Department Calendar of Events

Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Professor, Depts. of Chemistry and Computer Science, University of Toronto

In this colloquium level talk, I will overview my research group’s activities in the area of self-driving laboratories. These labs combine artificial intelligence, automation, and chemical experiments with the aim of reducing time-to-discovery. The applications that I will overview briefly will be in the area of generative AI models for drug discovery, self-driving laboratories for organic light-emitting and lasing materials, as well as the process optimization and scaleup processes for pharmaceuticals as concrete examples of what self-driving labs are all about. I will also discuss more futuristic areas of research which involve the development of computer vision systems for automated laboratories and robotic arms for carrying out complex chemical experiments in a more autonomous fashion.
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Alán Aspuru-Guzik is a professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at the University of Toronto and is also the Canada 150 Research Chair in Theoretical Chemistry and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute. He is a CIFAR Lebovic Fellow in the Biologically Inspired Solar Energy program. Alán also holds an Google Industrial Research Chair in Quantum Computing. Alán is the director of the Acceleration Consortium, a University of Toronto-based strategic initiative that aims to gather researchers from industry, government and academia around pre-competitive research topics related to the lab of the future.

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!

The University of Toronto will host a virtual ceremony to celebrate our graduates on:

Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. ET

The University of Toronto is pleased to announce the date of our Spring 2021 virtual convocation ceremony. We understand the importance of celebrating your remarkable achievements and hard work in reaching this significant milestone, even at a time when our traditional convocation ceremonies are not possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In place of in-person ceremonies, the University is planning to host a virtual Convocation ceremony in which the Chancellor will officially confer degrees on members of the June 2021 graduating class. After the virtual ceremony, diplomas will be couriered (for free) to our graduates over the course of the following weeks. Please allow some flexibility with this schedule, particularly under these difficult circumstances.

Once the public health situation stabilizes and it is possible to gather safely again, individual academic divisions will be able to plan in-person graduation celebrations to honour our graduates, and their families and friends.

9:35 AM

Louise Moyle
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto
A mechanobiology-based approach to muscle stem cell repair

Olwyn Mahon
Postdoctoral Fellow, Trinity College Dublin | University Limerick
Interplay between immune cells and tissue specific microenvironmental components: Immunomodulatory scaffolds for tissue repair and regeneration

10:50 AM

Muhammad Rizwan
Research Associate, University of Toronto
Synthetic Notch activating hydrogel induces liver biliary cells differentiation and morphogenesis

Tom Hodgkinson
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Osteochondral cell regeneration strategies through mechanobiology and biomaterial-controlled siRNA delivery

11:50 AM

Eimear Dolan
Royal Society-Science Foundation, Ireland (SFI) University Research Fellow National University of Ireland Galway
Dynamic devices to improve therapy delivery

Qinghua Wu
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto
High-throughput heart-on-achip platform for studies of SARS-CoV-2 induced myocardial injury