Lassonde accelerates green mobility revolution with electric cars

SARIT vehicles on York's Keele Campus with Frank Stronach
SARIT vehicles on York’s Keele Campus with Frank Stronach

In the 18 months since a prototype of a tiny, three-wheeled electric commuter car took a first test drive at York University, much progress has been made in driving the vehicle to the forefront of the green revolution in urban transportation.

Arundhati Kandan Ramdas
Arundhati Kandan Ramdas

Arundhati Kandan Ramdas, mobility project manager at Lassonde School of Engineering, reports that the mini car known as SARIT (safe, affordable, reliable, innovative transit vehicle) is now in production, harnessing some of the ideas and new technologies developed soon after it arrived on York’s Keele Campus in 2022 for intensive rounds of study.

“We have successfully tested and integrated AI-powered vision systems for pedestrian detection into the SARIT, which will allow us to address potential concerns about pedestrian collisions, and to deploy the vehicle in popular Toronto locations, such as the Toronto Zoo, Exhibition Place and the new Markham Demonstration Zone, where York is a partner,” Ramdas says.

University researchers also added trailers to the SARIT to facilitate cargo transportation of everything from parcels to food, and fertilizer for agriculture.

“As well, we are deploying keyless entry for ignition to enable vehicles to be more easily shared, replacing the traditional key with an app for a smartphone,” she adds.

SARIT vehicle
SARIT vehicle

Initiated by Canadian automotive maverick Frank Stronach (his Magna International company in Aurora, Ont., designed the prototype), the SARIT project epitomizes York University’s “living lab” concept, serving as a vital testing ground for sustainable transportation solutions.

A former York governor, Stronach contributed $100,000 to develop the SARIT as a next-generation vehicle.

“I chose York University because its living lab and entrepreneurial mandates are perfectly aligned with SARIT’s objective to revolutionize the personal transportation space,” Stronach said at the time in an interview with The York University Magazine.

Stronach’s significant investment in the SARIT initiative underscores a shared commitment to sustainability and innovation. His generous donation will drive ongoing research, development and testing of SARIT electric vehicle prototypes, cementing York’s position as a trailblazer in sustainable urban mobility.

The SARIT’s top speed of 32 kilometres per hour makes it ideal for commuting – it’s safer and more comfortable than alternatives such as e-bikes. It also costs less than standard electric vehicles, with operating, insurance and electricity costs averaging under $300 per year, Ramdas says.

“The SARIT offers a unique solution to the challenges of converting to zero-emission vehicles, providing a variety of single-use and share-use solutions that enhance mobility and reduce transportation costs with zero emissions.”

Looking ahead, SARIT’s expansion involves forming partnerships to address mobility challenges and showcasing its effectiveness and environmental benefits at various community events. An entrepreneurial challenge to be launched at the University will also aim to leverage SARIT’s mobility capabilities for creating unique ventures, fostering innovation and sustainability.

“We are excited to start to see how the ideas and technologies we have been working on at York lead to commercial success,” Ramdas says.

Black Studies program expands to include major, minor options

Two Black students at York University

York University is entering a new phase in its commitment to Black Studies with the expansion of its existing program to include major and minor degree options under the continued guidance of Professor Andrea A. Davis.

A professor of Black cultures of the Americas in the Department of Humanities, Davis will lead the development of the major with Paul Lawrie, a professor in the Department of History and the Black inclusion advisor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS).

The Office of the Dean in LA&PS and the program development and curriculum innovation specialist in the Office of the Vice-Provost Academic are also involved in supporting the creation of what Davis calls “a very ambitious and exciting new degree program.”

“This new development,” Davis says, “marks a significant advancement in the University’s dedication to providing a comprehensive education that authentically reflects Black histories and experiences within academia.”

Under her leadership, York previously introduced the Black Canadian Studies Certificate in 2018, demonstrating a commitment to fostering inclusive educational environments. At the time, it was only the second Black Studies program in Canada to offer the study of Black Canada through humanities and arts approaches, including cultural studies, history, literature and music.

The expanded program will build on the foundation laid by the Black Canadian Studies Certificate, offering students a broader and more in-depth exploration of Black experiences across various academic disciplines, including arts, media, performance and design.

“We have made significant progress in mapping a unique, 21st-century curriculum, with cohesive learning outcomes and assessments, and we will be expanding consultation shortly with colleagues, students and affiliated programs,” Davis says.

