In a study published online in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Toronto researchers report that functional electrical stimulation (FES) therapy worked better than conventional occupational therapy alone to increase patients’ ability to pick up and hold objects.

FES therapy uses low-intensity electrical pulses generated by a pocket-sized electric stimulator.

“This study proves that by stimulating peripheral nerves and muscles, you can actually ‘retrain’ the brain,” says the study’s lead author, Professor Milos R. Popovic (IBBME), a senior scientist at Toronto Rehab and head of the hospital’s Neural Engineering and Therapeutics Team. “A few years ago, we did not believe this was possible.”

Follow the link to read the full article on Physorg.com.

Being able to move and communicate with the world has long been a major hurdle for children living with severe physical disabilities. Thought cognitively capable, they have few ways of expressing themselves to, and moving about in the outside world. However, advances in computer-based technology have allowed researchers to find innovative ways to help liberate these children, letting them interact and contribute with the wider society.

One of these researchers, Eric Wan (CompE 1T0), currently working on his master’s degree in Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, spends most of his days in the paediatric engineering research wing at The Bloorview Research Institute. His work involves designing new ways to improve the quality of lives of children living with severe disabilities.

He started programming when he was eight years old and since then, he enthuses, it has been his passion. “I really love it.”

His zeal is apparent and fruitful. As part of his undergraduate thesis, Wan created software for an award-winning “hum-activated” wheelchair. A child can power the wheelchair by simply making high- or low-pitched humming sounds. A vocal chord vibration sensor distinguishes between the different pitches to change direction. A major advantage of this wheelchair is that it drowns out unnecessary background noise such as street traffic or voices of people near by.

Audrey Kertesz, an ECE student in her first year of graduate studies and specializing in control theory, received the 2010 André Hamer Postgraduate Prize from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in Ottawa on Monday, February 14th. Roberto Morandotti, an ECE post-doctoral fellow in 2002-2003 who is now a professor in the Institut national de la recherche scientifique in Montreal, received an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship.

Kertesz plans to research ways to improve the efficiency of urban-based solar panel arrays by designing better control systems. Following an NSERC press conference at the Museum of Science and Technology—at which the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, announced the awards—Kertesz said her win felt “extraordinary. I feel very out of place and hugely honoured to be surrounded by this group,” which included University of Toronto computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton as the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medallist for Science and Engineering.

“It’s very much an honour,” Kertesz added, “and I hope with my research that I can live up to it.”

In the quest to generate clean, inexpensive solar energy, installations of photovoltaic (PV) systems on the roofs of homes and other urban locations are on the rise. Most hardware, however, is designed to work with the uniform light levels more typically found in rural areas, meaning urban installations don’t perform as well as they could.

Solar installations rely on switched-mode converters to transform the voltage and current being produced so the system harvests as much energy as possible. These are in turn controlled by a maximum power point tracker.

For PV systems that can count on uniform light levels, one control can do the job for an entire array. Efficiency drops when different parts of the array are partially shaded by trees or neighbouring buildings at certain times of day.

Kertesz’s research will tackle the problem by setting up a distributed control system, where individual panels may have one or even several dedicated controls. Local controllers would perform optimization for their panel, while simultaneously ensuring that the voltage and current they output is compatible with the rest of the installation. The end result: a system that operates at peak efficiency and an increased supply of renewable energy.

Kertesz graduated from the University of Calgary in 2010 with a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and on graduation received the Governor General’s Silver Medal, the Faculty Gold Medal in Engineering, and the Muriel Kovitz prize for the highest grade-point average across the university. Now working in the Systems Control Group of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Kertesz expects to receive an MASc in 2012. Her supervisors are Professors Bruce Francis (MechE 6T9, MEng 7T1, ElecE 7T5) and Olivier Trescases (ElecE 0T2, MASc 0T4, PhD 0T7).

“We are extremely proud of Audrey Kertesz’s achievements and prowess as a scholar, which NSERC has acknowledged with this prestigious award,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “We look forward to celebrating her continued success.”

Roberto Morandotti received one of six Steacie Fellowships for his research into transmitting electronic information with unbreachable security. His new technology, based on high-performance integrated non-linear devices, aims to put theory into practice by transmitting pairs of light particles, called entangled photons, through existing optical networks.

