Department of Computer Science

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Department of English

Faculty of Information

��ֱ�� Scarborough

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Clockwise from top left: Karl Manis, Chido Muchemwa, Tatiana Ruiz Bedoya, Jeff Chen, Zehui Yin and Jing Wang (supplied images)

Six recent graduates of the University of Toronto have been awarded 2023-2024 Governor General’s Academic Medals in recognition of their academic excellence.

Three PhD alumni were awarded gold medals, which are presented to graduate students on the basis of academic performance in courses, evaluation of thesis and thesis defence, and originality and significance of research:

Tatiana Ruiz Bedoya – department of cell and systems biology, Faculty of Arts & Science
Chido Muchemwa – Faculty of Information and the Mark S Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science
Karl Manis – department of English, Faculty of Arts & Science

Three undergraduate alumni were awarded silver medals, which are given to students with the highest academic standing upon graduating from a bachelor degree program:

Jeff Chen – department of civil and mineral engineering, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Jing Wang – department of computer science, Faculty of Arts & Science
Zehui Yin – department of management, ��ֱ�� Scarborough

Read about the Governor General's Gold Medal

Read about the Governor General's Silver Medal

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Sheila McIlraith receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian AI Association

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:16:59 +0000

Sheila McIlraith receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Canadian AI Association

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 06/10/2024 - 13:16

Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Vector Institute

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Sheila McIlraith (photo courtesy of Sheila McIlraith)

Sheila McIlraith, a professor in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has received a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian AI Association (CAIAC).

McIlraith, who is a Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and associate director at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, was recognized for her research contributions to knowledge representation and reasoning, automated planning and machine learning.

Over the years, her work has found application in an array of problems including diagnosis and control of electromechanical systems – from photocopiers to robotic and space systems – and automated synthesis of web services that are optimized for personal preferences.

“It’s a tremendous honour to receive this award,” said McIlraith. “I share this recognition with my many wonderful students and collaborators who I have worked with over the years.”

“I congratulate Sheila on this well-deserved recognition,” said Professor Eyal de Lara, chair of the department of computer science. “She is a dedicated and passionate scholar whose leading research on safe and human-compatible AI systems is resonating here at ��ֱ�� and in the broader computer science community.”

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Seven ��ֱ�� graduate students awarded 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships in support of mental health research

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:26:40 +0000

Seven ��ֱ�� graduate students awarded 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships in support of mental health research

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 04/01/2024 - 15:26

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Graduate Students

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

OISE

��ֱ�� Mississauga

��ֱ�� Scarborough

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Clockwise from top left: Melissa deJonge, Egag Egag, Asma Shamim, Maya Ahia, Danika Quesnel, JesusMiracle Chiadika and Ananya Bhattacharjee (supplied images)

Seven students from across the University of Toronto are recipients of the 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships awarded by Inlight Student Mental Health Research, a ��ֱ�� institutional strategic initiative committed to improving student mental health and wellness outcomes.

The $10,000 fellowships support graduate scholars who are leading research projects that aim to improve student mental health and well-being on campus and recognize the importance of student-led and co-designed research solutions.

“The Inlight Research Fellowship Program is dedicated to promoting the development of leaders in post-secondary student mental health research,” said Julius Haag, Inlight’s associate director, education and training and an assistant professor, teaching stream in the department of sociology at ��ֱ�� Mississauga.

“We are actively supporting impactful research that will grow the perspectives and capacity needed to advance student mental health and wellness, as well as centring research that focuses on engaging the experiences and perspectives of our diverse student community.”