Central to her pedagogical approach is the belief in education as a transformative force that extends beyond academic achievement. The goal is to empower students to critically examine the intersectionality of race, gender and class, fostering a deeper understanding of societal structures and inspiring them to become catalysts for positive change within their communities.

By delving into contemporary issues such as environmental sustainability, social justice and cultural identity, the expectation is that students will develop critical-thinking skills essential for addressing the pressing challenges of the modern world.

Presently in the development stage, the proposal for the new, expanded program is expected to be ready for the various approval stages within LA&PS by the spring of this year. Announcements of signed agreements between LA&PS and two historically Black colleges and universities in the U.S. are also expected to happen by this time.

“Without giving away too much, the curriculum will remain embedded in the humanities and expressive cultures,” Davis says. “The goal is to make it completely accessible and to include international student exchanges and teaching and research partnerships, as well as carefully mapped work-integrated learning opportunities.”

Tech innovation and health-care advancements earn funding, recognition for York researchers

Header banner for ASPIRE

Welcome to the March 2024 issue of Aspire, a special issue of YFile highlighting research and innovation at York University.

Aspire is produced by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation in partnership with the Communications & Public Affairs Division.

Renowned for its high-profile, research-intensive environment, York University fosters a community of forward-thinking scholars and changemakers dedicated to creating positive, global change.


In this issue:

Lassonde research boosts accuracy of GPS positioning in smartphones
Using precise satellite tracking data currently unavailable to smartphone processors, York University engineers have developed a new technique that significantly improves the accuracy of global positioning system (GPS) tracking in Android smartphones.

Faculty of Health study explores pros and cons of preschoolers in sports
Research Associate Meghan Harlow and Associate Professor Jessica Fraser-Thomas in York University’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science are investigating the benefits and risks of organized sports programming for children aged six and under.

Five York-led research projects receive over $3M in new CIHR funding
York researchers Mark Bayfield, Elham Dolatabadi, Skye Fitzpatrick, Anthony Scimè and Jeffrey Wardell are leading five projects that have been awarded a combined total of more than $3 million in new funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

York immunologist’s work recognized as standout achievement in arthritis research
York University Professor Ali Abdul-Sater‘s work on blocking inflammation in gout has been named one of the most significant advancements in arthritis research in 2023 by Arthritis Society Canada.

YSpace startup receives $2M to develop health-care technologies for space travel
Phyxable, a virtual physical therapy platform supported by York’s YSpace entrepreneurship hub, was selected by the Canadian Space Agency for its Health Beyond Initiative, which aims to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for remote health-care delivery.

Osgoode prof named Woman of the Year by Canadian Italian business community
Pina D’Agostino, the new scientific director of York-led research program Connected Minds, has been named Woman of the Year by the Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association of Toronto.

Lassonde research boosts accuracy of GPS positioning in smartphones

Driving with GPS on phone on dashboard

By Corey Allen, senior manager, research communications

York University engineers have developed a new technique that significantly improves the accuracy of global positioning system (GPS) tracking in Android smartphones. 

Sunil Bisnath
Sunil Bisnath

Using precise satellite tracking data currently unavailable to smartphone processors, the Lassonde School of Engineering research team reduced tracking errors by upwards of 64 per cent.

A considerable feat, given the fact that satellites transmit signals from more than 20,000 kilometres away in space and smartphone reception can be quite weak (a phone’s antenna costs less than a dollar to manufacture).

“Because these satellites are so high in orbit and a consumer product like a smartphone uses low-grade and low-cost hardware, the great engineering challenge is to find ways to make everyday technology more precise,” explains Sunil Bisnath, a professor of geomatics engineering, whose research team also includes PhD students Yi Ding and Jiahuan Hu.

For the trio, that meant “squeezing” as much information from the satellite data as possible, and as much as a smartphone’s computing processor could handle.  

“Professional-grade GPS equipment that can measure millimetre distances costs tens of thousands of dollars. Smartphones are not designed to function at such a high level,” said Bisnath. “Our positioning technique to fill in missing data gaps was able to significantly improve the accuracy and quality of the measurements.”

Their findings, published this year in GPS Solutions, detail their method, which involved manipulating specific types of satellite data called pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements, multiplying the speed of light by the time these signals have taken to travel from the satellites to the smartphone receiver.

The researchers used York’s Keele Campus as a living lab to test their work, mounting a GPS-enabled smartphone on a car dashboard and driving on various roads at and around the University and on 400-series highways.

Currently, Bisnath and his team continue to refine their technique, working to enhance its precision even further, while exploring potential partnership interest from industry.

