Professors Brenda McCabe (CivE), Kim Pressnail (CivE) and Ted Sargent (ECE), as well as CivE PhD candidates Marianne Touchie and Ekaterina Tzekova, have been named to the Clean50, an initiative by the Corporate Knights honouring outstanding contributors to sustainable development and clean capitalism in Canada.

Professors McCabe and Pressnail, along with Marianne Touchie and Ekaterina Tzekov, were recognized as a group for their creation of  The Promise. In 2009, Professor Pressnail found a document created by the Cousteau Society that described our obligations to future generations. Inspired, he shared it with students; two of whom, Tzekov and Touchie, took the lead in revising it for use by Engineers, resulting in The Promise. Tzekov and Touchie had earlier galvanized support in the Department for introducing sustainability as a theme across the course material, and had been the catalysts for its integration in the curricula. They engaged Professor Pressnail and Department Chair McCabe in the re-design of the document and in garnering support among students and faculty. In 2009, the group asked professors and graduating students to sign the pledge (81 did) and in 2010 expanded it to include alumni – adding 38 more signatories. In 2011, the effort expanded once again, this time to encourage practicing engineers to sign on. In all, there are now 177 engineers in Canada who have taken The Promise.

Over the past several years, Professor Sargent has made a number of research breakthroughs which are paving the way for the widespread use of solar cells as an energy source. In 2005, he invented the first paint-on solar cell to harvest the sun’s abundant infrared rays. He then improved over ten-thousand-fold the performance of his new class of devices. His breakthrough solar cell significantly reduced costs associated with solar energy by enabling simple spray-coating of his semiconductor onto nearly any surface. A few months ago, Professor Sargent made an additional breakthrough in solar cell technology, creating the first efficient tandem solar cell based on colloidal quantum dots (CQD). The device is a stack of two light-absorbing layers – one tuned to capture the sun’s visible rays, the other engineered to harvest the half of the sun’s power that lies in the infrared spectrum. This is the first CQD solar cell which absorbs both infrared rays and visible rays on the same cell.By capturing such a broad range of light waves, tandem CQD solar cells can in principle reach up to 42% efficiencies. In comparison, the best single-junction solar cells are constrained to a maximum of 31% efficiency.

“The naming of these engineers to the 2012 Clean50 demonstrates not only the contributions our community members are making to sustainability in Canada, but the diverse ways in which we can work towards this important goal,” said Cristina Amon, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

The 2012 Clean50 will be honoured at the first annual Clean50 Summit at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on the Toronto Islands on September 28.

Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T), King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have created the most efficient colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cell ever.

The discovery is reported in the latest issue of Nature Materials.

Quantum dots are nanoscale semiconductors that capture light and convert it into electrical energy. Because of their small scale, the dots can be sprayed onto flexible surfaces, including plastics. This enables the production of solar cells that are less expensive than the existing silicon-based version.

“We figured out how to shrink the wrappers that encapsulate quantum dots down to the smallest imaginable size – a mere layer of atoms,” states Professor Ted Sargent, corresponding author on the work and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology at U of T.

A crucial challenge for the field has been striking a balance between convenience and performance. The ideal design is one that tightly packs the quantum dots together. The greater the distance between quantum dots, the lower the efficiency.

Until now, quantum dots have been capped with organic molecules that separate the nanoparticles by a nanometer. On the nanoscale, that is a long distance for electrons to travel.

To solve this problem, the researchers utilized inorganic ligands, sub-nanometer-sized atoms that bind to the surfaces of the quantum dots and take up less space. The combination of close packing and charge trap elimination enabled electrons to move rapidly and smoothly through the solar cells, thus providing record efficiency.

“We wrapped a single layer of atoms around each particle. This allowed us to pack well-passivated quantum dots into a dense solid,” explains Dr. Jiang Tang, the first author of the paper who conducted the research while a post-doctoral fellow in The Edward S. Rogers Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at U of T.

“Our team at Penn State proved that we could remove charge traps – locations where electrons get stuck – while still packing the quantum dots closely together,” says Professor John Asbury of Penn State, a co-author of the work.

“At KAUST, we used visualization methods with sub-nanometer resolution and accuracy to investigate the structure and composition of the passivated quantum dots,” states co-author Professor Aram Amassian of KAUST in Saudi Arabia. “We proved that the inorganic passivants were tightly correlated with the location of the quantum dots and that it was the chemical passivation, rather than nanocrystal ordering, that led to the remarkable colloidal quantum dot solar cell performance,” he adds.

