Chair's Office

March 12, 2012

Volume 3, Issue 34
In this issue:

Honours and Awards
Research Activities
CSE News
Seminars
Graduate Studies
Student Affairs
Announcements
Job Opportunities
Archives
Connect

In the photo above, 4th year Industrial Engineering students celebrate their Iron Rings on Saturday, March 3.

MIE Flexible PhD Program
The motion to establish the flexible PhD program in MIE was passed at a recent Faculty Council meeting with a large majority vote. The program is expected to commence in September 2012. Thanks to Professor Markus Bussmann for leading the initiative, and congratulations to him and to all for their support at Faculty Council.

Matthesa Gregg accepts Design Administrative Assistant Position
Matthesa Gregg has accepted the offer as Design Administrative Assistant, a newly created position to support design activities including the capstone design courses and the U of T Institute for Multidisciplinary Design and Innovation (UT-IMDI). She will start on Monday, March 12. Matthesa joined in August 2011 as Receptionist and Operation Assistant. We welcome Matthesa to the new position and wish her all the best in this new and exciting endeavor.

MIE Alumnus Leads Development of Most Fuel-Efficient Car
The Ford Focus electric is officially the U.S.'s most fuel-efficient five-passenger car. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified the vehicle at 105 miles per gallon-equivalent (mpg-e) in the combined cycle of city and highway driving. MIE alumnus Ted Robertson (MechE 7T1, MEng 7T7) leads Magna's activities in electric vehicle propulsion, including the Ford e-Focus program. He is Vice Chairman & President, North America, of Magna E-Car Systems, and Chief Technical Officer the Americas for Magna International.

AMIGAS Persian New Year Celebration
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Location: MC331

MIE Capstone Design Showcase
Date: Thursday, March 22
Time: 6 - 9 p.m.
Location: Hart House, Great Hall, 7 Hart House Circle
This event will showcase all 2011 - 2012 Capstone Design projects by senior Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students. Join MIE students, faculty and clients as we celebrate another successful year of Capstone Design. RSVP

Honours and Awards

Research Activities

Professor Chan » Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and TSN.com
MIT's Business School Presented the Sixth Annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, MA, March 2 - 3. Professor Timothy Chan and undergraduate student David Novati, presented their take on measuring individual point shares for NHL players at this year's conference. Read more on TSN.com and at the conference website.

NSERC Funded Research
Professor Sanjeev Chandra has been awarded an NSERC Engage Grant for a project to "develop a compact, high efficiency heat exchanger that uses combustion of natural gas to heat compressed air used in cold spray guns." Industry partner CenterLine Inc. of Windsor, Ontario is one of the leading manufacturers in the world of cold spray equipment, making portable systems to spray metal coatings onto surfaces.

Professor Mandelis » Visit to Major Centres in China
Professor Andreas Mandelis will be visiting three major centers in China as of Sunday, March 10: The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu; Suzhou University in Suzhoo (near Shanghai); and the Institute of Optics and Electronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shechuan. In all these institutions he will be giving several research talks, including the CADIFT flagship presentation: "Diffusion Waves: They go where no light has gone before!"

He will also meet with officials (Deans, VP Research, Presidents) in those institutions and will also act as an ambassador for the University of Toronto, being asked to present talks on facts about our Faculty to large bodies of students (Undergraduate and Graduate), faculty and administrators.

Professor Prasad » 30th Anniversary Lecture Series in Ankara, Turkey
Adjunct Professor S. Eswar Prasad, will deliver the 30th anniversary lecture (Aero30) at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey from March 16 - 28, 2012. Professor Prasad is currently a Visiting Professor at the University. As a part of this series, Professor Prasad will deliver six lectures (total of 18 hours) on Smart Materials and Systems. It is anticipated that up to 200 people from academic, research and industrial areas will attend these lectures. Professor Prasad is also the CEO of Piemades, Inc., and a member of the MIE Industry Board of Advisors.

Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) » Networking & Communications Course
Dates: Monday, March 27 & Tuesday, March 27

Research in Action » University of Toronto Department of Computer Science
Date: Tuesday, March 27

Resuscitation in Motion | Toronto
Date: Thursday, May 3

Collaborative Program in Resuscitation Sciences at U of T March Newsletter

University of Toronto Institute for Optical Sciences (IOS) » Techno2012
Dates: Monday, June 18 - Friday, July 15

Canada Rising Stars in Global Health – Grand Challenges in Global Health Program

Deadline: Friday, March 23

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Letter of Inquiry

Deadline: March 27

New Industrial R&D Fellowships

Deadline: March 31

Soldier Systems Technology Roadmap – Call for Proposals

Academia, industry and government to propose R&D and technology solutions

NSERC 2012 Strategic Project Grants Competition

Deadline: Sunday, April 1

IPO Funding Opportunity: FedDev Ontario ARC Initiative Extension

CSE News

Postdoctoral Researchers and Graduate students are invited to join CSE
CSE is now inviting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to join the ranks of University of Toronto faculty as full members of the Centre. Join us now as we embark on an exciting year of workshops, seminars and social events.  

