Department Calendar of Events

Speakers

Fletcher Han (Year 4 ChemE + PEY Co-op), University of Toronto

Fletcher is a recent chemical engineering graduate from the University of Toronto (UofT). Although originally from New Zealand and currently based in Canada, Fletcher has spent most of his life living in Europe. He has become a prominent leader in UofT’s Chemical Engineering community through his involvement with the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) student chapter. In his most recent position as Vice Chair, he founded the “CSChE Entrepreneurship Initiative” and the “PEY Mentorship Program”. Through these initiatives, he has motivated students to find solutions for the gaps that exist within our society and helped hundreds of them secure co-op placements. Fletcher is most passionate about global development, having completed a capstone in water insecurity and an undergraduate thesis in malnutrition. This fall, he will head to Beijing as UofT’s first engineering student to be selected as a Schwarzman Scholar. Beyond academics, Fletcher enjoys playing basketball, cooking, and traveling.

Celia Du, Science Communication Specialist

Celia Du is a science communication specialist with extensive experience engaging various audiences with science. She has worked with the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, Science Rendezvous, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Science Everywhere, and Indus Space Inc. With a background in Chemistry from McGill University and a Master’s in Science Communication and Public Engagement from the University of Edinburgh, she is dedicated to improving science communication practices to better bridge science and the public. She has led workshops and trained budding science communicators through the Royal Canadian Institute for Science, the SciCommTO Conference, Laurentian University’s Science Communication program, the Canadian Science Policy Conference and Lotus STEMM.

Harshan Radhakrishnan, Manager @Climate Change and Sustainability Initiatives

Harshan Radhakrishnan is the Manager at Climate Change and Sustainability Initiatives, where he oversees programs and initiatives that address climate change adaptations and sustainability and plans outreach to government and technical stakeholders in relation to climate change and sustainability strategies. Harshan is a registered Professional Engineer with Engineers and Geoscientists BC and APEGA with over ten years of experience in environmental regulation and oversight of regulatory programs. In addition to his years of experience, he also has an in-depth understanding of the municipal, provincial, and federal regulatory requirements. He is passionate about deepening his understanding of climate science and relating it back to professional practice and sustainable approaches in achieving low-carbon resilience.

Ladan Shahcheraghi, McMaster University

Ladan was born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She is passionate about research, innovation, and discovery especially in the areas of nanotechnology, material science, renewable energy, environment, and advancements in technology. She received her Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) degree in Chemical Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology which is Iran’s leading institution for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. She worked as a Research Assistant at Monash University (Australia’s leading research university) during her undergraduate degree and completed her internship at DarouPakhsh Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company that is considered as the largest pharmaceutical company in Iran. She then worked at Nestlé Waters Company upon completion of her bachelor’s degree, before migrating to Canada for higher education. She has recently graduated with a Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) degree in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University. Outside of work, Ladan enjoys playing the piano, listening to classical music, socializing with friends, and going on a hike.

Register to attend the online event

Sponsored by: PromoChrom Technologies Ltd. – Sample preparation solutions for trace analysis

Using innovative technology to deliver efficient, compact and versatile Solid Phase Extraction systems for environmental, food, pharmaceutical, forensic and fuel applications. Fully automated for PFAS, 1,4-Dioxane, PCBs, Pesticides, PAHs, mycotoxins, food additives, drugs, metabolites, antibodies and more

The Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry is excited to host the 4th annual ChemE Graduate Research Exhibition.

This virtual poster exhibition features cutting edge graduate research in Energy, Environment, and Health presented in the unique and interactive Gather.town platform where you will have the opportunity to interact directly with students, alumni, faculty, and staff and to learn more about the incredible research taking place throughout the Department.

Register: https://forms.office.com/r/He4Mr0hZ0g

Link and instructions will be email prior to the event.

Presented by Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering & University of Toronto

Featuring:

Caroline Curtin, Assistant Professor, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Biomaterial Scaffolds as Gene Activated Platforms for Tissue Engineering & 3D Tumour Models for Cancer Research

Warren Chan, Professor, University of Toronto
A Framework to Engineer Nanoparticle Delivery Systems for In Vivo Targeting

David Hoey, Associate Professor, Trinity College Dublin
Mechano-biologically Inspired Therapeutics and Materials for Bone Regeneration

Penney Gilbert, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
3D Human Skeletal Muscle Microtissues to Assess Function in a Dish

Michael Monaghan, Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin Electroconductive Biomaterial Patches and Scaffolds to Match the Mechanical Anisotropy of Organ specific Tissues

Milica Radisic, Professor University of Toronto
Advances in Organ on a Chip Engineering

Hosted by Molly Shoichet and Michael Monaghan

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

Increasing concern over fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has led to growing interest in the use of biomass (i.e., plant material and organic waste) for both energy and materials. Around the world, government programs primarily incentivize use of biofuels in the transportation sector. In contrast, few policy drivers exist to encourage the use of biomass for the production of chemicals, an industry which is currently among the largest users of fossil fuel and which is responsible for approximately 7% of global GHG emissions.

To guide efficient resource use, this talk explores certain tradeoffs in the use of biomass for GHG mitigation in a U.S./North American context. In particular, this research addresses key questions, such as 1) are greater GHG reductions achieved when using bio-ethanol as a transportation fuel, or as a chemical feedstock? 2) within the plastics sector, are greater GHG emission reductions achieved by switching to bio-based plastics, or more simply by producing conventional plastics with renewable energy? This talk will also discuss recent work showing 3) how economic/market response can substantially undermine or reverse the GHG benefits from biofuel policies. The results of these studies shed light on the uncertainty present in the life-cycle GHG emissions from bio-based products, and make concrete recommendations to set priorities in the use of biomass for GHG mitigation.
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Professor Daniel Posen is an Assistant Professor in Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto. He holds a dual PhD in Engineering & Public Policy and Civil & Environmental Engineering (Carnegie Mellon University, 2016), a Master of Science in Economics (London School of Economics, 2012), a Master of Research in Green Chemistry (Imperial College London, 2010) and a BA in Chemistry (Princeton University, 2009). Dr. Posen’s research uses a mix of technical and economic modeling to supply quantitative, system-level analysis to support of environmental decision making. His expertise spans a range of areas including life cycle assessment and life cycle thinking; setting priorities for greenhouse gas mitigation; evaluating biofuels, bio-based materials & other uses for biomass; electric vehicles and transportation fuels; modeling of fossil fuel and energy markets; public policy & decision support models; and quantifying uncertainty and risk in environmental systems & environmental policy.

Zoom Meeting Details
https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/83975927179

Meeting ID: 839 7592 7179
Passcode: 054682
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