Rahul Kalvapalle

Nasteha Omar, who wants to study orthopedics, spent a high school semester at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga via the Support, Engage, Experience (SEE) UTM program

Nasteha Omar has long been interested in becoming an orthopedic surgeon – and thanks to a unique program at the University of Toronto Mississauga, the first-year student is already well on her way.

“I’ve had to go to hospital and be in contact with different orthopedic surgeons lots of times because of problems that I have myself,” she says. “And I found their careers really interesting from a young age. It’s just something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

While taking the first steps towards her goal at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga was always her intention – her family lives near the campus and her older sister is already a student – Omar got an early and up-close look at university life via the Support, Engage, Experience ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga (SEE UTM) initiative, which invites Peel District high school students to spend a semester at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga to get a taste of post-secondary education.

It was nothing short of “a transformative experience,” says Omar, who was encouraged to apply for the initiative by her vice-principal at Erindale Secondary School. “It wasn’t only a chance to connect with peers and mentors, but also an opportunity to engage in programs that helped me enrich my academic and personal growth.”

Now a first-year student, Omar is pursuing an honours bachelor of science degree in life sciences and eyeing a specialist in molecular biology.

She says her SEE UTM experience allowed her to explore the sciences from a variety of lenses. One of the highlights was taking a course, "STEM in Society," that explores how the STEM fields intersect with society, culture and politics.

“I’ve always been interested in the sciences and STEM, so participating in a course that was more about the ethical side of ongoing situations in our world – and of science topics – really opened my eyes to different pathways that I want to explore,” Omar says of the course taught by Sheliza Ibrahim, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy.

In addition to exploring new intellectual ground, Omar also got a taste of hands-on scientific research in the Applied Perception & Psychophysics Laboratory, co-directed by Assistant Professors Anna Kosovicheva and Benjamin Wolfe of the department of psychology. There, Omar used MATLAB programming software to design an experiment to study how visual and auditory stimuli interact. “It was to show how our perception of time can be influenced by how we interpret events,” she says.

While Omar didn’t have time to test the experiment before her semester ended, she plans to do more lab work as an undergraduate student, picking up where she left off.

Alongside her SEE UTM experience, Omar also gained insight into ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga's myriad resources and supports via the Black Access to Educational Excellence initiative (BAEE@UTM), which organizes events and networking opportunities aimed at helping Black high school students learn more about the campus community – and thrive once they get there.

For Omar, that means looking beyond her academic goals. She plans to get involved in student clubs, particularly anything that caters to her love of literature – she writes poems and fiction, and took part in the Caribbean & Black Writing Collective during her semester at the university. And she wants to start a non-profit tutoring organization by building on her high school experience founding the Erindale Secondary School chapter of Learn To Be, an NGO that provides free online tutoring.

“It was a great opportunity for students to not only gain volunteer hours but make connections with other students in an online tutoring format, where they tutored students from under-privileged families that wouldn’t be able to get extra help or access to educational resources outside of school,” she says. “I’d love to see it up and running at UTM if that would be a possibility.”

Omar remains in touch with some of her peers from the SEE UTM and BAEE@UTM programs, as well as the upper-year ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga students who served as mentors.

“I feel like we were all able to grow really close as a community,” she says. “It helped me find my footing for what was to come when I enter university, so it was really amazing.”

In photos: ��˾��ֱ�� campuses spring to life as students move into residence, head to first day of class

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 13:00:15 +0000

In photos: ��˾��ֱ�� campuses spring to life as students move into residence, head to first day of class

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/03/2024 - 09:00

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Jacob Domingo Chan, third from left, was among many first-year students who received a helping hand as they moved into residences on ��˾��ֱ��'s three campuses ahead of the new school year (photo by Polina Teif)

Topic

Undergraduate Students

University College

The University of Toronto’s three campuses are abuzz with excitement as students from the Toronto region, across Canada and around the world kicked off a new school year.

The fall 2024 semester marked the first time that students on the St. George campus, ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough and ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga had their first day of classes on the same day, Sept. 3 – part of an effort to align key academic dates across the university.

AskMe Anything volunteers were also out in full force to offer tips and guidance, especially to the thousands of first-year students navigating the first day of their post-secondary education.

��˾��ֱ�� President Meric Gertler welcomed new and returning students, as well as faculty, staff and librarians, in a video message released last week.

“[��˾��ֱ��] is an exciting place to be, and this is an exciting time to be a part of it,” he said.

Photographers were on hand across all three campuses in recent days to capture the sights – and energy – of a new academic year:

(photo by Johnny Guatto)

Welcome signs wrap ��˾��ֱ��’s main gates on the St. George campus as students make their way to and from classes on the first day of a new school year.

(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

The weeks leading up to the first day of school featured plenty of enthusiasm as students and their families carted belongings into residences at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga.

(photo by Polina Teif)

At St. George, volunteers and residence staff were on hand to provide a warm welcome, refreshments and help hoisting bins and boxes.

