Pressure sores. They’re the number one reason for infection, hospitalization and mortality amongst North America’s 2.2 million wheelchair users.

And a new sensory system developed by U of T Professor Milos Popovic (IBBME) and partner SensiMAT Systems could help eradicate them.

Although seemingly minor, even the most well treated sores can be life threatening. This is what drove Professor Popovic, Toronto Rehab Chair in Spinal Cord Injury Research at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), and father/son team, Michael and David Mravya of SensiMAT, to start inventing the device when they met in 2007.

“Take for example, the sad story of Christopher Reeve,” said Professor Popovic. “After his injury, Christopher Reeve and his foundation poured millions of dollars into stem cell research. But in the end, he died from a pressure sore that could have been prevented by this inexpensive solution.”

According to recent data, there are over 350,000 North Americans in wheelchairs as a result of spinal cord injuries. This segment has the highest risk of developing these ulcers, with a 95 per cent lifetime incidence rate.

Pressure sores are caused by poor circulation and increased pressure – for instance, from prolonged periods of sitting in place – where the skin and surrounding tissues become damaged. Even if a small sore is treated effectively, it still carries a high risk of infection that can lead to surgeries, hospitalization, and in some cases, death.

The SensiMAT is designed to help wheelchair users prevent these wounds from forming in the first place. The system consists of a sensor-lined mat tailored to fit a wheelchair user’s existing cushion.

Once the user sits in their chair, Bluetooth technology sends signals from the pressure-sensing mat to a smartphone app that alerts the user when and where pressure has begun to build up. It follows traffic light colours: red for trouble spots and green for pressure-free zones.

Alerts can be monitored remotely, meaning the system is also ideal for those caregivers of immobile wheelchair users. The simple and versatile design has also been sought after by occupational therapists who want to track their patients’ level of activity outside the clinical setting.

But the SensiMAT isn’t just for the most vulnerable populations.

“During our research we found that even people who are very active in their chairs and who diligently complete their pressure reliefs are at risk of developing sores,” explained Mravyan.

SensiMAT patented the technology in 2012, and they are now looking at ways to expand the sensory system for use in long-term care facilities. Rather than waiting for set rotation hours, the SensiMAT system could alert caregivers that bed-bound patients need to be moved.

“What this system offers is a quality metric for long-term care reporting,” said Mravyan. Data can also be collected over the course of weeks or even months, and could help care facilities determine the level of health and care of their clients.

The SensiMAT is currently undergoing testing at the Lyndhurst Centre, part of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. In March, SensiMAT Systems will launch a crowdfunding campaign to help the company bring this product to market.

Six U of T Engineers have received research funding for projects that tackle major societal challenges – from reducing traffic congestion and improving spinal surgery, to understanding the world at the nanoscale.

And the source of the investment? U of T itself, specifically the Connaught Fund, the university’s premier source of internal research funding.

The Connaught Fund named five U of T Engineering professors for Connaught Innovation Awards, with a sixth professor receiving support through the Connaught Summer Institutes program. Funding for this round totaled over $900,000 to 12 scholars across the University campus.

These funds are designed to help accelerate the development of promising technology and promote commercialization and knowledge transfer.

“The Connaught Fund is synonymous with U of T’s large and lasting impact on society and the economy through its transformative innovations. U of T Engineering is proud of the diverse and innovative research carried out by our faculty and students,” said Professor Ted Sargent, Vice Dean, Research. “Connaught Fund support enables our researchers to continue making economic, health and environmental impacts felt across Canada and around the world.”

Recipients

Connaught Innovation Award recipients from U of T Engineering include:

• Baher Abdulhai (CivE), “Field operation testing and commercialization of MARLIN – U of T’s latest adaptive traffic signal control technology”
• Richard Cobbold (ECE), “PedicProbe: Ultrasound navigation for spinal fusion surgery accurate insertion of screw implants using 3D ultrasound navigation”
• Joyce Poon (ECE), “Three dimensionally integrated electro-optic transmitters and receivers”
• Li Qian (ECE), “High-speed on-demand quantum random number generator”
• Yu Sun (MIE, ECE), “Automated probing of nanoelectronic structures inside scanning electron microscope”

One U of T Engineering project also received funding through the Connaught Summer Institutes program:

• Axel Guenther (MIE), “3D bioprinting 2.0: Functional tissues, soft machines and manufacturing”

Research Highlight: Traffic Congestion and the MARLIN project

One strong example of promising technology is the MARLIN project, which addresses a key problem of modern cities: traffic congestion.

