A startup co-founded by CivMin PhD student Emily Farrar has earned a $100,000 investment in its technology, which produces cultivated beef fat in bioreactors.

Genuine Taste earned both the Top Venture and People’s Choice Awards in the 2024 Invest Together in Climate Innovation program. The competition is run by Spring, a Vancouver-based global incubator, accelerator and advisory firm with the goal of looking to change the world through innovation.

The company aims to introduce real beef flavour in foods, without the slaughtering of animals. Through this approach, they hope to reduce the environmental footprint of the meat industry, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and the use of agricultural land.

“During the program, we worked closely with a team of angel investors through a due diligence process,” says Farrar.

“Special thanks to the investor team, who asked many great questions and helped clarify our vision. I can’t wait to continue on our journey to create delicious, ethical and sustainable food alternatives for consumers.”

The Spring program involved a 14-week program, seeing 75 climate tech ventures apply with only 16 of those accepted.

“Once accepted, we created a one-page overview of our company and pitched to the cohort of investors, who voted on the top five,” says Farrar.

“We were selected for the top five, at which point each company underwent due diligence with an assigned team of angel investors. At the end of the program, the full cohort of angel investors chose one company to receive the $100k investment. We also had a public pitch, where the audience voted for People’s Choice, which we also won.”

Farrar is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto under the co-supervision of Professors Marianne Hatzopoulou and Shoshanna Saxe (both CivMin).

 

Tazwar Bin Hasan (MechE 2T2+PEY) and his team have earned national runner-up status in the 2024 James Dyson Award competition. 

Their invention, CPR Lifeline, is an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) device designed to be safer and more versatile than current models.

Hasan’s team includes Sadat Anwar, a graduate of University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the same faculty, and industrial designer Mohammad Shadab Naveed, a graduate of Arizona State University. 

The three initially became friends in their native Dhaka, Bangladesh, and have met up regularly over the years. During one of these visits, they decided to take a CPR course together. 

“We are the sort of people who are always up for a new experience, just to see what we learn from it,” says Hasan. 

“In that class, we found out that not many people know how to do proper CPR, and that results in a lot of preventable injury each year. With our backgrounds in engineering and design, we thought that we might be able to create something that could help.  

“Naveed found an opportunity to explore this further during his thesis and heavily researched on the best industrial design solution for the device, while Anwar and I researched on the internal mechanisms, fabrication and prototyping. Early this year all our work came to fruition to create the final product that you see.” 

The idea of an automated CPR device isn’t completely new, with at least one model already available commercially. But Hasan and his team believed they could improve on the design in terms of versatility and safety. 

“Existing models don’t really fit large patients, which is unfortunate as they are the ones most likely to suffer from cardiac arrest,” says Hasan. 

“They also cause secondary injuries, such as skin lesions and rib fractures; while injuries are common in CPR in general, these devices can make them more likely.” 

In contrast to existing devices, CPR Lifeline uses an adjustable strap, with the device sitting flush against the patient’s chest. Hasan says this makes it more applicable to larger adults. 

The team also redesigned the actuator that provides the CPR. Instead of a suction cup, their actuator ends in a flat disk covered in microfibre material, which the team says will reduce injuries. 

In building the prototype, Hasan says he drew extensively on skills he learned at U of T Engineering. 

“I focused on mechatronics, learning to design and build systems integrating mechanical, electrical and software components. I also got a lot of practical experience during my Professional Experience Year Co-op work term, which included working on automated packaging machines,” he says. 

“But most importantly, U of T Engineering taught me how to manage multiple projects simultaneously, how to build teams and assign tasks effectively, and really just how to get stuff done. I learned how to pivot and be quick on my feet, which is really valuable in the work I do now.” 

Hasan and Anwar have founded a company, Ergonic, to develop more products of their own design, as well as for clients. Among their creations are a wearable pill reminder, an autonomous fruit picking robot and a digital Rubik’s cube. 

“Being a national runner-up in the James Dyson Award competition is a real vote of confidence for the work we do,” says Hasan. 

“We’re now looking for investors who can help us take CPR Lifeline the rest of the way toward production. But whether it’s this, or another innovative project that we can help entrepreneurs bring to life, our overall mission remains the same: to design devices and products that make life better for everyone.”

Members of the University of Toronto community came together to commemorate the 14 women who lost their lives in the violent attack at École Polytechnique 35 years ago — and to honour all those impacted by gender-based violence.

Students, faculty, staff, librarians and alumni from across U of T’s three campuses marked the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women with an event held at Hart House on Friday, while others attended virtually by livestream.

