The noise level at U of T’s McCaul Street Exam Centre last week was in sharp contrast to the usual quiet that reigns during testing periods.
As soon as people walked through the doors, they were met by a wave of sound: the mingled voices of students and recruiters all talking earnestly. The You’re Next! Career Fair was underway.
You’re Next!, organized by students, for students, is now in its third year. Representatives from 45 companies, the most to date, filled the hall. Yi-Wei Ang (IndE 1T3), who led the organizing committee, said 1,100 students attended the fair during its first three hours – he was hoping to have 1,500 attendees by the fair’s end.
“It took a lot of work to put the fair together,” he said. “It was all student-organized with the help of faculty and their industry connections, and it was funded by the Engineering Society. The fair is a huge area of growth.”
“I’m here because I have to specialize next year,” said Daniel Olshansky (EngSci 1T4). “I’m looking for a four-month internship. Once I get through it, I hope I’ll know what I want to specialize in.”
Olshansky was excited about the opportunity to talk with company representatives in person.
“You’re not just a number, not just sending a resume out to some place on the web,” he said. “Here, you actually get to come and talk to people. I even had a technical interview today and solved some problems.”
The face-to-face opportunities also tempted Gavilasan Gengatharen (ElecE 1T2). “I’m graduating and I badly need a job,” he said. “I came here earlier, because I wanted to see what opportunities were out there for me. I went back and said, ‘Let’s print some resumes,’ because I talked to some people and they told me about some positions I’m interested in.
“This fair is a great idea. I can’t believe I have this opportunity to come get a job – otherwise, you have to apply online. It’s straightforward; you can actually see people’s faces.”
Recruiters were also pleased with the chance to talk with potential employees in person.
Terry Borer staffed a booth for Altera, a Silicon Valley company with a small research and development office in Toronto. His company, which bought out a start-up created by U of T professors, has been recruiting at U of T for 11 years.
“We’re mostly looking for full-time employees, but we also take summer students and professional engineering year (PEY) students,” he said.
Lionheart Xiong (EngSci 1T4) said that although companies weren’t necessarily keen to hire second-year students, the fair gave him an understanding of the industry and what employers were seeking.
One of the many students who dressed in something other than their usual jeans to meet employers, Xiong also enjoyed the chance to put on a suit and tie.
“I feel more confident,” he said. “People tell me I look stylish, and I feel like a boss.”
Read the full article at U of T News
What do you get when you combine 250 competing engineering students and a tight deadline?
Pressure. And lots of it.
On January 21, U of T Engineering students participated at the 10th annual U of T Engineering Kompetitions (UTEK). Every year, U of T undergraduates participate in six different categories of competition. Winners qualify for a spot on the Ontario Engineering Competitions (OEC) and potentially the Canadian Engineering Competitions (CEC).
“We had a wait list this year,” said Layan Kutob (IndE 1T2 + PEY), Director of the 2012 UTEK event. “Volunteers wanted to get involved even if they could not participate due to high registration numbers.”
The event continues to enhance the student experience at Skule™, providing undergraduates a chance to network with their professors, staff and alumni. In addition, they develop and practise critical teamwork, design and communication skills that are essential to a professional engineer, while working together with their peers in a competitive atmosphere.
With time against them, senior teams (third- and fourth-year students) in one category were asked to build an autonomous rescue robot that used sound, touch and light sensors to collect items and return them to their starting point. Junior teams (first- and second-year students) in another category created devices that sort a mixed stream of recyclables into different piles without human help. Sketching designs on note pads and blackboards, students brainstormed different outcomes for their team challenge.
Once completed, students were expected to present and market their prototypes to a panel of judges made up of alumni, professors and industry representatives.
Mike Del Balso (ElecE 1T2) of the winning senior design team thanked his team’s ‘secret sauce’ for the win. “We used cellphones to operate the robot in the rescue mission versus developing a computer program for the operation.”
Taking notes in the Debates room, Stephen Tam (CivE 1T4) and Terry Xia (EngSci 1T4) waited anxiously for their turn to present. “The UTEK debates component gives you a chance to develop your public speaking skills,” said Stephen. “For me, every opportunity counts.”
Former Director of the 2009 UTEK event, Patricia Sheridan (MechE 0T9) participated this year as a Debates judge.
“For students, this is an out-of-classroom experience where they get to develop interpersonal skills,” said Sheridan. “As a graduate, you have the opportunity to network with similar-minded individuals and develop partnerships in an informal manner.”
To volunteer as a judge at similar events in the future, contact Sonia De Buglio, Associate Director Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, at: sonia@ecf.utoronto.ca
Saudi Arabia receives an abundant amount of freely available solar energy every day.
