U of T Technology & Startup Explorer

A synthetic chemistry method that uses vanillin as the starting molecule to yield a novel difunctional phosphorus-containing chemical compound that can be converted into various FR monomeric resins with reactive functionalities.

Materials and methods for ultra-high heat management in electronics and other critical components

Bio-inspired microfluidic layers for switchable window shading.

This invention enables inverter interfaces of renewable energy sources to generate significantly larger active and reactive currents during LVRT conditions. The increase in the active and reactive powers reaches up to 100% and 15% of the maximum power generated by existing methods, respectively. This would make power systems substantially more resilient during disturbances, reducing the risk of grid instability and blackouts.

A next-gen rechargeable aluminum-ion battery technology

A novel “aerio-metallurgical” process to recycle critical rare earth elements.

Logic for relays that can be used to significantly improve the cyber-resiliency of communication-assisted protection schemes.

A novel method of Ni extraction that can significantly reduce sulfur dioxide emission, which is a major environmental pollutant.

A software platform that leverages statistical inference and machine learning to make more informed decisions.

A platform for creating new self-assembly spherical polymer particles which can store a variety of additives such as dyes or other functional agents for use in the electronic, optical sensor or other industries.

A group in the Department of Chemistry at U of T is developing multiple continuous microfluidic reactors and a process to scale up the synthesis of polymer particles.The target is to produce micro-beads with a narrow size distribution in the range from 10 to 500 microns, well defined structure and high conversion of monomer to polymer efficiency. High throughput continuous microfluidic reactors have a clear advantage in the synthesis of polymer particles because of the control in the dimensions, shapes and structures that they provide and may have an important role in the fabrication of ion exchange resins, calibration standards, spacers for flat panel displays and switchable windows and in various biomedical applications.

Spheroids and organoids have been proposed as alternative systems to animal models for testing of compounds for the pharmaceutical or personal care products industry.  Some of the advantages they offer are cost and time savings, reduced ethical issues, and potentially more faithful reflections of compound response in humans.  However, their broad scale adoption requires consistent reproducibility across spheroid-to-spheroid and batch-to-batch when multiplexing and a high fidelity in structural and functional biomimicry.  Limitations in these areas would otherwise mask the treatment of a drug and is thus particular problematic in compound screening applications.  Furthermore, a more biologically reflective method to control spheroid/organoid matrix stiffness would also be useful in modelling diseases where the matrix plays a key role (e.g. cancer and fibrosis), and the capability for high-throughput screening would also be advantageous.

Scalable, portable diagnostics for bacteria detection, molecular diagnostics, and immunoassays through microchip-based optical, electrochemical, ion, pH, and temperature measurements.

The invention is for a new power electronic converter topology suitable for modularly configured solar photovoltaic or battery storage applications

an optical atomic clock that is both precise enough to detect gravitational waves, and compact and portable enough that it could be put on a satellite. The clock design makes use of a “two-photon transition” in calcium atoms.

This invention is a system that presents an original contribution in the form of a knowledge base implemented as an Web Ontology Language (OWL). This system also combines customized wayfinding and recommender systems to support this knowledge base and automate the communication process.

This invention builds around an online system/service that tries to leverage advancements in Building Information Models (BIM), energy-efficiency simulation tools and online social network analysis methods to enable a data-driven approach to building design, planning, construction and maintenance.

The technology uses a combination of sensor information, such as the accelerometer and gyroscope (e.g. from mobile phones or wearable inertial sensors), in addition to WiFi signal strength, to build a system that can achieve accurate location estimation technique for indoor environment.

iTest is a turn-key and modular software and hardware platform for testing physical motors remotely over the Internet.

This opportunity is a portfolio of hardware and software techniques that seamlessly accelerate AI/ML applications, while saving on-chip and off-chip memory, bandwidth, and processing power. These compute and compression methods have been shown to deliver a 3x boost in processing speed with 2x-4x increase in storage capabilities (up to 10x for natural language processing).

A method and model for simulating general multi-phase network growth, inspired by the simplified, stepwise behaviours of a unicellular slime mould.

Quantum-proof cybersecurity products and enabling technologies for the Quantum Internet. These technologies offer quantum-safe communication products ready for today's infrastructure, while building key components of the Quantum Internet, including Quantum Repeaters, Quantum Communication Protocols, and Quantum Network Simulators.

Centivizer is a modular system that physically, cognitively, and socially stimulates individuals with dementia by providing self-initiated, reward-based activities that can be used 24/7 without needing caregiver support.

The vast majority of energy consumed by the human population is derived from burning fossil fuels because of their abundance and remarkably high energy density. The new catalytic supports prepared by Dr. Ozin’s lab offer a large improvement in yield of the gaseous process at ambient conditions, together with the discovery of both photochemical and photothermal activation in the system. This process resulted in a bold vision of a large scale photocatalytic energy plant, using sunlight to power the conversion of carbon dioxide and water to form natural gas and oxygen.

This invention is a novel indium-based photocatalyst that is capable of reducing CO2 (carbon dioxide) into CO (carbon monoxide). Currently there are 5.5 billion metric tons of CO2 produced annually with 2 billion tons consumed worldwide. CO2 emissions account for 82% of all US greenhouse gas emissions. The market for CO2 sequestration consists of a spectrum of offerings through either storage or recycling. Discovering a material capable of photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is a crucial step for the solar fuels economy.