department of mechanical and industrial engineering

U of T experts use machine learning to analyze where bike lanes should be located for maximum benefit

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:07:11 +0000

U of T experts use machine learning to analyze where bike lanes should be located for maximum benefit

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 10/23/2024 - 10:07

Cutline

Researchers from U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering used novel computing approaches to compare utilitarian and equity-driven approaches toward expansion of protected bike lanes (photo by Michelle Mengsu Chang/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Tyler Irving

Topic

Breaking Research

department of mechanical and industrial engineering

Artificial Intelligence

Cities

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Sustainability

Subheadline

“If you optimize for equity, you get a map that is more spread out and less concentrated in the downtown areas"

A team of researchers from the department of civil and mineral engineering in the ��߲ݴ�ý’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering are wielding machine learning to understand where cycling infrastructure should be located in order to benefit the most people.

In a paper published in the Journal of Transport Geography, researchers used novel computing approaches to compare two strategies for expansion of protected bike lanes – using Toronto as a model.

“Right now, some people have really good access to protected biking infrastructure: they can bike to work, to the grocery store or to entertainment venues,” says post-doctoral fellow and lead author Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, who previously researched interactions between bacteria and viruses before applying her data analysis skills to active transportation. “More lanes could increase the number of destinations they can reach, and previous work shows that will increase the number of cycle trips taken.

“However, many people have little or no access to protected cycling infrastructure at all, limiting their ability to get around. This raises a question: is it better to maximize the number of connected destinations and potential trips overall, or is it more important to focus on maximizing the number of people who can benefit from access to the network?”

To delve into the question, Bonsma-Fisher and co-authors used machine learning and optimization, a challenge that required them to explore new computational approaches.

“This kind of optimization problem is what’s called an ‘NP-hard’ problem, which means that the computing power needed to solve it scales very quickly along with the size of the network,” says Shoshanna Saxe¸ associate professor in the department of civil and mineral engineering and one of Bonsma-Fisher’s two co-supervisors alongside Professor Timothy Chan of the department of mechanical and industrial engineering. “If you used a traditional optimization algorithm on a city the size of Toronto, everything would just crash.”

To get around the problem, PhD student Bo Lin invented a machine learning model capable of considering millions of combinations of over a thousand different infrastructure projects in order to test where the most impactful places are to build new cycling infrastructure.

Using Toronto as a stand-in for any large, automobile-oriented North American city, the team generated maps of future bike lane networks along major streets, optimized according to two broad types of strategies.

The first strategy, dubbed the utilitarian approach, focused on maximizing the number of trips that could be taken using only routes with protected bike lanes in under 30 minutes – without regard for who those trips were taken by.

The second, an equity-based strategy, sought to maximize the number of people who had at least some connection to the network.

“If you optimize for equity, you get a map that is more spread out and less concentrated in the downtown areas,” says Bonsma-Fisher. “You do get more parts of the city that have a minimum of accessibility by bike, but you also get a somewhat smaller overall gain in average accessibility.”

This results in a trade-off, says Saxe. “This trade-off is temporary, assuming we will eventually have a full cycling network across the city, but it is meaningful for how we do things in the meantime and could last a long time given ongoing challenges to building cycling infrastructure.”

Another key finding was that certain routes appeared to be essential no matter what strategy was pursued – for example, protected bike lanes along Bloor Street West.

“Those bike lanes benefit even people who don’t live near them and are a critical trunk to maximizing both the equity and utility of the bike network. Their impact is so consistent across models that it challenges the idea that bike lanes are a local issue, affecting only the people close by,” Saxe says. “Optimized infrastructure repeatedly turns out in our model to serve neighbourhoods quite a distance away.”

The team is already sharing their data with Toronto’s city planners to help inform ongoing decisions about infrastructure investments. Going forward, the researchers hope to apply their analysis to other cities as well.

“No matter what your local issues or what choices you end up making, it’s really important to have a clear understanding of what goals you are aiming for and check if you are meeting them,” says Bonsma-Fisher.

“This kind of analysis can provide an evidence-based, data-driven approach to answering these tough questions.”

PhD student aims to improve the robotic tools used by neurosurgeons

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 17:14:27 +0000

PhD student aims to improve the robotic tools used by neurosurgeons

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 10/18/2024 - 13:14

Cutline

Kejah Bascon, a PhD student in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, is one of the 2024 recipients of the Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowships (photo by Safa Jinje)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Our Community

department of mechanical and industrial engineering

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Subheadline

“I’ve aspired to be a neurosurgeon since childhood, and since then, my ambitions have expanded”

Kejah Bascon’s path to pursuing a PhD in engineering at the ��߲ݴ�ý – where she aims to design better neurosurgical tools – had many twists and turns.

Born and raised in Ottawa, she spent much of her primary and secondary education in homeschooling before enrolling in a public high school for her final year to help simplify her transition to university.