Developed by Professor Baher Abdulhai (CivE) and his research team, MARLIN is an artificial intelligence-based traffic control system that, during research testing, has proved to dramatically improve traffic flow at intersections, streets and roadways, while also reducing a city’s traffic maintenance and infrastructure costs.

MARLIN combines machine learning, traffic cameras and computers to create traffic lights that can measure vehicle delay, understand what it means and adapt signal patterns to reduce congestion. Professor Abdulhai says the technology cuts down motorists’ delays at intersections by an average of 40 per cent and more in areas with chronic congestion, as well as reducing emissions.

“Some congestion is a sign of the vibrancy of an urban area,” said Professor Abdulhai. “But too much congestion has many negative consequences. The good news is that there are approaches like MARLIN that can address congestion and ease the problem.”

Professor Abdulhai and his team will use Connaught funding to integrate the MARLIN software with common industrial hardware and conduct field operation testing of the complete solution at a few intersections in partnership with willing municipalities.

About the Connaught Fund

Founded in 1972, the Connaught Fund was created from the sale of the Connaught Laboratories, which first mass-produced insulin, the Nobel Prize award-winning discovery of U of T’s Frederick Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod and Bertram Collip.

The university has stewarded the fund in the years since, awarding more than $100 million to U of T researchers. Today, the fund invests $4 million annually in emerging and established scholars from the full spectrum of research and scholarship through U of T.

Imagine nearly 300 rival engineering students, seven competitions, 18 planet-seeking robots and a disco ball. That was the scene at the 12th annual University of Toronto Engineering Kompetition (UTEK).

On January 25, U of T undergraduates gathered to compete in engineering design, consulting, programming and parliamentary debate. Winners qualified to represent U of T at the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) and potentially the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC).

“This year’s participation was a record high,” said Kenny Wong (ChemE 1T5), Co-Director of the 2014 UTEK Event. “Each year we see more and more students from across the Faculty wanting to compete.”

Knowing this, Wong and fellow Co-Director Suhaib Ahmed (ECE 1T5) opened up more student spots for 2014. Their team also invited over 50 professors, staff and alumni to judge the competitions, along with representatives from event sponsors like Altera, AMEC and Rocscience.

With tight deadlines and a lot of pressure, UTEK gave students the opportunity to develop and practice critical teamwork, design and communication skills that are essential for professional engineers.

“We worked with industry leaders to come up with real-world problems,” said Ahmed. “This gave participants an organic taste of engineering and a chance to network with professionals. We owe a special thanks to the Engineering Alumni Association for their invaluable support and our judges for their time and effort.”

In the Altera Senior Design Competition, students had to use Lego Mindstorms to build autonomous robots that simulated a space ship leaving the International Space Station. The robot had to navigate through an asteroid belt to one of three planets (made of disco balls and pomelos) after reading an encoded binary message.

UTEK also included a new Mobile Applications Design competition this year, where students had to create smartphone apps in less than seven hours. Competitors raced against the clock to design apps that connected to a car’s on-board computer and got real-time data like mileage and fuel in the tank.

“I gained a valuable experience participating at UTEK. Not only was it fun, but I learned new skills that I couldn’t have learned in the classroom,” said Nicholas Valenton (CivE 1T5). “This is definitely something I want to do next year.”

If you are interested in volunteering as a judge at similar events in the future, please contact Sonia De Buglio, Director of Alumni Relations and Giving.

Through a global recession, the dot-com crash and a chaotic mail strike, entrepreneur and U of T alumnus Adam Froman (MIE 8T8) has seen adversity, and lots of it.

His advice? Follow your passion and just keep going.

Froman, CEO of digital strategy firm Delvinia, was on campus this week to encourage Engineering undergraduates to be pragmatic and prepared entrepreneurs. Hosted by U of T’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery, he spoke to over 85 students about how to overcome the constant challenges that come with owning a business.

“Don’t be afraid of failure. If you fear failure, it’s going to stop you from finding a solution,” said Froman. “Failure is only really when you give up. If something doesn’t work, stay calm and be patient.”

With over 20 years as an entrepreneur, Froman also advised students to learn about the practical side of starting a company. He repeatedly spoke about the importance of learning and understanding the discipline of cash flow through high times and low.

