Chemical Engineering

��˾��ֱ�� researchers design new method of recycling steel that could reduce industry's carbon footprint

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 16:09:57 +0000

��˾��ֱ�� researchers design new method of recycling steel that could reduce industry's carbon footprint

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 07/26/2024 - 12:09

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PhD candidate Jaesuk Paeng (left) and Professor Gisele Azimi from the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in ��˾��ֱ��'s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering display an electrochemical cell that's vital to their novel steel-recycling method (photo by Safa Jinje)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Breaking Research

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Materials Science

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

Subheadline

“Our study is the first reported instance of electrochemically removing copper from steel and reducing impurities to below alloy level”

Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering have designed a novel way to recycle steel that could help decarbonize several manufacturing industries and usher in a circular steel economy.

The new method introduces an innovative oxysulfide electrolyte for electrorefining, an alternative way of removing copper and carbon impurities from molten steel. The process also generates liquid iron and sulfur as by-products.

It’s outlined in a new paper published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling and co-authored by Jaesuk (Jay) Paeng, a PhD candidate in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry, William Judge, a PhD alum from the department of materials science and engineering, and Professor Gisele Azimi from the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry.

“Our study is the first reported instance of electrochemically removing copper from steel and reducing impurities to below alloy level,” says Azimi, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Urban Mining Innovations.

Currently, only 25 per cent of steel produced comes from recycled material. But the global demand for greener steel is projected to grow over the next two decades as governments around the world endeavour to achieve net-zero emission goals.

Steel is created by reacting iron ore with coke – a prepared form of coal – as the source of carbon and blowing oxygen through the metal produced. Current processes generate nearly two tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of steel produced, making steel production one of the highest contributors to carbon emissions in the manufacturing sector.

Traditional steel recycling methods use an electric arc furnace to melt down scrap metal. Since it is difficult to physically separate copper material from scrap before melting, the element is also present in the recycled steel products.

“The main problem with secondary steel production is that the scrap being recycled may be contaminated with other elements, including copper,” says Azimi.

“The concentration of copper adds up as you add more scrap metals to be recycled, and when it goes above 0.1 weight percentage in the final steel product, it will be detrimental to the properties of steel.”

Copper cannot be removed from molten steel scrap using the traditional electric arc furnace steelmaking practice, so this limits the secondary steel market to producing lower-quality steel product, such as reinforcing bars used in the construction industry.

“Our method can expand the secondary steel market into different industries,” says Paeng. “It has the potential to be used to create higher-grade products such as galvanized cold rolled coil used in the automotive sector, or steel sheets for deep drawing used in the transport sector.”

To remove copper from iron to below 0.1 weight percentage, the team had to first design an electrochemical cell that could withstand temperatures up to 1,600 degrees Celsius.

Inside the cell, electricity flows between the negative electrode (cathode) and positive electrode (anode) through a novel oxysulfide electrolyte designed from slag — a waste derived from steelmaking that often ends up in cement or landfills.

“We put our contaminated iron that has the copper impurity as the anode of the electrochemical cell,” says Azimi. “We then apply an electromotive force, which is the voltage, with a power supply and we force the copper to react with the electrolyte.”

“The electrolyte targets the removal of copper from the iron when we apply electricity to the cell,” adds Paeng. “When we apply electricity on the one side of the cell, we force the copper to react with the electrolyte and come out from iron. At the other end of the cell, we simultaneously produce new iron.”

Azimi’s lab collaborated on the research with Tenova Goodfellow Inc., a global supplier of advanced technologies, products and services for metal and mining industries, where study co-author Judge works as a senior research and development engineer.

Looking forward, the team wants to enable the electro-refining process to remove other contaminants from steel, including tin.

“Iron and steel are the most widely used metals in the industry, and I think the production rate is as high as 1.9 billion tonnes per year,” says Azimi.

“Our method has great potential to offer the steelmaking industry a practical and easily implementable way to recycle steel to produce more of the demand for high-grade steel globally.” 

Study identifies sources of indoor air pollution in Toronto subway system

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 19:02:08 +0000

Study identifies sources of indoor air pollution in Toronto subway system

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 07/05/2024 - 15:02

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A study led by researchers at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering identified friction braking – used in the Toronto subway system's Line 2 – as having a significant influence on indoor air quality (photo by Roberto Machado Noa/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Breaking Research

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

Wear of train wheels and rails - caused by braking - was found to be a key cause of particulate pollution along the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway system

Research carried out by University of Toronto experts in partnership with Health Canada has identified braking of trains – and resulting wear of wheels and rails – as the major cause of particulate pollution in Toronto’s subway system.

For the study, which was published in Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, researchers measured the chemical composition of particulate matter, which refers to fine particles of airborne solids or liquids that are smaller than 2.5 micrometres per cubic metre of air, and coupled this with modelling.

They found that most of the particulate pollution was coming from wheels and rails when brakes were applied – a discovery that marks an important step towards improving indoor air quality along the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)'s subway system.

“Our early results pointed to the brake pads themselves as being the major cause of the emissions. However, we were surprised to find that the main source of this indoor air pollution is wear of wheels and rails during braking, rather than coming from the brake pads,” says Greg Evans, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, who led the study alongside PhD alum Keith Van Ryswyk, a senior air pollution exposure researcher at Health Canada.

“The amount of wear is influenced by the degree of braking applied, that is, how quickly the trains come into the station.

“We can’t replace the wheels and rails across the entire system, but if we can change the way that drivers apply the brakes, so they aren’t hit as hard or as often, that offers an interim way to reduce the emissions.”

A: View of a track bed with running and contact third rails. B: Close-up of a train bogie with brake and wheel contact. C: Full view of train bogie with wheels, brake pads and contact shoe. (image courtesy of Keith Van Ryswyk)

The study continues research published in 2021 which found that concentrations of particulate matter in 2018 had increased in the TTC’s Line 2 along Bloor-Danforth, while Line 1 along Yonge-University saw a drop in emissions.

