An MIE team led by Dean Cristina Amon, in collaboration with ECE researchers, wants to improve battery technology. From left: Daniela Galatro (MIE PhD 2T1), Zhe Gong (ECE MASc 1T8), Carlos Da Silva (MIE PhD 1T6), Kshitij Gupta (MIE MASc 1T9).

December 14, 2017 – Researchers from MIE and ECE are working collaboratively to design the automotive battery of the future.

The four-year multidisciplinary research project is bringing together Professor Olivier Trescases (ECE), a power electronics expert; Dean Cristina Amon (MIE), a thermal management expert; and Havelaar Canada, a Toronto-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer behind the world’s first all-electric pickup truck.

The collaboration will address several key hurdles that currently limit the widespread manufacturing of EVs. Namely, the high cost and limited performance of today’s conservatively-designed lithium battery packs, which ultimately dictate the EV driving range and longevity.

The team aims to design a next-generation battery pack that is lower in cost, is more reliable, safer and lasts longer. A vital part in accomplishing this is by improving the thermal management of batteries. That is where the MIE expertise comes in.

The operating temperature of a lithium battery cell strongly influences its performance and lifespan. High temperatures improve performance but degrade the battery, while low temperatures increase the internal resistance of the battery and lower its capacity.

“Thermal management in batteries is crucial,” said postdoctoral fellow Carlos Da Silva (MIE PhD 1T6). “Whether it’s charging or discharging, the battery heats up. Those temperatures can reach very high, and if we don’t control the temperature, it can be catastrophic for the EV operation,” said Da Silva.

Researchers from MIE, under the supervision of Professor Amon, are developing a cooling system that will tightly control thermal performance, not only to keep the battery temperature within a safe range but to extend the lifespan of the battery.

This project is one of two – conducted under the umbrella of the University of Toronto Electric Vehicle Centre (UTEV) – to secure a $9 million investment through The Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC)’s Collaborative Research and Development Grants awards and Havelaar Canada’s industry contributions.

“We are grateful to have the support of NSERC and Havelaar Canada in providing us with this generous funding,” said Dean Amon. “This investment, and partnership with UTEV, will enable us to address pressing sustainability challenges within the automotive industry, and to further research and development of the electric vehicles of the future.”

Developing the next generation of EV battery packs is already a significant engineering challenge, but the team is also looking to take sustainable innovation even further.

“We want to design battery modules that can be recycled after their capacity is no longer suitable to operate in an EV,” said Da Silva. “We call it the ‘Second Life’ concept, where these batteries will not only be useful for EVs, but that can be recycled to work for stationary applications – such as an energy storage system for houses.”

The researchers have already built two battery module prototypes and plan to have a final version of their first-generation battery pack by early next year. They hope to test this battery pack in Havelaar’s electric pickup truck, before being commercialized.

In order to get there, Da Silva says that the multidisciplinary collaboration between ECE and MIE has been crucial. “This type of project requires very sophisticated and complex knowledge on the electrical side; however this project cannot be done without the mechanical and thermal expertise that we bring.”

December 14, 2017 – The new Paramount Pictures film Downsizing stars Hollywood A-list actors Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig and Christoph Waltz. But U of T Engineering students who look closely at the film’s trailer may notice some other familiar faces: Professors Javad Mostaghimi (MIE) and Mark Kortschot (ChemE) both appear as extras in the movie.

U of T Engineering asked the two professors about their Hollywood debut; here’s what MIE’s resident star, Professor Mostaghimi had to say:

How did this come about?

I responded to the open call and was invited to go to the casting studio. We got to meet director Alexander Payne, which was a big honour for me, as he is a three-time Oscar winner. I guess it went well, because we were then invited to participate.

What was the shoot like?

It took two days. We had to be there by 6 a.m. and we finished around 6 p.m. It was done in the auditorium of beautiful Agha Khan Museum, here in Toronto.

When you first saw the trailer, what was your reaction in being so prominently featured as an extra?

