Flight-testing is scheduled to begin in 2011 on a morphed wing prototype for unmanned air vehicles using in-built shape memory alloy actuators that deform the shape of the wing when heated.
The prototype is being developed by MIE on behalf of Singaporean defence research and development institution DSO National Laboratories.
“The major difference to the traditional discrete morphed wing design that uses flaps and ailerons with excessive complexity and weight penalty is that we’re using smart materials such as shape memory alloys,” says Professor Shaker Meguid (MIE), who is heading the research program.
“We … instruct the wing to sweep backwards and achieve very high rates of deformation and change in area, even though the actuators undergo very small deformations. Furthermore, the actuators constitute part of the wing spar structure – this is the ingenuity of our new design.”
Evelyn Mukwedeya (EngSci 1T0+PEY) has taken another award, this time the William Peyton Hubbard Memorial Award. Mukwedeya, who took the CEMF women in engineering award in April, accepted her new award at a luncheon in Toronto on July 15th, hosted by Laura Formusa, President and CEO of Hydro One.
In 1992, Ontario Hydro established educational awards for black university and college students in recognition of William Peyton Hubbard (1842-1935), the son of a freed slave from Virginia who was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1894. During a career that spanned 20 years, he served as the city’s first black Alderman, Controller and Acting Mayor. Among his many achievements was his unwavering support for the development and public ownership of hydroelectric power, amidst strong opposition by Toronto’s powerful business community.
Hubbard’s leadership and commitment led Sir Adam Beck, regarded as the “father” of Ontario Hydro, to consider him as his strongest ally of the public power movement. Together they made a formidable team. Beck fought for public ownership province-wide, while Hubbard took the lead on the municipal level. In 1907, Hubbard’s efforts were realized when the Toronto City Council approved the development and public control of hydroelectric power.
Since May 2000, Ontario Hydro’s successor company, Hydro One, has continued to support black students through scholarships honouring the achievements of William Peyton Hubbard. The academic awards have been granted annually to two black students (where possible, one male and one female) studying power industry-related disciplines at a recognized Ontario university or community college. The recipients are also offered a work term or summer employment at Hydro One.
Automatic Identification System Satellite 1 (AISSat-1) was successfully launched on Monday, July 12 from Sriharikota, India. AISSat-1 is a ship detection satellite built by the UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. The satellite houses an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver developed by Kongsberg Seatex of Norway. The satellite is intended to demonstrate the detection and monitoring of ships in Norwegian territorial waters.
AISSat-1 was launched with a Swiss nanosatellite, TIsat-1, under the cluster name “Nanosatellite Launch Service 6 (NLS-6).” Both satellites were ejected successfully from their launch vehicle using XPOD separation systems developed by SFL. Contact was made with AISSat-1 a few hours after launch confirming that the satellite power and thermal status was good, and that the satellite was healthy.
AISSat-1 is based on SFL’s Generic Nanosatellite Bus (GNB), a versatile, multipurpose bus with three-axis pointing capability. GNB satellites weigh seven kilograms and are 20x20x20cm in size. The GNB represents state-of-the-art Canadian nanosatellite technology, and is one generation in advance of the technology flying on CanX-2, another SFL nanosatellite currently in its third year of operations. The GNB will also support upcoming missions including BRITE Constellation and the CanX-4&5 formation flying mission. GNB technology is also the basis for third-generation NEMO (Nanosatellite for Earth Monitoring and Observation) class missions, involving 15 kilogram, 20x20x40cm satellite platforms such as NEMO-AM, an aerosol-monitoring mission for the Government of India.
Follow the links to read the news release from the Indian Space Research Organization, and articles on the Spaceflight Now.
U of T Engineering professors have been awarded four out of 31 new research grants offered through Canada’s Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program, an initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Faculty recipients are:
• Professor Moshe Eizenman (IBBME), awarded $353,597 over three years for research on objective assessment of visual acuity in pre-verbal subjects;
• Professor Andrew Avi Goldenberg (MIE), awarded $375,000 over three years for research on MRI-guided focal ablation of prostate cancerous tissue;
• Professor Milica Radisic (IBBME, ChemE), awarded $444,765 over three years for research on tissue-engineered patches for the repair of cardiovascular congenital malformations; and,
• Professor Craig A. Simmons (MIE), awarded $465,255 over three years for research on microfluidic drug screening in complex vascular microenvironments.
Twelve universities across Canada will benefit from the CHRP grants, valued at $13 million, which the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced on July 8, 2010 in Vancouver. Three other U of T professors will also receive the grants.
Follow the links to read the government press release announcing the grants, and the story on the University of Toronto home page, as well as on the Laboratory Product News website.
Professor Axel Guenther (MIE, IBBME) and colleagues have developed a microfluidic platform on which fragile blood vessels can be fixed, allowing the factors that promote and sustain cardiovascular diseases to be studied.
Microvascular structure and function are currently studied using either an isometric approach, where small arteries are mounted on two wires, or an isobaric method, where arteries are drained and filled using glass micropipettes. Both these procedures require manually skilled personnel and are not scalable. Professor Guenter and team have overcome these limitations by developing a microfluidic platform on which to mount arteries, which is scalable, inexpensive and has potential for automation and standardisation. The device could be used to routinely screen drug candidates on viable arteries, potentially speeding up the drug development process and reducing the need for animal experimentation.
Follow the link to read the full article.
Alumna Julie Payette (ECE MASc 9T0) has been promoted to an officer of the Order of Canada, one of 74 new appointments announced on June 30 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.
An astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency, Payette was described as “a source of inspiration and an international ambassador for engineering in Canada” in a news release. In 1999 Payette became the first Canadian to visit the International Space Station, travelling on the space shuttle Discovery, and a decade later she met another Canadian in space for the first time. She is the second Canadian woman to fly in outer space.
Payette was one of seven alumni of the University of Toronto honoured in the recent appointments, along with four faculty members. The Order of Canada is the pinnacle of Canada’s honours system and recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. Founded in 1967, the Order has three levels of membership: companion, officer and member. Appointments are made on the recommendation of an advisory council chaired by the chief justice of Canada; the governor general is chancellor and principal companion.
Follow the links below to read articles on Julie Payette and the Order of Canada appointments: