Engineering Strategic Communications

U of T, other Ontario universities create fellowship to increase diversity in engineering and technology

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 17:21:35 +0000

U of T, other Ontario universities create fellowship to increase diversity in engineering and technology

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 01/18/2021 - 12:21

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(photo by Daria Perevezentsev)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Our Community

Black

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Indigenous

Six universities in Ontario have partnered to create a new fellowship to expand the pathways for Indigenous and Black students pursuing doctoral degrees in engineering to prepare them for academic careers as professors and industry researchers.

The Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowships aim to address the urgent need to provide pathways that encourage and support the pursuit of graduate studies by under-represented groups. A lack of representation has hindered the enrolment of Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) and Black graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs.

IBET Momentum Fellowship recipients will receive financial support, mentorship, training and networking opportunities to foster a robust professional community for participating PhD candidates.

“It’s clear that U of T Engineering – as well as the engineering profession and academia in general – must accelerate our work to improve representation of Black and Indigenous students, staff and faculty members at all levels,” says Christopher Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “Launching the IBET Momentum Fellowships is a start, and we plan to listen and evolve our program as we learn from its first candidates. Today, we are pleased to join our partner universities in launching this important initiative.”

In addition to U of T Engineering, the partnership includes the engineering and math faculties at the University of Waterloo and the engineering faculties at McMaster University, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University and Western University. The six partner universities share the understanding that greater diversity is needed among academic leaders in engineering and technology to reflect all populations and to ensure a full range of thought and problem-solving approaches.

The Momentum Fellowships are a central pillar of the new IBET PhD Project, which aims to change the academic landscape within the next five to 10 years by increasing the number of Indigenous and Black engineering professors teaching and researching in universities across Ontario. The project will also bring more diverse perspectives and voices into engineering research and the Canadian technology industries.

Two recipients each year will receive $25,000 annually for four years as they pursue doctorate degrees and specialized engineering research. Interested Canadian students can apply for the IBET Momentum Fellowships following their application to a graduate program.

'Ask questions and try things': U of T hosts grade-school students, innovation minister at STEM-focused event

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 10 May 2019 18:29:42 +0000

'Ask questions and try things': U of T hosts grade-school students, innovation minister at STEM-focused event

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 05/10/2019 - 14:29

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More than 1,000 Ontario students from Grades 2-8 were on U of T's downtown Toronto campus Friday for Go North Youth, hosted by U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in partnership with Google Canada and Actua (all photos by Roberta Baker)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

City & Culture

Artificial Intelligence

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Research & Innovation

STEM

More than 1,100 inquiring minds visited the University of Toronto on Friday for Go North Youth – the largest science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) event in Canada for pre-university students.

The annual one-day event, hosted by U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in partnership with Google Canada and Actua, encourages Ontario students from Grades 2-8 to build, explore and learn about the vast possibilities that open by studying and pursuing careers in STEM.

This year's theme of artificial intelligence (AI) gave students the opportunity to not only gain a better understanding of the power of AI, but also gain exposure to how “smart” technology is built.

The agenda included experiential STEM workshops, AI coding activities, as well as demonstrations in “Innovate Alley,” a hub of STEM activity located in the atrium of the Bahen Centre.

The day kicked off with opening ceremonies in U of T's Convocation Hall, featuring welcome remarks from Navdeep Bains (pictured above), the federal minister of innovation, science and economic development, Cristina Amon, the dean of U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, as well as a keynote from student quantum computing expert Tanisha Bassan and a live demo by movie prop-maker “the Hacksmith,” who also goes by the name James Hobson.

“Engineering is about turning imagination into reality,” said Amon. “While you are here, remember to keep your eyes open, to ask questions and try things you have never tried before.

“Our country and our world need creative people like you, and I hope you will consider returning to U of T as engineering students one day.”

Prior to the opening ceremonies, Amon participated in a roundtable discussion on AI and how Canada can strengthen its AI ecosystem and prepare the next generation for the future of work.

The discussion included policy-makers and industry leaders such as Megh Gupta of Element AI, Natacha Mainville of Google Brain and tech expert Amber Mac.

Check out more photos and social media moments captured from the day.

Go North event at U of T inspires young STEM students

ullahnor — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 15:50:25 +0000

Go North event at U of T inspires young STEM students

ullahnor Wed, 06/06/2018 - 11:50

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Students design their vision for a future city at U of T Engineering’s Go North Youth event on June 5 (photo by Laura Pedersen)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Kirsty Duncan

More than 1,100 Ontario students in Grades 3 to 8 visited the University of Toronto this week for a chance to peek under the hood of today’s technologies, and get a taste of university life.