I was contacted by Mark that I have been prominently shown in the trailer. He sent me the link. Obviously I was happy to see it as I did not expect to be in the trailer.

Director Alexander Payne with Professor Javad Mostaghimi (MIE) during the filming of the film Downsizing.

What has been the reaction from your students and colleagues?

Many of my MIE230 students came to me asking me if I am the person in the trailer. They were happy to know that I was. In my last lecture, I showed a clip of the trailer for those who did not know about it. It was a lot of fun.

What are your thoughts on the premise of the movie? As an engineer, do you watch science fiction movies a bit differently?

The premise of shrinking living beings is obviously not realistic. However, the movie brings to our attention yet again the problem of accumulation of waste and that we should do something about it!

Are you going to see the film?

The Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering is planning to organize a visit to the theater in January. I am also going to see it with my family during the holidays.

Do you see a future in Hollywood?

It is not a question of planning a future career in Hollywood — I am already there!

Read the full article here.

Peter Wen (Year 4 MechE) shows off the Telehex, the multipurpose hex-key tool he designed and launched through The Entrepreneurship Hatchery. Wen says he spent over a thousand hours developing his first prototypes — something that will be much easier for students working in the forthcoming Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship. (Credit: Marit Mitchell)

December 14, 2017 – Peter Wen (Year 4 MechE) does his best problem solving when he gets in a room with other entrepreneurs.

Wen launched his company, TeleHex, out of The Entrepreneurship Hatchery in 2015. After running a successful Kickstarter campaign that almost doubled its target, it was time for Wen and his co-founder Rishi Persad to start fabricating and fulfilling orders of their unique telescoping hex-key tool.

But when they received their second shipment of TeleHex parts from the manufacturer, the quality wasn’t up to Wen’s standards. Disappointed with the vendor but unsure what to do, he consulted his fellow founders at a student entrepreneurship pitch competition. Many had experienced something similar, and by the end of the day he had a promising recommendation for a new provider.

“It’s been a recurring theme for me,” says Wen. “The most important business troubleshooting sessions have happened face-to-face, with likeminded people who are experiencing many of the same things I am.”

The Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CEIE), U of T Engineering’s newest building, is designed to spark organic collaborations like these. When it opens in April 2018, it will be a new home for the Hatchery, providing space for aspiring entrepreneurs to meet, design and fabricate their first prototypes — enabling students to move from idea to product more rapidly.

Wen had to fabricate his first TeleHex prototypes in the machine shop of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering — he estimates he spent upwards of a thousand hours there. Now, students will have direct access to laser cutters, state-of-the-art 3D printers and a full suite of tools in the CEIE. “If they say it takes 10,000 hours to become expert at something, I’m almost an expert on the lathe,” says Wen. “Having tools and equipment right there will be a game-changer… I’m envious of the next generation.”

Read the full article.

December 11, 2017 – The television show 30 Rock once joked Toronto is “just like New York but without all the stuff.” But the same can’t easily be said when comparing the two cities’ startup scenes.

At least, that was what Huda Idrees (IndE 1T2 + PEY) took away from her recent visit to New York City as part of Toronto Mayor John Tory’s two-day trade mission to promote the idea of a cross-border tech corridor to rival Silicon Valley.

Idrees, founder and CEO of health records startup Dot Health, says many seemed shocked to learn Toronto added more tech jobs between 2015 and 2016 than New York City and Silicon Valley combined.

“It was quite a surprise for most of the people there,” says Idrees, a U of T engineering grad who worked at several local startups before launching her own.

“That’s because, to them, Toronto probably feels like, ‘Yeah, it probably has a tech sector, but it’s probably not very big.”

In reality, Toronto has painstakingly built an expansive innovation ecosystem in recent years – including the one built around U of T, local hospitals and the neighbouring MaRS Discovery District – and is now enjoying a tech boom that’s attracting some of the world’s biggest companies.

The New York trade mission, which included more than a dozen representatives from local startups, was part of Tory’s effort to further capitalize on the city’s momentum.