Braking technology has a significant influence on emissions, Evans said, noting the TTC’s Line 2 uses older trains that are nearing the end of their 30-year design life cycle and reduce speed through regenerative and friction braking, whereas Line 1 has a fleet of newer trains which largely use regenerative braking to convert the train’s energy back into electricity.

“On Line 1, the braking is mostly regenerative, which involves no direct physical friction contact between the brake materials themselves,” says Evans. “They are also putting in automatic train control on Line 1, a system where braking is automated, which further reduces friction braking. These are all positive steps, but Line 2 has not benefitted from these changes yet.”

While the adverse health effects of outdoor particulate matter have been well established, the consequences of inhaling particles in subways are not as clear.

“The particulate matter in the subway is actually very different from what we find in ambient, outdoor pollution,” Evans says. “It’s very metal-rich and mostly made up of iron. So, there is good reason to think that it may be more hazardous.” 

Beyond reducing emissions, improving ventilation is the second way to improve air quality on subway trains and platforms.

Subway systems in cities such as Montreal and Barcelona use continuous mechanical ventilation for cooling, which also results in lower levels of particulate pollutant concentrations. But Toronto’s system uses limited forced ventilation, says Evans.

“It really relies on trains pushing the air like a piston as they go through the tunnels. And eventually the trains come to an open area, where the train goes outside and pushes the contaminated air out with it, which is what provides most of the ventilation,” he says.

Evans hopes these new findings will not only accelerate the technological changes needed to improve indoor air quality on Line 2, but also influence the plans for new subway lines in Toronto, such as the Ontario Line, and support the design of subways in other cities across the globe.

“We hope this work will help design better subway lines given that so much valuable work is going into creating better transit systems,” says Evans.

“Good transit is central to both decarbonization and the smooth operation of modern cities. It’s important for transit systems like subways to provide a healthy environment rather than expect passengers themselves to take precautionary steps in response to poor air quality.”

From nature to the lab: ��˾��ֱ�� startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:22:34 +0000

From nature to the lab: ��˾��ֱ�� startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/04/2024 - 10:22

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Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014, says many natural flavouring ingredients are produced in small quantities and end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Our Community

Entrepreneurship Week

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Startups

ThisIsThePlace

UTEST

Subheadline

Using precision fermentation, Ardra Inc. aims to replace natural flavour ingredients with more sustainable alternatives

Natural ingredients may seem better for the planet, but that’s not always the case.

Consider rose oil. It takes thousands of kilograms of rose petals to extract a single kilogram of the popular fragrance ingredient.

“If a multinational cosmetics or consumer goods company said tomorrow, ‘We’re not going to use any artificial rose oil,’ we couldn’t grow enough roses in the world to supply such a big company,” says Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014.

Pratish Gawand (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Gawand’s startup, Ardra Inc., aims to replace natural flavour ingredients in food with more sustainable alternatives manufactured using precision fermentation. Think of the fermenting tanks in a brewery, but instead of yeast, Ardra’s technology involves microbes that are genetically engineered to produce high-value compounds rather than ethanol.

Following fermentation, the ingredients must be purified to the high standards of “flavour houses,” where scientists known as flavourists formulate the flavours of food products.

“Humans are much more sensitive to detecting odours than even gas chromatography instruments,” says Gawand, who is Ardra’s chief executive. “We have to meet those kinds of standards, and we have done it.”

Typically produced in small quantities from plants and animals, most natural ingredients end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them, which comes with a cost to the climate. Ardra’s process, on the other hand, would provide manufacturers with a local and more sustainable source of necessary ingredients.

“This addresses major challenges in the food industry – mainly around sustainability and supply,” Gawand says.

Ardra’s list of products includes heme, the iron-carrying molecule that turns blood red and gives meats their distinctive taste. Fermented heme can be used not only to enhance the taste of plant-based meats but also to give it other meat-like qualities. For example, Gawand says heme is thought to be among the reasons that meat chars on a grill.

Ardra can also ferment leaf-aldehyde, which replicates a variety of flavours including green apple, berry and citrus. And it makes natural petroleum-free butylene glycol, a versatile moisturizing agent often used in shampoos, lotions and cosmetics that is otherwise largely petroleum-based.

Gawand co-founded Ardra in 2016 with his ��˾��ֱ�� PhD supervisor Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Systems Engineering. “��˾��ֱ�� was our very first investor,” Gawand says, adding that Ardra received its first investment from the university’s UTEST (University of Toronto Early Stage Technology) program.

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

“The university helped us put the company together, put the patent together and it wrote us our very first cheque.”

Ardra began its journey with butylene glycol technology.

“Krishna [Mahadevan] and I were inventors on that patent, along with Associate Professor Alexander Yakunin and PhD student Kayla Nemr. We assigned the patent to the university and licensed it out,” Gawand says.

Mahadevan, for his part, says his prior experience working with startups, including Geno – a San Diego, Calif.-based company that currently makes a more sustainable version of nylon, among other products – made him keen to explore the commercial potential of his group’s research.

He says Gawand had the passion and drive necessary to translate bench research into a viable business.

“He had a tough work ethic and would go to great lengths to achieve his research goals,” Mahadevan recalls.

He adds that Gawand’s commitment to sustainability also made a strong impression, recalling an essay that his former student wrote and shared with the lab describing the urbanization of the landscape near his hometown in India. (Gawand, an avid birdwatcher in his youth, lamented that new construction near his home drove out the egrets, cormorants and other birds that he remembered seeing on his walks to and from school.)

Ardra has come a long way since it was founded less than decade ago. It has raised more than $4 million in funding and has strategic partnerships with a U.S.-based flavour house and a European company.

Gawand says he hopes Ardra’s success will pave the way for other Canadian companies in the bio-manufacturing sector.