“It is very impressive that the team was able to make solar cells with power conversion efficiency up to 6% from quantum dots,” states Professor Michael McGehee of Stanford University, a world-renowned expert in solution-processed organic solar cells. “There is a lot of surface area in these films that could have dangling bonds which would hinder the performance of solar cells by creating traps states.

The team’s quantum dots had the highest electrical currents and the highest overall power conversion efficiency ever seen in CQD solar cells. The performance results were certified by an external laboratory, Newport, which is accredited by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“This work proves the power of inorganic ligands in building practical devices,” states Professor Dmitri Talapin of The University of Chicago, a pioneer in inorganic ligands and materials chemistry. “This new surface chemistry provides the path toward both efficient and stable quantum dot solar cells. It should also impact other electronic and optoelectronic devices that utilize colloidal nanocrystals. Advantages of the all-inorganic approach include vastly improved electronic transport and a path to long-term stability.”

As a result of the potential of this research discovery, a technology licensing agreement has been signed by U of T and KAUST, brokered by MaRS Innovations (MI), which will enable the global commercialization of this new technology.

“The world – and the marketplace – need solar innovations that break the existing compromise between performance and cost. Through the partnership between U of T, MI and KAUST, we are poised to translate exciting research into tangible innovations that can be commercialized,” said Sargent.

Professor Birsen Donmez of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering wants you to be a better driver. She’s thinking about sending you a report card.

Not really — but she is brainstorming ways to provide feedback to drivers on how they’re doing. She’s teamed up with Skymeter, a Canadian technology firm, to figure out how to measure driving style.

“I am interested in helping people be safer drivers by providing feedback to them based on how they drive,” she says. “If we can identify behaviours that are not safe and provide feedback to the driver in a consistent manner, then we might be able to change their behaviour in the long run.”

Her work has been given a big boost by funding from The Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario (FedDev). Peter Van Loan, leader of the government in the House of Commons was on campus today to announce funding for Professor Donmez’s project and 13 others.

We all get feedback when we drive — speeding tickets, perhaps even accidents. Professor Donmez wants to provide regular feedback that will prevent these more dramatic outcomes. Her work is in its early stages, so she doesn’t know yet whether it’s best to provide real time feedback, which would allow the driver to make corrections but could potentially be distracting, or to provide some kind of regular reporting.

Ben Grush is a member of the board of directors of Skymeter, a company that uses telemetrics — measuring from a distance — to measure automobile use. For example, Skymeter has installed meters to help car sharing companies measure and bill for usage. His company is interested in branching out and measuring driver behaviour. To extend the car-sharing example, Grush says, “Imagine it costs $15 to use a car for an hour. You might take the car shopping and only go a short distance. I might go a long distance and drive very aggressively. If we could measure that, we might pay differently depending on how we use the car.”

The goal for both Grush and Professor Donmez is a “driver style index.” Grush’s company has technology that can potentially make such a measurement by quantifying things like rapid acceleration or aggressive braking, but they don’t know how reliable it is.

“We needed help to develop this index,” says Grush. “The research has to be unbiased. It has to be published and reviewed. We needed someone outside the company.”

There are lots of potential applications of a driver style index — imagine a meter in your car that reported back to you. In addition to making your driving safer, you could give your insurance company permission to access the data, potentially resulting in lower rates.

The collaboration between Professor Donmez, Grush and U of T students Maryam Merrikhpour and Farzan Sasangohar was made possible by funding from FedDev’s Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative (ARC). FedDev was launched in August 2009 to help respond to Ontario’s economic challenges and the ARC is a pilot initiative aimed at addressing the gap between research and commercialization in southern Ontario and encouraging collaboration between small- and medium-sized businesses and post-secondary institutions.

“At the University of Toronto, we’re always looking for ways to make research meaningful to the wider community,” said Professor Peter Lewis, U of T’s Associate Vice-President (Research). “By working together with businesses, we’re accelerating the movement of ideas to the marketplace, for the benefit of all Ontarians. So we are delighted with the news of this generous investment. With this funding, our researchers, together with their private sector collaborators, are helping to create a prosperous, innovative future.”

Grush and Professor Donmez echoed Professor Lewis’s thanks. “It’s very important for Ontario companies like ours to get this kind of support, because we are job generators,” said Grush. “Canada does a lot of high-tech export so bringing universities and industry together creates wealth for everyone in the end.”