(photo by Polina Teif)

“I was nervous at first, but everyone’s been so welcoming,” said University College student Cassidy Smith, who posed for an Aug. 25 photo with her mother as she moved into her dorm.

“There’s such a good energy around the place and I can feel that this is going to be like a second home to me."

(photo by Terrence Tong)

At ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough, luggage carts – and several volunteers – helped ferry students’ belongings between the parking lot and residence buildings.

(photo by Polina Teif)

Gabriella Baichwal, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Chicago, joked that she “brought way too much stuff” to fill up her single room in Trinity College on the St. George campus.

“I brought all my clothes, a mini-fridge and all of this stuff, and I feel like a spoiled brat. But that’s OK – you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” said Baichwal, as her parents helped unload items from their vehicle’s roof.

Her father, Ravi Baichwal, whose own father went to grad school at ��˾��ֱ�� in the 1960s after moving from India, said he was “incredibly proud” of his daughter for following in her grandfather’s footsteps.

“I have that incredible pit of anxiety and hope all mixed up into one,” he said.

(photo by Polina Teif)

There were plenty of opportunities for students to meet new friends, showcase their school spirit and learn about extra-curricular opportunities at the tri-campus cheer-off event and clubs carnival held on the St. George campus ahead of the Labour Day long weekend.

(photo by Polina Teif)

More than 300 ��˾��ֱ�� clubs were present at the clubs carnival, an annual event organized by the ��˾��ֱ�� Students' Union. There is also a Student Groups Fair on Sept. 5 and 6 at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga, and a UTSC Clubs Fair at ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough on Sept. 23.

(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Orientation programs at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga included a painting activity that invited students to harness their creativity.

(photo by Terrence Tong)

It was all smiles at ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough as students, friends and family settled in for the fall term.

Food for thought: First-year student campaigned for more nutritious, affordable meals in Niagara schools

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:29:41 +0000

Food for thought: First-year student campaigned for more nutritious, affordable meals in Niagara schools

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 08/28/2024 - 10:29

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Julianna Marcel, who graduated from Greater Fort Erie Secondary School in Fort Erie, Ont., will be studying at Rotman Commerce this fall (photo courtesy of Julianna Marcel)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Back to School 2024

Faculty of Arts & Science

Rotman Commerce

Rotman School of Management

Undergraduate Students

Victoria College

Subheadline

As a high school student and Niagara Region school board trustee, Julianna Marcel led a successful effort to overhaul school cafeteria meals and secure funding for culinary education

Julianna Marcel was in Grade 10 when a teacher pulled her out of science class and asked if she’d be interested in joining the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN)’s student trustee senate.

“I said yes, despite not knowing what it was,” says Marcel of the group that serves as a bridge between the school board and student body.

It would prove to be a fateful decision for both Marcel and the school board.

Later elected to one of three student positions on the DSBN’s board of trustees, Marcel went on to lead a successful campaign to overhaul school cafeteria menus to make them more nutritious and affordable. The effort also helped secure funding for culinary education.

“It ended up being one of the most transformative experiences of my life, connecting me deeply with both the student body and the educational community," Marcel says.

Marcel, who will begin a bachelor of commerce degree at the University of Toronto this fall, decided to act when a survey revealed a significant demand for healthier, more affordable meal options.

“Students expressed concerns about the high cost and low quality of their food, which I found unacceptable,” she says. “I recognized the need for change and saw an opportunity to advocate for healthier food in schools while better supporting our students.”

As she attended Greater Fort Erie Secondary School in Fort Erie, Ont., Marcel educated herself on food services policy and finance and carried out research on the impact of nutrition on academic performance and student success.

With her adviser’s encouragement, Marcel shared her findings in a letter to the president of DSBN’s food service provider. A series of meetings followed and, ultimately, a revamp of cafeteria menus.

Next, Marcel turned her attention to campaigning for more resources for culinary education. This led to the DSBN allocating $500,000 in its 2023-24 budget to expand culinary education.

Marcel's contributions were recognized with an Ontario Public Student Trustee Leadership Scholarship, jointly awarded by the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and the Public Board Council of OSTA-AECO. The award citation noted that her work benefited some 37,500 students.

She's keen to highlight that the positive outcomes were the result of collective effort.

“I wouldn’t say that these changes are my accomplishments. They are a testament to what we can achieve when we listen to and involve students in decision-making processes,” she says.

The advocacy work led by Marcel benefited more than 37,000 students (photo courtesy of Julianna Marcel)

In addition to her trustee responsibilities and keeping up her grades, Marcel also made sure to carefully consider her post-secondary options. She participated in the ��˾��ֱ�� Faculty of Law’s youth summer programs in 2022 and 2023 – experiences that she says inspired her long-term ambition to attend law school at ��˾��ֱ�� and become a technology and corporate lawyer.

She says she is drawn to ��˾��ֱ��’s vast array of resources and supports – and the diversity of its community.