“I want to put the wheels in motion for Canadian bio-manufacturing and precision fermentation,” he says. “From Ardra’s success, I want to get Canada started on bio-industrial innovations.”

Meet five women who are among ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering's 'grads to watch' in 2023

siddiq22 — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 21:06:04 +0000

Meet five women who are among ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering's 'grads to watch' in 2023

siddiq22 Thu, 06/22/2023 - 17:06

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Left to right: Kim Watada, Anais Poirier, Saskia van Beers, Maeesha Biswas and Michelle Lin (photo of Biswas by Dewey Chang, Lin by Mymy Tran, other photos supplied)

Topic

electrical engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Materials Science

Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

As students from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering celebrated their convocation this week, they looked ahead to a future where they will draw on their education to address pressing challenges around the world.

They now join a global network of ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering alumni whose creativity, innovation and global impact embody the spirit of the faculty and the ��˾��ֱ�� community.

Here are five inspiring women from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering's annual Grads to Watch list – each selected by their home departments and institutes.

Maeesha Biswas

Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering plus professional experience year co-op

During her time as an undergraduate industrial engineering student, Maeesha Biswas’ academic interests were focused on health-care systems, human factors, technology and design geared at understanding people better.

She also devoted more than 2,000 hours to various activities and organizations, including planning the Undergraduate Engineering Research Day (UnERD) in 2020 as co-chair; and co-founding and co-hosting 1% Inspiration, a podcast that features stories and wisdom from the ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering community, including faculty, alumni and current students.

“After UnERD 2020 – which was held online due to the COVID-19 lockdown – we observed some students miss out on career development and networking opportunities due to a lack of on-campus interactions,” she says. “We created the podcast in response and since it launched, it has received over 1,100 listens over 22 episodes.”

After graduation, Biswas is looking forward to working on a startup with some of her fellow graduates to build generative artificial intelligence tools for media creators.

“I began learning to be a software developer during my co-op at PocketHealth – a company which helps patients share their diagnostic imaging records and own their medical information,” she says.

“I want to continue to enrich human lives and experiences through software technology, and I believe my most important life’s work will be here.”

Michelle Lin

Bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering, plus professional experience year co-op

As a commuter student, Michelle Lin made a great effort to balance her academics with extra-curriculars and part-time work. She participated in intramural ultimate frisbee starting in her ﬁrst year and has held mentorship and outreach roles within the faculty.

During her co-op work term, she had the opportunity to hold two positions at Li-Cycle, a North American leader in the recovery and recycling of lithium-ion batteries, which was co-founded by a ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering alumnus.

“I was able to gain different perspectives on the business and all the work it takes to ensure that the different sectors are functioning cohesively towards the same goal,” she says. “It’s an evolving industry, and it was amazing to see the rapid growth the company and industry experienced in just 16 months.”

Lin will be starting a master’s in material science and engineering in the fall, which will allow her to gain more knowledge and expertise on materials characterization.

“I hope to be able to contribute positive change in the sustainability space and promote engineering and STEM to younger generations, especially girls and women,” she says. “I would love to be a source of inspiration for other women in engineering the same way my role models were for me.”

Anaïs Poirier

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, plus professional experience year co-op

In studying engineering, Anna Poirier found an opportunity to effect real change – and that is how she plans to use her degree.

For her PEY co-op, Poirier moved to Kentucky to work as a software engineering intern at Space Tango, a microgravity research company.

During this time, a colleague suggested she apply for the Zenith Canada Pathways Fellowship, Canada’s first space fellowship, which aims to build a more inclusive Canadian space sector.

“I was selected as a fellow in the inaugural class, leading to a summer internship at GHGSat,” Poirier says. “I got to experience the positive global impact that working in the space industry can have.”

Poirier will be moving to San Francisco after graduation to work as a software engineer at Zipline, where she will test flight hardware. The company, which manufactures drones that serve as eco-friendly delivery vehicles, delivered over a million COVID-19 vaccines to Ghana.

“I am excited to be working in a multi-disciplinary role that will use both the electrical and computer sides of my degree, and for a company whose mission I strongly believe in,” she says.

Saskia van Beers

Bachelor’s degree in engineering science, plus professional experience year co-op

While her engineering classes taught Saskia van Beers how to learn and think critically about the world around her, she was able to put those concepts into practice in her extracurricular activities.

"My worldview shifted greatly through all the initiatives I got to be a part of,” she says. “I definitely feel like I have undergone a lot of personal growth.”

From her role as co-president of Engineers Without Borders to co-chairing both the Engineering Science Club and the Sexual Violence Education and Prevention group, van Beers has worked tirelessly to help make all students feel welcome and seen.

Along with her classmate Savanna Blade, she ran a virtual consent culture town hall that brought together more than 80 of her fellow engineering science students to discuss all aspects of consent and the kinds of change they would like to see within their community.

After graduation, van Beers plans to pursue the collaborative specialization in engineering education program at the master's level at ��˾��ֱ��, with research focused on the intersectionality between equity advocacy work and the fundamentals of engineering education.

“I have been a longstanding believer that diversity within the engineering field allows for better engineering progress,” she says. “I would like to continue to make a positive impact on the changing culture of engineering.”

Kim Watada

Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering plus professional year experience co-op

Kim Watada is graduating with nearly two years of experience in sustainability consulting, research and investing already under her belt.

“There are a lot of ways you can work in sustainability, and coming from an engineering background has given me the chance to explore many different paths,” she says.

“I’ve built a cleantech startup, worked in decarbonization strategy and studied renewable energy in Iceland. With each new perspective, I’ve been able to hone where my interests lie in sustainability and climate action.”

This spring, Watada and her team – the only one from Canada – won the Emerging Markets prize at the Climate Investment Challenge, a graduate-level climate finance design competition run by Imperial College London.

All this experience will come in handy after graduation, as Watada completes an internship with the United Nations’ Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency Unit in Vienna before taking up a position in management consulting for the Boston Consulting Group.

