Research news

Learn more about the latest discoveries and innovations from the U of T Engineering community. Our researchers are developing new ways of capturing and storing clean energy, medical devices that can save and extend lives, smarter ways to design and build cities and much more.

Austin Mclean (MechEng 1T5+PEY, MEng 1T9) and Rashmi Satharakulasinghe (ChemE 1T7) demonstrate the electricity-free irrigation controller they developed to help farmers in developing countries make more efficient use of water in agriculture. (Photo: Corridor Water Technologies).

Social enterprise aims to bring smarter irrigation to areas without electricity

March 22, 2021

Recent U of T Engineering graduates spin off Corridor Water Technologies to help farmers around the world make the most of limited water resources

A new adjustable multi-dimensional (AMD) loading system will soon be added to U of T Engineering’s Structural Testing Facility. (Image: Myron Zhong)

Disaster-proof: Major lab upgrade lets engineers design structures that can better withstand earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis

March 5, 2021

Canada Foundation for Innovation funds major overhaul to U of T Engineering’s Structural Testing Facility, unique in the world

A U of T Engineering team, led by ECE graduate students, designed a UV lamp fitted with distance sensors to more efficiently disinfect contaminated surfaces. It has recently been prototyped. (Image: Jonathan Qu)

Smart UV lamp could fight COVID-19 and other diseases

March 2, 2021

ECE graduate students lead a large U of T Engineering team to bring new device from inception to prototype

Left to right: Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou (CivMin), MASc candidate Keni Mallinen (in vehicle) and research associate Dr. Arman Ganji with the UrbanScanner. The vehicle is a rolling laboratory capable of monitoring air quality, traffic, trees and the built environment. (Photo: Phill Snel)

The UrbanScanner Project: Mobile monitoring of air pollution in cities

February 25, 2021

Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou (CivMin) and her team have designed and built a vehicle to enable detailed tracking of urban air pollution over space and time

A bifacial perovskite/silicon tandem prototype being field-tested at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Saudi Arabia. The new technology is the result of a collaboration that includes U of T Engineering researchers. (Photo: Michele De Bastiani)

Two-sided solar cells can collect scattered light to gather more energy

January 11, 2021

New technology developed by international team from Saudia Arabia, Canada, Germany and Italy

Supported by U of T's Medicine by Design initiative, a multidisciplinary team led by University Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, BME, Donnely) plans to use retinal stem cells to restore vision. (Photo: Roberta Baker)

‘The next big step’: U of T researchers pursue a treatment for vision loss

January 6, 2021

An interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by U of T Engineering’s Molly Shoichet, are using retinal stem cells to restore vision

Part of the new DC microgrid, these commercial-scale solar arrays on the roof of the Galbraith Building deliver electric power to ECE’s Energy Systems Lab. (Photo: Afshin Poraria)

Fully operational DC microgrid boosts sustainability research in ECE

December 18, 2020

Researchers and students will have access to commercial-scale solar arrays and energy storage facilities — with the ability to collect real-time data

Professor Vaughn Betz (ECE). (Photo: Jess MacInnis)

Professor Vaughn Betz elected to the National Academy of Inventors

December 8, 2020

Award recognizes outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on society

PhD candidate Geonhui Lee works on an electrolyzer in the lab of Professor Ted Sargent (ECE). She is the lead author on a new paper in Nature Energy that outlines an electrochemical method for converting captured carbon into useful products, from fuels to plastics. (Photo: Marit Mitchell)

How clean electricity can upgrade the value of captured carbon

December 7, 2020

Researchers from U of T Engineering have developed a new pathway to convert CO2 captured with liquid amines into higher-value products, from fuel to plastics

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