More than 150 industry and community leaders, government partners and faculty members gathered Nov. 13, 2019 at the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the U of T Engineering Partners’ Reception.
Now in its fourth year, the event celebrated the Faculty’s longstanding ties with over 400 industry partners across its six multidisciplinary innovation clusters. In the past year alone, the Faculty launched new strategic partnerships with Canadian and international partners, totalling more than $25 million.
The reception featured a keynote address by Gillian Hadfield, director of the University of Toronto’s new Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. The evening also marked the official launch of the U of T Engineering Expertise Finder — an online platform that enables current and prospective partners to search and connect with Faculty researchers whose expertise matches the industry challenge they hope to solve.
“Through continuous knowledge sharing with our research partners, we are able to bring innovative ideas to market, enhance existing systems and technologies, and generate experiential learning opportunities for our students,” says Ramin Farnood (ChemE), Vice-Dean, Research.
“Many of our undergraduate and graduate students are hired by our research partners, which is a testament to the strength and immense value of these partnerships.”
Corporate Academic Citizen Award — Hitachi High-Technologies Canada (HHTC)
Nearly 30 years ago, Professor Doug Perovic (MSE) and the then CEO of HHTC, established a research partnership around the study of electron microscopy (EM), which enabled the creation of the Ontario Centre for the Characterisation of Advanced Materials (OCCAM). In 2019, the partnership is still going strong.
“HHTC has made profound contributions to leading-edge research and training at the University of Toronto,” says Peter Brodersen, senior research associate, OCCAM. “These contributions have been vital to propelling research across the Faculty and supporting institutional research and training goals.”
Over the years, HHTC has worked closely with researchers from across the Faculty including professors Yu Sun (MIE), Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) and Jane Howe (MSE, ChemE).
Before joining U of T Engineering as a faculty member, Howe spent several years working at HHTC. “In my experience as both an employee and research partner, it is clear HHTC is a company that values its rich collaborative history with the University,” says Howe. “This is evident in the success and breadth of its research projects.”
Click here to read more about the fourth annual U of T Engineering Partners’ Reception and awards