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UTEST announces third cohort of U of T software start-ups

Products range from wearable digital coaches to socially-drive financial investment tools

utestTORONTO (Dec. 2, 2014) — The University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) incubator, co-directed by U of T’s Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) and MaRS Innovation, has announced its third cohort of computer science start-up companies.

Betakit and Electronic Products &Technology covered this announcement; TechVibes featured Syncadian and Onyx Motion in recent features. The U of T magazine also featured Syncadian and CEO Hanna Janossy in this recent profile.

The five companies and the diverse sectors they target are (scroll for full company descriptions):

  • FlatFab Inc. — 3D printing (designing 3D objects that print in 2D)
  • ICE3 Power Technologies Inc. — hardware (universal charger for portable devices)
  • Onyx Motion Inc. — wearables (digital coaching)
  • Nvest Inc. — financial investing (socially-driven stock recommendations)
  • Syncadian Inc. — digital health (fatigue management for enterprise clients)

Past graduates include Whirlscape, TrendMD, Crowdmark, eQOL and Granata Decision Systems, among others.

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BioPrinter engineering team wins Canada Dyson Award

This story appears courtesy of our colleagues at U of T Engineering News.

The printer was developed by (clockwise from top right) University of Toronto students Arianna Mcallister and Lian Leng; former student Boyang Zhang and University of Toronto associate professor Axel Guenther. (Photo courtesy of the James Dyson Foundation)
The printer was developed by (clockwise from top right) University of Toronto students Arianna Mcallister and Lian Leng; former student Boyang Zhang and University of Toronto associate professor Axel Guenther. (Photo courtesy of the James Dyson Foundation)

While some of us are using the new power of 3D printers to make smartphone cases and chocolate figurines, two engineering students from the University of Toronto are using them to print functional human skin.

On September 18, Arianna McAllister and Lian Leng were named the Canadian winners of the 2014 James Dyson Award for their invention, the PrintAlive Bioprinter.

This story was covered by CBC News and BBC News. The BioPrinter team is working with MaRS Innovation to commercialize their technology; read the news archive.

This 3D skin printer won four U of T engineers a $3,500 Canada James Dyson Award and a chance to compete for a $60,000 international prize (photo courtesy of PrintAlive and U of T news).
This 3D skin printer won four U of T engineers a $3,500 Canada James Dyson Award and a chance to compete for a $60,000 international prize (photo courtesy of PrintAlive and U of T news).

The machine – created in collaboration with Professor Axel Guenther, alumnus Boyang Zhang and Dr. Marc Jeschke, head of Sunnybrook Hospital’s Ross Tilley Burn Centre – prints large, continuous layers of tissue that recreate natural skin.

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MI’s Fanny Sie to speak about 3D printing trends at two Toronto events

Fanny-Sie-web-7227
Fanny Sie is a manager in MI’s Technology & Venture Development group and head, Imaging Technologies Area.

Fanny Sie, MaRS Innovation’s head of imaging technologies and a manager in the Technology & Venture Development group, is speaking about bioprinting trends at two Toronto conferences this weekend.

Sie is MI’s commercialization lead on the Bioprinter, a licensenable technology from the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Watch her interview on bioprinting with TVO’s The Agenda, which aired in June 2013.

First up is Digifest, an international festival celebrating digital creativity, which runs from May 8 to 10 at the Corus Quay building on Toronto’s Waterfront. Sie will speak about 3D printing and its biological and commercial implications on the Mass Customization Panel Discussion, which runs from 2 to 3 pm on Friday, May 9.

On Monday, Sie joins the opening panel at the OCE Discovery Conference, which runs from May 12 to 13, 2014 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (South Building). She will speak during the “3D Manufacturing: Beyond the Hype” panel at 9 am on May 13.

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Bringing mad science to mass production: Financial Post features the Bio Printer project

University of Toronto PhD student Lian Len with a prototype tissue printer. Photo courtesy of Dominic Ali (University of Toronto)
University of Toronto PhD student Lian Len with a prototype tissue printer. Photo courtesy of Dominic Ali (University of Toronto)

“It’s one thing to invent a machine that prints skin, but it’s a whole other challenge to bring what seems like the domain of mad science to mass production,” Matthew Braga wrote in  “Looking for ways to get ‘skin’ in the game,” published in the Financial Post on July 15.