“I had wanted to study biomedical engineering for my undergraduate degree, but I worked a lot during high school to support myself – and so I wasn’t able to manage all the prerequisites with my circumstances,” Bascon says.

“I was quite hard on myself, but I knew I would find a way to make it work.”

Bascon ultimately completed her undergraduate degree in cognitive psychology at Carleton University, where she also minored in neuroscience. She then spent three months in medical school abroad before returning to Ottawa to complete her master’s degree in neuroscience.

“I’ve aspired to be a neurosurgeon since childhood, and since then, my ambitions have expanded to include applying engineering to neurosurgical practice to innovate surgical tools and technologies,” she says.

“I realized that my path wasn’t going to be as linear as I thought when I first fell in love with the brain and the responsibility of holding a person’s whole consciousness in one’s hands.”

Bascon is one of the 2024 recipients of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering’s Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowships, which provide financial support, mentorship, training and networking opportunities to reduce systemic barriers for entry into academia for members of underrepresented groups.

While Bascon is still planning the direction of her PhD research, she aims to make robotic surgical tools more user-friendly for neurosurgeons by employing engineering principles and a human factors approach.

Improving robotic-assisted neurosurgical tools such as the endoscope can help reduce the cognitive load on neurosurgeons and prevent musculoskeletal injuries following repeated long surgical procedures.

Bascon will be working under the supervision of Myrtede Alfred, an assistant professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering, to achieve her research goals.

“I never had a Black TA or a Black professor before coming to U of T,” says Bascon, “and now I get to benefit from mentorship and leadership from a Black woman.

“It has only been a few weeks, but I already feel so much support for my academic journey from Professor Alfred.”

As an IBET fellow, Bascon says she is especially looking forward to taking advantage of all the opportunities to gain professional development, expand her academic and professional network and give back her time as a mentor.

“I’m beyond thankful to receive this support for my PhD journey,” she says. “I hope I can offer an example for others like me, who are from low-income, underrepresented communities, who may have trouble seeing themselves on a university campus.

“I was once in that position too – of not having the right representation. If I can set an example for others, I want to show that this is what an engineer can look like, and this is what an engineer’s background can look like.”

Battery-powered EV chargers – co-developed at U of T – installed on St. George campus

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 14:34:25 +0000

Battery-powered EV chargers – co-developed at U of T – installed on St. George campus

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 09/20/2024 - 10:34

Cutline

The Level 3+ battery-powered EV charging stations are available in U of T's Landmark Garage, located beneath King's College Circle on the St. George campus (photo by Safa Jinje)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Breaking Research

department of mechanical and industrial engineering

Facilities and Services

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Landmark

Sustainability

Subheadline

The rapid-charging stations were developed by Canadian EV tech company Jule in collaboration with experts at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

The historic core of the ��߲ݴ�ý’s St. George campus is now home to a pair of next-generation electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that utilize technology co-developed at the university.

The two new stations use direct current (DC)-sourced EV chargers boasting integrated battery energy storage systems – novel technology that minimizes strain on the electrical grid.

Located in the Landmark Garage beneath King’s College Circle, the chargers are rated Level 3+, meaning they can charge EVs in under 30 minutes, and bring the total number of EV charging stations in the garage to 50.

The technology underpinning the new charges was developed by Jule, an energy storage and EV solutions company co-founded by Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering alumnus Carmine Pizzurro, in collaboration with U of T faculty members.

Jule embarked on its first research collaboration with U of T shortly after its founding in 2009, teaming up with the Centre for Applied Power Electronics led by Professor Reza Iravani at the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering.

It also worked closely with the city's electric utility.

“One of our first collaborations was with Toronto Hydro, which led to us being the first company in the world to put lithium-ion batteries on the distribution grid to provide backup power during outages and reduce stress on the grid during peak periods,” says Pizzurro, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at U of T.

Cristina Amon and Carlos Da Silva (fourth and fifth from left, respectively, in the front row) pose with students and staff in the Thermal Management Systems lab (photo by Aaron Demeter)

Pizzurro went on to install Jule’s first battery-powered fast chargers in northern Canada as part of a collaboration with Natural Resources Canada.

But the company needed to address a longstanding challenge with lithium-ion batteries: they’re temperature-sensitive and must be able to operate reliably in both hot and cold environments if they are to help power a net-zero future.

To tackle this issue, Jule in 2018 expanded its partnership with the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering to include University Professor Cristina Amon and senior research associate Carlos Da Silva of the Advanced Thermofluids Optimization, Modelling and Simulation (ATOMS) laboratory in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering.

The ATOMS experts have been developing computational models and experimental characterization to optimize Jule’s battery thermal management systems – work that is being carried out in a state-of-the-art battery testing facility that received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Research Fund.

“Thermal management is an issue that impacts both aspects of Jule’s EV fast charging technology: the power electronics to enable the charging, as well as their unique integrated battery storage system,” says Da Silva, who is also executive director of the U of T Electrification Hub. “Thermal management is critical for mitigating battery degradation. It requires regulating the temperature in such a way that you keep the battery within an optimal range that will extend its life span.”

Jule’s fast chargers use energy stored in batteries, rather than drawing it directly from the electrical grid in the manner of traditional fast chargers. That means they don’t cause grid overloading during peak usage times and can be charged during off-peak hours when electricity is less costly; they also don’t require significant investments in electricity upgrades.

“The battery storage system is charged using current from the electrical grid, which is alternating current (AC); and then this larger battery, which uses direct current (DC), charges the smaller battery in the electric vehicle,” says Amon. “It is more efficient to fast-charge from a stationary battery to an EV – DC to DC – than it is to fast-charge an EV from the electrical grid, which requires converting AC to DC power.”

Jule’s Level 3+ charging station can provide up to 200 kilowatts of power output, yet only needs 45 kilowatts of input power. Amon says this rapid charging speed can help alleviate range anxiety among EV users: “Some drivers fear that EV batteries may not have enough energy to reach a desired destination. But if charging time is much closer to the time required to fill up a tank of a gas-powered car, that can reduce this worry.”

L-R: Professor Reza Iravani, Jule co-founder Carmine Pizzurro, U of T Electrification Hub Executive Director Carlos Da Silva, University Professor Cristina Amon and U of T Engineering Dean Christopher Yip (photo by Safa Jinje)

The Level 3+ stations are joining 48 Level 2 chargers that are already available for public use at the Landmark Garage.

This increases the campus’s charging capacity to over 25,000 charges per year, which can eliminate over 700 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to U of T’s Sustainability Office.

“Hosting these first-of-their-kind EV chargers right here on campus extends beyond providing a new and exciting sustainability service to our community,” says Ron Saporta, U of T’s chief operating officer, property services and sustainability. “It represents just one example of how we are supporting the intersection of research, learning and commercialization of sustainable innovations developed by members of our very own U of T community.”

The charging stations will also serve as a living lab to test future thermal innovations jointly developed by U of T Engineering researchers and Jule.

“Having these chargers on campus enables us to have a greater capacity to test the system in ways we are limited by doing in a lab setting,” says Da Silva.

Healthy aging in place: New pilot program to provide high-tech cognitive, physical enrichment for seniors

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:32:02 +0000

Healthy aging in place: New pilot program to provide high-tech cognitive, physical enrichment for seniors

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 08/22/2024 - 09:32

Cutline

2RaceWithMe, a tool developed by Professor Mark Chignell from the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, combines physical and cognitive engagement by requiring users to pedal to be able to watch scenic videos (photo by Justin Greaves/Centivizer)

Safa Jinje

Topic

Our Community

department of mechanical and industrial engineering

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Connaught Fund

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Subheadline

The initiative, supported by a Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award, explores the use of interactive tools to promote active lifestyles among older adults

Older adults living in a Toronto co-operative apartment building will soon have access to high-tech activity spaces designed to promote cognitive, physical and social enrichment, thanks to a new pilot project led by the ��߲ݴ�ý’s Mark Chignell.

The activity spaces aim to promote healthy aging for older adults who are aging in place – meaning they have the social and health supports to live safely and independently. They will be located in the communal area of a City Park co-op building that is considered a naturally occurring retirement community, where more than 30 per cent of occupants are over the age of 65.

The initiative was launched by Chignell, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, in collaboration with HelpAge Canada, a non-profit that supports community-based services for seniors, and AGE-WELL, a research network and U of T institutional strategic initiative.

It’s one of nine projects to be supported by 2024-25 Community Partnership Research Program awards, given by U of T’s Connaught Fund with the aim of accelerating research carried out in collaboration with community partners and driven by their needs and priorities.

“My work is motivated by the fact that physical and cognitive health can decline very quickly for older adults,” says Chignell.

“We know the physical body and brain work together, and that physical exercise is important for cognitive status and preventing dementia. So being able to promote more active lifestyles for people who are still living independently in the community can have an immense benefit for our society.”

The activity spaces will feature products from Centivizer, a U of T startup spun off from Chignell’s research, that specializes in creating interactive activities, games and cognitive assessment tools to support healthy aging.

These include 2RaceWithMe, a device that promotes both physical and cognitive engagement by having users pedal while watching scenic videos that only play when the pedals are in motion.

Centivizer has also developed a suite of whack-a-mole-style games for cognitive assessment that Chignell hopes can be used to promote cognitive safety in clinical practice.

A two-time recipient of Connaught Innovation Awards, Chignell says he feels honoured to now receive support from the Connaught Fund's Community Partnership Research Program.

“The Connaught is a great validation as I start this project in naturally occurring retirement communities,” says Chignell. “I am also continuing to work with retirement homes and long-term care centres, including a new collaboration with a long-term care home in Tokyo, Japan.

“I’m hoping that this project will demonstrate the value of using our products in the community to help older people retain their physical and cognitive abilities for longer.”