On a recent visit to the Department, President Toope spoke to some ECE graduate students about their research projects. President Toope toured the Robotics and Control, Radio Science and Systems on Chip/Computer Architecture Laboratories during this visit.
Caitlin Schneider and her research colleagues demonstrated the da Vinci surgical robot to President Toope in the Robotics and Control Lab. This research team is developing tools for image guided intervention (mainly for prostate and kidney surgery). Their goal is to overlay information on the surgeon’s console to help him/her improve surgery results. This information may include the outline of the target organ (prostate/kidney) and regions with high probability for cancer, based on preoperative imaging, overlaid on the video stream of the da Vinci’s camera. These can help the surgeon in identifying cancerous tissue in real-time during surgery.
President Toope also spoke to ECE staff and faculty, providing his insight on how the Department contributes to the larger vision for UBC. Anything we can do to help local companies succeed he sees as hugely beneficial for the University as a whole. Prof. Toope believes we will see some very dramatic changes in entrepreneurship relations, in how we create start-ups, and in the area of intellectual property at the University.
Prof. Toope concluded with a discussion of the University’s approach to flexible learning. His editorial in the Globe and Mail on this subject can be accessed in the link below.
Read More:
Technology will change universities as it changed the music industry, Stephen Toope, Special to The Globe and Mail, April 25, 2013
Flexible Learning at UBC