Professor Morandotti studied twice with Engineering’s Vice-Dean, Research Stewart Aitchison: for his post-doctoral fellowship in ECE in 2002-2003, and at the University of Glasgow for his PhD in electrical engineering, which he received in 1999.

NSERC honorees were presented with their awards by Governor General David Johnson at a ceremony and reception at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Monday evening.

Click here to view photos of Audrey Kertesz, and her video interview with NSERC.

InVisage Technologies Inc., a Silicon Valley-based start-up company founded by Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) that is revolutionizing the image sensor market, has announced that it has received its Series C round of venture funding, led by Intel Capital. The undisclosed amount will be used to bring the company’s breakthrough QuantumFilm technology and products into mass production. Intel Capital joins InVisage’s existing investors RockPort Capital, InterWest Partners, OnPoint Technologies, and Charles River Ventures.

“Image sensors for smart phones and handheld devices are a huge market opportunity, and InVisage is well positioned to capture significant market share,” says Dave Flanagan, Managing Director, Intel Capital. “InVisage is the first company in awhile to think differently about image sensors, and we are confident that its products will lead the imaging market on a new vector of innovation.”

QuantumFilm was developed by InVisage after years of research at the University of Toronto and at InVisage. The technology is based on quantum dots — semiconductors with unique light-capture properties. QuantumFilm works by capturing an imprint of a light image and then using the silicon beneath it to read out the image and turn it into versatile digital signals. InVisage spent three years engineering the quantum dot material to produce highly sensitive image sensors that integrate with standard CMOS manufacturing processes. The first application of QuantumFilm will enable high performance in tiny form factors, breaking silicon’s inherent performance-resolution tradeoff.

Initially targeting cameraphone applications, which are the largest and fastest growing portion of the image sensor market, InVisage Technologies’ QuantumFilm could be in devices early next year.

Follow the link to read the full media release.

Whitby may be the worst place for per capita CO2 emissions in the GTA — 13.02 tonnes — but it has plenty of bad company in areas surrounding Toronto, according to a recent report from two Canadian researchers.

“Whitby’s the highest, but if you look at the figures you’ll see it’s really the whole suburbs, it’s basically the 905,’’ says Dan Hoornweg, lead urban specialist at the World Bank. Hoornweg, together with University of Toronto master’s student Lorraine Sugar, co-authored a report called Cities and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Moving Forward.

The report was published in the Jan. 10 edition of Environment and Urbanization.

The researchers used data from energy-use figures in the 2001 census and the Transportation Tomorrow survey, a cooperative compilation put together regularly by local and provincial governments. These were also part of another study published in 2006 that Hoornweg and Sugar used, produced by U of T Civil Engineering professor Chris Kennedy and student Jared R. Vandeweghe (BASc 0T6), analyzing residential greenhouse gas emissions in the Toronto metropolitan area.

What it shows may surprise those who think the congested downtown core is the problem. Looking at per capita neighbourhood carbon emissions, the report indicates that suburbanites produce more than downtowners.

Follow the link to read the full article on the Toronto Star website.

The winners of the inaugural IMPACT Student Choice Awards for Instructor and Teaching Assistant (TA) of the Year were announced last weekend at the annual Materials Science & Engineering Dinner Dance. Selected by the undergraduate student body “for dedication and excellence in teaching,” the 2011 awardees were Professor Zhirui Wang (Instructor of the Year, MSE 316S: Mechanical Behaviour of Materials / MSE 419F: Fracture & Failure Analysis) and Leo Monaco (MSE 1T0, MASc Candidate/TA of the Year, MSE 342F: Nanomaterials).

“It was wonderful to have awards for teaching that were voted on by students,” said Professor Jun Nogami, MSE Department Chair. “And it was great to see them presented by and in front of our students at the dinner-dance.”

The awardees received a framed certificate encased with several samples of impact testing from the ballistics experiment conducted in MSE 101, courtesy of Dr. Scott Ramsay. A plaque showing the names of each year’s awardees will be on permanent display in the MSE Department.

The IMPACT Student Choice Awards recognize an MSE undergraduate instructor and teaching assistant as selected by the student body each year. Named after MSE’s alumni and industry magazine, IMPACT, the title of the award makes reference to both materials testing and the influential effect of professional dedication and excellence.

Award candidates must be a MSE faculty member or graduate student and have taught at least one MSE undergraduate course in the previous calendar year.