University Professor Michael Sefton (ChemE 7T1) provides expert comment on an engineering breakthrough developed by MIT researchers that could possibly lead to better drug delivery and artificial tissues that imitate natural tissue.
“The method is quite creative,” said Sefton who teaches in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (ChemE) and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME). “It offers the opportunity to make multilayer microstructures. The next step is figuring out what you can do with these two-layer structures.”
To read the full story, please visit MIT News or NanoWerk.
A unique partnership between the U of T Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering is providing new opportunities for black youth to experience engineering.
ENGage is a week-long day camp for students in grades seven and eight that provides participants with hands-on activities that demonstrate engineering principles and practices. The students have the chance to explore sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind power, build hydraulic arms and even dissect a perch.
The program is part of an effort to address the under-representation of students from African and Caribbean backgrounds in engineering programs.
“It’s very important that we not only show what engineering actually is – because it’s not very well understood by young people – but also provide role models who are doing it,” explains Dimpho Radebe (IndE 1T4), one of the program’s coordinators and an instructor. She has helped to develop the program alongside Oti Agbeyegbe (IndE 1T3).
For soon-to-be seventh grader John Sekijoba, the camp offers a the chance to learn more about engineering as well as “something to do this summer.”
“I like engineering – a lot more now that I get to do it,” he says.
He’s currently trying to decide between a career as an accountant or as an electrical engineer because they both involve the subject he enjoys most: math.
For Kwame Mathebula, who will also enter grade seven this September, his interest in engineering is based on his desire to make new products.
“I want to be an engineer because I get to make stuff,” Mathebula says, though he is also considering a possible career as a lawyer.
The learning this summer isn’t limited to participants alone. Instructor Andrew Brown (MechE 1T3) has found that working at ENGage has not only provided him with the chance to introduce engineering to young students who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the profession, but has also offered him a learning opportunity.
“There aren’t a lot of opportunities in the course of the year to apply what you are learning in classes,” Brown says. “This has provided me with the chance to stop and break down big principles into something that our students can understand,” he adds.
Participants for the program were recruited through community partners based in Regent Park and Parkdale. However, word of mouth has also spread news of the program far and wide.
The program is a true student initiative. It was conceived by Mikhail Burke (MSE 1T2) and Ayokanmi Falade (MechE 1T1 + PEY) in 2009-10 when they were President and Vice President, respectively, of U of T’s NSBE chapter. While the 2010 camp lasted only one week, this year’s edition of ENGage offered two, one-week sessions. Plans are underway to offer a similar program that will run on Saturday’s during the academic year.
“We hope to see [the students] continue to participate in our outreach events. The experience of one week in elementary school isn’t going to transform students into engineers. However, hopefully we can encourage student interest in [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] in high school that will translate into studying engineering later on,” says Radebe.
Dawn Britton, Associate Director of the Engineering Student Outreach Office, heralds the partnership between NSBE and U of T Engineering.
“Exciting youth about science and inspiring them to consider engineering as both a future career and area of study is important work. I am so pleased that our student chapter of NSBE has spent their summer doing this important work, these young leaders are helping to shape the next generation of engineers,” Britton states.
More information about ENGage is available on its website.
Civil Engineering Professor Philip Byer has been named to a joint federal-provincial review panel for the environmental assessment of a proposed new mine in Northern Ontario. The appointment was made by Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent and Ontario’s Minister of the Environment John Wilkinson on August 9.
As a member of the three-person panel, Professor Byer will consider if the proposed Marathon Platinum Group Metals and Copper Mine Project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects on the region. The panel’s final report will lay out its conclusions and also offer recommendations on how best to assess the environmental impact of the project. The review is mandated under both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.
Professor Byer’s research focuses on improving the consideration of climate change in infrastructure planning. In 2004, he completed a project for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) on methods for addressing climate change uncertainties in project assessments. He recently completed a second project for CEAA on decision-making under uncertainties for adapting to climate change in project planning.
The panels review focuses on a proposal by Stillwater Canada Inc. to develop and operate an open pit mine and mill for extracting and processing ore containing copper and platinum group metals. The mine will be located approximately 10 kilometres north of the town of Marathon, which is located on the north shore of Lake Superior in Northern Ontario.
Professor Byer has previously served on numerous advisory committees for governments and the private sector. He was Chair of the Province of Ontario Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee, which received the J.R. Dymond Public Service Award from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists in 1992 “in recognition of distinguished public service resulting in exceptional environmental achievement.” In addition, Professor Byer has participated on a waste management advisory group to Toronto’s City Council and was the technical advisor on risk assessment to the federal panel that reviewed the environmental assessment of the Confederation Bridge project.
Respected business leader and U of T Engineering alumnus Som Seif (IndE 9T9) is profiled in the September 12 issue of the Globe and Mail.
In the interview, Seif described his approach to the business world as well as how his engineering background led to his work in finance.
Students will soon have an opportunity to hear from Seif directly, when he participates in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Lectureship Series.
The series aims to educate U of T students about entrepreneurial opportunities outside of the classroom.
In recent years, Seif has enjoyed tremendous success building Claymore Investments Inc. – Canada’s second-largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – into a company with $6.5-billion in assets under management, over a six-year period.
For more information about the Engineering Entrepreneurial Lecture series, please visit their website
To read more about Seif’s business and background, please visit the Globe and Mail
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Engineering Outreach ENGage camp instructor and third-year Mechanical Engineering student, Andrew Brown, recently appeared in a YTV video about rockets.
It is the first of six videos for YTV discussing a variety of engineering disciplines.
Members of U of T’s famed Blue Sky Solar Racing Team are dusting off their racing gear and readying themselves to hit the road for another round of competitions.
The team unveiled their newly finished solar-powered car called Azure to fans and faculty on Aug. 7, in advance of the World Solar Challenge — a competition that pits the best solar car teams against each other in the Australian outback.
The car, which is the most recent of six generations of solar racing cars, is designed, built and raced by students. It weighs 200 kilograms and is expected to clock an impressive 80 kilometres per hour, with a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour.
On October 16, fifteen team members will compete against their peers from the world’s best universities and colleges in a five-day racing challenge. Engineers will drive their independently built solar car a total of 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide across Australia’s rough terrain in an effort to be crowned No. 1.
The launch of Azure means much more than just celebrating with friends and family, said Josh Switnicki (ECE 1T12 + PEY) , the team’s Managing Director. For the fourth-year computer engineering student and his colleagues, it meant overcoming a host of technical and personal challenges that threatened to derail the project.
“Creating something like this especially from scratch is difficult, but not impossible,” said Switnicki, who over the years has spent between 10 to 60 hours each week working on the vehicle. “We’ve encountered problems, but being in a group like this makes overcoming these challenges easier and helped us grow.”
Eric Ma (EngSci 1T12 + PEY), Business and Operations Director for the group, agreed. “Other good parts [about the process] have also been the challenges, both technical and interpersonal,” he added. “They all play an important role in the development of the team and its individual members.”
However, the solar car team is more than just a student organization that races cars for fun. Unlike other groups, advocacy and education is an important part of the group’s mandate as they spend as much time in classrooms teaching as they do in labs. Recently, members of the team visited Hillcrest Community School to help secondary students build their own solar cars.
Regardless of whether the team wins or loses the World Solar Challenge, they’re already winners, at least in Ma’s eyes.
“The most rewarding part of this is to see the car coming together from something that was once only real on paper. Designing it and seeing it on a computer is certainly different from touching and feeling the car right in front of you.”
The Blue Sky Solar Racing Team is just one of many innovative design groups. Learn more about the records the Human-Powered Vehicle Team has broken here.