“When I was picking between schools, I really did a deep delve into my top few choices and the University of Toronto has the most academic, extracurricular and career supports of any school that I researched,” says Marcel, who will pursue a specialist in finance and economics at Rotman Commerce as member of Victoria College.

“Coming to Toronto, I’m so excited to get to know everyone, learn more about the people and communities around me and meet so many international students.”

She intends to use her undergraduate years to enrich her understanding of how economics can be used to address societal problems.

“I’m drawn to economics because it offers a powerful framework for analyzing the challenges we face in society,” Marcel says. “Whether it’s understanding the causes of economic inequality or exploring the impacts of globalization or designing policies for sustainable growth, I believe economics provides the tools to critically access and influence the world around us.”

Marcel also plans to make time for her many hobbies while at university: she plays five musical instruments, enjoys soccer and basketball, and loves writing.

She hopes to start a tutoring business that engages ��˾��ֱ�� students in assisting high school and elementary learners, and wants to get involved in student groups at Rotman Commerce – particularly the Law Association, FinTech Association and Women in Business group.

"My ultimate goal is to support my community in every way that I can – not just in my first year but throughout my life," she says.

��˾��ֱ�� ranked 1st in Canada, 26th globally by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 18:12:46 +0000

��˾��ֱ�� ranked 1st in Canada, 26th globally by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 08/19/2024 - 14:12

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(photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Topic

Shanghai Ranking Consultancy

The University of Toronto is ranked first in Canada and 26th globally in the latest edition of ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s worldwide university ranking.

Among public universities, ��˾��ֱ�� placed sixth in North America and 15th overall in the 2024 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released last week. The ranking’s creators evaluated more than 2,500 universities to determine the 1,000 included in this year’s publication.

The Shanghai ranking comes on the heels of ��˾��ֱ��’s strong performance in two other rankings this year: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities Rankings and the QS World University Rankings, which respectively ranked ��˾��ֱ�� 17th and 25th overall.

“These results are a testament to the University of Toronto’s global reputation for scholarly excellence and high quality, impactful research across a wide range of disciplines,” said Trevor Young, ��˾��ֱ��’s vice-president and provost.

“The credit goes to our entire academic and research community and their commitment to furthering knowledge, while working tirelessly to address some of the most complex global challenges of our time.”

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is based on six weighted measures of research and academic performance collected from third-party sources. They include: the number of alumni and faculty winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals; the number of highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories; the number of papers published in the prestigious journals Nature and Science; articles cited in major science and social sciences citation indices; and each institution’s per capita academic performance across all faculty members.

��˾��ֱ��, which ranked 24th in the 2023 edition of the ranking, was joined by two other Canadian universities in the top 100: the University of British Columbia (47th) and McGill University (74th).

The five highest ranked universities were Harvard University, Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley.

Overall, ��˾��ֱ�� continues to be the highest-ranked Canadian university and one of the top-ranked public universities in the five most closely watched international rankings: Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

��˾��ֱ�� startup Honeybee acquired by global clinical trials firm Leapcure

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:55:48 +0000

��˾��ֱ�� startup Honeybee acquired by global clinical trials firm Leapcure

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 08/16/2024 - 10:55

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(photo courtesy of Leapcure)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

��˾��ֱ�� Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Health Innovation Hub

Impact Centre

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

ONRamp

Startups

Subheadline

Co-founded by Catherine Chan and Weiwei Li, Honeybee Trials' platform helps clinical trial recruiters find, screen and manage patients for their research

Honeybee Trials, a University of Toronto startup that connects research teams with patients and study participants, has been acquired by global clinical trials company Leapcure in a deal that is poised to drive more inclusive and affordable trials that’s ultimately applicable to a broader population.

Co-founded by ��˾��ֱ�� alumni Catherine Chan and Weiwei Li, Honeybee built a web and mobile platform to help clinical trial teams attract, screen, recruit and manage study participants. Since its founding in 2019, the startup has connected over 30,000 patients and participants to more than 1,000 clinical trials across North America.

Leapcure, headquartered in California, offers an array of solutions that combines people-backed services with data-driven technologies to fill clinical trials for global sponsors and CROs, but can now expand affordable patient recruitment to institutional sites, private sites and biotech firms. Moreover, their work alongside patients and advocacy groups has significantly helped to reach underrepresented communities – a focus that will receive a boost following the purchase of Honeybee.

Chan, who earned a master’s degree in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of nutritional sciences, says the deal grew out of a desire to partner strategically with a larger company that could provide access to broader sectors within the clinical research world.

Catherine Chan (L) and Weiwei Li (supplied image)

“At Honeybee, we offered competitive pricing for academic and hospital sites, local CROs [contract research organizations] and biotech firms,” Chan says. “With this partnership, we’re able to provide services across all of the different types of trial scopes and sizes.”

