The Engineering and Computer Science Library (ECSL), located in the Sandford Fleming Building, has quietly undergone a bit of renovation. Though it was reopened without fanfare on January 10, after an 18-month closure, the changes are significant and extremely beneficial to its student users. A formal open house and opening ceremony is planned for May 10.
The removal of numerous shelves full of books and journals allowed for the transformation of spaces to offer more enclosed group study rooms. More than 15,000 items were removed to make way for the changes, representing some 50 per cent of the library’s entire collection.
The two-floor library retains its signature sweeping staircase as a centrepiece, but has dramatically changed floor layout on the first floor’s north end and the second floor’s south end. Not only are there more enclosed group study rooms, loaded with tech and connections, but an entire new classroom, many new individual study carrels, as well as an enlarged designated quiet study space.
A favourite feature of the renovation is not the addition of any dedicated space or tech, but the new availability of natural light illuminating the interior. Previously, many windows were blocked by an interior mezzanine; the resulting source of natural light from 10 windows has added a lofty spaciousness to the library ambiance.
“We are thrilled with our renovation! It’s been really gratifying to see students enjoying our upgraded space during the last term,” remarks Angela Henshilwood, Head of the Engineering & Computer Science Library (ECSL).. The renovation has been many years in the making, but I think it beautifully incorporates the needs of our user groups – especially engineering students who need space for group work as well as quiet study space – and we’re excited to show it off to everyone during our open house on May 10.”
An open house is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10, with drop-ins encouraged to explore the new facilities. Formal remarks are to be made at 3:15 p.m., including remarks from Engineering Dean Christopher Yip. The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (FASE) c0-funded the project.
By the numbers:
- 18 months closed (since July 2020) – reopened January 10, 2022
- 15,000+ books and journals were transferred to our offsite preservation facility (Downsview) to make room for more student study space
- 50 per cent of the ECSL collection (in linear feet) that was transferred offsite
- 4 group study rooms added – all equipped with screens and white boards, and one room also includes teleconferencing equipment
- 1 classroom added, which can seat 30 students and is also equipped with screens for active learning
- 10 exposed windows– in the group study/classroom area, many windows were uncovered, which had previously been blocked because of the mezzanine that was there. They let in natural light and are a favourite feature of our renovation.
- 10 large group study tables on the main floor now added
- 140 seats added all together, lounge seating, and 30 computer workstations – this floor is mostly for group work and can be quite lively!
- 71 individual study carrels on the second floor, there are now more lounge furniture,
- 6 additional computer workstations
- 40 individual study carrels installed on the second floor in the south room, and have designated this room for silent study – before the renovation a quiet study spot was hard to find in our library!
- 6ACH+ a major upgrade to our HVAC system, so the number of air changes per hour (ACH) meets or exceeds the ASHRAE standard.
By Phill Snel
Take a tour around the Engineering and Computer Science Library (ECSL),
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Kevin Rupasinghe (ElecE BASc 1T6+PEY, CivE MEngCEM 2T1) has registered to run for a seat on city council. The alumnus has extensive experience as a cycling advocate in Toronto, predominantly with Cycle Toronto, and has been outspoken about seeking electoral reform in the form of ranked ballots, as a 2020 Toronto Star op-ed piece illustrated.
Prior to filing his paperwork for Ward 20, Scarborough Southwest, Rupasinghe quips, “The op-ed piece displayed my opinion of how I think things should go, and I guess now those feelings have galvanized into actually running to make a difference.”
Rupasinghe’s arrival at City Hall the morning of Monday, May 2 was anything but ordinary. What might otherwise be considered an early arrival at 7:45 a.m., for his 8:30 a.m. registration appointment, was packed with activity. Family members, consisting of his parents and sister, were already on scene to greet him. What might have otherwise been a small entourage, was further boosted by supporting team members and multiple members of a documentary film crew.
“Toronto Council needs fresh energy and fresh perspective,” he says. “For me, everything from having safer and more vibrant streets,” is an important starting point, adding, “We need a council that looks like the city. that understands the experience of the people in the city and shares those priorities. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.”
When asked about any difficulties facing him in the election, in which he would need to upset incumbent Gary Crawford, Rupasinghe expresses, “One, the wards are huge with the doubling in size last election – it will take a lot of time to knock on all those doors now.” His campaign website expresses as much with the slogan “Fighting for the future of Scarborough.”