Delvinia, which Froman started over 15 years ago, now has over 50 employees, and has serviced over 266 clients on 2,327 projects. Froman pulls from this knowledge to mentor university students.

“His talk was very inspirational,” said Ivan Zdravkovic (MIN 1T5 + PEY). “It was nice to have the mix of learning what he’s done and how he thinks we can succeed.”

Froman attributed his technical acumen and success in part to his U of T education: “For engineering, U of T is one of the preeminent programs in the country. People understood what having the University of Toronto on my resume meant, and to this day, they still do. The innovation happening at U of T is second to none.”

Froman is a Professional Engineer and also has an MBA specializing in Strategy and Finance from the Schulich School of Business. He recently released a new e-book that chronicles his experience, Delve In, Dig Deep: An Entrepreneurial Journey.

U of T engineer Milica Radisic (IBBME/ChemE) has won one of six E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships.

The competitive and prestigious fellowship is given by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising university faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research.

Radisic will hold the fellowship, which comes with a $250,000 research grant, for two years.

Appointed in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry (ChemE) and the Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), Radisic is a tissue engineer working on using stem cells to grow new organs. Her work focuses on creating samples of both healthy and diseased human heart tissue to use as models for drug discovery and testing, though she ultimately hopes to see stem cells used to replace heart tissue. Her team recently discovered a way to create beating heart cells from stem cells using electrical pulses to mimic the heart rate of fetal humans (the study was published in Nature Methods).

Radisic, who accepted the Steacie on behalf of all the recipients at a ceremony in Ottawa, thanked NSERC for investing in projects that require long-term vision and commitment.

“Let me draw on my own research as an example,” she said. “Every year, nearly one million people in North America suffer from myocardial infarction, known as heart attacks. It is thanks to NSERC’s support that my laboratory is able to pioneer new types of bio-engineering approaches for creating heart tissue and vasculature in the lab, that could one day be used to mend your heart, mend the hearts of your loved ones, and those of many generations to come.”

“Professor Radisic is pushing the boundaries of science with her ambitious and creative work,” said Professor Paul Young (CivE), U of T’s vice-president (research and innovation). “I’m delighted to see her accomplishments recognized with such a prestigious award.”

Radisic, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Functional Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering, was recently named a scientist to watch by Scientist Magazine, and holds a Connaught Innovation Award, one of U of T’s leading internal research awards.

“Milica Radisic’s groundbreaking work on cardiovascular tissue engineering has the potential to revolutionize treatment for the millions of people worldwide affected by cardiovascular disease,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Milica for this remarkable recognition and thank the selection committee of the Steacie Prize for providing her with this fellowship to advance her research program.“

It was a unique collaboration between prominent business leaders and U of T Engineering students, who gathered to discuss a burning question: What do engineering students think about leadership in their field?

This month, U of T’s Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (ILead) brought together 20 senior leaders from engineering-focused companies to engage for the first time with 18 graduate and undergraduate students on their future as engineers.

The conversation between industry leaders like Colin Anderson, CEO of Ontario Power Authority, and Elaine Campbell, President of AstraZeneca Canada, and students focused on mentorship and the demand for engineers to lead multidisciplinary teams.

The message from all involved was loud and clear: leadership development cultivates better students today and better engineers in the workforce tomorrow.

“The CEOs were totally engaged and nodding their heads when students spoke; it was clear that our experiences as students mattered to them,” said Lobna El Gammal (ChemE 1T4), whose fourth-year thesis focuses on leadership and the PEY experience. “I was given a platform to say how important leadership education is to me and to learn from these accomplished business people.”

ILead Director, Professor Doug Reeve (ChemE), who hosted the event, believes that U of T Engineering’s leadership programs help to distinguish it as a centre of excellence.

“We have a bold vision for the 21st century engineer,” said Professor Reeve. “By giving students opportunities to grow in areas critical to their success, such as authentic self-leadership, team skills and organizational savvy, U of T Engineering is preparing a generation of engineers to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.”

ILead is a unique hub for leadership learning that offers academic courses, certificates and department-based programs to all U of T Engineering students.

The Institute will find its new home in the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CEIE), a dynamic new environment that will foster creativity and inspire 21st-century learning and innovation. The CEIE is set to break ground later this year.

To view student reactions to the event, please visit the ILead YouTube channel.