Here is the full list of Inlight’s 2023-2024 research fellowship award recipients:

Maya Ahia – master’s student in clinical psychology, ��ֱ�� Scarborough

Ananya Bhattacharjee – PhD candidate in computer science, Faculty of Arts & Science

JesusMiracle Chiadika – PhD student in higher education, comparative, international & development education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Melissa deJonge – PhD student, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Egag Egag – PhD student, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Danika Quesnel – PhD student in clinical psychology, ��ֱ�� Scarborough

Asma Shamim – PhD student in developmental psychology and education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Five researchers recognized with 2024 President’s Impact Awards

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:28:59 +0000

Five researchers recognized with 2024 President’s Impact Awards

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 03/15/2024 - 09:28

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Department of Chemistry

Department of Nutritional Sciences

Department of History

Rotman School of Management

Faculty of Law

President's Impact Award

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Unity Health

Women & Gender Studies Institute

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Clockwise from top left: Professor Gillian Hadfield, Professor M. Murphy, University Professor David Jenkins, Professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik and Associate Professor Yvonne Bombard

Five University of Toronto researchers have received President’s Impact Awards for their important work in AI governance, environmental justice, genomics policy, nutritional sciences and quantum computing.

The awards celebrate and honour faculty members whose research has led to a significant impact beyond academia. Laureates are designated as members of the President’s Impact Academy, and receive a monetary award of $10,000 per year for five years to be used toward their research.

“I would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s President’s Impact Awards for their outstanding work in tackling some of the biggest challenges of our time,” said Barbara Fallon, ��ֱ��'s associate vice-president, research.

“From informing and improving dietary choices to fostering greater alignment between environmental justice and Indigenous communities, these scholars are generating knowledge and ideas that stand to have a tremendous impact beyond academia.

“Their exceptional contributions speak to the important role that ��ֱ�� researchers play in improving lives in Canada and around the world.”

This year’s winners are:

Gillian Hadfield, professor in the Faculty of Law and Rotman School of Management, “for contributions impacting access to justice, innovative design for legal and dispute resolution systems in advanced and developing market economies, and governance for artificial intelligence.”

M. Murphy, professor in the Women & Gender Studies Institute and department of history in the Faculty of Arts & Science, “for contributions that consistently move environmental justice research along a collaborative trajectory with Indigenous communities, data practices, and policy-making.”

Yvonne Bombard, scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and associate professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, “for her significant contributions in enacting national law against genetic discrimination, improving healthcare options for Canadians, and advancing clinical practice and genomics research.”

Alán Aspuru-Guzik, professor in the department of chemistry and department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, “for his pioneering work in the fields of artificial intelligence and quantum computing for materials discovery.”

David Jenkins, University Professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, “for his studies on the health effects of food that have changed how the world makes healthy dietary choices.”

Ishtiaque Ahmed receives Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 20:22:02 +0000

Ishtiaque Ahmed receives Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:22

Connaught Community Partnership Research Award

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Assistant Professor Ishtiaque Ahmed (photo by Ryan Perez)

Ishtiaque Ahmed, an assistant professor in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has received an award from the Connaught Community Partnership Research Program for his project exploring the use of a community-powered AI tool to tackle online hate.

Ahmed will use the award to support partnerships with the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice and the Foundation for a Path Forward to better address online hate speech aimed at Chinese and Muslim communities in Canada.

Ahmed and his partners aim to develop, deploy and evaluate a community-powered AI system to improve content moderation on social media.

“I see the impact of this award in two ways. First, it will help me enormously to build my academic program, to strengthen my relationship with the community partners here in Canada,” Ahmed said. “But I’m also excited about the real-life impact of this problem, because we are going to help these communities to handle online hate speech. To be able to make such an impact is most rewarding for me.”

The Connaught Community Partnership Research Program aims to help create and nurture partnerships between ��ֱ�� scholars and community partners that support community-driven research.

Ahmed is one of four ��ֱ�� scholars to receive awards from the program this year. The others are Jaris Swidrovich at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Amaya Perez-Brumer in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Alicia Hawkins at ��ֱ�� Mississauga.

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Geoffrey Hinton named Fellow of Association for Computing Machinery

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 16:58:23 +0000

Geoffrey Hinton named Fellow of Association for Computing Machinery

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 01/26/2024 - 11:58

Artificial Intelligence

University Professor

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University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Geoffrey Hinton, University Professor Emeritus of computer science who is often dubbed the “godfather of AI,” has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

The ACM Fellows program recognizes the top one per cent of ACM Members and celebrates exceptional contributions to computing science and technology. Hinton is among 68 inductees for 2023 who have been honoured for their transformative work.