A group of students in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering also unveiled an interactive sculpture on the front steps of the Galbraith building on the St. George campus. The design features 14 candles surrounding a central flame with each candle representing a victim of the 1989 tragedy.

“Each candle has a button; when you press the button, it makes the central flame brighter,” says Rebecca Ing (Year 4 MSE), a member of the design team.

“This represents our individual role in taking action against gender-based violence”

The student group also organized a memorial ceremony on Friday that took place in front of Galbraith.

Inside Hart House’s Great Hall, students walked across a stage to read aloud the names and ages of the 14 women killed in the attack (which also left another 10 women and four men were injured): Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.

The reading of the names was followed by a moment of silence.

The event also featured roundtable discussions, a musical performance by artist Jenny Blackbird, a resource centre and programs co-ordinator at First Nations House Indigenous Student Services, and performances by the Skule String Quartet Orchestra.

During the ceremony, two U of T students were recognized for their dedication to addressing violence against women, girls, transgender and non-binary individuals with U of T’s Award for Scholarly Achievement in the Area of Gender-Based Violence.

The undergraduate recipient of the annual award was Yunchi “Hex” Li, who is pursuing a double major in sociology and women and gender studies with a minor in sexual diversity studies in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Li’s academic pursuits focus on dismantling patriarchal and heterosexist systems.

Roberta Silveira Pamplona, a PhD candidate in the department of sociology with a collaborative degree in women and gender studies, was the graduate recipient. Pamplona is analyzing the criminalization of feminicides in Brazil in her PhD dissertation.

“As Hex and Roberta’s work illustrates, there is such an impressively broad range of work happening at U of T, and we also saw this diversity of topics in our award applications overall,” said Sandy Welsh, U of T’s vice-provost, students, who presented the award to this year’s winners.

“Often this work happens quietly and behind the scenes — we know this is difficult work, and the conversations surrounding the work can be challenging to share — but seeing our students here today and recognizing the impact they are having on research and action, is important to acknowledge and celebrate.”

Marisa Sterling, assistant dean and director, diversity, inclusion and professionalism in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, reflected on how the tragedy spurred a personal exploration of feminism.

“What would change after Dec. 6 is the open acknowledgement that engineering has been an unsafe profession for women for years,” she said, highlighting the importance of efforts such as the inclusion of harassment in the definition of professional misconduct under the Professional Engineers Act, the establishment of programs like Go Code Girl, and the 30 by 30 campaign to increase the representation of women in the field.

She then called for continued remembrance and action to combat gender-based violence and discrimination.

After the award presentation and remarks, attendees were invited for a campus walk to visit the fire at Ziibiing Indigenous garden and to lay a white rose in commemoration of the lives lost.

This year’s hybrid event was co-hosted by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Hart House and the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre.

An interactive sculpture designed and built by U of T Engineering students now stands on the front steps of the Galbraith building.

It features 14 candles surrounding a central flame, with each candle representing the life of a woman who was murdered during the École Polytechnique massacre, which took place on December 6, 1989.

“Each candle has a button; when you press the button, it makes the central flame brighter,” says Rebecca Ing (Year 4 MSE), one of the members of the team.

“This represents our individual role in taking action against gender-based violence”

In addition to the build, the students have organized a memorial ceremony, set to take place on the front steps of the Galbraith building at 5 p.m. on December 6, 2024.

Kaija Mikes (Year 3 EngSci), another member of the team who has been helping with the build and ceremony annually for the past three years, recalls how she first got involved with this project

“I was just walking through the Sandford Fleming building one day, and I saw a bunch of people working with drills and saws working on something,” she says.

“As soon as I learned about the December 6^th memorial, I knew I had to put as much time into it as I could. This is something organized by a community that I feel I belong to, and it’s worth taking the time to be part of it.”

That feeling is shared by Isobel Arseneau (Year 3 EngSci), another long-time participant.

“It’s easy to get lost during final exam season, and also, as a woman, to feel othered in this program,” she says.

“I felt like that in my first year, in part because I didn’t have a community like this: a group of people, mostly women, who are coming together to bring about change. I think that’s what drew me to it.”

Thirty-five years ago today, a gunman entered a classroom on the campus of École Polytechnique de Montréal in Montréal, Que. Separating the men from the women, he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. He then continued through other parts of the building, in total killing 14 women and wounding 10 more women and four men, before fatally shooting himself.

“It’s scary as a woman in engineering to know that it happened, and that it could have happened to me. Even though it was a long time ago, it’s still an issue today, and I think it’s something we need to address,” says Ing.

“The part that always scared me the most was that the men stood up and left the room,” says Arseneau.