Nanoporous Materials via Electrochemical Dealloying: Toward Applications in Energy Technologies
Speaker: Professor Jonah D. Erlebacher, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
Date: Wednesday, March 14
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Location: WB116

DGRC Seminar Series » Investigating Transport in Porous Media for Clean Energy Applications
Speaker: Professor Aimy Bazylak, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Date: Thursday, March 15
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Location: MB101

Sustainable Energy Fair
The Sustainable Energy Fair will showcase ideas about first steps towards a sustainable energy future through interactive and exciting exhibits from student groups, community organizations, companies, and researchers.
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St. George Street

CSE Seminar » Transport Phenomena in Porous Electrodes: Three-dimensional nano-scale imaging and micro-scale in-situ measurements
Speaker: Shawn Litster, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Date: Tuesday, March 20
Time: 1:00pm
Location: BA1200

Join the CSE Mailing List
Please send an e-mail with your name and student/faculty status to Kristian Galberg.

Follow CSE on Twitter
CSE_UToronto

Seminars

MIE Distinguished Seminar Series » Designing Omniphobic Surfaces for Super Liquid Repellency and Friction Reduction
Speaker: Dr. Gareth McKinley, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Friday, March 16
Time: 2:10 p.m.
Location: MC102

Seminar in Centre for Research in Healthcare Engineering (CRHE) » A Case Study on the Use of Operations Research to Evaluate Changes in A Blood Supply Chain
Speaker: Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University, Canadian Blood Services
Date: Wednesday, March 14
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: RS207

UTORG » A Point Process Model with Stochastic Intensity for Accident Forecasting
Speaker: Chen Lin, PhD student at the Quality, Reliability and Maintenance Lab
Date: Wednesday, March 14
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: RS207

Graduate Studies

Toronto Engineering Club of Speakers (TECS) Meeting
• Develop your speaking and leadership skills in a fun environment
• Network with professional engineers and other students
• Play different roles: toastmaster, topics master, speaker, evaluator, grammarian, ah-counter, and more
Date: Every Tuesday
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Location: MC331

Applications » Discovery Student Competitions
Ontario Centres of Excellence's annual Discovery conference features two open student competitions where Ontario university and college students and recent grads can compete to receive cash and other prizes. Information about the Student Video Competition and Social Enterprise Student Competition can be found below or by visiting the Discovery 12 Competitions webpage.

PhD Thesis Seminar
Sarina Turner: "Optimization in Green Engineering"
Date: Wednesday, March 14
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: RS207
Exam committee: Professors T. Chan (supervisor and exam chair), J.C. Beck and D. Frances

PhD Thesis Seminar
Chirag Variawa: "Examining the Language of Engineering Education"
Date: Thursday, March 15
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: MC123
Exam committee: Professors S. McCahan (supervisor and exam chair), M. Chignell, M. Gruninger and E. Jang

Student Affairs

Formula SAE March Newsletter

MIE Undergraduate International Student Exchange Scholarship Award
The MIE International Student Exchange Scholarship is open for undergraduate students enrolled in MIE at U of T. Applicants must have a minimum cGPA of 3.0 and enjoy good academic standing. The scholarship is for $2,000 (maximum), and is one-time only irrespective of the duration of stay at the partner (host) university.

Announcements

R Tutorial
R is a programming language and environment developed by (mostly) statisticians using the language S as a base. This tutorial will provide you with the basic tools and exposure to R. We will cover a variety of statistical and graphical tools, using practical data analysis examples.
Date: Monday, March 12
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Location: MC310

Job Opportunities

Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Executive Assistant to the Chair

Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Receptionist & Operations Assistant

Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Undergraduate Program Coordinator and Counsellor

Mechanics and Aerospace Design Laboratory (MADL)
Postdoctoral Fellow and a doctoral students

Newsletter Archives

Did you miss a past issue of The MIE Newsletter? Find it on the MIE Weekly Newsletter page.

The MIE Newsletter is a weekly summary of key headlines, events and opportunities for faculty and staff in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering department within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. If you have questions or comments, please contact: newsletter@mie.utoronto.ca.

Connect