In the future, Watada hopes to leverage her knowledge to bridge the gap between environmental need, clean technology and tangible climate action.

“The greatest skill I have learned at ��˾��ֱ�� is how to be curious,” she says. “Being intrinsically open to learning new things is the key to solving problems in whatever field you choose.”

Read about all 15 of ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering’s ‘grads to watch’ 2023

Researcher develops sustainable solution for removing phosphate and ammonium from wastewater

siddiq22 — Wed, 24 May 2023 14:54:48 +0000

Researcher develops sustainable solution for removing phosphate and ammonium from wastewater

siddiq22 Wed, 05/24/2023 - 10:54

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PhD candidate Sara Abu-Obaid designed a new solution that uses membranes with inorganic particles to recover valuable nutrients from wastewater (photo by Safa Jinje)

Topic

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

New study by ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering PhD candidate examines how to recover nutrients for future use

Sara Abu-Obaid believes that the entire wastewater management industry is due for a paradigm shift.

The PhD candidate in chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering specializes in membrane fabrication for wastewater treatment, with a focus on water reuse and resource recovery.

“We need to move from seeing wastewater as a nuisance to recognizing its potential as a resource,” she says. “It can provide us with water, nutrients, energy and other things of value that can be harvested and utilized to move towards a circular economy.”

Abu-Obaid, who is supervised by Ramin Farnood, the faculty's vice-dean of research and a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry, is the lead author of a new paper published in the Chemical Engineering Journal. The study introduces a sustainable solution for removing phosphate and ammonium from wastewater in a way that recovers the nutrients for future use.

Her new method uses advanced membranes incorporating inorganic particles for the uptake of phosphate and ammonium from wastewater. By recovering these substances in a cost-effective way, the method creates a new source of materials that can be used by manufacturers of agricultural fertilizers.

Used water from bathing, toileting, laundry and other sources flows down drains to sewers that lead to wastewater treatment plants, where it is cleaned so it can be safely discharged into nature without impacting the environment.

The key objectives of the treatment process include removing solids, organic matter, pathogens and nutrients, such as those that derive from household products and excreta – waste matter discharged from the body. Among these nutrients are phosphate and ammonium, two essential ingredients in agricultural fertilizers.

While phosphorous is essential for thriving plant life, too much of the chemical can cause eutrophication – a complex process that begins when an environment becomes overly enriched by nutrients, leading to an explosion in the growth of algae. These harmful algae blooms deplete the availability of oxygen in the water, creating “dead zones” where aquatic organisms suffocate. Long-term exposure to ammonium can also be toxic to aquatic life.

Current wastewater treatment facilities have established processes for removing phosphate and ammonium during the treatment process. Typically, a chemical treatment converts the phosphate into a solid form that settles at the bottom of the water, where it is then collected as sludge and sent to landfill. Ammonium is traditionally removed using biological treatment, where bacteria consume it and turn it into nitrate and then to nitrogen gas.

“These are two high-value products that are key ingredients in fertilizers, but current wastewater treatment processes treat these nutrients as waste,” Abu-Obaid says.

“My solution is to extract the nutrients from the water completely, and so it can be used as a source for fertilizer production.”

Many scientists have warned that the current rate of agricultural phosphorus consumption could lead to critical shortages, which would disrupt food supplies globally. Abu-Obaid’s new method could help boost supply by turning wastewater into a viable source of these nutrients.

While many membranes used for water filtration rely on carefully designed pores to filter their target substances out of the water, Abu-Obaid’s approach is different. Her membrane contains tiny particles made of the minerals akaganeite and zeolite 13X (a type of molecular sieve) with high affinities for phosphate and ammonium adsorption (where a solid holds molecules of a solute as a thin film).

“We’re not removing the things that we want to remove through size exclusion or by applying large pressures,” Abu-Obaid says. “Rather, it is the particles within the membrane that are doing the removal, and it’s the membrane’s job to hold them in place.”

While the particles could do the job on their own, Abu-Obaid says that the difficulty would lie in removing them from the wastewater and fear of them leaching. Using a membrane to hold them in place opens up the possibility of two-phase operation: first the particles adsorb ammonium and phosphate from the wastewater, then the membranes are washed using a sodium hydroxide solution to simultaneously recover the nutrients and regenerate the particles.

In the study, the membranes were able to capture phosphate and ammonium ions under dynamic water flow conditions, resulting in the removal of 84 percent of ammonium and 100 percent of phosphate from synthetic wastewater – even in the presence of other competing ions.

While Abu-Obaid believes that her experiments have shown the method to have a great potential for this application, she sees a need for further studies to investigate design considerations for the large-scale application of such systems.

“This is a non-traditional use of membrane technology, which is more commonly used for size-exclusion-type filtration,” she says.

“It can also be challenging to justify why we are using this technology to recover nutrients that are not yet so scarce that current supply chains are threatened. But we believe that we can benefit from being ahead of the issue and establishing potential sustainable sources for the future.”

Until then, Abu-Obaid hopes that this new solution, along with other innovative technologies to recover nutrients from wastewater, can gain more support.

“We need further techno-economical studies, long-term stability and pilot studies to demonstrate the utility of this technology for creating a more sustainable future for wastewater management," she says.

��˾��ֱ�� researchers grow micro-organisms that can clean tailings ponds and recover nickel

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:46:05 +0000

��˾��ֱ�� researchers grow micro-organisms that can clean tailings ponds and recover nickel

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 04/20/2023 - 14:46

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A new research partnership between ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering and companies in the mining sector uses micro-organisms to recover nickel from tailings ponds, like this one in Ontario (photo by Patrick Diep)

Tyler Irving

Topic

Our Community

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Genomics

Industry

Mining

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

Researchers from the University of Toronto – in collaboration with a group of mining firms – are using acid-loving bacteria to design new processes for recovering nickel, a critical mineral in growing demand around the world.