Tory’s trip included a visit to Sidewalk Labs, the Google affiliate that recently announced it will bebuilding a “smart city” on Toronto’s waterfront.

The delegation also spent time at Grand Central Tech, an innovation hub in the heart of Manhattan, where the Toronto entrepreneurs gave presentations on their startups.

Idrees spoke about Dot Health’s efforts to give Canadian’s easy access to their medical histories. The event’s attendees also heard from U of T alumnus Allen Lau, who is the co-founder and CEO of online story-telling platform Wattpad, Karl Martin, the founder and CEO of Nymi, which makes a wearable device that uses your heartbeat as a biometric identifier, and Farhan Thawar, who is a co-founder of corporate video message firm Helpful.com.

There were also representatives from startups spun out of Toronto’s – and U of T’s – fast-growing artificial intelligence, or AI, scene, a field that’s expected to revolutionize everything from transporation to health care.

“We had a lot of artificial intelligence visibility, which is good because we have such a deep talent pool, compared to some of the other ecosystems,” Idrees says.

“Instead of officials getting up there and just saying, ‘Toronto is cool.’ It was getting founders who work and run businesses to get up there and talk about it. It was different and I found it really powerful.”

Read the full article.

December 6, 2017 – Artificial intelligence (AI) will be deployed as part of a collaboration involving the University of Toronto and IIT-Bombay to make Pune a truly smart city.

This will be among the first of the projects to be tackled under a recent memorandum of understanding signed by the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd, IIT-Bombay and University of Toronto (UofT).

Four areas have been identified for the long-term partnership — affordable housing, rural immigrants arriving in large numbers in Pune, cyber security and digital systems interoperability.

The objective, according to a the statement from the university, is to “focus on finding solutions to urban problems by tapping into technology-based ‘smart solutions’ that aim not only to improve economic growth for the city of approximately six million but also to create a more sustainable and resilient region”.

That project is being headed by Mark Fox, distinguished professor of urban systems engineering at the university, and will use AI to standardise the sheer volume of data generated by the city. “The development of data standards could help Pune and other Indian cities improve the analysis, design and delivery of city services.”

In an interview at his office in Toronto, Fox, who has been in the AI field since 1974, said a virtual “Tower of Babel” currently exists in terms of how data related to urban services is available. Creating “knowledge representation” that is “logical” will help to better “analyse and optimise” how the public is served, he added

“These definitions are machine understandable and we can build intelligent systems that use those definitions to do analysis,” he said.

Read the full article.

December 6, 2017 – Every year on Dec. 6, people across the country remember the victims of École Polytechnique shooting and raise awareness about gender-based violence. At U of T, events are taking place across all three campuses for the National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women.

On Dec. 6, 1989, an armed man entered the École Polytechnique in Montreal. He shot 28 people, killing 14 women, before turning the gun on himself. The shooter proclaimed his hatred for feminists, targeting female engineering students for pursuing a career he believed should be occupied exclusively by men.

The killer failed to scare women out of the sciences. This year, for example, a record number of female students enrolled in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

For the past two years, women have made up 40 per cent of first-year engineers at U of T – the highest proportion in Canada. The number of female engineering faculty members has also doubled in the past decade.

U of T Engineering students Elizabeth White (Year 4 ChemE) and Julia Filiplic (Year 4 MechE) say they are fortunate to have families who encouraged them to pursue a career about which they were passionate.

“I was really lucky in a sense that no one told me I couldn’t do it,” says White.

But both students say they have female friends and classmates who were discouraged by their families from studying engineering or male-dominated engineering disciplines.

In class, Filiplic says some of her male classmates would dismiss her ideas while White has overheard male students calling a female student “bossy.”

“Some people are afraid of change and are afraid of having new perspectives and being told that their idea of something is maybe a little bit outdated,” says Filiplic. “To be able to go forward and know you’re changing things and you have the support of other women and other people – it’s exciting and it’s better when you know you can do it safely.”