And researchers such as Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) are harnessing that energy to create groundbreaking and sustainable technologies for Saudi Arabia, and the world.
The focal point of Saudi Arabia’s investment in solar energy is the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Recently, KAUST and the University of Toronto signed a first-of-its-kind licensing agreement for the rights to quantum dot solar cell technology, which has been developed by Professor Sargent, Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology.
The exclusive license conveys the rights to the University of Toronto and Professor Sargent’s research across 38 countries in the Middle East, western Asia, Russia and India.
The collaboration with U of T, as well as Penn State researchers, has produced the most efficient colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cell ever, with an energy conversion efficiency as high as 6%. Reported in the journal Nature Materials, the nanoscale semiconductors can be sprayed on to almost any surface, including plastics.
To read the full article, visit CleanTechnica.com.
The Society for Biomaterials, a professional society that promotes advances in biomedical materials research and development, has named Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, IBBME) the recipient of this year’s Clemson Award for Contributions to Literature.
This award recognizes significant contributions to the literature on the science or technology of biomaterials. Professor Shoichet has published more than 400 papers, patents and abstracts and has given more than 250 lectures worldwide.
Her research currently focuses regenerative medicine, drug delivery and tissue engineering strategies to overcome diseases in the brain and after breast cancer. Her work brings together polymer science with neuroscience and with cancer biology. Shoichet and her team are designing innovative strategies to overcome devastating diseases such as stroke, spinal cord injury, blindness and breast cancer.
Professor Shoichet’s research has attracted international attention and collaboration with industry and academia. She has won numerous awards and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2008, and in 2011 she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and appointed to the Order of Ontario.
“In addition to her outstanding research contributions, Molly is an effective lecturer and has an ability to communicate complex ideas in an inspiring, valuable and refreshing manner,” said University Professor Michael Sefton (ChemE, IBBME), who nominated Shoichet for the award. “Molly is recognized as a leader in neural tissue engineering, and I was pleased to nominate her for a Clemson Award.”
Professor Shoichet acts as co-Lead for IBBME’s research theme of Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine and was recently appointed the Institute’s Associate Director, Research.
How are operating rooms assigned to surgeons? Why can’t operating rooms be open 24-7?
To answer the question of operation room efficiency, The CBC’s White Coat, Black Art host Dr. Brian Goldman spoke to Professor Dionne Aleman (MIE).
The answer? Not so simple. Professor Aleman, an affiliate of the Centre for Research in Healthcare Engineering (CRHE), explained a number of medical and administrative personnel are needed, which prevents operating rooms from being open 24 hours. Also, emergencies need to be accommodated as they arise.
Professor Aleman has worked with Toronto General Hospital using quantitative modeling techniques to improve their operating room scheduling.
Surgeons presently select their preferred surgical hours. In her study, Professor Aleman determined how to better schedule patients based on a variance, or uncertainty. “We looked at lots of historical procedures to see how often was the anticipated surgery time the actual surgery time that happened,” says Aleman.
With the study now concluded Professor Aleman is working to implement a pilot project on operation room scheduling with the University Health Network.
To listen to the interview, visit CBC.ca.
Professor Emeritus David F. James (MIE) has received the 2011 Annual Award from the British Society of Rheology (BSR) for his contributions to the understanding of flow properties of viscoelastic fluids.
Professor James achieved fame for his “tubeless siphon,” liquid that can flow uphill, which he discovered while a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology. He demonstrated his discovery in the 1967 quiz program, “I’ve Got A Secret.”
He joined the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in 1967. In 1984, he received the inaugural Teaching Award from the Faculty, and later served as Chair of the Division of Engineering Science from 1991 to 1995.
Though he retired in 2005, Professor James acts as a teaching mentor, applying his nearly 40 years of pedagogical experience in the classroom to help new faculty become better teachers. He continues to direct research at the U of T Rheology Laboratory in areas of fluid mechanics, flow of non-Newtonian fluids, as well as experimental and theoretical rheology, among other fields. He is currently supervising four graduate students.
“I am delighted that Professor Emeritus David F. James has been recognized by his colleagues of the British Society of Rheology,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the Faculty, I congratulate him on this honour and his exceptional commitment to ongoing teaching and research.”
The Society was first founded as a British Rheologists’ Club in 1940, with the objective of promoting science and disseminating knowledge in the areas of pure and applied rheology, a field which studies the flow of matter. Today, one third of the Society’s 400 members are from outside the United Kingdom.
Professor James will give a plenary lecture and receive his award at the Society’s meeting in Aberystwyth, Wales on December 18, 2012.