The research partnership with the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering includes the following companies: Vale, Glencore, Metso-Outotec, BacTech, MIRARCO and Yakum Consulting. The insights gained could enable these companies to reduce their environmental footprint while at the same time gaining access to new sources of nickel, which is used in everything from stainless steel to next-generation batteries for electric vehicles.

Supported by $2 million in funding through Ontario Genomics from Genome Canada and another $2 million from the Government of Ontario, the industrial partners will also provide approximately $2 million in funding and in-kind contributions, bringing the total up to $6 million.

Radhakrishnan Mahadevan (photo by Sara Collaton)

“Tailings from nickel mining operations have been an environmental challenge for a very long time,” says Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry who is leading the new partnership.

“If exposed to oxygen, chemical reactions in the tailings generate acids that makes them toxic to most forms of life. But we know that there are some microbes that can thrive in these environments. The biochemical techniques they use to survive can offer us new pathways to meet our goals.”

In Canada, nickel is found in ores that are mostly composed of iron and sulphur. After most of the nickel is extracted, the iron and sulphur remain, along with trace amounts of nickel – typically less than 1 per cent by weight. Together, these substances are known as tailings, and they exit the extraction process in the form of a slurry, a suspension of tiny mineral particles in water.

If the slurry is exposed to oxygen, the sulphur remaining in the slurry can become oxidized to form sulphate, a key component of sulphuric acid. To slow this process, the tailings are typically stored under water in tailings ponds. However, over time, these ponds still become highly acidic, with a pH in the range of 1-2.

Mahadevan, University Professor Elizabeth Edwards and Professor Vladimiros Papangelakis – all in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry – have been studying the organisms that are able to survive in these tailings ponds.

Several years ago, the team obtained samples from a mine tailings site operated by one of their industrial partners. By analyzing DNA present in this sample, they were able to identify a new strain of an organism known as Acidithiobacillus ferridurans. In 2020, they published the full genome of this new strain, which they called Acidithiobacillus ferridurans JAGS.

Ever since, the researchers have been further enhancing the capabilities of this bacterium through a process known as adaptive evolution. Samples that grow well in the presence of low concentrations of mine tailings are gradually exposed to increasingly higher concentrations. The best of those cultures are exposed to even higher concentrations, creating new strains that are more effective at carrying out key chemical reactions.

“This bacterial strain can actually extract energy from the oxidation of both iron and sulphur in a process that we call bio-leaching,” Mahadevan says.

“In the process, they also liberate the remaining nickel, which would otherwise be very difficult to recover from a solution this dilute. What’s amazing about the bacterium is that it can carry out these reactions at ambient temperatures and low pressures. And even more exciting is the idea that, if we understand how they are doing it, we might be able to control and direct the process.”

For example, the sulphur in the tailings is in the form of sulphide. Mahadevan says that instead of oxidizing it all the way to sulphate, which forms the acid, it might be possible to alter the process to instead create elemental sulphur. In this case, the sulphur would precipitate out of solution and could be sold as a commodity chemical for other applications, such as the production of fertilizers.

Mahadevan says the team will continue enhancing the bacterium through adaptive evolution, but that they are also pursuing a genetic engineering approach by using the emerging gene editing technique known as CRISPR.

“One of the things we’ve learned from studying this strain is that it has made more copies of certain genes that are involved in the transport of metal ions within the cell.

“If we use gene editing to further enhance the expression of these kinds of genes, we might be able to help it to grow even better, or to be more effective at carrying out the kinds of chemical transformations we want it to do,” Mahadevan says.

“Partnerships between the researchers and industry are the cornerstone of Ontario’s thriving innovation community,” says Bettina Hamelin, president and CEO of Ontario Genomics.

“By supporting the development and uptake of new technologies that provide game-changing solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, Ontario Genomics is helping to nurture healthy people, a healthy economy and a healthy planet for generations to come.”

Mahadevan estimates that it will take another three to five years before the research team has both a bacterial strain and an associated process that will be ready to be tested in the field.

“Our goal with this project is to eliminate the technical bottlenecks to the application – to de-risk sufficiently so that our partners can put in the resources it would take to fully deploy it in their operations,” he says.

“If they can do that, it could not only completely change the way they deal with mine tailings, but also provide access to new sources of nickel – which will only become more important in the years to come.”

To address iron deficiency in Africa, researcher develops fortified version of popular hibiscus drink

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:06:30 +0000

To address iron deficiency in Africa, researcher develops fortified version of popular hibiscus drink

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 10/19/2022 - 10:06

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Folake Oyewole, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, is developing an iron-fortified hibiscus drink that could help women with iron deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa (photo by Safa Jinje)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Global Lens

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Research & Innovation

Folake Oyewole’s doctoral thesis project was inspired, in part, by the potential health benefits of a refreshing drink: Zobo, a hibiscus-based beverage that is popular in Oyewole’s home country of Nigeria.

“People consume Zobo as a cold beverage in Nigeria because it’s refreshing and claimed to provide many health benefits,” says Oyewole, a chemical engineering PhD candidate in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

“I wanted to ascertain whether these drinks actually add micronutrients to the body, and if they didn’t, whether we could make it so that they did in a way that could be absorbed and used by the body.”

Supported by the Schlumberger Foundation’s Faculty for the Future Fellowship, Oyewole says she has always been interested in value-added processing of food and beverages, particularly ones with ingredients sourced from Nigeria. Her passion led her to join the lab of Levente Diosady, a professor emeritus in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry, who specializes in food engineering.

Diosady’s lab group is developing a new way to fortify beverages like Zobo with iron – a mineral that many across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly women, are lacking in sufficient quantities. The new iron-fortified beverage will make use of hibiscus sourced from Nigeria.

Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anemia world-wide. For women of reproductive age, iron-deficiency anemia can lead to poor health outcomes and pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, postpartum infection and low infant birth weight. In Nigeria alone, the World Health Organization estimates that 55 per cent of women of reproductive age have anemia.