White and a group of engineering students are creating a monument to honour victims of violence against women – this year focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. The structure will be on display on King’s College Circle on Dec. 6.

November 29, 2017 – A build-it-yourself robot kit, a revolutionary pressure cooker and a first-of-its-kind universal hex key are just a few of the items — all designed by U of T Engineering alumni and students — that we feel should be on everyone’s holiday shopping list. Here are two from MIE that made this year’s 2017 Holiday Gift Guide.

Kamigami Robots

Shortly after Andrew Gillies (MechE 0T7) graduated with a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, he co-founded Dash Robotics, Inc. with the mission of creating affordable, educational robots designed to inspire students to get involved in robotics and engineering. The company’s six-legged Kamigami Robots are easy to fold and snap together from flat sheets into insect-like creations — no tools required. The free companion smartphone app enables users to remotely control their robot, battle with friends, play interactive games and more. They’re perfect for the budding maker (or future engineer) on your list.

TeleHex Allen Key Set

Peter Wen (Year 4 MechE) has been a serious cyclist for many years and his company, TeleHex, aims to make bike repair easier — not just for pros like himself, but for newbies as well. Wen has designed a unique telescoping tool that automatically adjusts to fit the metric bolt sockets on most bikes. The device is half the weight and volume of products currently on the market. And it’s not just for bikes — rumour has it that the TeleHex hex key comes in handy when putting together Ikea furniture.

Read the full list here.

November 22, 2017 – Professor Goldie Nejat was recently featured in a news article focusing on eldercare by NBC News. Casper, a robot designed to work with institutionalized patients suffering from dementia, was developed in Professor Nejat’s Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory.

“There’s been some research which suggests that you can delay the onset or progression of dementia through repeated cognitive stimulation and social engagement,” Nejat says. “So we thought, can you use a robot to increase the amount of stimulation these people get?”

How does Casper do it all? The robot features numerous sensors, including laser scanners that let it navigate its environment and avoid obstacles as well as 3D optical scanners that recognize everything from bingo cards to kitchen utensils. It also has microphones that can decode human speech even in noisy environments.

But what makes Casper really special is its ability to make complex decisions and to learn based on the reactions it elicits in the sometimes severely compromised humans with whom it interacts. The key is the robot’s “brain,” a microchip that’s programmed to observe patients’ speech, facial expressions, and body language and quantify their emotional states.

“To deal with these type of patients, it’s really important that the robot is emotionally sensitive to some degree,” Nejat says. “These patients can have good days and bad days so the robot has to be aware that now may not be the right time, and to try again on a different day.”

Read the full article on NBC News.

November 21, 2017 – Research-industry partnership to premiere first products on December 7 at Baycrest Hospital in Toronto

A patient at an Ontario Long Term care facility uses Abby, an interactive activity centre designed by industry partner Ambient Activity Technologies working with Professor Mark Chignell, Postdoc Andrea Wilkinson, and other researchers at the Interactive Media Laboratory (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) . (Credit: Ambient Activity Technologies)

More than half a million Canadians live with dementia — and that number is expected to almost double in the next 15 years.

Dementia is a degenerative disease described by symptoms including memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Some patients also develop mood changes and problem behaviours such as agitation, aggressiveness and delusions. Professor Mark Chignell (IndE) is applying his expertise in industrial engineering to design a solution that provides people in long-term care facilities an opportunity for mental and physical activity that prevents and reduces these behaviours.

“There’s a huge need out there,” says Chignell. “I think that people in long-term care are extremely bored and feel like they have no sense of purpose. I hope this gives them a sense of purpose, because it’s the right thing to do.”

The challenge is personal for Chignell: he has seen firsthand how a cognitive illness and living in long-term care can take away a person’s autonomy. “I had an older sister who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her late teens. Toward the end of her life, she spent the last few years in long-term care even though she was relatively young. I got to see that even in a caring and well-run home, the residents had few opportunities to initiate activity.”