This latest innovation builds on more than 30 years of research by Bisnath, who began studying GPS in the early 1990s upon the suggestion of one of his professors.

“I didn’t know what GPS was at the time, but now it’s become so pervasive in our daily lives,” said Bisnath. “From getting your dinner delivered on an app to following package deliveries online to conducting transactions with your bank card, GPS plays an integral role in how modern society works.

“So what I thought was a one-time project turned out to be an entire career.”

Faculty of Health study explores pros and cons of preschoolers in sports

Preschoolers playing soccer

By Corey Allen, senior manager, research communications

Researchers at York University are leading work to understand the impacts of youth sports on child development, investigating the benefits and risks of organized sports programming for children aged six and under.

Meghan Harlow
Meghan Harlow

In a paper published in Sport in Society earlier this year, Faculty of Health researchers studied five different types of sports programs for preschoolers, observing several classes and interviewing families over the span of several months. Their findings reveal a research gap regarding how preschoolers experience sport, their parents’ motives, and the effectiveness and uniformity of programming for children under six (U6).

“Our goal for this case study was to learn more about what really is happening in this unexplored demographic of U6 sports, gain insight into the flow of activity in classes, and to examine the kinds of sports-specific and fundamental movement skills being taught,” said lead author Meghan Harlow, a research associate in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who co-authored the paper alongside Associate Professor Jessica Fraser-Thomas.

The sports programs involved in Harlow’s research, which began as part of her PhD work, included hockey, rugby, soccer, gymnastics and one multi-sport program. She observed many similarities, including similar training session layouts and a focus on targeted movements like running forwards and backwards, kicking and passing.

Each of the programs also involved some level of competition, which included a formal scrimmage or race. Hockey was the most competitive, being the only sport that involved the children playing structured games on half-ice.

“Current guidelines suggest engaging children in mini challenges with successes and failures, but the question of what is an age-appropriate challenge for U6 sports is unclear and difficult to determine, so it’s a really active area of research for us,” said Harlow. “Within many of these programs, the age range can vary significantly, so you may have a three-year-old playing with a five-year-old, and this complicates how sessions can be run or designed.”

Sport participation in Canada is largely guided by a framework that sports clubs and organizations use called the Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity Model, or LTD Model. This framework outlines the types of skills and training people should learn at different life stages to develop their physical literacy or athletic abilities.

In the model’s Active Start stage, which ranges from zero to six years, the guidelines recommend primarily child-led free play, and structured gymnastics and swimming programs.

Harlow observed the sports programs with this model in mind, finding that the delivery and experiences of these preschooler sport programs sometimes deviated from this framework.

Additionally, in Harlow’s small sample size of 10 families, most of the children had previously participated in sports prior to the programs she observed. The researchers point out in the paper that this pattern of past sport participation contradicts long-standing recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society, which advise most children are not ready for sport until around age six.

Harlow says larger and more diverse sample sizes, alongside more evidence, is needed to fully understand the best way for preschoolers to participate and develop in sports long-term, and how to set them up for success as they age.

“There’s the potential for this research to inform future versions of the LTD Model, which has been adopted internationally outside of Canada, and other models like it,” she said.  

Harlow’s research interests in this field stem from her own experience in competitive gymnastics, first participating in the sport as early as three years old.

“Our early experiences in sport and physical activity shape our habits and perceptions over time,” she said. “Studying the early stages of sport can tell us a lot about sport choices and experiences, dropout, and ways to engage young children and youth in sport that will lead to healthy and happy outcomes.”

Harlow’s research was funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Five York-led research projects receive over $3M in new CIHR funding

Aspire lightbulb idea innovation research

By Corey Allen, senior manager, research communications

York University researchers are leading five projects awarded a combined total of more than $3 million in new funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Mark Bayfield in the Faculty of Science and Elham Dolatabadi, Skye Fitzpatrick, Anthony Scimè and Jeffrey Wardell in the Faculty of Health are among the latest recipients of CIHR’s Project Grants, which support a variety of health-related research initiatives from initial discovery to practical application.

“I extend my congratulations to these five exceptional faculty members whose projects hold promise for advancing health research, care and outcomes, both locally and globally,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “CIHR’s Project Grants empower York researchers to continue to create positive change through their leadership and unique expertise in addressing many of today’s health-related challenges.”  

Bayfield’s project, “Regulation of gene expression by the La and La-related proteins,” received $921,825. His team will study the process of how genes are translated into proteins, advancing the understanding of the roles these proteins play in causing diseases and how human cells respond to stress.