That’s why fortifying foods with iron has been a key focus of Diosady’s Food Engineering Laboratory for years. Past projects have included a double-fortified salt, which in trials of 60 million consumers in India was found to significantly improve the iron status of women.

“Folake’s work continues our goal of improving the iron status of women and infants by providing a natural fortification of a locally produced beverage,” says Diosady. “If properly marketed, this fortified beverage could improve the iron status of women of reproductive age, without medical infrastructure or any change in dietary habits.”

Hibiscus calyces are used to make Folake Oyewole’s cold beverage, which is then fortified by adding ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, an iron salt that tops up the iron already present in the drink (photo by Safa Jinje)

Creating an iron-fortified beverage isn’t as simple as adding some mineral salts into the recipe. Oyewole’s new product needs to account for the unique challenges associated with the dietary habits of the population she is working with.

The human body absorbs iron from well-rounded diets that include meats, eggs and leafy greens, as well as foods fortified with iron. But in Sub-Saharan Africa, many households are limited to eating mostly plant-based diets with very little variety due to the prohibitive cost of iron-rich meat.

On top of this, many plants have an abundance of polyphenols. This family of naturally occurring molecules – which includes flavonoids, phenolic acids and resveratrol – has many disease-fighting properties, including inhibiting cancerous tumor generation and growth. But polyphenols also bind to iron in a way that prevents the latter from being absorbed by the body.

Oyewole’s fortified hibiscus beverage needs to address both the inadequate dietary iron intake, as well as the reduced iron uptake that results from a diet rich in polyphenols.

“The most at-risk groups who are dependent on plant-based diets often don’t realize that they can’t absorb iron efficiently,” says Oyewole.

“This is why when addressing micronutrient deficiencies at the population level through food fortification, it’s really important to choose the right food vehicle. We want to reach this population with something they are familiar with, something they already produce and consume widely so we can predict the consumption pattern of the population.”

It’s also important to choose a food that can be centrally processed so that the iron dosage can be controlled, adds Oyewole. And the fortification process shouldn’t be so expensive that it significantly raises the cost of the food.

Oyewole began her research by analyzing the iron content of the hibiscus calyces – the part of the plant that protects the bud and supports blooming petals – used to make Zobo. While Oyewole found it to be relatively rich in iron, 70 per cent is lost during the extraction process since most of the iron is bound to the residue that is not transferred into the beverage. She also found that the calyces contain 25 times more polyphenols than they do iron.

Oyewole then fortified the beverage by adding ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, an iron salt, to top up the iron already present. Her goal was to provide a total of six milligrams of iron per 250 milligrams – 30 per cent of the target recommended daily allowance for women of childbearing age.

To prevent the iron-polyphenol interaction, she introduced disodium EDTA into the beverage. Previous results in the lab suggest that this substance can release iron from the iron-polyphenol complex and make it available to be absorbed by the body.

Oyewole is also working on ensuring that her iron fortification method will preserve the organoleptic properties of the original beverage – that is, the flavour, texture and colour.

“Iron has a very distinct, metallic taste, so another layer of my work is to make sure that the sensory properties of the fortified beverage – the taste, mouthfeel, aftertaste and colour – matches the original,” she says. “Otherwise, we risk formulating a fortified beverage that will be rejected by the consumer.”

Once this is achieved, the next step will be to form partnerships with stakeholders, including government agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa, to make the fortified beverage accessible for the target population.

“Working in the Food Engineering Laboratory has been a great privilege,” Oyewole says. “From an outside perspective, it may seem like we just add micronutrients to food and that’s it. But there are a lot of complexities with the materials we are dealing with, including preventing unwanted interactions between the food vehicle and the added micronutrients.

“Our research outcome has the potential for significant impact globally. Invariably it challenges poverty, increases productivity and promotes health – it is all intertwined.”

To help meet global EV demand, researchers develop sustainable method of recycling older lithium-ion batteries

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 17:28:50 +0000

To help meet global EV demand, researchers develop sustainable method of recycling older lithium-ion batteries

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 10/03/2022 - 13:28

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Professor Gisele Azimi and PhD candidate Jiakai (Kevin) Zhang have proposed a new, more sustainable method to recover valuable metals from lithium-ion batteries that have reached the end of their useful lives (photo by Safa Jinje)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Breaking Research

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Graduate Students

Materials Science

Research & Innovation

Sustainability

A University of Toronto researcher has developed a new technique to help recycle the metals in lithium-ion batteries, which are in high demand amid surging global sales of electric vehicles.

Gisele Azimi, a professor in the departments of materials science and engineering and chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, and her team have proposed a new, more sustainable method to mine valuable metals – including lithium, but also cobalt, nickel and manganese – from lithium-ion batteries that have reached the end of their useful lifespan.

“Getting these metals from raw ore takes a lot of energy,” says Jiakai (Kevin) Zhang, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering and applied chemistry who is lead author on a new paper recently published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

“If we recycle existing batteries, we can sustain the constrained supply chain and help bring down the cost of EV batteries, making the vehicles more affordable.”

Part of Canada’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 includes a mandatory target requiring 100 per cent of new light-duty cars and passenger trucks sold in the country to be electric by 2035.

Achieving this target will require an increase in the supply of critical metals, the price of which is already very high. For example, cobalt, a key ingredient in the cathode production of lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide (commonly abbreviated as NMC) batteries widely used in EVs, is also one of the most expensive components of lithium-ion batteries due to its limited reserve.

“We are about to reach a point where many lithium-ion batteries are reaching their end of life,” says Azimi. “These batteries are still very rich in elements of interest and can provide a crucial resource for recovery.”

Not only can recycling provide these materials at a lower cost, but it also reduces the need to mine raw ore that comes with environmental and ethical costs.

