Professor Baher Abdulhai (CivE) is helping people share information about traffic within a city by being part of the development of a Facebook-like platform called On-Line Network-Enabled Intelligent Transportation Systems (ONE-ITS).
ONE-ITS is a software platform and a national research society, including several other universities. It connects commuters, police, government officials and researchers at universities, helping them share information about traffic on their way to their destinations. The platform is geared at those interested in traffic research and, much like Facebook, is open to anyone who wants to join. It is focused on professionals who can share their expertise and share data about transportation and research.

“If there’s a problem on the freeway, people can know about it,” Abdulhai said.

Follow the link to read the full article on the IT World Canada website.

The Connaught Committee met Dec. 16 to make its final decision on the winners of the Innovation Award and the Summer Institute. The committee also invited three researchers to move forward with applications to the Global Challenge Award.

Founded in 1972, the Connaught Fund was created from the sale of Connaught Laboratories, which first mass-produced insulin, the Nobel award-winning discovery of U of T Professors Frederick Banting and Charles Best. The university has stewarded the fund in the years since, awarding more than $100 million to U of T researchers. Today, the fund invests nearly $4 million annually in emerging and established scholars.

The latest round of awards is the first under a new program architecture. After spending a year in consultation, the Connaught Committee designed a new suite of programs that would promote excellence in research and innovation across the disciplines, raise the profile of the university and help it recruit and retain scholars.

“The goal,” said Professor Paul Young (CivE), U of T’s Vice-President (Research), “is for the Connaught Fund to have a transformative impact on our community, just as its namesake the Connaught Laboratories did. We want to make sure that the Connaught Fund, which has been so critical in supporting the research of our scholars for the past three-plus decades, is being put to best use in today’s context—hence, the new suite of programs.”

Engineering’s Vice-Dean, Research received one of two Summer Institute Awards: Professor Stewart Aitchison (ECE) received $50,000 for the “International Symposium on Nanofabrication.” The symposium will bring together international graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and other scholars to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and creative new methods for research and innovation.

Ten scholars received between $30,000 and $80,000 each from the Connaught Innovation Award, which helps accelerate the development of promising technology and promote commercialization and knowledge transfer. Engineering’s researchers are:

• Mansoor Barati (MSE) for “Development of a technology for production of solar grade silicon”;
• Tom Chau (IBBME) for “Development of a brain-computer interface based on near-infrared spectroscopy”;
• Amr Helmy (ECE) for “The next generation diode laser products benefiting environmental and biomedical instruments”;
• Peter Lehn (ECE) for “The next generation in commercial solar photovoltaic system configuration: high voltage bipolar DC collector networks with distributed DC/DC converters”;
• Joyce Poon (ECE) for “Fabrication of coupling-modulated lasers”;
• Milica Radisic (IBBME, ChemE) for “Application of QHREDGS peptide in survival and expansion of human stem cells and their cardiovascular progeny”;
• Yu Sun (MIE) for “Automated adherent cell micoinjection”;
• Aaron Wheeler (Chemistry, IBBME) for “Detection of steroid hormones using digital microfluidics”; and
• Ning Yan (Forestry, ChemE) for “Developing NCC based antistatic coatings and conductive packaging materials as ESD protection products.”

Finally, the committee invited three applicants to move to the next stage of the Connaught Global Challenge Fund application process. The award of up to $1 million annually brings together some of the university’s top researchers with leaders from other sectors. Through its three program elements — the Connaught Distinguished Visiting Scholar, the Connaught International Symposium and the Connaught Research Cluster — the Global Challenge Fund will enhance the university’s contribution to important issues facing society.

“The Global Challenge Fund allows us to focus intently on a leading global challenge of the 21st century,” said Young, “and to support research that is truly transformative in scope.”

Based on letters of intent, teams led by three U of T researchers have been invited to make full applications to the committee, including Dimitrios Hatzinakos (ECE) for “SmartData: How to get smart about evolving intelligence and protecting data.”

“Our intent,” said Young of the redesign of the Connaught Fund programs, “is for the new program architecture to promote research excellence within the institution and to target funding to areas where traditional sources are currently limited.”

He went on to say that further announcements from the Connaught Committee are forthcoming. “We will soon be announcing the winners of the New Researcher Award, which helps new tenure-stream faculty members establish competitive research programs, and the McLean Award, which supports an emerging leader conducting basic research.”

Computer science junior Andy Velasquez at the University of Texas – Arlington College, has built and designed his personal computers for the last seven years.

Velasquez is trying to make each design smaller than the next, but the generation of heat and emissions grows as each computer shrinks.

“Excessive heat can slow the performance and efficiency of any device,” he said. “I find myself running out of ideas on how to control the heat. It’s an ongoing battle.”

Engineers around the world are tackling a similar problem as devices continue to shrink to microscopic levels, said U of T Engineering Dean Cristina Amon.

The Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering Dean spoke on the challenges of managing heat generation in devices. Dean Amon spoke to more than 200 students, faculty and visitors as part of Arlington’s College of Engineering’s Distinguished Speaker Series. The college’s faculty uses the series to invite engineers from across the country to speak on changing and recurring themes in engineering.

“As we continue to work with nanomaterials and construct smaller devices, the negative effect that heat has on their performance increases,” she said.

Follow the link to read the full article in The Shorthorn, the University of Texas – Arlington College’s student newspaper.

With its critical mass of venture capital and talent, Silicon Valley is a huge draw for enterprising Canadians who, by current estimates, now number around 300,000. They flock there to work for companies such as Google or Apple – or to strike out on their own.

The original nickname for the region south of San Francisco, thanks to its pleasant orchards, was “Valley of Heart’s Delight.” The orchards have been replaced by some of the world’s largest technology firms, and the Valley is now the source of a different kind of delight for successful business owners and their employees.

Kamal Shah (MechE 8T9, MASc 9T2) bubbles with excitement as he describes his business, Fotobabble, which allows users to record their own audio to narrate photos.

The 43-year-old native of Guelph, Ont., and University of Toronto mechanical engineering graduate, has secured financial support for Fotobabble, which is now in use by big media companies such as NBC, and has being touted by Wired magazine and the Los Angeles Times. After building out the concept for most of 2010, including development of apps for use with iPads and smart phones, Shah says 2011 is “shaping up to be a very good year.” …

Mr. Shah, despite keeping close ties to Canada, is staying put.

“I still have very strong ties to Canada; I’ve kept my citizenship. But I am very excited to come down here and take advantage of what is on offer.”

Follow the link to read the full article on The Globe and Mail’s website.

As NHLers Eric Staal and Niklas Lidstrom prepare to pick their all-star teammates later this week, a new smart phone application designed for this very purpose is gaining traction around the world.

The TeamChooser application – developed by Professor Jonathan Rose (ECE) of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Paul Eisen (IndE 8T6), a Toronto-based software designer – is designed to produce teams that are evenly matched. The user enters each player’s name plus the numerical effectiveness of their ability, and the application calculates fair teams.

“Classic methods of choosing teams – throwing hockey sticks onto the ice, drawing straws or having two captains choose players like the NHL is doing with its all-star game – can be a nightmare,” says Professor Rose. Not only do people’s feelings get hurt in the process, but you also end up with unevenly matched teams and total blow-outs. With the TeamChooser application, all you have to do is enter a number representing each player’s skill level and it will choose fair teams for you.”

Sales of the application – available through the Apple iPhone app store – are picking up steam in recreational sports leagues in Canada and elsewhere. It has sold in Australia, Romania, Britain, Ireland, Norway, Japan and the United States.

“This is a great tool to consult when picking your winter sports teams. Since we’ve used it in my pick-up hockey league, the games have been far more even and everyone has a lot more fun,” says Professor Rose. He adds that it could be a handy tool for the NHL all-star captains as they prepare to choose their teams this coming weekend.

“TeamChooser would certainly help ensure a good, fair game for fans to watch,” he says.

Follow the link to read coverage in the Toronto Star.

Seven Engineering researchers will receive Strategic Project Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, the government announced on Thursday.

The Strategic Project Grants (SPG) Program awards were announced at the University of Waterloo by the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), and Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre. They were joined by Janet Walden, Vice-President, Research Partnerships Programs of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Professors Greg Evans (ChemE), Roman Genov (ECE), Peter Herman (ECE), Radhakrishan Mahadevan (ChemE), Emma Master (ChemE), Joyce Poon (ECE), and Torstein Utigard (MSE) received grants for collaborative research projects with businesses and government agencies. In addition, Professor Ted Sargent (ECE) will work on the research team of Professor Shana Kelley of the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering.

The grants to the seven principal investigators in the Faculty will amount to $1.08 million in the first year. In total, NSERC’s SPG Program will invest $55 million over a three-year period in support of more than 120 research teams across Canada.

“In receiving these grants, our faculty members demonstrate our broad impact and our strength in engineering research,” said Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “We are proud that so many of our professors will receive NSERC funding to support research that will advance engineering knowledge and lead to discoveries benefitting Canadians.”

The research projects range from advancing communications technologies to minimizing industrial off-gas pollution. Specifically:

• Professor Evans will investigate how emission-control technologies mitigate health impacts from diesel fuel combustion, with Environment Canada
• Professor Genov and his team will work on a low-cost, compact spectral imaging microsystem for rapid, regenerative and highly selective nucleic acid detection, in partnership with Dalsa Corporation and UHN Microarray Centre
• Professor Herman will investigate intelligent beam control for ultrashort laser manufacturing of photonic and biomedical microsystems, with Elcan Optical Technologies, FiberTech Optica Inc., Teraxion Inc. and Trojan Technologies Inc.
• Professor Mahadevan will research rational design of microbial strains for novel biochemical products, with DNP Canada Inc.
• Professor Master will investigate reagent development and assessment for biomass conversion, with the Canadian Forest Service
• Professor Poon and her team will research integrated photonics for energy-efficient communications in multi-core processors for exascale computing systems, with IBM Canada Ltd.
• Professor Utigard and his team will research on selective sulfation roasting of Ni concentrate to minimize off-gas pollution, in partnership with Vale Inco Limited and Xstrata Nickel

Professor Sargent’s research on Professor Kelley’s team will focus on miniaturized microelectronic devices for cost-effective point-of-care diagnostics, with Kalgene Pharmaceuticals Inc.

“These Strategic Project Grants show that the NSERC community has risen to the challenge and is putting the federal science-and-technology strategy to work,” said NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. “We have received a high number of quality submissions, and the peer review committees evaluating them are impressed with the excellence of the research teams, the importance and potential impact of the proposed research, and the strong support from partners.”

NSERC’s Strategic Project Grants support early-stage project research led by at least one researcher and a supporting organization. The goal of the program is to increase research and training in areas that could strongly influence Canada’s economy, society or environment in the next ten years.

NSERC is a federal agency that helps make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for all Canadians. The agency supports some 30,000 postsecondary students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging more than 1,500 Canadian companies to participate and invest in postsecondary research projects.