Dolatabadi’s project, “The socioeconomic impact of the post-COVID-19 condition in the Canadian context,” received $100,000. Using machine learning, among other methods, Dolatabadi and her team will investigate how various societal and environmental factors such as gender and ethnicity affect the health of people with post-COVID-19 –condition (also known as long COVID) differently.

Fitzpatrick’s project, “A randomized controlled trial testing Safe: a brief intervention for people with borderline personality disorder, their intimate partners and their relationship,” received $952,425. The research tests a couple therapy for borderline personality disorder (BPD) developed by Fitzpatrick and her colleagues and compares it to the standard care couples receive when one member has BPD.

Scimè’s project, “A new paradigm for managing myogenic stem cell fates,” received $787,950. Scimè’s research aims to develop innovative treatments in regenerative medicine for neuromuscular disorders such as sarcopenia, a condition that causes muscle degeneration due to aging.

Wardell’s project, “Disentangling medicinal and recreational cannabis use among young adults,” received $374,852. The research team will analyze participant data collected from a smartphone app to better understand the distinctions between medicinal and recreational cannabis use and how factors like gender influence reasons for cannabis use.

The York-led projects are among 374 funded across the country in the Fall 2023 competition, totalling approximately $325 million.

York immunologist’s work recognized as standout achievement in arthritis research

Doctors in a medical lab

By Corey Allen, senior manager, research communications

A York University researcher’s work on blocking inflammation in gout has been named one of the most significant advancements in arthritis research in 2023 by Arthritis Society Canada. 

Ali Abdul-Sater

Ali Abdul-Sater, an associate professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in the Faculty of Health, alongside his research team, discovered that a protein called TRAF1 can help limit the body’s production of a substance called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), which is a main cause of gout.

“It is a great honour to see that our work is recognized for its impact, and all the credit goes to the trainees that did the research,” said Abdul-Sater, who is also a York Research Chair in Regulatory Mechanisms of Inflammation. “In the future, we are developing new methods to target TRAF1 in a way that improves its ability to lower IL-1 β  and reduce joint inflammation.”

The research team’s findings were published last year in the Journal of Immunology, detailing how adequate levels of TRAF1 in the body can alleviate the severity of gout.

Gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis, is a disease that typically affects the feet and can include symptoms of joint pain, stiffness and swelling, among others. According to Arthritis Society Canada, six million Canadians – or one in five adults – live with arthritis.

“Given the impact on patients, the health-care system and society at large, research is critical to transforming how arthritis is diagnosed, treated and prevented, and ensuring people receive the best possible care to improve the quality of their lives,” said  Siân Bevan, chief science officer at Arthritis Society Canada, who helped fund the work.

For a full list of the top 10 research advances of 2023 recognized by the non-profit organization, visit Arthritis Society Canada’s website.

Osgoode prof named Woman of the Year by Canadian Italian business community

3d golden star golden with lighting effect on black background. Template luxury premium award design. Vector illustration

By Corey Allen, senior manager, research communications

Pina D’Agostino, an associate professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, has been named Woman of the Year by the Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association of Toronto (CIPBA).

Pina D'Agostino
Pina D’Agostino

“I am incredibly humbled and honoured to be recognized by the very community that I have deep roots in,” said D’Agostino. “My parents were both immigrants from Italy to Canada and, like many others seeking a better future for their families, came without speaking a word of English and with nothing but their dreams for a better future. I dedicate this award to them for all their sacrifices.”

She added: “As a woman, I stand with so many other women who continue to face barriers in their personal and professional lives. I join an impressive group of female recipients of this award and am grateful to CIBPA for shining the spotlight on our many successes.”

Last week, D’Agostino assumed her new role as scientific director of Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society, the $318.4-million, York-led research program focused on socially responsible technologies, supported in part by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

In addition to her role with Connected Minds, D’Agostino is the founder and former director of IP Osgoode and the co-director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Society. Her research explores issues related to artificial intelligence through a legal lens, including data governance and ownership, intellectual property, emerging technologies, and innovation law and policy.

Since 2010, D’Agostino has also been the founder and director of the IP Innovation Clinic based at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she has helped startups across the University and beyond by engaging law students and leading intellectual property lawyers to provide help pro-bono amounting to more than $2 million in otherwise billable fees.

“Her remarkable contributions to law, technology, and education have set her apart as a leader in her field and an inspiration to us all,” said CIBPA President Tony Cocuzzo.