The one-day Go North Youth event, created by U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in partnership with Google Canada and Actua, featured workshops and learning designed to ignite curiosity and showcase the possibility that a career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can hold.

Young STEM enthusiasts work on projects at the Go North Youth event (photo by Laura Pedersen)

“Go North is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a lot of the kids to get to the University of Toronto and experience cutting-edge STEM technology,” said Tim Barker, a Grade 4 teacher at McKee Public School in Toronto. “The event offers exactly the kind of experiential learning that both teachers and students are looking for these days.”

Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan helped kick off the event to a crowd full of students in Convocation Hall.

“I am so excited to be here at Go North,” Duncan said. “I want you to know you are the most important people. You’re going to be the astronauts, the engineers, the inventors, the scientists, the teachers. You’re going to be whatever you want to be. You’re going to be the future leaders of our country.”

Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan speaks to Ontario students at the event (photo by William Suarez)

Cristina Amon, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, talked about pursuing STEM and encouraged students to make the most of the unique opportunity.

“This is your chance to build, design, test and explore what it is like to be an engineer,” said Amon. “Engineers do what we do because we care to make the world a better place.”

Dean Cristina Amon mingled with students at the Go North Youth event (photo by Laura Pedersen)

Earlier in the day, Amon met with other STEM leaders from industry and government for a roundtable discussion on how to best prepare Canadian youth for the future of work through STEM. She emphasized U of T Engineering’s cross-faculty initiatives, multidisciplinary student environment, work-integrated learning, entrepreneurship opportunities and commitment to diversity, as strategies for developing engineering leaders of tomorrow.

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Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

ullahnor — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:54:36 +0000

Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

ullahnor Thu, 10/06/2016 - 11:54

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University Professor Molly Shoichet holds the hyaluronic acid (HA)-based injectible hydrogel developed in her lab that helps transplanted stem cells survive, integrate and repair damaged tissue in the brain and eye (photo by Roberta Baker)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Author legacy

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Global Lens

Research & Innovation

Stem Cells

Molly Shoichet

Peter Zandstra

Subheadline

Pioneering stem-cell researcher developed hydrogel platform to deliver stem cells to brain and eyes, restoring vision by 15 per cent

University Professor Molly Shoichet, a world-renowned researcher and leader in the use of biomaterials to enhance stem-cell delivery for treating disease conditions from stroke to blindness, is the recipient of the 2016 Till & McCulloch Award.

The award recognizes both Shoichet’s contributions to global stem cell research, and her 2015 paper on the use of hydrogels for stem cell transplantation as the most impactful stem cell research publication authored in Canada in the past year.

Shoichet is a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. The Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering, she is a leader in the use of biomaterials to enhance cell delivery and to guide stem cell fate for tissue engineering. She is also a principal investigator in Medicine by Design, a leading regenerative medicine initiative at U of T that is designing and manufacturing cells, tissues and organs that can be used in research, drug discovery and clinical treatments.

Read about Molly Shoichet winning L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award

“Dr. Shoichet, an expert in polymers to advance our understanding of drug delivery and regeneration to promote healing in the body, has made numerous significant contributions to the field of regenerative medicine,” says University Professor Peter Zandstra (IBBME), executive director of Medicine by Design, chief scientific officer of Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine and a member of the selection committee. “This paper demonstrates that specific interactions between the cells and HA support their survival, migration and integration in animal models of retinal degeneration. The selection committee was impressed with the paper because it offers solutions to the cell delivery problem in neural disease. Importantly, the same material also has a pro-survival effect in a separate animal model of stroke, suggesting broad potential applicability of the strategy.”

“While clinical trials in humans are years away, this work is clearly moving in that direction,” says Dr. Michael Rudnicki, Scientific Director of the Stem Cell Network and the 2014 Till & McCulloch Award winner. “Diseases like age-related macular degeneration and stroke don’t yet have cures and today’s medicines only slow the progression of these diseases. Stem cell-based therapies, however, have the potential to outright stop the disease progression and, in the case of blindness, reverse it.”

“It is a thrill and an honour to give a lecture that salutes the incredibly important and pioneering research of Drs. Till and McCulloch,” says Shoichet. “I am humbled to be receiving this award that has been won in previous years by superbly talented, internationally renowned stem cell scientists. I am very grateful and look forward to sharing our research with everyone in beautiful British Columbia.”