Rupasinghe is confident his experience, as well as formal education, gives him an upper hand, “Building a 21st century city is complicated. Every one of these issues, whether it’s our streets, whether it’s sustainable and affordable development, tackling our climate crisis. All of this is involves areas I’ve had to draw on from what I’ve learned in school, as well as community organizing when connecting with people. So being able to blend both of those together has been amazing for me bringing forward my ideas, and being able to stitch together a picture my community is painting.”
The municipal election is October 24.
By Phill Snel
CivMin had a Q&A with Kevin Rupasinghe in September 2020
A family of geese was successfully relocated from a rooftop lab at U of T.
Led by the Toronto Wildlife Centre, CivMin’s Professor Jennifer Drake and MASc candidate Jad Saade assisted with the rescue the afternoon of Friday, April 29. The operation resulted in the successful rescue of two adult geese and their five goslings, to be relocated to a Toronto shoreline.
The nest was first noticed just over three weeks ago by researchers using the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab) on top of the Student Commons building on College Street. The same geese have visited the rooftop to nest since 2015, and were relatively undisturbed during a period of a few years of construction, but have not been successful in keeping their goslings alive.
“They’ve continued to be a bit silly, in not thinking through their needs each year,” says Prof. Drake. “There’s no water source for them up there, so in the past the goslings have not survived. We had to take action this year. I’m glad it worked out so well.”
Once the five goslings hatched on Thursday, April 28, the Toronto Wildlife Centre was contacted and the operation plan was itself hatched and completed Friday.
There are two GRIT Lab sites – one on the Daniels Building and one on the Student Commons Building. Established in 2010 on the roof of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at 230 College Street in Toronto, the Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory (GRIT Lab) is a state-of-the-art facility — and the only one of its kind testing the environmental performance associated with green roofs, green walls and solar photovoltaic technologies in Canada. GRIT Lab is led by professors Liat Margolis (Landscape Architecture).
By Phill Snel
The 2022 Engineering Alumni Network (EAN) Award recipients were announced recently at Faculty Council. CivMin’s Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou (CivE PhD 0T8) is to receive the 2T5 Mid-Career Award.
Consideration for the award states:
The Class of 2T5 was the first class in Canada to receive iron rings at The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. Since 1975, the Class of 2T5 annually presents the 2T5 Mid-career Achievement Award. This award recognizes a graduate (11-25 years from undergraduate graduation) who has earned respect within the profession as well as the broader Canadian community.
The annual EAN Awards Ceremony will be held November 3, 2022, with current plans for an in-person celebration. Last year’s total attendance was 138 virtual attendees. A full story, along with interviews of all EAN Award recipients, will be published closer to the ceremony date.
Four CivMin graduate students have been awarded scholarships from the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN). The feat is impressive, as half of the eight scholarships awarded have been granted to MASc and PhD candidates within the Department. A total pool of 40 applicants, representing more than a doubling of applicants since 2018, were reviewed.
Our winners include:
- Gabrielle Migliato Marega (CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. David Meyer) has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering,
- Ahmed-Effat Mosa (CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Sarah Haines) has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
- Keagan Hudson Rankin (CivE MASc candidate under the supervision of Prof. Shoshanna Saxe) has been awarded the C.W. Bowman Graduate Scholarship in Energy Research
- Karlye Wong (CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Ron Hofmann) has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
“It’s been incredible seeing the number of scholarship applicants double every few years,” says Ahmed Mahmoud, Program Manager at CGEN. “Those awards used to be low-hanging fruit for certain students working in this Global Development domain, but they have since become extremely competitive. I believe this reflects a growing appetite in CivMin – and across Engineering – to engage in projects that prioritize participatory research, social impact, and sustainable development. CGEN will do all it can to ensure those projects continue being successful,”
We asked our CivMin award winners to provide a few paragraphs about themselves and their work.
Gabrielle Migliato Marega
CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. David Meyer has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
I am a second-year PhD candidate working under the supervision of Prof. David Meyer at the Centre for Global Engineering. I was born and raised in Brazil, where I did an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Hydraulics and Sanitation. Growing up in a developing country, I witnessed first-hand how a lack of basic services can have devastating impacts on people’s lives. I was lucky enough to live in an area of a major city where the water and sanitary infrastructure is similar to that which we have here in Toronto. However, peri-urban areas and low-income neighbourhoods are only a 20-minute drive away from my family’s home. The inhabitants of these areas are exposed to a completely different reality, one that meant they did not have access to water or sewage infrastructure for most of the last decade.
Fortunately, my city’s coverage was expanded in recent years and today almost 100 per cent of the city is covered with at least basic services. However, this is not the reality in most cities in developing countries. Access to safe sanitation is a fundamental human right, yet two billion people (more than 25 per cent of the world’s population!) still lack access to basic sanitation, imposing significant health, economic and social burdens on the most vulnerable populations worldwide.
In my research, I focus on studying how we can expand sanitary sewers in developing countries. Sanitation infrastructure is expected to operate for decades, yet rapid urbanization and climate change render the future increasingly uncertain. These uncertainties are accentuated in low- and middle-income countries, most of which experience unpredictable urbanization and are vulnerable to climate change effects. My goal is to model these uncertainties, quantify the uncertainty-induced risks to sanitation infrastructure and assess the degree to which sewer infrastructure design guidelines mitigate these uncertainties and risks. With this work, we aim to spur innovative approaches to manage uncertainty in the sanitation industry, creating a more resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure for all.
Ahmed-Effat Mosa
CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Sarah Haines has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
Effat is an incoming PhD candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. He holds a Bachelor in Architectural Engineering and an MSc in Sustainable Design of Built Environments with distinction and completed multiple continuing studies in Computational thinking and Data Analytics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. He has broad industry experience implementing sustainable urban and building designs between AEC and tech firms. Effat developed a niche as a High-Performance Built Environment Activist; Health Equity, Impact, and Urban Innovation are his main research interests.
Through his PhD proposal, Effat aims to further expand his multidisciplinary skills in building science and indoor air quality and use building performance optimization and community engagement tools to improve housing quality in Indigenous First Nation communities in Canada. His proposed research will provide essential information and community support to rethink indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy usage in these communities. This work is critical as about a quarter (24 per cent) of First Nations people in Canada live in substandard housing that requires significant repair. These issues in housing quality may have substantial implications for health and well-being as poor housing quality is associated with increased hospital visits in children and the prevalence of upper respiratory diseases. It is the motivation to make the built environment inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable in general and to ensure health equity, quality of life, and equal access to technology and innovation in all communities that drives his work.
This proposal aligns with CGEN’s efforts to support outstanding research projects focusing on participatory engagement with Indigenous communities in Canada. Improving housing quality in impacted communities is a primary building block for healthy communities and a sustainable built environment and ties directly to multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is the global shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Keagan Hudson Rankin
CivE MASc candidate under the supervision of Prof. Shoshanna Saxe has been awarded the C.W. Bowman Graduate Scholarship in Energy Research
Keagan’s research investigates the relationship between infrastructure needs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from materials. Material production and use makes up a quarter of global GHG emissions and must be reduced to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C. At the same time, increasing population and global development is driving massive demand for construction materials in infrastructure, especially in developing countries. These countries require new strategies to facilitate equitable development without compromising sustainability goals.
To address this need, Keagan is researching how material efficiency strategies, like low-carbon materials, urban mining, and changes in building form, could be applied to residential construction. Currently, he is looking at a residential form called missing middle that has the potential to combine the material efficacy of lightweight, low-rise construction with the per-person efficiencies of multi-unit buildings. This residential form presents an opportunity for developing, and developed countries alike, to quickly build affordable shelter and raise standards of living without compromising global sustainability. Material efficiency strategies, when deployed with consideration for social and economic impacts, will allow growing cities to curb their emissions while supporting effective infrastructure operation and residents’ quality of life.
Keagan is a first-year MASc candidate with the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering. He completed his undergraduate degree in engineering at University of New Brunswick before coming to Toronto for his graduate studies. Keagan is passionate about sustainable theory and mathematics, and he hopes to use this passion to help solve problems emerging from the interaction between humans and natural systems.
