A record number of prospective students have applied for undergraduate admission to the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering for the 2011-2012 academic year, with total applications up 12.5% from the previous year compared to 2% for the university overall. Nearly half of all applicants made the University of Toronto their first choice among engineering schools.
As of March 15, 8,631 applications for 1,150 places had been received for fall 2011 admission, which marks an all-time historic record and reflects a growth trend in applications to engineering schools. The number of applicants in Ontario who made U of T Engineering their first choice was up 18%, with an increase of 16.9% for students from outside Ontario. Applications were received from every province and the Yukon.
International applicants make up 27.2% of the pool this year, an increase of 23.0% over last year. Applications from women surged 17.2% to an unprecedented 1,757.
The incoming Class of 2015 at U of T Engineering promises to be an exceptional and high-achieving group. This year, applicants were asked the following supplementary questions to complement the traditional mark-based admission process:
- What has inspired you to pursue an engineering degree and why would you like to study at the University of Toronto?
- What skills have you developed through your extra-curricular experiences that will support your future success as both a student and an engineer?
The word “prestigious” came up again and again in students’ responses as to why they wanted to attend U of T for Engineering. Many referred to our high Canadian and world rankings. Other common responses included Toronto being a great city; a wealth of extra-curricular activities; top professors; and the Professional Experience Year (PEY) program. Some applicants referred to respected teachers or family members who had attended U of T.
“My ambition is to excel as an entrepreneur technologist,” read one response. “In order to achieve my dream, I need to be in an environment which encourages innovation and provides the requisite infrastructure. This leads me to the University of Toronto’s engineering program.
“I am drawn to University of Toronto by the promise of an interdisciplinary education; the breadth and depth of the University of Toronto’s engineering program is amazing. The intellectually charged atmosphere at the school is most conducive for academic advancement. I look forward to being challenged and pushed to explore the limits of my potential. I hope to work in teams with my peers who bring with them varied experiences, perspectives and creativity.”
Those chosen will represent the next generation of engineering leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, in fields ranging from chemical engineering to materials science, from computer and electrical, and mechanical and industrial to civil engineering, and from engineering science to biomedical, aerospace, energy and environmental engineering.
“Not only have we seen a remarkable increase in the academic strength and diversity of our applicants, but a record number selected U of T Engineering as their first choice. This includes students from overseas,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “Their choices speak directly to our highly-regarded engineering education and global reputation. I look forward to welcoming this extraordinary cohort of students to U of T Engineering.”
Cancer, heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death among Canadians. These are also the deadly diseases that the research team of Victor Yang (EngSci 9T7, MASc ECE 9T8) aims to alleviate.
Yang is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ryerson University, and a Canada Research Chair in bioengineering and biophotonics. He’s also a medical doctor with surgical training and works with neurosurgeons in several teaching hospitals. So Yang understands how the smallest, most precise tools can bring about huge changes in a patient’s treatment and health.
To that end, Yang has two research interests: developing new techniques to image the human body, and devising novel tools for minimally invasive procedures. Both areas rely on Yang’s expertise in an emerging type of medical imaging technology – Doppler optical coherence tomography (DOCT).
Read the full story on PhysOrg.com.
The University of Toronto and two other North American universities are competing to provide research support for a campus expansion at New York University (NYU).
A joint letter expressing interest in the development was submitted by the University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon University, City University of New York and NYU, as well as IBM.
It was among 18 expressions of interest by academic institutions from around the world following an invitation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to “develop and operate a new applied science and engineering research campus in New York City.”
The work would involve research related to development of smart technologies for cities.
A total of 27 institutions, some in partnership with others, submitted “expressions of interest,” Bloomberg’s office said. Other elite U.S. universities which expressed interest include Stanford University, Columbia University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Chicago, among others, according to the mayor’s office.
The submissions will be reviewed and a request for proposals will be issued this summer. New York City wants to make a choice by year’s end.
The Bloomberg administration has said it wants to diversify the city’s economy and accelerate growth in its technology sector. The mayor called the idea a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to attract interest from top-tier universities around the globe, which in turn would benefit the schools.
Read the stories and briefs in The New York Times, (and a more recent NYT piece) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, New York Post, TheWall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Crain’s New York Business, NYULocal , Times Higher Education and Carnegie Mellon University’s The Tartan.
For all the troubles facing the earthquake-stricken people of Japan, a nuclear meltdown may be among the least of their worries, a Canadian radiation expert says.
The danger of serious radiation leaks from the Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant have likely been overblown, despite a series of explosions and evidence that three fuel cores are actively melting down at the crippled facility.
“In the long scheme of things I don’t believe, in terms of health effects, that this is actually going to be a big part of the outcome of this earthquake,” said Greg Evans, a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto.
Read the full article on the Toronto Star website.
It’s March break. The kids are out of school for five days. That’s 120 hours to fill. This list of 54 things to do is a good place to start.
29. Just because school’s out, doesn’t mean they don’t have to (or want to) study. The University of Toronto is offering three-day, math-intensive programs for students in Grade 7 through 12. Lectures and fun activities are led by passionate undergraduate and graduate students studying math and engineering. Runs Wednesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Go to www.outreach.engineering.utoronto.ca for more information.
Read the full list at the Toronto Star.
The prototype sustainable power plant that University of Toronto Professor Olivier Trescases (ECE) is demonstrating doesn’t look like much. A simple black-box battery connected by clips to red and yellow wires that go to a decades-old electricity meter, then by more exposed wiring into something that looks like an exposed computer motherboard, which is itself attached to a low-fi, normal looking stationary bike. It looks like the kind of exercise equipment someone would have in the corner of a wood-panelled basement, attached to the kind of rig your hobbyist uncle might solder together in the garage.
But according to Professor Trescases, this is an independent, freestanding power plant, the unpolished but working model for a fleet of machines that will simultaneously encourage exercise, reduce carbon fuel usage and toxic emissions and educate people, all while saving money at the same time. “I wouldn’t call this high experimental research,” Trescases says. “The aim is more education. The greatest benefit of this is awareness. Essentially we want to equate sweat with electrical energy.”
That equation was enough to win the project a grant of $10,000 at last year’s inaugural Green Innovation Awards presented by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Community Foundation. Electrical Engineering Professor Trescases, Hart House Gym Facilities Manager Chris Lea and Hart House Sustainability Coordinator David Berliner shared the award for their idea to harness the energy people waste using exercise equipment and use it to generate electricity.
“Each bike is an independent power plant,” Trescases says; “each one is individually connected to the grid.” Each bike is also able to connect wirelessly to a laptop computer or wireless mobile device to display real-time information about how much energy it is generating, how much it has generated recently and how much money that translates into.