“The ceremony, and especially this interactive build, are meant to be a reminder, but also a practice.”

“We’re promising each other that we’re not going to stand up and leave, we’re going to have each other’s backs, and we’re not going to let something like this happen again.”

Alumna Gina Mollicone-Long (ChemE 9T3) is the co-founder of The Greatness Group. She was in her first year of engineering studies at U of T on December 6, 1989.

“We were stunned and shocked,” she says.

“I remember that we had a lot of security during our final winter exams. We had to show ID and then they locked the doors. It was surreal. Women were advised to avoid broadcasting that we were in engineering, so I sold my leather jacket to a male friend of mine.

“Up until that point, I didn’t really think that there was a major bias against women in engineering. It was a wake-up call, for sure. Afterward, I led the formation of the Chemical Engineering Women’s Issues Committee. Our mandate was to increase women in chemical engineering and remove the systemic barriers to entry.”

More than three decades later, Mollicone-Long has seen her own daughter graduate from U of T Engineering. She says that things have both changed and not changed.

“Obviously, the outward displays have disappeared. The offensive songs have been rewritten or forgotten. And there has been noticeable growth in the number of women in engineering: at times chemical engineering has been over 50% women, and the proportion in the overall faculty is much higher than when I started.

“That being said, women continue to be underrepresented at the top levels and leadership roles of most industries, including engineering. We still have work to do to ensure that women have the same access to the highest achievements. We can commemorate December 6 as both a reminder of how far we’ve come, and of our responsibility to continue to ensure that engineering is accessible to women.”

For Arseneau, December 6 means both reflection and action.

“I know the women around me still feel a sense of grief around this day, and I hope this build creates a space where it’s okay to feel that,” she says.

“But I also hope it draws people in, encourages them to learn more and get involved. We can’t change the events of what happened at École Polytechnique, but we can change how we act and move forward.”

Researchers at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto have developed a flexible, biodegradable electrode capable of stimulating neural precursor cells (NPCs) in the brain. This device delivers targeted electrical stimulation for up to seven days before dissolving naturally, eliminating the need for surgical removal.  

By harnessing the body’s innate repair mechanisms, this innovation offers a step forward in treating neurological disorders, which are a leading cause of disability worldwide. The work, led by Professors Hani Naguib (MSE, MIE) and Cindi Morshead, who is from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Surgery and cross-appointed to the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, was published in a recent issue of Biomaterials.  

Neurological disorders often result in irreversible cell loss, with limited treatment options available. A promising therapeutic approach involves stimulating NPCs — rare cells capable of repairing neural tissue. While previous methods, such as transcranial direct current stimulation, have shown promise, they lack precision and can damage tissue.  

The newly developed electrode addresses these challenges by providing precise, safe and temporary stimulation without requiring subsequent surgical interventions.  

“Neural precursor cells hold significant potential for repairing damaged brain tissue, but existing methods for activating these cells can be invasive or imprecise,” says Morshead.  

“Our biodegradable electrode provides a solution by combining effective stimulation with reduced patient risk.”  

To design the biodegradable neural probe, the team focused on materials that provided both biocompatibility and tunable degradation rates. 

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA), a flexible and FDA-approved material, was chosen for the substrate and insulation layer due to its predictable degradation based on monomer ratios and minimal inflammatory effects.  

Molybdenum was selected for the electrode itself, due to its durability and slow dissolution, both qualities essential for maintaining structural integrity during the intended one-week stimulation period.  

The electrodes were implanted in animal models and demonstrated the ability to stimulate NPCs effectively, increasing their numbers and activity without causing significant tissue damage or inflammation. This testing ensured the electrodes’ safety and efficacy for neural repair stimulation within the targeted time frame.  

“Our findings demonstrate that this electrode can stimulate neural repair in a controlled, temporary manner, which is crucial for avoiding complications associated with permanent implants,” says Tianhao Chen, a BME PhD student and the lead author of the study.  

“Our plan is to further develop this technology by creating multimodal, biodegradable electrodes that can deliver drugs and gene therapies to the injured brain,” says Morshead.  

“We have exciting data to show that activating brain stem cells with our electrical stimulation devices improves functional outcomes in a preclinical model of stroke.” 

Samantha Chan (Year 1 MechE) was just eight years old when she decided to become an engineer.

Her parents had taken her to see Big Hero 6 — an animated superhero film starring a young robotics prodigy — and the story cemented her early passion for building machines using electrical components.

“The movie got me super excited and inspired, and I begged my mom to enrol me in a robotics class,” she says. “When I learned about the bigger world of mechatronics, that’s when I knew I wanted to be an engineer.”