Karlye Wong
CivE PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Ron Hofmann has been awarded the Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
Following an MASc in Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, Karlye spent five years working in NGOs and as an independent consultant managing and designing WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) projects across sub-Saharan Africa. While based overseas in Tanzania, Karlye developed environmental risk and climate resiliency management systems in humanitarian settings and managed the implementation of WASH projects across 10 countries. Karlye believes UN SDG goal 6 (SDG 6) is a cornerstone to global development as clean, accessible, reliable water in a community can be transformative; it unlocks the burden of carrying water, enhances community health, improves food security, and can facilitate economic growth, particularly in rural and off-grid contexts. However, more sustainable solutions are needed as water stresses are exacerbating due to the pressures of climate change, population growth, urbanization, and most recently, global pandemics.
Karlye was compelled to return to academia to dig deep into the technical, economic, and social challenges that impact SDG 6 through sustainable access to clean water and other interconnected SDGs. Her proposed research will investigate the sustainable access to clean water through solar-powered UV-LED treatment and rainwater harvesting in off-grid communities in Mexico and Tanzania. This project aims to study how rainwater harvesting (RWH) and solar-powered UV-LED treatment can be implemented in off-grid households, schools, and health care facilities (HCFs) to improve water quality where centralized water services are unavailable. UV-LED treatment and RWH can offer a sustainable, decentralized, and low-cost treatment option to address water quality, hygiene, and risk of transmission, while building resilience to climate change and emerging health issues, like antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19. Karlye’s work will explore UV-LED at health care facilities in Tanzania, which serve a population of about 130,000, as well as households and schools in Mexico.
Ultimately, her intention is to optimize the Paul Cadario Fellowship to ensure the lessons gleaned from her research will be scalable and shared globally, including marginalized, off-grid and rural communities lacking access to clean water in Canada. Karlye looks forward to work with CGEN to collaborate with locally-based and international partners to integrate sustainability, grow strong research partnerships, facilitate international knowledge transfer, and build potential pathways for other U of T students to continue building the UN SDGs into its research.
ABOUT
CGEN is a multidisciplinary research institute at the University of Toronto which is mobilizing engineering researchers and students to solve the world’s most intractable problems. Its mandate is two-fold:
- To catalyze cutting-edge engineering research, and produce evidence-based solutions to the Grand Challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable populations. To date, CGEN has undertaken research projects which tackle food insecurity, water access, sanitation, energy poverty, safe housing, education, and community capacity-building both in low-income countries and in indigenous communities here in Canada
- To train the next generation of engineers to adapt to growing trends in globalization and to become effective global citizens
CGEN accomplishes these goals through a range of programs, which include: Research Projects, Courses, Capstone Projects, and Scholarships and Fellowships.
Paul Cadario Doctoral Fellowship in Global Engineering
This award was created through generous donations by Dr. Paul Cadario and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. It is awarded to PhD students affiliated with the Centre for Global Engineering (as certified by the Director of the Centre or a designate) whose research has potential impact in the developing world.
Metcalfe Family Graduate Fellowship
This award was created through generous donations by Dr. Murray Metcalfe and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. It will be awarded to current and incoming MASc and PhD students whose research has potential impact in the developing world. Applicants should highlight how their research has the potential to address a critical global challenge, in an area such as (but not limited to) energy poverty and climate change, building sustainable cities and infrastructure, data engineering for development, or engineering education for the 21st century.
The C.W. Bowman Graduate Scholarship in Energy Research
This award was created through generous donations by Dr. Clement W., Mrs. Marjorie Bowman, and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. It is awarded to current and incoming MASc and PhD students who are pursuing studies or engaged in research relating to either Canada’s energy systems with a focus on the environment, or global energy systems relating to the environment and to sustainability issues.
CivMin’s Professor Jeffrey Siegel, cross-appointed with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) has received an award from the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) in recognition for his work on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. Siegel’s area of expertise, indoor air quality, has become an area of focus with this airborne virus.
UTFA’s 2021 Academic Citizenship Award honours faculty members from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health: Professors Arjumand Siddiqi, Ashleigh Tuite, David Fisman, James Scott, Jeffrey Siegel, and Paul Bozek.
The message from UTFA read:
Collectively and individually, you have made an extraordinary contribution to the health, safety, and well-being of the University of Toronto through your work on public health during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. You have advocated for principled policy and practice, shared your expertise with an international community, and expertly and generously provided advice to faculty, librarians, staff, students, and members of our broader community. You have also advised UTFA on the best approaches to protecting the University community from COVID-19, all while conducting and disseminating your own world-class research and scholarship during a once in a century public health crisis.
The award recipients were recognized (virtually) at the UTFA’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.