Professor Donmez noted that the funding will allow her to support several students working on the project. The U of T Engineering recipients are:

• Professor Tom Chau of the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering/Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and Syngrafii Corporation for “Demographic Analysis of Handwriting BioAuthentication Characteristics.”
• Professor Birsen Donmez of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Skymeter for “Identifying risky driving styles through a GPS-enabled telematics platform.”
• Professor Ridha Ben Mrad of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Sensor Technology Ltd for “Piezoelectric for Energy Harvester for Self-powered Electronics.”
• Professor Joyce Poon of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Venkat Venkataramanan of the Institute for Optical Sciences and Mircom Ltd. for “Photo Electric Smoke Detectors.”
• Professor Harry Ruda of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and Solar Grid Inc. for “High Efficiency Optimized Solar Cells (HELIOS).”
• Professor Pierre Sullivan of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Engineering Services Inc. for “Mini Ion Mobility Spectrometer for Frontline Health Care.”

This year, the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering was proud to present Paul Cadario (CivE 7T3), Senior Manager at the World Bank, as guest speaker of U of T Engineering’s  annual plenary speech.

On September 8, first-year students ushered in their first week of classes with inspiring words from both Cadario and Dean Cristina Amon.

“More than ever, this world needs your dreams, your innovation and your hopes,” said Dean Amon, before introducing Cadario.

“Engineers have a great responsibility to improve the world. Paul Cadario has taken that to heart. He is not only a great friend to U of T Engineering, but is an engineer who has dedicated his career to fighting poverty and improving the living standards of people in the developing world,” said Dean Amon.

Following his Oxford studies as a Rhodes Scholar, the self-described “global engineer” went to work for the World Bank in 1975. As a young Transport Economist in West Africa, he helped the Bank use its funds to reduce poverty.

His career then took him around the world – to China, where he worked to integrate the country into the world economy, and to the countries of the former Soviet Union, as they joined the World Bank in the 1990s.

In late 2001, Cadario was appointed to his present post, where he oversees the Bank’s trusteeship of donor countries’ contributions to development activities outside the Bank’s normal lending business.

In his presentation, he  gave the students a glimpse of his career, which intersects engineering, business and global politics. He explained to the class of 1T5 the importance of understanding the context of problems from multiple perspectives before undertaking a solution.

There are two key aspects, he said, that will help them pioneer solutions. “Much of what you’re doing will include context and perspective: why are we doing this? How will this affect the outcome now and in the future? And that is just as important as the engineering.”

“Paul’s talk was inspirational. He was able to show through his experiences how engineering can have a huge impact on the world,” said Professor Susan McCahan (MIE), the Vice-Dean, Undergraduate, beginning September 15.

Taking into consideration the political, social and environmental issues, is vital to successful design, said Cadario. “You can’t use the scientific approach for every approach.”

The challenges the World Bank encountered, financing the highly publicized Tarbela dam in Pakistan (upstream from India, on the Indian and Pakistani borders), involved more than just technical knowledge, he said. And creating ground water development initiatives, on Greece’s border with Turkey during politically sensitive times in the mid 1970s, meant thinking about present and future implications for people living on both sides.

“Today, being willing is not enough,” he said. “You must ask yourself what type of world you live in, what type of world do you want to live in and what are you going to do about it?”

Dean Cristina Amon (MIE) and Professors Michael Collins (CivE), Chul Park (MIE) and Peter Stangeby (UTIAS) have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), one of Canada’s most prestigious academic honours. The RSC is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scholars, artists and scientists. It consists of nearly 2,000 Fellows, who are selected by their peers for outstanding contributions to the natural and social sciences, the arts and the humanities.

This year’s new Fellows will be inducted into the RSC during the Induction and Awards Ceremony on Saturday, November 26, 2011 at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Ottawa.

Cristina Amon’s research pioneered the development of Computational Fluid Dynamics algorithms for formulating and solving thermal design problems subject to multidisciplinary competing constraints. This led to her creation of a multi-stage concurrent thermal design methodology based on hierarchical model refinement. Dean Amon’s research laid the scientific foundation by elucidating mechanisms of flow destabilization to induce heat transfer enhancement in self-sustained oscillatory flows and hemodynamics transport in biological systems. She has made pioneering contributions to concurrent thermal designs, innovation in electronics cooling and transient thermal management of wearable computers.

Michael Collins is internationally renowned for his contributions to the understanding of the nonlinear behaviour of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures and its application to the design of buildings, bridges, concrete offshore oil platforms, nuclear containment structures, and other heavy industrial facilities. His Modified Compression Field Theory, based on novel experimental techniques, has transformed the shear design of concrete structures from restrictive empirical procedures to rigorous, general, easy-to-follow models and has been used as the basis for widely-used computer programs such as Response-2000. His theories have been incorporated into design specifications all over the world.

A world leader in the field of plastic foaming, Chul Park holds a Canada Research Chair in Microcellular Plastics and is Founder and Director of the Microcellular Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory and the Centre for Industrial Application of Microcellular Plastics. Professor Park’s microcellular research has produced pivotal breakthroughs that have reshaped scientists’ knowledge of plastics engineering. He has identified the fundamental mechanisms that govern cell nucleation and foam expansion, enabling him to invent numerous novel technologies for polymer processing. His research has generated 20 patents, and hundreds of companies throughout the world have licensed his microcellular systems.

Peter Stangeby is internationally recognized as the world’s leading authority on the boundary physics of fusion energy research devices, particularly tokamaks. Fusion powers the sun and stars; the aim of nuclear fusion research is to create a potentially limitless terrestrial energy source. Professor Stangeby’s standing is due to his numerous foundational discoveries, his impressive record of publications in top-ranked journals, and his highly accomplished graduate students, many of whom now occupy key positions in the two largest international fusion research projects. His book The Plasma Boundary of Magnetic Fusion Devices has become the standard reference in tokamak boundary physics research.

“The unprecedented election of four of our faculty members to the Royal Society of Canada is a testament to the world-leading research taking place in the Faculty,” says Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the Faculty and all the newly inducted Fellows, I extend our deep gratitude to the Academy for this honour.”

Hundreds of first-year students gathered at the Bahen Building (40 St. George St.) on Tuesday, September 7 to discover their new campus and meet professors and staff at the annual Fun With Faculty event.

Under an overcast grey sky, students participated  in a range of programs from funny improv classes to informative research talks and campus tours.

Professor Jonathan Rose (EngSci 8T0, ElecE MASc 8T2, PhD 8T6) offered one of the first lectures of the day. He spoke to students about the engineering science behind smartphones and delved into how apps are developed. Organizing and speaking at the lecture was just as much fun for him as it was the students, Professor Rose admits.

“It’s exciting to touch the energy of first-year engineering students as they embark on their career,” he says. “I was also excited that the talk attracted students from across the engineering disciplines — chemical, mechanical, civil, etc.. — who all came out,” he adds.

The day organized by the Faculty is a meet-and-greet event special to U of T Engineering. “Fun With Faculty is a unique program because it really gives students the chance to meet the professors, staff and people who work behind the scenes,” states Lesley Mak, Student Success Specialist and TrackOne Liaison. “It really encourages new students to get to know our Faculty in a way that not many other programs and Faculties do.”

Fun With Faculty is one of several frosh events taking place this week that began with matriculation and ends with an overnight trip to Hart House on Sunday September 11.

During the event, current undergraduates helped orient first-years. They hosted improv classes, flipped pancakes for hungry students and answered questions of every kind from 8:30 am to noon.

While the allure of free food and playing games for many was tempting, meeting their peers and professors was the main goal at the frosh event.

“It’s great to be able to meet your profs and the other people in your year in a really fun way,” says Kate Kazlovich (CivE 1T5). “You learn so much about your peers and what to expect this year.”

The cheering that emanated from the lobby of Bahen Building where most of the day’s events took place was deafening at certain points. Students covered in purple dye sang Skule™ songs, while others schmoozed with staff and leaders.

For Marko Spudice (CivE 1T3) the day was a reminder of how much fun he had in his first year. The need to create a memorable experience for others was behind his decision to flip pancakes starting at 6 am on an outdoor grill.

“My time [at orientation] was the best, and I wanted to help with entertainment and help other people have a good time,” he says. “And besides I love working with barbecues so it was a no-brainer for me.”

Along with Spudice, engineering students from each department helped hundreds learn about their departments and find their way around the St. George campus. Hourly tours introduced students to common room hangouts, lectures, department space and labs.

Another one of the many students to chip in was Ishan Gupta (ChemE 1T4). Along with his cousin Kunal Taneja (MechE 1T4), Gupta spent most of their day helping their groups of students get settled into life in the Faculty.

“Engineering is really a community,” Gupta explains. “We’re all united, and I want new students to feel that way, too. We want them to feel as welcome and comfortable as we do,” Kunal adds.

He, a first-year Engineering Science student, participated in a similar class, the Learning to Lead class, and found it fun and educational.

“I met a lot of people and like how they put the emphasis for leadership on connections, not just about what you know,” He states. “I think [the class] and just everything here today helped people open up, at least for me it did.”