She adds that both Honeybee and Leapcure have placed a strong focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility by helping researchers attract study participants of different ethnicities, ages, genders and sexual orientations – helping make clinical trials more equitable and reflective of the wider population.

“It’s important to us that there's a mission and vision alignment between the companies... it couldn’t be a better fit,” Chan said.

The asset purchase deal for an undisclosed amount, which was announced in an Aug. 13 press release, will see Chan transition from CEO of Honeybee to senior director of product at Leapcure.

“We’re excited to join forces with Catherine and Honeybee. They’ve been really focused on the newest recruitment technologies that are most impactful for both patients and research,” said Leapcure CEO Zachary Gobst. “A big reason that things came together was our alignment on impact first. It’s a credit to how they’ve been approaching their business the right way from the beginning."

Honeybee evolved out of the frustrations that Chan faced in recruiting study participants for her master’s thesis. Motivated to explore solutions, Chan created a prototype that would help match participants with trials; she then enrolled in a one-week accelerator program in the Impact Centre (now the Centre for Entrepreneurship) in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

She soon teamed up with Li, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s of applied science degrees from the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, to co-found Honeybee. The startup later joined the Health Innovation Hub (H2i) accelerator and operated out of office space in ��˾��ֱ�� Entrepreneurship’s ONRamp facility prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With COVID-19 measures encouraging the adoption of digital tools by clinical research teams, Honeybee found itself well-placed to play an important role. “The pandemic provided an opportunity for many tech companies to scale as the market became more open-minded and ready to adopt technologies to help connect them day-to-day," Chan says. "We saw a rapid adoption of Honeybee’s technology during this time where people moved away from traditional recruitment and patient communications to the current age.

“Although digital adoption across other industries has grown quite rapidly, healthcare has lagged behind, rightfully so and for many reasons, but we’re glad the transformation is happening. Just five years ago, clinical trial coordinators were still using paper handouts to recruit on the street and paper calendars to schedule patients.

“The pandemic expedited researchers being able to meet people where they are.”

Chan says the acquisition by Leapcure will enable the rollout of tiered services ranging from low-cost, self-serve tiers – targeting research teams with more modest budgets – to higher levels of service that include dedicated management.

“I’m really excited about the solutions we now have to offer together as well as the next steps in how we’re going to disrupt clinical trials.”

Professor Paul Santerre, co-founder and director of H2i, hailed Chan as "a model outcome" of the accelerator's mission to empower innovators in translating their ideas into products and companies that tackle important problems.

“Catherine and her team’s achievements are transformative in terms of democratizing the recruitment of patients for clinical study cohorts," said Santerre, the Baxter Chair for Health Technology and Commercialization at the University Health Network and professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and Institute of Biomedical Engineering who is cross-appointed to the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry.

"She has much to still teach us about the power of digital tools and their ethical use to achieve impact in clinical research trials – and this acquisition will accelerate that outcome."

��˾��ֱ�� expands housing options for students via partnership with home-sharing platform

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 18:41:27 +0000

��˾��ֱ�� expands housing options for students via partnership with home-sharing platform

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 07/15/2024 - 14:41

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From left to right: Jackie Tanner, SpacesShared’s chief experience officer, Rylan Kinnon, SpacesShared’s CEO, and Arlene Clement, ��˾��ֱ��’s director, Housing and TCard services (photo by Sydney Maddock)

Topic

Subheadline

SpacesShared facilitates home-sharing arrangements between students seeking affordable housing near campus and older adults looking to earn rent from their spare rooms

As part of its efforts to provide more access to student housing, the University of Toronto has added a unique option that also helps address a community need near its three campuses: matching students in need of housing with older adults who have extra space in their homes.

The innovative offering is the result of a partnership between ��˾��ֱ�� and SpacesShared, an online platform that facilitates home-sharing agreements using a combination of algorithms and dedicated support staff.

Based in Toronto, SpacesShared was co-founded by ��˾��ֱ�� alumni and helps with every stage of the home-sharing process – from matching students and hosts to providing a platform for secure communication, carrying out background checks and processing rent payments

The partnership will enable ��˾��ֱ�� students to use SpacesShared to search for housing options near all three campuses, with ��˾��ֱ�� Housing Services encouraging homeowners in the Toronto area to sign up and help students secure a comfortable living environment – all while earning rental income for themselves.

“We’re excited to partner with SpacesShared and expand affordable housing options for students as well as offer older adults a way to leverage a spare bedroom for some extra income, company and companionship,” said Arlene Clement, director of Housing and TCard services at ��˾��ֱ�� Student Life. “This is addressing a need that we see in terms of affordable, safe housing and community connection.”

She added that homeowners and students interested in signing up for the platform can do so on the SpacesShared website or contact ��˾��ֱ�� Housing Services for guidance.

The partnership comes as ��˾��ֱ�� continues to seek out new ways to help students find suitable housing. In February, ��˾��ֱ�� announced that it acquired a 20-per-cent stake in the CampusOne residence building located near the St. George campus in a deal that gives the university preferential access to as many as 890 beds.

