Annual Report 2026
Proud History, Positive Impact
Chapter 1
Educating Tomorrow’s Engineering Leaders
At U of T Engineering, we prepare engineering leaders who don’t just adapt to change, they shape it. Our graduates combine technical mastery with creativity, global fluency and a deep sense of responsibility to society.
We do this by fostering a unique learning environment — both inside and outside of class — that includes work-integrated learning, design across the curriculum and global exchange. Through clubs, teams and co-curricular activities, our students have endless opportunities to hone their skills in team effectiveness, communication, entrepreneurship and much more.
Together, we are educating adaptive thinkers to address complex challenges and design a brighter future.
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On-the-job opportunities for MEng students
In September 2025, 40 newly enrolled Master of Engineering (MEng) students began their coursework at U of T Engineering — and started preparing for job interviews.
In May 2026, students began eight-month work terms with leading companies from Toronto and around the world, via U of T Engineering’s brand-new MEng Extended Full-Time Co-op program.
“Our professional master’s students have been asking for practical, industrial experience to be part of their program for a long time, and we’re so pleased that we are able to deliver it,” says Professor Craig Steeves (UTIAS), who was U of T Engineering’s Acting Vice-Dean, Graduate at the time the program launched.
“It’s taken a lot of work behind the scenes, particularly on the part of Professor Julie Audet (BME) our current Vice-Dean, Graduate, as well as during the planning and development phases. It’s wonderful to see it come to fruition, and we’re very grateful for everyone who has made it possible.”
Design team success at home and abroad
In 2026, a U of T Engineering team took the top spot in the programming category at the Canadian Engineering Competition, while a CivMin team set a new load-bearing record of 4,900 kg at the 2026 Troitsky Bridge Building Competition.
Those successes followed another first-place finish from U of T Engineering’s self-driving car team aUToronto. Composed of both undergraduate and graduate students, aUToronto once again took the top spot at the AutoDrive Challenge II, held at the Mcity Test Facility in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Finally, in the fall of 2025, U of T’s Space Travel Analog Research Team (START) launched an experiment into the stratosphere that could help scientists better understand the health risks posed by human space travel. The launch was hosted by the Canadian Space Agency at the Timmins Stratospheric Balloon Base in Timmins, Ont.
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New robotic facilities to enhance education and research
In the spring of 2026, U of T Engineering unveiled a new industrial-scale robotic fabrication system in the Machine Shop within the Galbraith Building.
The KUKA Quantec KR210 has a reach of 3.5 metres, making this robotic arm among the largest ever installed at a Canadian university. It has the ability to sculpt large blocks of wood in 3D or carve out intricate interlocking shapes from sheets of material anchored to the table. Professor Aryan Rezaei Rad (CivMin) and his team are among those who will use the new device for teaching and research, especially in the area of sustainable structural systems.
Another new facility, inaugurated in the fall of 2025, includes automated ‘pick and place’ machines that will enable undergraduate students in electronics courses to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) just as they do in industry.
Robots for a better world
Learn how you can support one of the country’s largest and most diverse robotics networks through a donation to the U of T Robotics Institute.
“I chose U of T because it had the strongest engineering program of them all. U of T life just seemed pretty awesome."
Hudson Jantzi (Year 1 CompE)
Catalyzing experiential learning with impact
Lucas Xie (Year 3 CivMin) and Jiayu (Sunny) Shi (Year 3 MechE) are among dozens of students supported by the Paul Cadario Experiential Learning Student Awards.
The awards help defer the costs associated with experiential learning, thereby making the programs more accessible to a wider range of students. This includes students enrolled in the Professional Experience Year Co-op (PEY Co-op) Program.
Xie spent the summer of 2025 working in the lab of Professor Hamed Ibrahim (CivMin), where he analyzed and processed climate data to study future precipitation and temperature variability across Southern Ontario. For her part, Shi spent that summer working at a company called JanEco Building Maintenance in West Palm Beach, Fla. In May 2026, she began a PEY Co-op placement in Toronto with WSP, an engineering consulting firm.
Attracting top talent from Canada and abroad
“I chose U of T because it had the strongest engineering program of them all,” says Hudson Jantzi (Year 1 CompE). “U of T life also just seemed pretty awesome.”
Jantzi is one of five Schulich Leaders who joined U of T Engineering this year. Another three students joined the Faculty via Lester B. Pearson Scholarships for international students, representing countries such as Jamaica, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.
New grad options in nuclear engineering
Since September 2025, graduate students in MSE and CivMin have been engaging with the potential of atomic energy in a whole new way.
The new MEng emphasis in Nuclear Engineering prepares graduates to meet the growing demand for highly trained professionals in this area, which is playing an expanded role in energy, human health and sustainability.
Cybersecurity certificate
Starting in September 2026, a new cybersecurity certificate for undergraduate students will prepare them for careers in one of today’s most rapidly evolving areas of engineering.
“Cybersecurity has become a critical engineering issue from multiple perspectives, including national and digital sovereignty, economic stability and societal well-being. Everyone entering the engineering profession needs a baseline understanding of cybersecurity,” says Professor Deepa Kundur (ECE), Chair of The Edward S. Rogers Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity of Intelligent Critical Infrastructure.
Ethical inquiry in engineering
In February, Professor Justin Hess of Purdue University delivered the final installment of the Fred Kan Distinguished Lecture in Engineering Ethics.
Since its establishment in 2019, the series has inspired enhanced discourse around ethics within the U of T Engineering community and beyond. The series was made possible through the generous support of U of T alum, Fred Kan (MechE 6T4).
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