The life expectancy of EV batteries is from 10 to 20 years, but most car manufacturers only provide a guarantee for eight years or 160,000 kilometres – whichever comes first. When EV batteries reach end of life, they can be refurbished for second-life uses or recycled to recover metals. But today, many batteries are discarded improperly and end up in landfills.

“If we keep mining lithium, cobalt and nickel for batteries and then just landfill them at end-of-life, there will be a negative environmental impact, especially if corrosive electrolyte leaching occurs and contaminates underground water systems,” says Zhang.

Gisele Azimi and Jiakai (Kevin) Zhang conducted their supercritical fluid extraction experiments in a 100-millilitre high-pressure reactor (photo by Safa Jinje)

Conventional processes for recycling lithium-ion batteries are based on pyrometallurgy, which uses extremely high temperature, or hydrometallurgy, which uses acids and reducing agents for extraction. These two processes are both energy intensive: pyrometallurgy produces greenhouse gas emissions, while hydrometallurgy creates wastewater that needs to be processed and handled.

In contrast, Azimi’s lab group is using supercritical fluid extraction to recover metals from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. This process separates one component from another by using an extracting solvent at a temperature and pressure above its critical point, where it adopts the properties of both a liquid and a gas.

To recover the metals, Zhang used carbon dioxide as a solvent, which was brought to a supercritical phase by increasing the temperature above 31 C, and the pressure up to 7 megapascals.

In the paper, the team showed that this process matched the extraction efficiency of lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese to 90 per cent when compared to the conventional leaching processes, while also using fewer chemicals and generating significantly less secondary waste. In fact, the main source of energy expended during the supercritical fluid extraction process was due to the compression of CO2.

“The advantage of our method is that we are using carbon dioxide from the air as the solvent instead of highly hazardous acids or bases,” she says. “Carbon dioxide is abundant, cheap and inert, and it’s also easy to handle, vent and recycle.” 

Supercritical fluid extraction is not a new process. It has been used in the food and pharmaceutical industries to extract caffeine from coffee beans since the 1970s. Azimi and her team’s work builds on previous research in the Laboratory for Strategic Materials to recover rare earth elements from nickel-metal-hydride batteries.

However, this is the first time that this process has been used to recover metals from lithium-ion batteries, she says.

“We really believe in the success and the benefits of this process,” says Azimi.

“We are now moving towards commercialization of this method to increase its technology readiness level. Our next step is to finalize partnerships to build industrial-scale recycling facilities for secondary resources. If it’s enabled, it would be a big game changer.”

The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

PhD student aims to reduce pulp and paper's environmental footprint, inspire underprivileged youth

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 19:47:37 +0000

PhD student aims to reduce pulp and paper's environmental footprint, inspire underprivileged youth

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/13/2022 - 15:47

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Gaius St. Marie, a PhD student in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, will work with an industrial consortium to study new ways to make efficient use of black liquor, a byproduct of the pulp and paper industry (photo by Tyler Irving)

Tyler Irving

Topic

Our Community

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Graduate Students

For Gaius St. Marie, a doctoral degree in chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the University of Toronto is not only a way to pursue his passion for science, technology and sustainability – but also to serve as a role model for his community.

For his PhD thesis, St. Marie will work with an industrial consortium that includes many pulp and paper producers to help the industry lower its environmental impact by understanding the factors that cause fluctuations in the composition of black liquor, a mixture of spent chemicals and organic matter produced as part of the pulping process.

While black liquor is typically recycled, fluctuations in its composition can hinder this process. By developing a model to help pulp and paper mills predict and account for these fluctuations, St. Marie hopes to give them the tools to be even more efficient in their use of resources.

“Pulp and paper is one of the largest industrial sectors in the world,” says St. Marie, who will be supervised by Assistant Professor Nikolai DeMartini.

“As an industry based on renewable resources, this sector plays an important role in sustainable development. I want to help support that development by informing it with good science.”

Gaius St. Marie says he wants “to serve as an inspiration to any young child in an underprivileged community” (photo by Tyler Irving)

St. Marie is one of two recipients of this year’s IBET Momentum Fellowships, along with fellow chemical engineering graduate student Oseremen Ebewele.

The fellowships provide support and build a network for Indigenous and Black graduate students – two groups that are significantly underrepresented across both academia and the engineering profession. Fellowship recipients receive financial support, mentorship, training and networking opportunities to foster a robust professional community.

“Young Black adults like myself need to see that there are opportunities for us in society,” St. Marie says. “My dream is to serve as an inspiration to any young child in an underprivileged community, to show them that any situation in life is merely a stepping-stone to future success.”

St. Marie grew up in the Caribbean country of St. Lucia. In 2015, he moved to Halifax to complete an undergraduate degree in chemistry at Saint Mary’s University, graduating magna cum laude.

At Saint Mary’s, he completed a research thesis in sustainable chemistry, supervised by Professor Christa Brosseau. The work involved experimenting with new types of bio-based materials that can serve as substrates in surface enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS), an analytical technique that can be used to detect biomarkers of disease, among other applications. He was also able to work on a project with Alpha Chemical, a pharmaceutical and biodiesel company based in Nova Scotia.

Pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering will help St. Marie fulfill his goal of becoming a research scientist.

“Graduate studies are one of the most effective ways to learn critical thinking skills. You need to develop good hypotheses, explain your research to those who don’t yet understand it, and troubleshoot ideas as you go,” he says.

“Being at ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering will surround me with like-minded individuals who share the same research interests and ambitions, providing valuable opportunities for collaboration.”

St. Marie says he is very grateful for the opportunities provided by the IBET Momentum Fellowship, and is looking forward to joining the community of recipients, which now includes four researchers from ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering and many more at other institutions across Ontario.

“The IBET Momentum Fellowship shows that with passion and determination, I can pursue my educational dreams,” he says. “I am thankful to my support system, which is my family and God, for this opportunity.”

After graduation, St. Marie hopes to pursue post-doctoral studies and eventually become a professor himself.