Chignell partnered with the company Ambient Activity Technologies (AAT) to develop their first product, called Abby. Abby is a large wall-mounted activity station that integrates a screen with wheels, switches and textures. The platform is designed to adapt to a range of puzzles, games and challenges designed to accommodate and stimulate people’s remaining cognitive abilities, prompting them to touch, listen, and respond.

To study its effectiveness, Abby was placed in six Ontario long-term care homes, where results were very positive — after one month of use, it significantly reduced problem behaviours and improved quality of life for residents. “One gentleman used it for hours at a time,” says Chignell.

Watch a video of residents in long-term care engaging with Abby

He notes that one of the problems in long-term care homes is that therapeutic recreationists, who are outnumbered by patients at a ratio of 1 to 20 on average, can only spend a limited time working one-on-one with residents. For those with dementia, the lack of stimulation in their environment then leads to confusion and anxiousness — Abby provides a much-needed outlet that residents can use independently.

“Many of the emotional parts of the brain, and the parts that respond to rewards, are working just fine, so we should focus on what remains,” says Chignell. “Even if they can’t read, or have trouble talking, there are still ways to engage people and to give them meaningful activities that they can perform.”

Chignell and his research team are also developing a second unit, the Centivizer. While Abby is targeted at people with late stage dementia, the Centivizer system is more interactive, featuring reward-focused games and levers. The team designed it as a resource for aging in place and early stage dementia, helping the elderly maintain physical and cognitive functioning. “There’s a whack-a-mole game, which works as a form of cognitive assessment. There’s Simon Says, flashing lights and buttons that play music. There’s a lever for a slot machine game…the idea is to get people moving and thinking, to engage them cognitively through these activities.”

Both units will be showcased on December 7 at the The Centre for Aging & Brain Health innovation at Baycrest Hospital, the official Abby product launch hosted by Chignell and AAT. Chignell and Wilkinson will discuss the research behind Abby and Centivizer with the wider healthcare community with attendees, including frontline healthcare workers, such as therapeutic recreationists, representatives from the long-term care industry, and local health integration networks.

In the near future, Chignell plans to commercialize the Centivizer system. “I want to have people using these. These targeted products with sensory-motor interactions will make a positive difference.”

November 20, 2017 – Professor David Sinton of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. This honour recognizes his “distinguished contributions to the field of mechanical engineering, particularly in developing microfluidic methods for applications in energy and the environment.”

Fluids play a major role in global energy and its associated environmental implications. Sinton and his team have shown that microfluidics —a set of tools and techniques aimed at controlling and manipulating fluids on the sub-millimetre scale — has much to contribute in this important field. His contributions address three main areas. The first is using microfluidics to screen optimal growing conditions for algae, photosynthetic organisms that can accumulate oil or other valuable bioproducts within their cells. The second is analyzing the properties and interactions of chemical additives, surfactants, solvents, industrial CO₂ streams and crude oil to improve the economic and environmental performance of current oil and gas operations. Finally, Sinton and his team are researching the capture and storage of CO₂, including its use in resource extraction, as well as the environmental impact of elevated CO₂ levels combined with local environmental stressors.

The impact of Sinton’s research is reflected in his many awards and accolades. In 2013 he received the University of Toronto’s McLean Award. In 2015 he was awarded an E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada – given to only six researchers nationwide per year. In 2016 he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Sinton has also been elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, and the Engineering Institute of Canada.  In 2016 he co-founded the start-up company Interface Fluidics Ltd. to commercialize microfluidic screening technology that improves the economic and environmental performance of current energy operations.

“Professor David Sinton’s groundbreaking research in microfluidics for energy is providing us with innovative new tools for solving some of our most pressing energy-related challenges,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “On behalf of our Faculty, heartfelt congratulations on this richly-deserved recognition.”

Sinton joins 395 other AAAS members from around the world being inducted as Fellows in the latest round in recognition of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. The honour will be officially bestowed February 17, 2018 at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.