The university has also made headway on a number of new student residence buildings including Harmony Commons, which opened at ��˾��ֱ�� Scarborough last fall; the Oak House residence on Spadina Avenue, which is currently under construction; and the Phase IX Residence at ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga, which is expected to be open in summer 2026.

As for SpacesShared, the platform provides yet another housing option for students while fostering mutually beneficial intergenerational interactions. SpacesShared also offers students the option of receiving discounts on their rent in exchange for helping with specific household tasks and chores.

“Home-sharing allows us to use the capacity that already exists in the community,” said Jackie Tanner, co-founder and chief experience officer at SpacesShared, who earned her master’s degree at ��˾��ֱ��’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. “Older adults get to put their spare bedrooms toward earning extra income and getting a little bit of extra help around the house, and students get to find safe housing close to campus.”

After being vetted, both students and potential hosts set up a profile sharing information about themselves, including interests, hobbies and expectations around use of shared spaces in the home, guests, dietary restrictions and other lifestyle preferences. When a student reaches out to a prospective host, the pair can exchange messages and have video chats on the platform, with SpacesShared providing a comprehensive discussion guide to help determine the best fit. If the pair agree on a home-sharing arrangement, SpacesShared drafts an agreement for both parties to sign. Students then pay first and last months’ rent as a deposit – with the amount only forwarded to the host after the student confirms move-in.

SpacesShared then follows up with regular check-ins, with both hosts and students able to contact customer service for support.

“By pairing up these two demographics who have so much to offer one another, our aim is to provide a new way to facilitate a very old concept – home-sharing,” said co-founder and CEO Rylan Kinnon, who earned an honours bachelor of arts with a political science specialist and a minor in philosophy and history at ��˾��ֱ��.

“We’re excited to be working with ��˾��ֱ�� to create housing relationships that are beneficial to both students and older adults.”

With ��˾��ֱ�� innovators front and centre, Collision conference wraps up five-year Toronto run

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:52:23 +0000

With ��˾��ֱ�� innovators front and centre, Collision conference wraps up five-year Toronto run

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 06/21/2024 - 10:52

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��˾��ֱ�� alumna Nuha Siddiqui, co-founder and CEO of Erthos, on stage at the Collision tech conference (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Adina Bresge

Topic

Our Community

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

��˾��ֱ�� Entrepreneurship

��˾��ֱ��

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Faculty of Arts & Science

Geoffrey Hinton

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Innovations & Partnerships Office

Research & Innovation

Startups

Budding entrepreneurs, leading scientists and future business leaders from the University of Toronto community played a leading role at the 2024 Collision tech conference in downtown Toronto.

Running over three days this week, the conference drew some 40,000 attendees from across the spheres of tech, business and media, including more than 1,600 startups and 700 investors.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies and their impact on business and society were key themes for many of the conference’s keynotes and exhibits – so it was no surprise that ��˾��ֱ��’s AI luminaries were front and centre.

They included ��˾��ֱ�� alumnus Aidan Gomez, co-founder of language processing startup Cohere – which has raised hundreds of millions from investors and generated significant industry buzz.

He urged businesses to commit to adopting AI tools to support their workers.

“Making sure that you’re delivering the tools that your employees need to be competitive and effective is crucial,” Gomez said during his talk on Tuesday.

He added that augmentation of workforces with AI co-pilots and assistants is inevitable – including in industries that might not stand out as obvious adopters of the technology. He shared the example of a natural resources insurance firm that built an AI co-pilot – powered by Cohere – to help their actuaries speed up their research, craft more accurate bids and win more contracts.

“I never would have thought a natural resources insurance company would be adopting LLMs [large language models], but they are, and it’s having an impact. It’s actually helping them win more business,” Gomez said. “So I think the technology is completely horizontal.”

Gomez also cited the medical sector – particularly, drug discovery – as another area that’s poised to benefit massively from AI advances.

Aidan Gomez, a ��˾��ֱ�� alumnus, talked about how AI will be used to augment the workforce (photo by Polina Teif)

University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, the influential computer scientist often dubbed the “godfather of AI,” also identified medical care and productivity as two key areas that will see significant improvements thanks to AI. However, much of his discussion, titled "Can We Control AI?", focused on his previously-cited concerns about how AI development could ultimately wrest control from humans given the current race to develop the technology and the absence of sufficient safeguards.

“Even if I’m totally benevolent and I just want to achieve what you asked me to achieve, I’ll realize that if I get more control, it will be easier to do that,” Hinton said of AI agents.

“And actually, if these things are much smarter than us, they’ll realize: Just take the control away from people and it will be much more efficient … and that seems to be like a very slippery path.”

Geoffrey Hinton warned of the existential dangers posed by unchecked AI development (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Gomez, for his part, said he doesn’t believe AI poses a serious threat.