“The PhD program makes your mind into an idea factory,” he says. “This factory is fed by reading the work of others, and by your own previous experience, including ideas that didn’t work out. It will provide an array of skills that are transferable across different sectors, and hopefully set me up to create my own research lab one day.”

'A diversity of career paths': TrackOne program lets first-year ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering students keep their options open

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:30:53 +0000

'A diversity of career paths': TrackOne program lets first-year ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering students keep their options open

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 08/25/2022 - 14:30

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Samantha Butt holds a TrackOne “magic eight ball” patch – picked, in part, because there are eight core engineering disciplines to choose from (photo courtesy of Samantha Butt)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Our Community

Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Undergraduate Students

When Selina Tong was in high school, she didn’t know what she wanted to study at university. Her strongest subjects were math and science, so she debated between business, architecture and engineering.

While she was exposed to the latter field from an early age – her father is an electrical engineer, and her sister went into computer engineering – she says she still didn’t know what people did in the profession.

To keep as many doors open as possible, Tong ultimately decided to enroll in the TrackOne program offered by the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. The undeclared first-year program allows students to explore the many fields of engineering offered at ��˾��ֱ�� before choosing a disciplinary major at the end of the winter term.

“I was uncertain about my future, but I knew that getting an engineering degree would open up more possible career paths,” says Tong, who is now a fourth-year industrial engineering student.

“The skills you can gain are so vast that you have a lot of options if you decide that you don’t want to be a professional engineer.”

TrackOne students take courses that prepare them to join any Core 8 program – chemical, civil, computer, electrical, industrial, materials, mechanical or mineral engineering – for the remaining three years of their BASc degree and have the support of a dedicated TrackOne adviser.

“These are not students who can’t make up their minds. They know they are interested in engineering, but want to keep their options open to make an informed decision,” says Susan McCahan, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering who currently serves as ��˾��ֱ��’s vice-provost, academic programs and vice-provost, innovations in undergraduate education.

“We did find that quite a few students came in thinking they were going to pursue one program and ended up going into a different field – one they may not have even known about when they were in high school.”

McCahan, who served as chair of first year when ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering admitted the first group of TrackOne students in 2007, witnessed an immediate sense of community among the group as they picked their own Engineering Society class representative and organized social and networking events – just like students in the Core 8 programs.

“The first cohort of students decided that the magic eight ball was going to be their symbol because when you ask one a question and turn it over, it sometimes says, ‘Ask again later,’” she says. “And eight, because at the end of their first year, they pick one of the Core 8 programs.” 

Fourth-year ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering Selina Tong leads a Frosh Week group in September 2019 (photo courtesy of Selina Tong)

Samantha Butt, a third-year mechanical and industrial engineering student, says she has always enjoyed being challenged academically, which is what attracted her to the idea of studying engineering.

“I didn’t know anyone who could tell me about the profession and what it could be,” she says. “I knew that engineers solve problems, and I consider problem-solving to be one of my greatest strengths.”

After being accepted to ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering, she attended an event for female-identifying high school students called Girls Leadership in Engineering Experience (GLEE).

“I saw firsthand how strong the ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering community is and that I would be amongst women who were also passionate about STEM,” she says. “I really felt like I belonged in this community.”

Butt applied to TrackOne to give herself more flexibility and spend her first year of university discovering which engineering discipline aligned best with her interests.

When she took the Introduction to Engineering course (APS 191H1), she discovered how versatile each of the Core 8 programs could be. And even though she initially thought she would choose to study computer engineering, she was won over by mechanical engineering’s mechatronics stream.

“I learned about a fourth-year course called Mechatronics Principles (MIE 444), where you get to build a robot that navigates its way through a maze,” she says. “I remember being so mesmerized that I could have all the skills and knowledge to build something like that once I reached fourth year.”

This summer, Butt is starting her Professional Experience Year Co-op Program (PEY Co-op) at Safran Landing Systems, an aircraft-equipment manufacturing company that produces landing gear, avionics and navigation systems.

“Mechanical engineering has a lot of PEY Co-op opportunities within aerospace – and I haven’t been exposed to the aerospace industry yet in any of my courses,” she says.

“I’m really excited to see how I can apply what I’ve learned in my degree and how I can learn even more from this opportunity.”

Albert Huynh speaks at the TrackOne 10-year anniversary in 2017 (photo by Alan Yusheng Wu)

Alumnus Albert Huynh says he enrolled in TrackOne because he loves to collect input and information before making big decisions.

“Having the option to delay the choice to pick a program while I learned more about the discipline was very much in line with my personality style,” says Huynh, who ended up pursuing his degree in chemical engineering.

During that first year, Huynh was struck by engineering’s focus on design and applying knowledge of mathematics, sciences and technology into ways that could solve global problems. His interest in sustainable energy led him to choose chemical engineering at the end of his first year, but extracurricular opportunities within the faculty would eventually ignite his passion for engineering education.

After his studies, Huynh spent six years working at the Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (ILead) at ��˾��ֱ�� Engineering. And this past July, he started a new role as the North American lead for learning experience design at Shopify.

“There are so many ways of approaching problems and designing solutions,” says Huynh. “I’ve learned that the specific discipline you pick doesn’t actually matter all that much in terms of where you end up, but rather determines the approach that you take.”

As for Tong, she opted to study industrial engineering for its focus on human-centred design, and because it pairs well with a business minor. She completed her PEY Co-op as a trade floor technology consultant at Scotiabank this past spring, and is wrapping up an internship as a technical program manager at Braze in New York City this summer.

“I was very attracted to the diversity of the degree,” she says. “I have been able to tailor my course selection to my interests, whether that be design, human factors or artificial intelligence.”

“While students choose a field of engineering to study at the end of their TrackOne year, what we really want them to know is that the field they choose will not necessarily dictate their career path,” says McCahan.

“There is a diversity of career paths open, no matter what field of engineering they choose.”