Bronze medal finish for U of T’s Blue Sky Solar Racing team at the American Solar Challenge 2016

lanthierj — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 20:18:55 +0000

Bronze medal finish for U of T’s Blue Sky Solar Racing team at the American Solar Challenge 2016

lanthierj Mon, 08/08/2016 - 16:18

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Horizon, the solar car designed, built and raced by the University of Toronto’s Blue Sky Solar Racing team races across Missouri on August 3 during Day 4 of the American Solar Challenge 2016 (photos courtesy: Blue Sky Solar Racing)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Author legacy

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Global Lens

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Solar Racing

Blue Sky Solar Racing

The University of Toronto's Blue Sky Solar Racing team has finished third in the American Solar Challenge – an eight-day, rally-style solar car race.

Horizon, the solar car designed, built and raced by the U of T team, zipped across the finish line Saturday to cheers and shouts from its 18-member race crew.

The event. which is divided into four stages, covers 1,975 miles (3,178 kilometres) through the American Midwest states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, finishing at Wind Cave National Park near Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Horizon, an eighth-generation vehicle, made the trip with an official time of 62 hours, 11 minutes and three seconds, powered only by electricity generated from sunlight.

Of the 16 solar car teams from colleges and universities across Canada, the United States and Switzerland that qualified to race, only 11 completed the challenging course.

“We always knew this would be an incredible experience, but to place third is really special,” said Engineering student Frank Gu, managing director of the Blue Sky Solar Racing team. “It’s a tribute to the hard work of all the team members who have spent countless hours designing, building and testing this vehicle over the last two years.”

Alumnus leaves landmark $20-million bequest to U of T Engineering

lavende4 — Tue, 31 May 2016 14:26:56 +0000

Alumnus leaves landmark $20-million bequest to U of T Engineering lavende4 Tue, 05/31/2016 - 10:26

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Erwin Edward Hart (inset) and the Little Red Skulehouse, U of T Engineering’s first building (sketch by artist Andrea M. Listro /photo illustration by Geoff Agnew)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Author legacy

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Our Community

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Boundless

Alumni

Subheadline

Percy Edward Hart and Erwin Edward Hart Professorships to bolster early-career research and graduate student mentorship

A $20-million bequest from the estate of alumnus Erwin Edward Hart (CivE 4T0) will drive engineering forward by supporting emerging research and education at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and providing enhanced opportunities for graduate students.

The income from the Hart Trust will fund the Percy Edward Hart and Erwin Edward Hart Professorships. Seven faculty members, each within the first 10 years of their academic career, will receive $75,000 per year for three years for research and graduate student support. The recipients will be nominated by their department or institute and will have demonstrated a high level of research excellence and exemplary graduate mentorship.

Erwin Edward Hart was a long-time employee of Massey-Ferguson Ltd. and served as the company’s chief welding engineer. The professorships are named in honour of Hart and his late father, Percy Edward Hart.

“The Hart Professorships are an outstanding example of the impact that can be made when visionary generosity meets visionary leadership,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “Mr. Hart’s legacy gift will bolster the work of promising researchers at a crucial stage in their careers.”

The professorships will foster the next generation of engineering research leaders and educators, and strengthen the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s position as one of the world’s great engineering schools, said dean Cristina Amon.

“Investments in early-career faculty will accelerate research and innovation,” Amon said. “This gift will support generations of professors and deepen our Faculty’s culture of research and teaching excellence. It will also strengthen the Faculty’s ability to recruit top early-career educators and researchers from around the world. Our students will benefit by working with faculty members who are committed to mentoring the next generation of innovators.”

The bequest contributes to U of T Engineering’s $200-million fundraising goal as part of Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto. To date, the Faculty has raised more than $180 million.

The first cohort of Hart Professors will begin in September 2016, and will represent the following departments and institutes:

Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
Department of Civil Engineering
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
Institute for Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering

Engineering Strategic Communications

U of T, other Ontario universities create fellowship to increase diversity in engineering and technology

'Ask questions and try things': U of T hosts grade-school students, innovation minister at STEM-focused event

Go North event at U of T inspires young STEM students

View the Twitter Moment

Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

Read more about Molly Shoichet's research

Read about Molly Shoichet winning L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award

Read more about hydrogels

Bronze medal finish for U of T’s Blue Sky Solar Racing team at the American Solar Challenge 2016

Read more about the Blue Sky Solar Racing team

Alumnus leaves landmark $20-million bequest to U of T Engineering