April 21, 2020 | Volume 11, Issue 2 | View this email in your browser

Capstone Design Project Goes Global

Monica Pramanick (Year 4 MechE) takes water samples with Julian Gavarez (Seeds of Learning) to help inform their design. (Photo: Monica Pramanick)

Each year the capstone design course provides students with the opportunity to solve a problem for a real-world client and normally culminates in a project showcase at the end of the term. As the showcase was not able to take place this year, over the next few weeks we will share with you some of the excellent work completed this term.

Tobi Sogbesan, Monica Pramanick, and Milan Crnjanski, all Year 4 MechE students, made up the project team dedicated to finding a way to protect a freshwater spring on Nicaragua's Big Corn Island. With supervision and guidance from Prof. Kamran Behdinan (MIE) and Prof. Karl Peterson (CivMin), they collaborated with Seeds of Learning, Students Offering Support, and U of T's Centre for Global Engineering to solve the problem of seawater entering the spring during high tide.

As part of their research, Pramanick and Sogbesan had the opportunity to visit the island. Here, they grew to learn the social and cultural importance of protecting the spring. While there are other areas on the island to collect freshwater, the spring also provides a space to socialize, trade, and strengthen the community.

Their trip to the island provided the context needed to develop a practical and sustainable solution: a physical barrier constructed from locally available volcanic rock and a pumping system that can remove contaminated water from the spring before taking the clean water for personal use.

Read the full story about this project on U of T's Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering News site.

More MIE news.

Latest COVID-19 Research

How engineers can keep innovating — while working from home

How does COVID-19 invade our bodies so easily? U of T Engineering team uses ‘organ-on-a-chip’ model to find out

Professor Kamran Behdinan one of many U of T researchers producing healthcare equipment

PhD candidate, Meador Andargie, working with Professor Marianne Touchie is studying the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on noise and acoustic comfort in condo and apartment dwellers.

If you live in a condo/apartment in Canada, please consider participating in the 10-minute survey. Those who complete the survey will be entered in a draw for five $50 Amazon gift cards.

Scholarship Opportunities

IDeA Competition: The Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) student competition challenges university students across Canada to use their creativity to develop innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions to accessibility barriers for people with disabilities. Deadline: April 30, 2020.

RBC Capital Markets Diversity Scholarship: RBC Capital Markets is committed to fostering a diverse workplace and promoting inclusion to fuel innovation and economic prosperity. Through the Diversity Scholarships, they wish to recognize and reward exceptional undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing careers in banking or finance. Up to eight scholarships are available. Scholarship recipients will receive $5,000 and an offer of paid employment for a 2021 Summer Analyst position. Recipients are also paired with a mentor. Deadline: May 17, 2020.

Jeffrey Skoll Scholarships at the University of Toronto: The Skoll Scholarship is a approved use of the funds from the Skoll Foundation to support business education for engineering students. One eligibility requirement is that a student must have taken (prior to their fourth year of studies) one of the three courses in the Engineering Business Minor (JRE300, JRE410 or JRE420). Additional eligibility requirements are posted online (UTORid login required). This year, the Skoll Scholarships will be in the amount of $10,000 with up to 40 scholarships awarded. Deadline: May 30, 2020.

View a full list of scholarship opportunities.

STEM Fellowship Undergraduate Big Data Challenge

STEM Fellowship is organizing this year's undergraduate Big Data Challenge (BDC) around the theme of Personal and Public Health Decisions in a New Open Data Reality. The BDC will take place entirely online and will allow student teams to work with academic and industry mentors to analyze data and develop solutions to both local and global problems relating to the theme.

Each team will submit their research findings as a scientific manuscript and the top teams will be invited to defend their findings and compete for academic and monetary prizes.

To learn more or to register visit the 2020 BDC website.

COVID-19 Updates

Latest University Communications
Keep up to date with the latest COVID-19 communications on the University of Toronto website. Includes FAQs, HR information and links to mental health resources.

Engineering Dean's Message
Stay connected with the Engineering Faculty and read updates from the Dean on the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering website.

Engineering Undergraduate FAQs
Find frequently asked questions about COVID-19 that are specific to undergraduate students in Engineering.

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