Hinton was recognized “for conceptual and engineering breakthroughs that have made deep neural networks a critical component of computing.”

His groundbreaking research lies in deep learning and artificial neural networks — a field of artificial intelligence that mimics the way humans acquire certain types of knowledge.

Hinton adds the ACM Fellow recognition to a list of accolades that includes an election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Royal Medal from the Royal Society, Companion of the Order of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Societies of Canada and London and the ACM’s A.M. Turing Award, widely considered to be the Nobel Prize of computing.

Read the full announcement from the ACM

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��ֱ�� community members recognized with Order of Ontario

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 19:16:51 +0000

��ֱ�� community members recognized with Order of Ontario

Academic Achievement

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 01/09/2024 - 14:16

��ֱ��

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Order of Ontario

Vector Institute

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Artificial intelligence expert Raquel Urtasun, business leader and philanthropist Blake Goldring and anesthesiologist Beverley Orser are among several members of the University of Toronto community who have recently been recognized with the Order of Ontario.

Edith Dumont, lieutenant-governor of Ontario, announced 25 new appointments to the 2023 Order of Ontario on Jan. 1.

They include Urtasun, a professor in the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, co-founder of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and founder and CEO of self-driving vehicle company Waabi, who was recognized for her contributions to reshaping the future of transportation. “I am so proud to be appointed to the Order of Ontario,” Urtasun said in a post on X. “It is an honour to be recognized alongside such outstanding Ontarians who have made exceptional contributions toward a better province, country, and world.”

Goldring, the executive chair of AGF Management Limited and a Victoria College alum, was honoured for his longstanding support of causes in education, health, arts and the military. Over several decades, the Goldring family has supported numerous initiatives at ��ֱ�� including the Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport and Goldring Student Centre at Victoria College.

Orser was among 26 luminaries – and five Temerty Faculty of Medicine scholars – to be appointed to the 2022 Order of Ontario in November 2023. An affiliate scientist in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and professor in the departments of physiology and anesthesiology and pain medicine at Temerty, Orser was recognized for her groundbreaking work in optimizing anesthesia, improving access to care in rural communities and mitigating post-operative delirium and cognitive decline.

Established in 1986, the Order of Ontario is the highest civilian honour bestowed by the province.

Read about the 2023 Order of Ontario appointees

Read about the 2022 Order of Ontario appointees

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Shubhangi Saraf receives 2022–23 McLean Award

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 21:10:21 +0000

Shubhangi Saraf receives 2022–23 McLean Award

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 11/09/2023 - 16:10

Connaught Fund

Department of Mathematics

McLean Award

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Shubhangi Saraf (photo by Matt Hintsa)

Shubhangi Saraf, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s departments of computer science and mathematics, is the 2022-23 recipient of the McLean Award. 

The McLean Award is part of the University of Toronto’s Connaught Fund and is given in support of basic research in physics, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, engineering sciences or statistical sciences. It is awarded to an outstanding researcher early in their career to assist in attracting and supporting graduate students and post-doctoral fellows as part of their research team. 

“I feel deeply honoured and also incredibly grateful for the award and for the support from my colleagues,” Saraf says.  “The McLean Award will greatly help in enabling and advancing the growth of junior researchers in my field.” 

A global research leader in computational complexity theory and coding theory, Saraf’s work brings together diverse areas of mathematics, allowing her to produce cutting-edge research that addresses some of the most challenging and fundamental questions in theoretical computer science. 

“Through her rigorous research and outstanding record of achievement, Shubhangi Saraf is advancing our understanding of open questions in computer science and mathematics, such as the power and limitations of efficient computation,” says Leah Cowen, ��ֱ��’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “The insights she harnesses from both computing and mathematics demonstrate the power and impact of interdisciplinary research.”

“The University of Toronto congratulates her on this important recognition of her work.”

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��ֱ�� community members named to Time’s list of top 100 AI influencers

lanthierj — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 18:46:03 +0000

��ֱ�� community members named to Time’s list of top 100 AI influencers

lanthierj Fri, 09/08/2023 - 14:46

��ֱ��

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering