Data analytics &
artificial intelligence news

Data analytics and artificial intelligence programs and research at U of T Engineering is reshaping processes to improve lives and generate value for people around the world.

An AI model segments flames and smoke in aerial footage, helping researchers track wildfire growth and build more accurate predictions. (photo courtesy of Steven Waslander)

New AI prediction model could transform how Canada fights wildfires

Technology developed by U of T Engineering researchers could help predict wildfire spread to support first responder safety and resources

Four people stand together with their pinky fingers raised.

Ask Alan: Capstone team creates AI tool to help students study

Student-designed chatbot pulls directly from course material and can be set up by a professor within an hour

Meagan Flus managing data collection at a hackathon in 2024. (photo submitted by Meagan Flus)

How hackathons can serve as a ‘living laboratory’ for studying engineering design team dynamics

Graduate student Meagan Flus (MIE PhD 2T6) used 24-hour observation to analyze conflict on design teams — and how to navigate it

Professor Nicolas Papernot (ECE) and his collaborators showed that publicly accessible AI models can be used to power a worm that adapts its strategy as it spreads. (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

U of T researchers demonstrate AI worm could target any online device

The research was conducted in a secure digital lab with the goal of helping the cybersecurity community prepare for an imminent threat

Large Language Models (LLMs) have high electricity and water consumption due to the resource requirements of serving them to millions of users. This footprint can be reduced using methods developed by Professor Samin Aref (MIE) and his team, which produce smaller LLMs through quantizing their parameters. (image generated by ChatGPT)

How ‘slimmed-down’ large language models can reduce AI’s environmental and energy footprint

U of T Engineering researchers examine ways to make the use of language models more resource efficient by replacing their high-precision parameters with low-precision ones

A group of people stand in front of a wall-to-wall screen displaying data.

New cybersecurity certificate prepares graduates to tackle digital vulnerabilities and threats

U of T Engineering certificate includes a new course, ECE381: Foundations and Frontiers in Cybersecurity

U of T Engineering professor Nicolas Papernot (ECE) also holds a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and is a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute. (photo by Matthew Tierney)

Professor Nicolas Papernot wins the 2025 Steacie Prize

The Steacie Prize is awarded to a person 40-years-old or younger, who has made notable contributions to research in Canada

Amy Bilton

CREATE grant puts sensing, data and analytics in the service of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Professor Amy Bilton (MIE) leads a new research project dedicated to leveraging big data to advance global development

Researchers with MOF-ChemUnity

New tool harnesses AI to navigate expanding world of metal–organic frameworks

MOF-ChemUnity offers a structured map of scientific knowledge about the structure, properties and potential uses of this highly versatile class of materials