotlight on Startups series, in which CEO Karl Martin (EngSci 0T1, ECE MASc 0T3, PhD 1T0) explained how U of T’s entrepreneurship climate and supports helped set he and co-founder Foteini Agrafioti (ECE MASc 2T7, PhD 1T1) on their path to a thriving business.
Watch Bionym’s Spotlight on Startup video (1:47)
The Spotlight on Startups series profiles the many entrepreneurial efforts growing from the hundreds of companies spun out from research and connections sparking every day at the University of Toronto:
U of T hosts more than 50 enterprise-fostering courses, programs, labs, clubs, contests and speaker series across its faculties, departments and campuses — and then there are all the innovations developing in informal settings. U of T ranks No. 1 in North America for number of startups launched. And its roster of spin-off companies driving innovation in Toronto and around the world continues to grow.
U of T Engineering’s own Entrepreneurship Hatchery offers undergraduate students access to mentoring, space and equipment to help them turn their ideas into viable businesses. They can engage directly with experienced entrepreneurs, like Bionym’s Karl Martin, to learn the ins and outs of start-up life.
For Bionym, the newest feature of the Nymi wristband has caught the attention of The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Mashable and more, as the company prepares to launch a feature capitalizing on an emerging digital currency, called Bitcoin.
Martin gave U of T an update on the Bitcoin connection and what’s next for the growing company.
The Nymi has been in the media lately for a new feature relating to Bitcoin. What is it?
Bitcoin is an emerging digital currency that is not controlled by any country or central bank. It’s still in the early days for this technology, and it is not well understood or accessible to the general public. Bionym announced that the Nymi will launch with a Bitcoin wallet that will make it easier for people to make payments and securely manage the Bitcoins they own. Essentially, the Nymi will help make Bitcoins accessible and not require a deep understanding of the underlying Bitcoin technology to make it useful. As more merchants start accepting Bitcoin payments, the Nymi will enable users to pay in a seamless and secure manner.
Why does the Bitcoin connection seem to be exciting the public so much? The Nymi was cool from the start, and has lots of potential uses, but people seem to be talking about it a lot more since the Bitcoin wallet came into play…
Bitcoin has been gaining a lot of attention lately as it is on the cusp of transitioning from an early adopter “curiosity,” to being a mainstream disruptor. This is a natural place for the Nymi to be, and I think people are very excited to see that the Nymi will be at the forefront of digital commerce.
What are you most excited about in the near future for Bionym?
We’re about to start releasing our developer units [ed: testing units for potential users, independent software developers and entrepreneurs]. We have such an eager community of developers and early customers, so we’re extremely excited to start putting things in their hands.
With so much wintry weather this season, the St. George campus has ended up with an unplanned ice rink on Front Campus. Many Engineering students have taken advantage of the make-shift rink, picking up their hockey sticks and seizing the chance to enjoy the new feature. The following is a collection of photos shared with University of Toronto via Facebook and Instagram, as well as a few taken by U of T News photographer Johnny Guatto, capturing their freezing fun.
U of T Engineering is expanding its cross-disciplinary opportunities with the announcement of a new academic certificate in engineering leadership.
Starting in the 2014-15 academic year, this certificate offers courses for undergraduate Engineering students to enhance their team skills, as well as their knowledge of organizational processes and their personal leadership styles. They receive credit on their academic transcript.
The development of this curricular option is in response to growing demand from students and industry partners for formal leadership education at the undergraduate level in engineering. In September 2014, the Faculty will double its undergraduate courses on leadership to four.
“We want students to engage with leadership education so that they can develop skills that will serve them during their academic careers and as future engineers,” said Annie Simpson, Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering. “Students need to know that engineers play an important role in society. This certificate in engineering leadership will be a way for them to demonstrate proficiency in those abilities that are seen as increasingly vital to success.”
With leadership education firmly rooted in the Faculty’s mission to prepare well-rounded global citizens, undergraduate students now have more ways than ever to receive formal recognition for their learning. In addition to this new academic certificate, students can also explore other ILead opportunities that can be recorded on their U of T Co-Curricular Record, an initiative launched university-wide in September 2013 to credit students for learning outside the classroom.
Learn more about the Certificate in Engineering Leadership on February 12, 5-6PM (SSF1105) at the Faculty’s information sessions on Engineering Minors and Certificates.
Academic advising, course evaluations and the first year Engineering curriculum – these were the key issues discussed on February 6 at the Dean’s Student Town Hall.
Hosted by the Faculty and the Engineering Society, these biannual gatherings provide an opportunity for students to give feedback on relevant issues and directly engage with Engineering faculty and staff.
Dean Cristina Amon opened the Town Hall with a few examples of how feedback is used to create positive change for future students.
Flowing from comments in last October’s Town Hall, she announced that a new task force of students, faculty and staff was formed to examine Engineering’s undergraduate professional development services.
Student recommendations also prompted discussions with the Registrar’s Office and Vice Dean, Undergraduate on new programming to support incoming international students.
During the Town Hall, students gathered in groups to examine the new online course evaluation system, discuss how academic advising could be improved, and provide feedback on suggested changes to the First Year curriculum.
“We receive many valuable and rich comments from students at these events,” said Dr. Micah Stickel, Chair, First Year. “We’re thankful to everyone who participated, and we look forward working on the ideas that came out of today’s meeting.”
Dean Amon also used the time with Engineering students to thank them again for their generous support of the new Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CEIE). In October of last year, the Engineering Society announced a $1 million commitment to student space in the new building.
“I wholeheartedly thank the Engineering Society and the many students who have come together to support the new building project for the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship,” said Dean Amon. “Your encouragement has been a cornerstone of this project and a testament to our Faculty-wide collaborative culture of engineering excellence.”