“The notion that the technology is going to start self-improving, that it’s going to start manipulating people, that it’s going to take over, seize power and displace humans: that’s a sci-fi narrative,” he said. “I am empathetic to it – we’ve been writing stories about that exact scenario for decades, since before computers, and so it’s very deeply embedded in our cultural brainstems ... I just don’t think it’s true.”

Earlier at the conference, Raquel Urtasun, founder of self-driving trucking startup Waabi, spoke about generative AI and how Waabi is applying the technology to autonomous trucks. Her keynote took place following the company’s announcement that it raised US$200 million in Series B funding to support the deployment of driverless trucks in 2025.

“Everything will be controlled by generative AI systems inside the vehicle and nothing else. This is a breakthrough for the industry, where such a thing has never happened before,” said Urtasun, a professor in the department of computer science in ��˾��ֱ��'s Faculty of Arts & Science.

Raquel Urtasun spoke about her self-driving truck startup Waabi (photo by Polina Teif)

The conference also featured demos from other promising ��˾��ֱ�� startups including Erthos, which has invented sustainable alternatives to plastics and is now using machine learning to accelerate biomaterials discovery.

“Our platform allows us to design effective biomaterials five times faster and with 92 per cent less cost compared to our industry,” said co-founder and CEO Nuha Siddiqui.

Collision’s final year in Toronto was expected to draw some 40,000 attendees (photo by Johnny Guatto)

During the conference, ��˾��ֱ��’s booth near the main stage featured exhibits from campus-linked accelerators, institutional strategic initiatives, academic divisions and the Innovations and Partnerships Office. ��˾��ֱ��’s Black Founders Network was also at Collision as one of the organizers of the Black Innovation Zone.

Collision 2024 marked the fifth and final edition of the annual conference in Toronto.

Waabi, founded by ��˾��ֱ��'s Raquel Urtasun, raises US$200 million to launch self-driving trucks

lanthierj — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 20:26:16 +0000

Waabi, founded by ��˾��ֱ��'s Raquel Urtasun, raises US$200 million to launch self-driving trucks

lanthierj Wed, 06/19/2024 - 16:26

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(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Global Lens

Artificial Intelligence

Department of Computer Science

Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Arts & Science

Waabi, a self-driving trucking startup founded by University of Toronto artificial intelligence (AI) expert Raquel Urtasun, has raised US$200 million in series B funding to support the deployment of fully autonomous, AI-powered trucks in 2025.

The funding round was led by previous investors Uber Technologies Inc.– where Urtasun previously worked as chief scientist of the self-driving division – and Khosla Ventures and includes an array of other high-profile strategic investors including NVIDIA Corp., Volvo Group and Porsche Automobil Holding.

The latest funding brings total investment in Waabi to more than C$380 million and will be used to expand the Toronto-headquartered company’s team in both Canada and the U.S., as well as to launch driverless commercial deliveries in Texas by next year.

(photo Nick Iwanyshyn)

Urtasun, a professor in the department of computer science at ��˾��ֱ��’s Faculty of Arts & Science and co-founder of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, said Waabi’s end-to-end AI system is advancing self-driving technologies to frontiers beyond the reach of other industry players thanks to its unique ability to carry out complex reasoning.

“What we have at Waabi is a technology that brings generative AI to the physical world for the first time, where the idea is that you have a single AI system that is able to reason like a human does, and is able to generalize to situations everything that might happen on the road – including things that it has never seen before,” she said.

“It does so in a way that is interpretable, so you can validate and verify the system, and provably safe, which is very important as you deploy these massive robots in the real world.”

Paired with Waabi’s advanced simulator, the AI system reduces the need for time-consuming road testing, Urtasun explained.

The announcement came hours before Urtasun took to the main stage at the Collision tech conference in Toronto to deliver a talk on generative AI. Her remarks touched on the technological underpinnings of generative AI and future applications, and outlined how Waabi is bringing generative AI to the physical world – starting with trucking.

Raquel Urtasun at the 2024 edition of Collision (photo by Polina Teif)

Urtasun is one of several experts from ��˾��ֱ��’s technology, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem who are speaking at Collision. Others include University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, a world-renowned AI luminary and investor in Waabi.

“Self-driving technology is a prime example of how AI can dramatically improve our lives,” Hinton said in a news release. “Raquel and Waabi are at the forefront of innovation, developing a revolutionary approach that radically changes the way autonomous systems work and leads to safer and more efficient solutions.”

Earlier in the week, Urtasun brought one of Waabi’s trucks to the St. George campus and showcased some of its capabilities to Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, Tony Gaffney, president and CEO of the Vector Institute, and Michael Brudno, professor in the department of computer science and chief data scientist at the University Health Network.

From left: Melanie Woodin, Raquel Urtasun, Tony Gaffney and Michael Brudno (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Urtasun underscored the importance of the company being headquartered in Toronto. “We’re an AI company and Toronto has always been at the forefront of AI,” Urtasun said. “There’s tremendous talent here, a busy ecosystem, and for me it’s important to be in Canada, where I’m very aligned with the values of the country as well.”

