APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2025 SPRING COHORT ARE OPEN!
Build the unique skills & confidence needed to prepare you for the career of your dreams
Get a head-start and gain the unique skills and confidence you need to succeed in your dream industry.
Teaching by leading experts across a variety of traditional and non-traditional STEM-disciplines
Program flexibility allows you to participate in multiple discovery streams or join the Mentorship Program
Our discovery stream is all about experimentation! Apply for multiple discovery streams to discover what field is right for you and hop into our Mentorship Program so we can pair you with a mentor in that field. New discovery streams will be added throughout the year.
Focused programming led by experts in the field from national and globally-renowned organizations.
Workshop 1
November 8 2023
Alyssia Sanchez, KITE Institute
Title: Technologies for Healthy Aging
Bio: Alyssia Sanchez is a second-year master’s student in biomedical engineering dedicated to research focused on innovative technologies that facilitate active, independent living within the context of healthy aging. Her recent work involved the development of an exoskeleton designed to assist older adults and individuals with physical disabilities. Presently, her research aims to enhance dementia care by creating a home-based reminder system, employing principles of user-centric design, data analytics, and machine learning. Prior to starting her MASc, Alyssia also worked several co-ops in the biotechnology industry, which inspired her continued studies related to healthcare and engineering.
Workshop 2
November 15 2023
Shaghayegh (Shay) Chavoshian, KITE Institute
Topic: Application of Engineering for Chronic Cardio-Respiratory Conditions
Bio: Shay is a second-year Ph.D. (direct entry from BSc) student at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Shay has completed her BSc degree in Biomedical Engineering and simulated a robotic prosthetic arm within my BSc thesis. She was admitted to the University of Toronto as a direct Ph.D. student in January 2022. Her research focus is on understanding the pathophysiological link between obstructive sleep apnea and asthma and developing new technologies to assist in asthma management. Within her education, she has also been involved in research projects with industrial partners to develop models to improve the management of cardiorespiratory disorders. Out of the lab, she is a lifeguard and swimming coach and she loves abstract paintings and photography.
Workshop 3
November 22 2023
Natalie Won, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Topic: Engineering in the Operating Room
Bio: Natalie Won is a biomedical engineer in the Guided Therapeutics (GTx) lab at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Upon graduating from the Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Science program at McMaster University, she was eager to use her interdisciplinary education in a research setting. Natalie is currently focusing on developing biomedical engineering solutions and integrating artificial intelligence into the operating room.
Previous Streams
July - Physics
Workshop 1
Tuesday, July 11th
6pm EST
The Magic of Microwaves
Hosted by the Physics Department at the University of Toronto
Have you ever wondered how your microwave heats up food? Why some of your bowls get hot and others don’t? Why some parts of the food are hotter than others? In this workshop you’ll learn how the interactions between light and molecules make the microwave possible. You’ll also get to try measuring the speed of light in your own microwave!
Workshop 2
Tuesday, July 18th
6pm EST
Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Hosted by the Physics Department at the University of Toronto
Seeing darkness is a strange thing indeed: it is our brains interpreting light that is not there! But what does darkness mean at the scales we can’t see with our eyes? Learn how detecting things that aren’t there lets us see everything from atomic behaviour, to dark matter, to black holes. We will take you through the discovery and current methods for detecting all the kinds of things that are called dark, and what that means when you aren’t the one seeing it.
Workshop 3
Tuesday, July 25th
6pm EST
Experimentally Probing the Dark Universe
Hosted by the Physics Department at the University of Toronto
The universe is expanding and its accelerating. It turns out that the content of the universe can be divided into 3 groups; dark energy, dark matter and the matter that we can see and interact with. The only way to understand the relationship between the three groups, is to find out how heavy they are.
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To do the experiment at home, we recommend that you have access to a camera on a phone.