Engineering students solve 11 of Toronto’s persistent challenges

1. Cut­ting dis­com­fort dur­ing blood dona­tion

Chal­lenge: From find­ing the vein, to insert­ing and secur­ing the nee­dle, to remov­ing adhe­sive tape, the blood dona­tion process can be agi­tat­ing. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents cre­ate bet­ter ways to keep donors com­fort­able at the Cana­di­an Blood Ser­vices clin­ic on Col­lege Street.

2. Boost­ing inde­pen­dence for sledge hock­ey play­ers

Chal­lenge: They may be pros at han­dling a hock­ey stick on their own – but off the ice, hock­ey play­ers with phys­i­cal dis­abil­i­ties often need the help of oth­ers to move their spe­cial­ized equip­ment. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents col­lab­o­rate with Cruis­er Sports to design ways to move hock­ey equip­ment that safe­ly pro­mote play­er inde­pen­dence.

3. Speed­ing up worm extrac­tion in com­post

Chal­lenge: Worms can be a gardener’s best friend – they turn ordi­nary com­post into valu­able, fer­tile soil. But when it comes to har­vest­ing that soil, extract­ing the worms is a time con­sum­ing process. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents design a faster method of remov­ing worms for a com­post­ing pro­gram at Ever­green Brick Works.

4. Sav­ing sea­plane crash vic­tims from deep water

Chal­lenge: Accord­ing to the Trans­porta­tion Safe­ty Board of Cana­da, more than two-thirds of deaths from sea­plane crash­es could have been pre­vent­ed if occu­pants could evac­u­ate before the plane fills with water. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents answer Trans­port Canada’s call to iden­ti­fy and improve how pas­sen­gers get out safer.

5. Tap­ping into eas­i­er craft beer bot­tling

Chal­lenge: Bot­tling a craft brew can be a dif­fi­cult process – bot­tles jam on the line, employ­ees face repet­i­tive strain injuries, and bro­ken glass is a major safe­ty con­cern. All of these lim­it growth for small­er com­pa­nies. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents design more effi­cient, ergonom­ic and safe sys­tems at Black Oak Brew­ery in Oakville.

6. Access­ing afford­able local food in Park­dale

Chal­lenge: Access­ing local food that’s inex­pen­sive and close by can be dif­fi­cult for City res­i­dents in dense neigh­bour­hoods like Park­dale. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents team up with West End Food Co-op to start a new, low-cost deliv­ery sys­tem that brings gro­ceries straight to those in need.

7. Safer squats for gym rook­ies

Chal­lenge: The squat is one of the most essen­tial exer­cis­es in any work­out rou­tine, yet many new gym go-ers lack prop­er guid­ance and the right safe­ty equip­ment. This delays mus­cle gain and caus­es injury. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents pro­pose new designs that assist new squat­ters at the YMCA on Grosvenor Street.

8. No more beards for Huntington’s dis­ease patients

Chal­lenge: For some­body with Huntington’s dis­ease, mus­cle spasms can make shav­ing a daunt­ing chore. This dai­ly task has to be done by care­givers, as try­ing it inde­pen­dent­ly caus­es cuts or a poor shave. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents worked with the Huntington’s Soci­ety of Cana­da to find bet­ter tools for a close shave.

9. No math abil­i­ties? No spend­ing prob­lem

Chal­lenge: Over 360,000 peo­ple in the GTA are affect­ed by dyscal­cu­lia – the inabil­i­ty to under­stand num­bers and do sim­ple math­e­mat­i­cal cal­cu­la­tions. To some of these peo­ple, count­ing change in a store can be a night­mare. Engi­neer­ing stu­dents cod­ed new apps that help those chal­lenged when they’re at the check­out.

11. Grow­ing more wild­flow­ers, with less