Reflecting on her journey at ��˾��ֱ��, where she started as an assistant professor in 2014, Urtasun said she initially assumed she would “just be an academic doing research for the rest of my life” – but soon realized that involvement in industry would be critical to advancing AI technologies for use in the real world.

“Three years ago, I saw a tremendous opportunity to start a new company and what you see today is the fruit of that, where we’re really close to deployment on public roads without a human [driver],” said Urtasun.

“It’s amazing – not just for Waabi, not just for Canada, but for the industry at large.”

Building a better world: Three Pearson Scholars – and soon-to-be grads – reflect on their ��˾��ֱ�� experience

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 20:13:25 +0000

Building a better world: Three Pearson Scholars – and soon-to-be grads – reflect on their ��˾��ֱ�� experience

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 06/03/2024 - 16:13

Cutline

Left to right: Niha Burugapalli, Daniel Corredor Llorente and Ana Laura Noda González (supplied images)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2024

Faculty of Arts & Science

Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship

Subheadline

“An unsurpassable opportunity to study at one of the world's leading institutions, on a full ride, while joining a cohort of bright, passionate and driven changemakers”

An aspiring clinician-scientist who is reducing food waste across Toronto. A global health student who launched an NGO that connects students with seniors through art. And an international relations specialist who worked on an array of human rights projects.

Ana Laura Noda González, Niha Burugapalli and Daniel Corredor Llorente came to the University of Toronto from different regions of the world, with unique career aspirations and a wide assortment of volunteering causes.

But the three Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship recipients all share one trait: a commitment to making a difference. And all three are graduating from their respective programs this June.

Here's how they plan to use their ��˾��ֱ�� educations to help make the world a better place:

Ana Laura Noda González

(photo supplied)

González, who is graduating with an honours bachelor of science in psychology with minors in immunology and Buddhist psychology and mental health in the Faculty of Arts & Science, says Canada wasn’t on her list of destinations for post-secondary studies – until she heard about the Pearson Scholarship.

“I ran into my school principal’s office and told her that she had to nominate me,” says González, who was born in Cuba and grew up in Mexico.

Upon arriving in Toronto, González says she was taken aback by rampant food waste – particularly given her family’s origins in Cuba, a country with widespread food insecurity. So she co-founded MealCare Toronto, a student-run non-profit that diverts surplus food from cafeterias and restaurants to shelters and food banks.

The Woodsworth College student says her academic interests evolved considerably while at ��˾��ֱ��, and that she now plans to pursue graduate and doctoral research in psychiatry and mental health. “Psychiatry is a relatively new field of medicine – there are a lot of unknowns so I’d like to do something in that,” says González, who is currently working as a research assistant at SickKids Hospital.

Looking back on her time at ��˾��ֱ��, González says she was pleasantly surprised by the ease at which she was able to forge connections.

“Even during the COVID times, I was able to find a community online … and I still have some of my best friends now from that time,” she says. “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have done my undergrad here.”

Niha Burugapalli

(photo supplied)

Burugapalli, who was born in India and raised in Connecticut, is graduating with a bachelor of science in global health and peace, conflict and justice studies.

While at ��˾��ֱ��, the Victoria College student engaged in diverse experiential learning opportunities that ranged from working on the UN Sustainable Development Goals with the Reach Alliance to conducting neuroscience research in Sweden as part of a summer exchange program and spending a semester abroad in Granada, Spain.

Burugapalli is a co-founder of the EmpowART Foundation, an NGO that gives undergraduate students the opportunity to lead art workshops in nursing homes and hospitals – promoting healing through art while encouraging intergenerational connections.

“The goal was to empower the seniors as they engage in a new skill … while bridging the gap between students searching for opportunities to make an impact and the isolation experienced by many seniors,” she says.

Burugapalli says she’s grateful for the sense of community that ��˾��ֱ�� had to offer. “The college system and being part of Vic was really nice to be able to make great friends easily and find a community and support in such a large student body,” she says.

“Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at ��˾��ֱ�� and have been enriched by all the amazing opportunities like research and studying abroad and all the inspiring people I have had the privilege of meeting along the way.”

Daniel Corredor Llorente

(photo supplied)

Corredor Llorente, who is originally from Colombia, says he didn’t think twice about accepting ��˾��ֱ��’s offer.

“No other university I applied to offered anything as promising – much less so in a country as welcoming as Canada and a cosmopolitan city like Toronto,” says Corredor Llorente, who is both a Pearson Scholar and Laidlaw Scholar at Trinity College, and is graduating with an international relations specialist with minors in economics and political science.

“My academic experience at ��˾��ֱ�� was timely and top-tier, though not without its challenges considering the extremely complex – and often painful – issues of the day,” Corredor says, noting his undergraduate years coincided with global challenges from the pandemic to armed conflict and growing human rights concerns around the world.

Corredor Llorente credits his ��˾��ֱ�� professors, coursework and research opportunities with helping him access hands-on experience in the field – including internships with the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights for internally displaced persons, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Compaz Foundation, an NGO founded by former Colombian president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos.

Corredor Llorente, who is currently working to advance human rights in the Americas via an Orlando Sierra Fellowship in Washington, D.C., says he’s grateful to the Pearson Scholars program for providing “an unsurpassable opportunity to study at one of the world's leading institutions, on a full ride, while joining a cohort of bright, passionate and driven changemakers committed to tackling society's polycrisis.”

Congratulations Class of 2024! ��˾��ֱ�� prepares for spring convocation

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 27 May 2024 19:32:48 +0000

Congratulations Class of 2024! ��˾��ֱ�� prepares for spring convocation rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 05/27/2024 - 15:32

Topic

Subheadline

Some 16,000 students are set to graduate during 34 ceremonies in June

The University of Toronto’s three campuses are abuzz as graduating students prepare to turn the page on a transformative period of their lives and celebrate their accomplishments at this year’s spring convocation ceremonies.

More than 13,000 graduating students will cross the stage inside Convocation Hall on the St. George campus and receive their degrees during 34 ceremonies held between June 3 and 21. They will be cheered on by their fellow graduands, families and friends.

This spring’s graduating students represent 123 countries, including Canada, and range in age from 17 to 70. In all, more than 21,500 students will graduate from ��˾��ֱ�� this year, including some 16,000 this spring.

“Many members of the Class of 2024 began their post-secondary studies during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world was turned upside down,” said ��˾��ֱ�� President Meric Gertler. “And each of this year’s graduands persevered and succeeded despite that extraordinary challenge.

“The qualities they demonstrated will serve them well in their chosen fields and in their efforts to help build a more just and sustainable world.

“On behalf of the entire University of Toronto, I thank them for their contributions, and I congratulate them on their achievements.”

This year’s spring convocation schedule gets underway on June 3 with ceremonies for Honours Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Arts students from ��˾��ֱ�� Mississauga and culminates with University College’s commerce and science graduands on June 21. Each ceremony will be livestreamed at ��˾��ֱ��’s Convocation Hub. And viewers in mainland China can watch the broadcasts on MyMedia two to three days after the original ceremony date.

Graduating students and their guests – up to two family members or friends per student – who attend one of the ceremonies at Convocation Hall will take part in a number of rich convocation traditions. They include inspirational convocation speakers; colourful hoods and flowing gowns; a bedel carrying ��˾��ֱ��’s gold-plated mace; a 51-bell carillon ringing out from atop Soldiers’ Tower; and the chancellor’s procession led by an Eagle Feather Bearer carrying a ceremonial Eagle Feather that was first introduced to ��˾��ֱ��’s convocation ceremonies in spring 2022.

This year’s spring ceremonies will also feature the inaugural appearance of the Eagle Feather Bearer’s Stole, which, like the Eagle Feather and Eagle Feather Bearer, symbolizes the university’s deep respect for Indigenous Peoples and cultural traditions. Designed by Katie Longboat, a Mohawk and Cree artist originally from Six Nations of the Grand River, the stole is inspired by nature around campus with beadwork depicting Toronto’s waterways and ��˾��ֱ�� symbols such as the beaver.

Ten luminaries will receive honorary degrees at this year’s spring ceremonies.

As the ceremonies draw closer, ��˾��ֱ�� staff are hard at work preparing Convocation Hall and meticulously checking students’ names against printed parchments that are placed into envelopes. Meanwhile, dozens of convocation readers – who comprise current and retired faculty as well as staff – spend hours preparing to read graduands’ names.

Come their big day, graduating students can collect their regalia at the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship (a TCard or government-issued photo ID is required) before assembling for the procession to Convocation Hall. They will be presented on stage by degree in alphabetical order.

The recessional concludes on Galbraith Road, where new graduates can reunite with their guests.

Further information on how to best participate in the long-standing tradition of convocation at ��˾��ֱ�� can be found in an FAQ at the Convocation Hub, including a reminder that graduating students and their guests are only permitted to bring small clutch/handbags inside Convocation Hall, while all other personal effects must be placed in transparent plastic bags.

Diploma frames, Class of 2024 merchandise and other apparel and gifts can be purchased at the ��˾��ֱ�� Bookstore, which is located a short distance from Convocation Hall and will have extended hours during the convocation season.

Chancellor Rose Patten, who confers all degrees as chair of convocation, commended the members of the graduating class on their many achievements.

“I would like to congratulate each and every member of the Class of 2024 for reaching this important milestone,” said Patten, who will participate in her final ��˾��ֱ�� convocation ceremony this spring as her second term as chancellor draws to a close. “Our graduating students are a source of immense pride for the entire University of Toronto community. They embody our mission to foster intellectual excellence, creativity and compassion to help build a better world.

“We look forward to seeing what you go on to accomplish in your lives and careers to come.”