The article focuses on MaRS Innovation’s (MI) and the Innovations and Partnerships Office’s (University of Toronto) joint efforts to commercialize the bio printer, a “prototype 3D printer that, instead of extruding layers of plastic and other inorganic materials into physical shapes, builds layer upon layer of cell-laden tissue, a process that could lead to the cheap, rapid production of human skin.”

Braga’s article was syndicated in the Regina Leader Post, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix,  and the Vancouver Sun, among other Canadian publications.

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MaRS Innovation on The Agenda’s 3D Printing Epsiode

MI’s Fanny Sie and Shotlst Co-founder Matt Ratto talk bioprinting, healthcare, civil rights and home manufacturing with Steve Paikin

Fanny Sie, project manager in physical sciences and medical devices with specialization in medical imaging, appeared on TVO’s The Agenda on June 5, 2013 to discuss 3D printing.

MaRS Innovation Project Manager Fanny Sie discusses 3D printing, the Bioprinter technology and the implications for society and human health on TVO's The Agenda.
MaRS Innovation Project Manager Fanny Sie discusses 3D printing, the Bioprinter technology and the implications for society and human health on TVO’s The Agenda.

Click here to watch Fanny Sie on The Agenda.

Sie manages the Bioprinter technology, which was touched upon during the interview. The bioprinter was invented by Axel Guenther, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, PhD student Lian Leng and a team of other researchers.

The Globe and Mail covered the Bioprinter’s development on January 20, 2013; an excerpt of their interviews with Leng and Guenther was included in the program.

Bioprinting and the Internet of Things

The Agenda’s 3D printing episode also included a second segment exploring its implications for home manufacturing and civil liberties. The guests included Matt Ratto, assistant professor in U of T’s Faculty of Information and co-inventor and CEO of Shotlst (a UTEST company).

Matt Ratto, co-founder of Shotlst and director of the Critical Making Lab, discusses 3D printing, home manufacturing and civil liberties on TVO's The Agenda.

Professor Matt Ratto, co-founder of Shotlst and director of the Critical Making Lab, discusses 3D printing, home manufacturing and civil liberties on TVO’s The Agenda.

Click here to watch Professor Matt Ratto on The Agenda.

Ratto described his experience downloading and printing the Liberator, a gun that can be printed using 3D printing technology, to better understand the process required and the resulting gun’s capabilities.

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MI’s Fanny Sie and Shotlst Founder Matt Ratto to appear on TVO’s The Agenda 8 pm

Fanny Sie, project manager, MaRS Innovation
Fanny Sie, project manager in physical sciences and medical devices , MaRS Innovation.

MaRS Innovation’s Fanny Sie, project manager in physical sciences and medical devices with specialization in medical imaging, is appearing on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin at 8 pm on June 5, 2013 to discuss 3D printing and the technology’s applications in healthcare and other aspects of human society.

Sie manages the Bioprinter technology, which was invented by Axel Guenther, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, PhD student Lian Leng and a team of other researchers. The Globe and Mail covered the Bioprinter’s development on January 20, 2013.

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Globe and Mail and Global News Toronto cover early-stage Bio Printer technology

U of T Ph.D. student Lian Leng demonstrates how the Bio Printer prototype creates new skin cells.
U of T Ph.D. student Lian Leng demonstrates how the Bio Printer prototype creates new skin cells. Screen shot courtesy of Global News Toronto.

An early-stage technology that may revolutionize the way burn victims are treated is generating considerable buzz in Toronto media this week.

Globe and Mail reporter Robert Everett-Green wrote about the joint University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre project January 20 in “A 3-D machine that prints skin? How burn care could be revolutionized.”

Health reporter Beatrice Politi also covered the Bio Printer project for Global News Toronto January 21. Her video segment includes an interview with PhD student Lian Leng and a look at the existing Bio Printer prototype.

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