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.
Every six weeks, MaRS Innovation’s marketing and communications manager writes a guest post for the MaRS Discovery District blog profiling MI’s activities or one of our start-up companies. You can read the original post on the MaRS blog.
On Monday, June 17, Whirlscape Inc. released the beta version of its hotly anticipated, tiny, one-dimensional digital keyboard, Minuum: “the little keyboard for big fingers.”
If you follow tech gadget news, you’ve likely read about or even supported the company’s successful Indiegogo campaign, which raised more than US$87,000—over 870% above their modest initial goal of $10,000—from nearly 10,000 supporters who have now become beta users for the product.
The stats don’t end there. By number of funders, the Minuum Keyboard Project’s campaign is in Indiegogo’s top 10 of all time and is ranked No. 2 among all technology campaigns. Over 1.1 million people worldwide viewed Minuum’s original teaser video on YouTube, which the Whirlscape team edited and shot themselves.
Yonge Street Media, a weekly online magazine that covers talent, innovation, diversity and quality of life stories in the Toronto region, covered Crowdmark‘s efforts to disrupt the way teachers grade and interact with students in their Innovation section on Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
It is the bane of every teacher’s existence: grading. Though essential, it’s also repetitive and time-consuming. It is also increasingly prone to concerns about inequity: from grade inflation to inconsistent standards across different classrooms, sometimes parents, students, and even teachers themselves have a hard time deciding just what the grades they have assigned actually mean.
Aiming to help with both those problems is Toronto startup Crowdmark. Founded by two University of Toronto mathematics experts–the department’s associate chair, James Colliander, and graduate student Martin Muñoz–Crowdmark provides teachers with a suite of tools to facilitate faster grading, and enables teachers to handle large volumes of grading collaboratively.
The Minuum Project has achieved such international buzz that even the news of a beta launch from Whirlscape Inc. without a firm date generated media interest.
Toronto-based Whirlscape developed Minuum, the one-dimensional simplified keyboard for smartphones, tablets and wearable technology. This idea gained a great deal of attention back in March when they went live on crowd-funding site IndieGogo. […]
Those who backed the initiative were promised early access to the beta app for Android sometime in June. Minuum seems to be on track as we’ve been informed that the beta app for Android is scheduled for release “early next week.”
Ed-tech start-up completes successful EQAO and Canadian Open Math Challenge pilots
TORONTO, Canada (June 11, 2013) — Crowdmark Inc., a Canadian education technology start-up, is positioned to save cash-strapped Departments of Education millions by making massive-scale testing more efficient. Crowdmark has raised $600,000 in seed funding through the University of Toronto Early-Stage Technology (UTEST) program, MaRS Innovation and U of T’s Connaught Fund, among others.
Dr. James Colliander, co-founder and CEO of Crowdmark.
The Crowdmark assessment interface, informed by decades of teaching experience and research by company co-founders, James Colliander (Professor of Mathematics) and Martin Muñoz (Researcher and Developer), at the University of Toronto, streamlines the complicated and time-consuming grading workflow for teachers.
Crowdmark archives student work and all grading feedback into individual digital portfolios that students and parents may access any time online and via mobile devices.
Through two separate pilot projects, Crowdmark has achieved proof-of-concept as a novel and scalable solution to the problem of assessment blockage that eats into already limited resources in education systems worldwide.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
“The Inventor of the Year Award is meant to recognize inventions that have the potential to improve our quality of life,” said ProfessorPaul Young, vice-president (research and innovation) and a member of MaRS Innovation’s Board of Directors. “The winning inventions represent the very best of innovation at U of T, and on behalf of the university, I extend my congratulations.
Program’s second cohort includes eQOL, E-Twenty Development, Root2Crown, Treata Smart Solutions and TrendMD
TORONTO (May 14, 2013) — Five companies tackling pervasive healthcare challenges — such as assessing dental health, helping patients and medical personnel navigate hospitals with greater ease, staying current with medical literature, or creating digital tools to help care for the elderly or those with chronic health conditions — have been admitted to the University of Toronto Early Stage Technology (UTEST) program’s second cohort.
Two companies in UTEST’s second cohort, E-Twenty Development Inc. and Treata Smart Solutions Inc. are participating in Canada 3.0 at the Metro Convention Centre May 14 and 15, 2013, in Toronto.
This announcement was covered in PE Hub.
Each company will receive up to $25,000, incubation space in the MaRS Discovery District, mentoring and business strategy support to develop protectable intellectual property, launch their products and gain market traction. They are also eligible to become clients of MaRS Discovery District’s ICE or Healthcare practices.
UTEST seeks scalable, enterprise-focused software applications interested in building business-to-business customer bases — and preferably operational products with a short term to market. The program is co-directed by Kurtis Scissons (U of T IPO) and Dr. Lyssa Neel (MI).
On Monday, June 17, Whirlscape Inc. released the beta version of its hotly anticipated, tiny, one-dimensional digital keyboard, Minuum: “the little keyboard for big fingers.”
Yonge Street Media, a weekly online magazine that covers talent, innovation, diversity and quality of life stories in the Toronto region, covered Crowdmark‘s efforts to disrupt the way teachers grade and interact with students in their Innovation section on Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
Four University of Toronto (U of T) professors who have commercialization projects in various stages with MaRS Innovation were named to the university’s list of Inventors of the Year.