UTIAS Shines BRITE With World’s Smallest Space Telescopes
A pair of space telescope satellites, designed by U of T Engineering’s Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), are now circling the Earth, prepared to find and study the brightest stars in the sky. Measuring only 20 centimetres a side, and weighing less than seven kilograms, the nano-satellites are the smallest astronomical satellites ever built. They were […]
UTIAS Graduate Talks Women in Engineering to ‘TEDxYouth@Toronto’
Women need to embrace curiosity and risk taking if they want to excel in science and engineering, says U of T Engineering alumna Natalie Panek (AeroE MASc 0T9). Panek, a systems engineer at MDA Space Missions, emphasized her desire to see more young women become scientists and engineers in a recent TEDxYouth@Toronto talk. “For me, […]
David Zingg receives the 2012 McCurdy Award from CASI
Professor David Zingg (UTIAS) has been named the 2012 recipient of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) McCurdy Award. One of CASI’s most prestigious awards, the McCurdy Award is presented for outstanding achievement in the science and creative aspects of engineering relating to aeronautics and space research. The award commemorates the many contributions made by U […]
International Aviation Body Confirms Human-powered Ornithopter Achievement
An historic human-powered ornithopter flight by the Toronto-based Snowbird in 2010 has been certified as a world record first by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The Snowbird is a human-powered flapping wing aircraft that was designed and built by and Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson of AeroVelo, while they were University of Toronto Engineering graduate students at the Institute for Aerospace […]
NSERC Grant Allows UTIAS to ‘CREATE’ New Certificate Program
For generations now, people from around the world have accepted the invitation to fly the friendly skies. This has increased global travel and advanced cultural and commercial exchanges. However, it has also left an increasingly large carbon footprint, one that researchers at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) have been seeking to […]
U of T Human-Powered Design Team Takes Flight … Again
The ambitions of a University of Toronto-based design team are about to take flight … again! The team, led by U of T Engineering alumni Todd Reichert (EngSci 0T5, UTIAS PhD 1T1) and Cameron Robertson (EngSci 0T8, UTIAS MASc 0T9), is seeking to build a human-powered helicopter and be the first to win the Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter […]
Former UTIAS Graduate Student Explains Video Hoax
Dr. Todd Reichert, who was the first person to successfully fly a human-powered ornithopter and recently completed his PhD at the University of Toronto Institute of Aerospace Studies, has debunked claims by a Dutch man that he created a “semi-human-powered” flying machine. In a series of videos posted on YouTube, Jarno Smeets constructed and appears to […]
Top Industrial Researcher Named NSERC/ P&WC Industrial Research Chair
An industrial researcher with more than 35 years of experience conducting research and development toward reducing the environmental impact of aviation has been named the inaugural NSERC/P&WC Industrial Research Chair in Aviation Gas Turbine Combustion/Emissions Research and Design System Optimization. Dr. Sam Sampath was named to the position at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace […]
Documentary Follows Ornithopter Team’s Journey to Aviation History
On November 21, the CBC’s documentary channel will air When Dreams Take Flight, which follows UTIAS PhD candidate Todd Reichert (EngSci 0T5) and his team, as they construct and fly a human-powered ornithopter. The U of T Engineering graduate students made aviation history in August 2011, when their ornithopter, “Snowbird,” became the first ever to achieve sustained flight. Make sure […]
