U of T ENGINEERING

Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education & Practice (ISTEP)

ISTEP Annual Report 2025-26

Research & Scholarship

ISTEP conducts original research exploring how engineers learn and work. We are home to nationally recognized researchers in the fields of engineering leadership, engineering education, and more.

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    Our research falls into three primary categories:

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    Engineering Education

    We are evaluating the benefits of innovative instructional strategies and spaces to enable richer and deeper student learning.  For example, we are deploying active and technology-enhanced learning, designing assessment tools to provide more meaningful feedback, and using data analytics to better understand student experience.  Our research ranges from examining theories and paradigms in engineering education to applied studies of instructional interventions to support course delivery and program development.

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    Engineering Practice

    We are examining how engineers across disciplinary, institutional, and organizational contexts address occupational, professional, and socio-technical challenges through their work. The situated nature of learning through a community of practitioners enhances our understanding of engineering education. We integrate findings from this research into professional development offerings with industry as well as our undergraduate and graduate classrooms, supporting students to develop their personal and professional identities.

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    Transdisciplinary Competencies

    We are exploring how engineering students develop as leaders, how they work effectively in teams — both in person and virtually — and how best to nurture their professional and scientific communication abilities. This area also includes research around access, equity, diversity and inclusivity, and is helping to shape the nature of competencies such as communication, leadership, teamwork, and entrepreneurship in engineering contexts.

    Mobilizing our Research

    ISTEP is exploring new pathways for knowledge mobilization. As part of this effort, we have launched a new research brief initiative. Led by Senior Research Associate Qin Liu, these short, accessible documents provide an "at a glance" overview of key ISTEP research findings in an easily shareable and digestible format.

    The first of these documents focuses on student experience and development, and we are currently preparing additional briefs spanning the full breadth of our research portfolio.Explore the first of these research briefs below.

    Early Career Paths of Engineering Students: Results from Graduating Student Survey in 2024 and 2025
    What Engineering Science Students Say about the Two-Year Foundation Curriculum
    Barometers of Campus Climate: Student Experience in UofT Engineering
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    A National Network of Engineering Educators

    2025 marked the 10-year anniversary of the National Initiative on Capacity Building and Knowledge Creation for Engineering Leadership (NICKEL). NICKEL was founded here at U of T, and is a nationwide network of university faculty and staff sharing the common goal of infusing engineering leadership into engineering curricula.

    For the 10th anniversary, members from across the country gathered at U of T for NICKEL X, the community's 10th annual conference. Attendees shared insights derived directly from the classroom on this year’s theme, leadership during crisis. ISTEP Professor Patricia Sheridan led this initiative as the current NICKEL Chair. 

    Unpredictability has become more regular as the pace of change has rapidly increased. The assumptions we make about what leadership means to our students today may not hold tomorrow. Through collective recollections and a focus on resilience and adaptability, this community continues to serve as a meaningful source of connection, learning, and growth for Canada’s engineering leadership educators.  

    Learn more and get engaged with NICKEL

    Participating Universities

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    Engagement with Professional and Scholarly Associations

    ISTEP maintains a strong presence in the engineering education and professional communication communities through its engagement with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA), and the IEEE Professional Communication Society. Through these organizations, ISTEP faculty and students share research, present innovative teaching practices, contribute to discussions on engineering education, and collaborate with scholars and practitioners internationally.   

    ISTEP has particularly close ties with CEEA. Many of our faculty have achieved fellowship status and actively participate in the association through research contributions. In the area of professional communication, ISTEP plays a leadership role through IEEE ProComm, highlighted by Professor Alan Chong's service as Past-President of the IEEE Professional Communication Society, advancing research and best practices in technical and engineering communication worldwide. More recently, Chong’s work with IEEE as an elected member of the Conferences Committee has allowed ISTEP to push for inclusion of transdisciplinary competency training for young professionals worldwide. 

    Collectively, these partnerships strengthen ISTEP’s mission to advance engineering education, foster transdisciplinary competencies, and prepare engineers to communicate, lead, and collaborate effectively in a rapidly evolving global profession. 

     

    2025 Conference Season Highlights

    Professor Cindy Rottmann was recognized with CEEA fellowship, joining seven other ISTEP faculty members.

    Saskia Van Beers, Cindy Rottmann and Emily Moore were awarded best paper in two categories at the 2025 ASEE conference for their paper, "Boundary Mapping Meritocracy: (How) Do Canadian Engineers See Social Structure?"

    Senior Research Associate Qin Liu served a second year as CEEA Editor-in-Chief of Conference Proceedings.

    Innovations Addressing Global Challenges

    ISTEP brings together units from across U of T Engineering — each with dedicated initiatives, programs, researchers and staff. Together, our research activities span a wide range of areas that contribute to U of T’s robust expertise.

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    New diagnostic system leverages AI to help fight hospital-acquired infections

    Professor Nicole Weckman (ISTEP, ChemE) was recently published in Nature Biomedical Engineering for her work developing a novel AI-empowered diagnostic tool for a dangerous hospital-borne infection known as C. Auris. The tool is called dSHERLOCK, and employs machine learning technology to dramatically improve upon previous diagnostic methods by cutting down detection times and increasing precision in identifying strains.  

    This research was done as part of a postdoctoral project in collaboration with Harvard University’s Wyss Institute. Weckman also serves as the Paul Cadario Chair in Global Engineering and is a Core Research Faculty member at the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN), where she oversees multidisciplinary initiatives addressing complex challenges that contribute to global poverty.  

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    Leading Global Initiatives

    Professor Greg Evans (ISTEP, ChemE) has been appointed as co-lead of NEXUS, a new global partnership of leading universities, public organizations, and patient groups dedicated to tackling the urgent health challenge of non-exhaust air pollution.

    Funded by the UK Medical Research Council, NEXUS brings together experts across disciplines – from aerosol science and toxicology to epidemiology, data science, and health policy – to investigate the impacts of brake, tire, and road wear emissions. With exhaust emissions falling worldwide, these unregulated non-exhaust particles now pose a growing threat to human health and the environment. Over the next five years, NEXUS will build research capacity, strengthen international collaboration, and deliver world-class evidence to inform policies that protect people and the planet. 

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    By the Numbers

    Research Publications, Conference Proceedings & Journal Articles
    Invited Research Talks, Presentations & Media Interviews
    Grants, Awards & Patents

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    © 2026 Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering