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.

Phil De Luna (MSE PhD candidate) is one of the lead authors of a new paper published in Nature Chemistry that reports a low-cost, highly efficient catalyst for chemical conversion of water into oxygen. The catalyst is part of an artificial photosynthesis system being developed at U of T Engineering. (Photo: Tyler Irving)

Artificial photosynthesis gets big boost from new catalyst

U of T Engineering system takes inspiration from plants to convert electrical energy to chemical energy at 64 per cent efficiency, the highest yet reported for renewable carbon fuels

Professor David Sinton has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (Photo: NSERC)

David Sinton elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Award recognizes Sinton’s application of microfluidics to challenges in sustainable energy

University Professor Molly Shoichet (ChemE, IBBME), a world-leading researcher in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, has been appointed the first Chief Scientific Officer of Ontario. (Credit: Roberta Baker)

Molly Shoichet named Ontario’s first Chief Scientist

New position will advise government on science-based policy and champion high quality science in government and education

From left: UTEV’s Professor Peter Lehn, Dr. Theo Soong, and Professor Olivier Trescases (all ECE) at the Electric Mobility Canada Show with Havelaar’s electric pick-up truck, the Bison. (Credit: Sonja Persram).

Electric vehicle partnership earns $9-million investment

University of Toronto Electric Vehicle Research Centre (UTEV) receives major grants to advance R&D of sustainable transportation

Bailey Bernknopf was born with heart defects. She’s now researching a cure as a graduate student at U of T’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME). (Photo: Tyler Irving)

She was born with heart defects. Now she’s researching a cure

Bailey Bernknopf is one of 88 students joining U of T’s Insititute for Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering this fall

Members of U of T Engineering's AutoDrive team adjust the mounts for autonomous sensors on a donated Chevrolet Bolt. The team has until April to turn the electric vehicle into a self-driving vehicle. (Photo: Alex Lee)

AutoDrive: Student team gears up on self-driving electric vehicle challenge

Chevrolet Bolt to be made autonomous by U of T Engineering team

Chemical engineering PhD candidate Kayla Nemr and Professor Krishna Mahadevan grow yeast in a bioreactor. Along with their collaborators, they are using these organisms to transform bark, leaves and stems into the chemical building blocks of materials such as nylon. (Photo: Tyler Irving)

Natural fibres: New yeast strains could turn plant waste into fabrics

U of T Engineering researchers are developing bio-based commodity chemicals, including nylon precursors

DriverLab simulation

U of T Engineering researchers use DriverLab simulator to focus on driver behaviour and safety

DriverLab is the only simulator of its kind in Canada and offers a safe way to study a range of human variables in realistic traffic and weather conditions

In 2015, Alison McGuigan and her team unveiled TRACER, a rolled-up strip of engineered tissue enabling scientists to mimic the way cells grow in a tumour. Two years later, they’ve created a new tool that now lets researchers watch tumour cells reorganize over time. (Courtesy: Alison McGuigan)

Expert in microfabrication and disease modelling awarded Connaught Fund McLean Award

Alison McGuigan (ChemE) receives $125,000 prize for her work that aims to create better mechanisms for predicting how well promising drugs will work in patients