McRae Imaging gets a boost from NGen funding
Canadian Manufacturing Staff, Feb. 1, 2021. Link
Ngen (Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, a supercluster of manufacturers), recently announced the winners of its Strategic Supply Challenge, spotlighting a number of companies that are involved in promising domestic manufacturing capabilities. McRae Imaging stands out as a domestic producer of nano-material fabrics for manufacturing applications…
Regina hosts showcase to highlight innovative technology for older adults
Jennifer Ackerman, Regina Leader-Post, Mar 14, 2019 Link
“Falling is very serious in seniors. One in three in seniors in Canada fall every year and 90 per cent of all hip fractures result from falling,” said Venkat Venkataramanan, director of scientific operations at the University of Toronto. “This is even significantly higher in dementia patients.”
Clinical studies show that roughly two-thirds of those falls happen at night, he added.
Venkataramanan has developed a fall prevention light prototype to help older adults find their way in the dark and reduce their risk of falling.
New lighting technology gives cities a brighter future
Peter Nowak, Special to The Globe and Mail, Published October 5, 2018, Updated October 12, 2018, Link
Drivers on Highway 401 near Pickering, Ont., can be forgiven for thinking that a new art installation has opened up at the city’s busy GO commuter train station.
At night, the station’s recently completed, 250-metre pedestrian bridge – which crosses 14 lanes of traffic to connect to the Pickering Town Centre mall – is a dazzling sight. Awash in 297 undulating blue and purple lights, it’s an oasis of colour splashed across an otherwise drab environment.
It’s also the latest example of a trend sweeping cities around the world: the replacement of dull, single-purpose outdoor lights with dynamic LEDs that promise a host of benefits, swirling colours among them.
“It takes a public space that was really boring and makes it very dynamic,” says Venkat Venkataramanan, director of scientific operations of the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto and head of the Smart Sustainable Lighting Network. “It contributes to the overall vibrancy and happiness of the city.”
Pushing LED Innovation
Interview by Owen Hurst, Lighting Design and Specification 4 May 2018, Link
Industry-sponsored research, entrepreneurship mix it up at U Toronto’s Impact Centre
September 2017 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor, Link
Industry-sponsored research thrives alongside start-ups and student education at the University of Toronto’s Impact Centre, which intentionally blurs the lines that divide the main pathways to commercialization and offers instead a one-stop shop for turning ideas into products. A potential research sponsor shows up and explains what it’s looking for — generally in the natural sciences or engineering — and Centre professionals, most of whom are technology domain experts and successful entrepreneurs, set the company up with academic or entrepreneurial resources to get the job done.
Problem solver: why one U of T startup accelerator also works with larger corporations
Chris Sorensen, U of T News, Aug 30, 2017
When Allanson International ran into issues with an LED lamp for commercial kitchens, the Toronto-based lighting and signage firm not only turned to its in-house R&D team for help – it sought out the extensive multidisciplinary expertise available through one of the University of Toronto’s entrepreneurship hubs.
Impact Centre and Allanson International Joint LED Project Gets ‘Green Light’
Electrical Industry News Week, August 11, 2017
Link “The new project is the logical evolution of our longstanding collaboration” said Dr. Venkat Venkataramanan, Director, Scientific Operations at the Impact Centre. “We collaborated to develop a new LED kitchen canopy lighting that is highly energy efficient. The current development is the next step to create direct AC operated canopy lights that will obviate the need for DC conversion and fit as a slot in replacement for existing lights. There are constraints in working with existing dimensions and electrical input, but the customers will greatly benefit by the ease of replacement while ensuring energy savings,” added Venkataramanan.
Bright ideas: researchers, entrepreneurs, industry leaders at U of T conference exploring future of light
From the series - Breaking Research, Chris Sorensen, U of T News, May 01, 2017, Link
The focus of this year’s Beyond Lighting event, which runs from May 2-4, is to use LEDs to accomplish more than mere illumination.
Venkat Venkataramanan, who founded SSLN and is Impact Centre’s director of scientific operations, says the shift reflects the fact that mass market adoption of sustainable, energy efficient LED lights is now well underway, leaving researchers and industry with time to explore novel applications.
New light bulb technology fights jet lag and keeps the kids calm
Joseph Hall, News reporter, Toronto Star, 14 Feb 2016 Link
n a world that is quickly being consumed by LED lighting, ensuring that this technology continues to advance in energy efficiency and quality Is essential. When it comes to identifying issues and potential areas of adjustment many companies turn to LED experts such as those found at Lumentra, a cleantech company specializing in material solutions for the LED Industry.
Recently Lighting Design & Specification had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Venkat Venkataramanan, the founder and Chief Technology Officer at Lumentra Inc. We asked Dr. Venkataramanan about his path into the lighting Industry, the founding of Lumentra, and how Lumentra is helping lighting manufacturers advance LED technology.
Almost any white LED light you’ve ever seen was an optical ruse.
That white bulb on a Christmas tree? It’s actually a shining blue diode with a touch of glowing yellow on its tip, says Venkat Venkataramanan, a University of Toronto physicist.
The Convergent Future of Lighting: Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition
Lighting Design and Specification, Link
The LED industry is witnessing the convergence of different sectors and elements that revolve around human well-being in which lighting takes a lead role, fueled by the leapfrogging technological advances.
International Year of Light radiates potential - Scientists foresee continued improvement in energy efficiency, quality and versatility
By Barbara Carss, Building Strategies + Sustainability, July 7, 2015, Link
…We are only just scratching the surface now,” reports Venkat Venkataramanan, the director of scientific operations at University of Toronto’s Impact Centre and the president of the Canadian chapter of the International Commission on Illumination (CNC/CIE). “The way technology is being used is going to be drastically shifting in the coming years.”
Lighting brighter: 6 ways smart sustainable lighting transforms cities, health, business and the environment
by Brianna Goldberg, Huffington Post, August 13, 2014
…And smart sustainable lighting could save the lives of thousands of birds, too “Urban light pollution not only causes energy drain, Nature Ontario reports that approximately one million birds strike Toronto high-rise buildings annually, a greater fraction of which result in bird fatalities. Smart lighting helps deliver light where we want it, eliminating lighting pollution and reducing bird strikes on buildings.”
Workshop Report: Casting the SSL Net in Canada
Brian Owen, LEDs Magazine, 14 Jul. 2009
Dr. Venkat Venkataramanan, Head of Scientific Operations at IOS presented the “promise of SSL” in his introductory remarks, comparing it to the next “digital” revolution. SSL is a disruptive technology and not only will SSL advancements be important domestically, SSL will change the world with off-grid lighting systems in developing countries.
LEDiscovery…they Learned, they Engaged, they Discovered!
LEDs Magazine, 17 Apr. 2009
In his talk, Venkataramanan highlighted recent SSL industrial projects and research conducted at the U of T, including absorption and damage issues in polymers for automotive headlights for a large automotive manufacturer, 2 projects involving HB LED for medical illumination devices, flat-panel LED lights and HB LED architectural lights.
U of T home to first molecular printer in Canada
phys.org, 2 Nov. 2006, Link
Think of it as a miniscule dot-matrix printer that uses biological ink. Students and faculty at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Optical Sciences (IOS) will have access to the Nano eNabler, the first benchtop molecular printer in Canada, which will allow them to place microscopic dots of biological material onto surfaces with nanometer spatial precision.