Industry / en 福利姬自慰researchers grow micro-organisms that can clean tailings ponds and recover nickel /news/u-t-researchers-grow-micro-organisms-can-clean-tailings-ponds-and-recover-nickel <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">福利姬自慰researchers grow micro-organisms that can clean tailings ponds and recover nickel</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/tailings-pond-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iG-66_KX 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-04/tailings-pond-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=OFdm_Fq1 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-04/tailings-pond-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wpxOi_w0 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/tailings-pond-crop.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iG-66_KX" alt="A tailings pond"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-04-20T14:46:05-04:00" title="Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 14:46" class="datetime">Thu, 04/20/2023 - 14:46</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p>A new research partnership between 福利姬自慰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)</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemical-engineering" hreflang="en">Chemical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/genomics" hreflang="en">Genomics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/industry" hreflang="en">Industry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mining" hreflang="en">Mining</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers from the University of Toronto 鈥 in collaboration with a group of mining firms 鈥 are using acid-loving bacteria to design new processes for recovering nickel, a critical mineral in growing demand around the world.</p> <p>The research partnership with the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering includes the following companies:&nbsp;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.</p> <p>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.</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-left"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-04/7971874564_35d6fd1280_o-crop.jpeg" width="250" height="250" alt="Radhakrishnan Mahadevan"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Radhakrishnan Mahadevan (photo by Sara Collaton)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>鈥淭ailings from nickel mining operations have been an environmental challenge for a very long time,鈥 says&nbsp;<a href="https://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/faculty-members/radhakrishnan-mahadevan/"><strong>Radhakrishnan Mahadevan</strong></a>, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry&nbsp;who is leading the new partnership.</p> <p>鈥淚f 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.鈥</p> <p>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&nbsp;鈥 typically less than 1 per cent&nbsp;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.</p> <p>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&nbsp;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.</p> <p>Mahadevan,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/">University Professor</a><strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/faculty-members/elizabeth-a-edwards/">Elizabeth Edwards</a>&nbsp;</strong>and Professor&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://chem-eng.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/faculty-members/vladimiros-g-papangelakis/">Vladimiros Papangelakis</a>&nbsp;</strong>鈥&nbsp;all in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry 鈥&nbsp;have been studying the organisms that are able to survive in these tailings ponds.</p> <p>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&nbsp;<em>Acidithiobacillus ferridurans</em>. In 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/MRA.00033-20">they published&nbsp;the full genome of this new strain</a>, which they called&nbsp;Acidithiobacillus ferridurans&nbsp;JAGS.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>鈥淭his bacterial strain can actually extract energy from the oxidation of both iron and sulphur in a process that we call bio-leaching,鈥 Mahadevan says.</p> <p>鈥淚n the process, they also liberate the remaining nickel, which would otherwise be very difficult to recover from a solution this dilute. What鈥檚 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.鈥</p> <p>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&nbsp;and could be sold as a commodity chemical for other applications, such as the production of fertilizers.</p> <p>Mahadevan says the team will continue enhancing the bacterium through adaptive evolution, but that they are also pursuing a genetic engineering approach by&nbsp;using the emerging gene editing technique known as CRISPR.</p> <p>鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檝e 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.</p> <p>鈥淚f 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,鈥&nbsp;Mahadevan says.</p> <p>鈥淧artnerships between the researchers and industry are the cornerstone of Ontario鈥檚 thriving innovation community,鈥 says Bettina Hamelin, president and CEO of&nbsp;Ontario Genomics.</p> <p>鈥淏y supporting the development and uptake of new technologies that provide game-changing solutions to the world鈥檚 most pressing challenges, Ontario Genomics is helping to nurture healthy people, a healthy economy&nbsp;and a healthy planet for generations to come.鈥</p> <p>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.</p> <p>鈥淥ur goal with this project is to eliminate the technical bottlenecks to the application&nbsp;鈥 to de-risk sufficiently so that our partners can put in the resources it would take to fully deploy it in their operations,鈥 he says.</p> <p>鈥淚f 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&nbsp;鈥 which will only become more important in the years to come.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 20 Apr 2023 18:46:05 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 301232 at 'Breaking down barriers': 福利姬自慰opens Blue Door to external partnership opportunities /news/breaking-down-barriers-u-t-opens-blue-door-external-partnership-opportunities <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">'Breaking down barriers': 福利姬自慰opens Blue Door to external partnership opportunities</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT18591_0521_LG_Investment001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M-cZaXIa 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/UofT18591_0521_LG_Investment001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=RLE2Ivup 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/UofT18591_0521_LG_Investment001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kQiJVl1M 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT18591_0521_LG_Investment001-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M-cZaXIa" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>siddiq22</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2023-01-17T10:44:48-05:00" title="Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 10:44" class="datetime">Tue, 01/17/2023 - 10:44</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Executives from LG join U of T's Christopher Yip, left, to announce an expansion of their partnership at the Collision tech conference in Toronto in 2019 (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tabassum-siddiqui" hreflang="en">Tabassum Siddiqui</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6884" hreflang="en">Blue Door</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/artificial-intelligence" hreflang="en">Artificial Intelligence</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/collaboration" hreflang="en">Collaboration</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/industry" hreflang="en">Industry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international-partnerships" hreflang="en">International partnerships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/medicine" hreflang="en">Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/partnerships" hreflang="en">partnerships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startups" hreflang="en">Startups</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/technology" hreflang="en">Technology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Partnering with University of Toronto has emerged as a key strategy for many companies, non-profits and government to achieve their most important goals 鈥 from furthering research and developing new products and services, to figuring out solutions to specific problems.</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/alex-illan_0.jpg" style="width: 350px; height: 233px;"><em>Alex Mihailidis (left)&nbsp;and Illan Kramer&nbsp;(photos supplied)</em></p> </div> <p>And many of U of T鈥檚 600-plus partners access world-class talent and expertise via the university's new <a href="https://bluedoor.utoronto.ca/">Blue Door</a> portal.</p> <p>A point of entry for organizations who want to work with the university, Blue Door is an online portal that helps potential 鈥 and existing 鈥 partners identify opportunities across the three campuses and connects them with the right people and departments.</p> <p>鈥淲e often hear from prospective partners: 鈥楬ow do I partner with U of T? How do I find the right person to work with there?鈥 So, we wanted to ensure there weren鈥檛 barriers to us growing great new partnerships,鈥 says <strong>Alex Mihailidis</strong>, associate vice-president of international partnerships and a professor in the department of occupational science and occupational therapy in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.</p> <p>Mihailidis, along with <strong>Illan Kramer</strong>, director of international research partnerships, developed the Blue Door initiative over the past two years 鈥&nbsp;with significant input from 福利姬自慰divisions&nbsp;鈥&nbsp;and officially launched it last February.</p> <p>They recently spoke to <em>福利姬自慰News</em> about how the initiative helps streamline the partnership process and ensure both existing and emerging partnerships can evolve and grow.</p> <hr> <p><strong>What is the Blue Door?</strong></p> <p><em>Mihailidis:</em> Simply put, it is a portal into the university. Within four clicks, a new partner or existing partner can be connected to the right person at 福利姬自慰who will help them make further connections within the university to achieve their business goals. At a higher level, it鈥檚 a new philosophy in the way that we do corporate partnerships here at the university 鈥 a more collaborative approach across all the different divisions, campuses disciplines and departments.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2017-09-20-signing-new-resized_0.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p><em>福利姬自慰President Meric Gertler (front left) and Shigeru Sasaki, CEO&nbsp;of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., sign a memorandum of understanding in 2017 (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)</em></p> <p><strong>Why was it important for Blue Door to include an online portal for partners?</strong></p> <p><em>Mihailidis:</em> One of the things you always hear from partners is that 鈥渢he university is so big 鈥 it鈥檚 so complex.鈥 We鈥檙e kind of like a federated model 鈥 multiple divisions with multiple goals 鈥 but we are one university at the end of the day, even across three campuses.</p> <p>We started talking early on about, 鈥淲ell, what if we can provide a concierge-style model?鈥 Through these four clicks online, you鈥檙e connected with someone, and that one person becomes your contact at the university. In that way, we鈥檙e ensuring that 福利姬自慰is not seen as this big place that鈥檚 complicated to navigate, but straightforward and easy to work with.</p> <p><strong>Why do so many organizations want to partner with U of T?</strong></p> <p><em>Kramer:</em> When you look at U of T鈥檚 size and our quality, we鈥檙e pretty much peerless globally. And one of the consequences of being such a big, world-class institution is that you have disparate communities of expertise that can talk to one another in interesting and creative ways. It鈥檚 why sometimes you'll see an automotive company come to us and you think, 鈥淥h, they're going to want to talk to a mechanical engineer or an electrical engineer.鈥 But it turns out that the people whose work resonates with their needs might be child psychologists or kinesiology experts. The big research and development challenges that these companies are looking to us to help solve are interdisciplinary. And at U of T, we have that kind of interdisciplinarity baked into our size and quality.</p> <p><em>Mihailidis:</em> These companies realize that partnering with University of Toronto just adds strength from a variety of levels 鈥 whether it鈥檚 research, accessing our talent or other areas to help their objectives. All that provides them with a competitive advantage at the end of the day.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/OFK-Lab-Blue-Coats-crop_0.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px;"></p> <p><em>In partnership with Moderna, Assistant Professor Omar F. Khan (back row, second from left) and his lab team focus on diseases that are currently incurable and untreatable (photo by Safa Jinje)</em></p> <p><strong>What are some examples of successful 福利姬自慰partnerships?</strong></p> <p><em>Kramer:</em> One <a href="https://bluedoor.utoronto.ca/case-studies/fujitsu/">longstanding partnership</a> is with [Japanese electronics company] Fujitsu. They established a Toronto R&amp;D hub in the Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation &amp; Entrepreneurship where grad students and Fujitsu researchers work elbow-to-elbow on new inventions and innovations. Since then, we鈥檝e been <a href="/news/u-t-and-fujitsu-extend-agreement-collaborate-cutting-edge-computing-research">expanding that collaboration</a> to multidisciplinary applications by applying their microelectronics expertise to other fields like traffic engineering, financial modelling, surgical scheduling and beyond 鈥 touching on expertise that exists across the entire university.</p> <p>Another <a href="/news/lg-signs-research-partnership-u-t-sets-ai-research-lab-toronto">impactful partnership</a> is with [South Korean conglomerate] LG Electronics. One of the coolest things about this partnership is that it doesn't start and stop at collaborative research 鈥 it also includes elements of professional development. We鈥檝e developed what we call an 鈥渋nverted internship,鈥 where LG scientists embed themselves with 福利姬自慰research teams for four months to upskill their own AI abilities.</p> <p>More recently, we launched a really <a href="/news/u-t-partners-moderna-advance-research-rna-science-and-technology">exciting partnership</a> with [American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company] Moderna, a company that a lot of people became familiar with in the last couple of years. Moderna recognized a huge level of expertise, especially in mRNA and regenerative medicine research, at 福利姬自慰and wanted to do something comprehensive that would help them expand beyond the COVID-19 vaccine to a host of other potential applications. They鈥檝e since launched a <a href="/news/u-t-engineering-lab-partners-moderna-develop-rna-based-tools-treat-and-prevent-disease">project with <strong>Omar Khan</strong></a>, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and have had several early successes already. So that鈥檚 a partnership where we really see the opportunity to be on the leading edge of something that has the potential to impact millions 鈥 maybe even billions 鈥 of people around the world.</p> <p><span id="cke_bm_849S" style="display: none;"><span id="cke_bm_582S" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</span><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/2018-07-27-gertler-signing-lg-wide-crop.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>福利姬自慰President Meric Gertler (left) and I.P. Park, the president and CTO of LG Electronics, sign a five-year collaborative AI research agreement&nbsp;in 2018 (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)</em></p> <p><strong>What is the value of these partnerships to U of T?</strong></p> <p><em>Mihailidis:</em> They obviously bring funding to the university to support the work that is happening here. But it also brings our faculty, researchers and students together with cutting-edge, world-leading companies to help them accelerate the development of their research and move their findings into the real world, where they can have maximum impact.</p> <p>Of course, there are always questions around protection of intellectual property and appropriate handling of confidentiality. These considerations are handled in an up-front and transparent way through contractual agreements, each of which takes into account our partner鈥檚 motivations as well as the motivations and expectations of the professors who may get involved in the partnership. That way, professors and their research teams can still benefit from groundbreaking innovations, while our partners can improve upon their own products and services. Ultimately, these partnerships give us access to other experts around the world and help grow the reputation of the University of Toronto and our community.</p> <p><em>Kramer:</em> There's no shortage of ambition among U of T's research community. Our researchers are world-class 鈥 they do work that is excellent and excellence doesn鈥檛 come for free. If we want to do big things, we need to have world-class facilities; we have to attract the best professors, postdocs and graduate students 鈥 in general, we need to be able to outfit our labs with the right equipment and expertise in order to do that research.</p> <p>Bringing industry on board helps ensure 福利姬自慰remains a cutting-edge institution. I鈥檝e seen professors鈥 labs transform with a key industry partner where they went from, 鈥淗ey, this is kind of neat work that our academic peers are paying attention to,鈥 to 鈥淥h my God, I'm literally impacting millions of people now.鈥 That鈥檚 incredibly exciting.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:44:48 +0000 siddiq22 179154 at Industry partnerships: solving big challenges /news/industry-partnerships-solving-big-challenges <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Industry partnerships: solving big challenges</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2013-11-27T07:43:14-05:00" title="Wednesday, November 27, 2013 - 07:43" class="datetime">Wed, 11/27/2013 - 07:43</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">IBM contract advisor Perry Fuller says his company's technology incubation lab often calls on 福利姬自慰engineers for input and support (all photos by Roberta Baker)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sharon-oosthoek" hreflang="en">Sharon Oosthoek</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Sharon Oosthoek</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/industry" hreflang="en">Industry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/engineering" hreflang="en">Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/collaborations" hreflang="en">Collaborations</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/more-news" hreflang="en">More News</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Most people don't go looking for problems, but researchers at the University of Toronto&nbsp;鈥 faculty and students鈥&nbsp;are the&nbsp;exception to that rule.</p> <p>On November 21,<strong> Ted Sargent</strong>, vice-dean of&nbsp;research for the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering, stood in front of a room of some 200 industry partners and faculty and asked them for more problems.</p> <p>Sargent&nbsp;thanked representatives from companies ranging from telecom and software to biotech and sustainable energy for presenting some of their most difficult challenges to faculty and students.</p> <p>"People from industry bring to us something that is incredibly valuable, which is problems that are important. They are societally relevant, they are important to health and to the environment," said Sargent, who is also a professor in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical &amp; Computer Engineering (ECE) and holds the Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology.</p> <p>"When you come to us with problems, we often end up making fundamental discoveries because we go off in directions we wouldn't have otherwise," he added.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/industry-partners-engineers-2-13-11-27.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 350px; float: right; height: 233px">Meanwhile, Ken Stevens, manager of collaborative research at Dupont Canada, stressed that his company's research partnerships with 福利姬自慰engineering have been a two-way street.</p> <p>鈥淲e value collaboration to keep our pipeline of innovation full," said Stevens (pictured right). "I've been impressed by the multidisciplinary aspect of research here. This is where major things happen. It's a wonderful institution and one of the leading research-intensive universities in the world.鈥</p> <p>While Stevens spoke of Dupont Canada's long-term relationship with 福利姬自慰engineering, others such as April Khademi, senior scientist at digital pathology company PathCore, were looking to establish new partnerships. PathCore is a two-year-old company that develops software to help pathologists make better and faster diagnoses.</p> <p>"We want to give researchers access to our software so they can help us validate and refine it," said Khademi.</p> <p>IBM contract advisor Perry Fuller said his company's technology incubation lab often calls on 福利姬自慰engineers to help with the kind of refinement Khademi is looking for.</p> <p>"We look at products we develop in the lab and ask if they have problems that bright minds at universities could work on. It not only gives faculty a good project, but it allows us to apply their solutions to our products."</p> <p><em>Sharon Oosthoek is a writer with the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering at the University of Toronto.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/industry-partners-engineers-3-13-11-27.jpg</div> </div> Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:43:14 +0000 sgupta 5751 at