D’Agostino and her work will be honoured at a CIBPA event on March 20.

York University professors help shape national pandemic strategy

Medicine doctor and robotics research and analysis. Diagnose checking coronavirus or covid-19 testing

Earlier this month, two York University professors – Mathieu Poirier and Susan Rogers Van Katwyk – joined Canadian experts and government representatives at the Pandemic Agreement Regional Engagement Series. Organized by the Government of Canada, this series of meetings held across the country were intended to facilitate productive discussion about Canada’s role in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Mathieu Poirier

“With the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that there were real inequities that emerged, and there were issues with the International Health Regulations, which are the main international law we use to deal with pandemic threats,” said Poirier. “So when we see medical countermeasures, vaccines that were extremely inequitably distributed, it became clear that we need a new agreement – a Pandemic Agreement – to deal with these pandemic threats.”

Attendees at the meetings, which built on the Pandemic Instrument Partner and Stakeholder Engagement Forum that took place in Ottawa last March, were encouraged to share their input on and updates to the development of the Pandemic Agreement (previously referred to as the Pandemic Instrument). The agreement seeks to address policy gaps in preventing, preparing for and responding to pandemics, and is scheduled to be presented to the 77th World Health Assembly in May of this year.

Poirier, an assistant professor in York’s School of Global Health, a Tier II Research Chair in Global Health Equity and co-director of the York University- and University of Ottawa-based Global Strategy Lab (GSL), participated in a Toronto-based meeting focused on enhancing capacities to detect, understand, and act on public health threats through improved global co-operation on data standardization and interoperability.

“It’s important to remember that Canada is less than one per cent of the world’s population, and that means that there’s something like a 99 per cent chance that a future pandemic will emerge outside of Canada,” said Poirier. “And in the likelihood that occurs, we have to have strong international co-operation between countries so that we are prepared to detect, understand and act on those pandemic threats, and that other countries are as well.”

The session he attended, he said, brought widespread support for creating a committee to facilitate the adoption of international data standards and interoperable systems. Participants emphasized the importance of supporting low-and middle-income countries in strengthening their systems and advocating for a decolonized approach that learns from best practices globally while minimizing potential harms to countries that choose to participate in data sharing.

Rogers Van Katwyk, an adjunct professor at York and managing director of the AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) Policy Accelerator at the Global Strategy Lab, participated in the Vancouver-based session, which focused on equity within the pandemic agreement.

The Global Strategy Lab’s previous research on the pandemic treaty has gained significant recognition. A comment in The Lancet, by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body spearheading negotiations on the pandemic agreement, cited GSL’s research on what makes for an effective international treaty, and a symposium issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (JLME) on the inclusion of AMR in the Pandemic Agreement, co-edited by Rogers Van Katwyk and GSL Director and York Professor Steven J. Hoffman, has greatly contributed to the discussion. With GSL members taking part in high-level discussions like the recent Pandemic Agreement Regional Engagement Series, the lab’s international influence is sure to continue its trajectory of growth.

To hear more from Poirier about his participation in the meetings and their potential impact on our global health future, watch the video below:

Experts unite for third annual Climate Change Research Month

A city showing the effect of Climate Change

This March, York University and its Organized Research Units (ORUs) are hosting the third annual Climate Change Research Month, which features a range of activities, including panels, lectures and workshops.

The month-long event series spotlights the University’s expertise in climate change-related research, the interdisciplinary work of its faculty, and the York community’s commitment to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

“From the work of political scientists helping to shape government policy to equity scholars tackling issues of climate justice to environmental scientists and engineers exploring pathways to decarbonization and sustainability, climate research is one of York’s great strengths,” said Amir Asif, vice-president research and innovation. “Climate Change Research Month reflects York’s big-tent approach to addressing the climate crisis through knowledge sharing, collaboration and community engagement.”

Some of the planned events include several sessions by the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, including a March 6 event on building community-engaged emergency response systems for extreme weather events, including in rural Indigenous communities. The City Institute at York University (CITY) will host a panel discussion titled “Greening the Grey,” exploring infrastructural solutions to the climate crisis. And the Institute for Research on Digital Literacies and the Institute for Technoscience & Society will hold a showcase for graduate students whose research is related to technology and climate change, among other events from multiple ORUs.

“Climate Change Research Month is an opportunity to have faculty, staff and students come together as a uniquely qualified collective to engage in critical and thoughtful dialogue on an existential issue impacting us all,” said Professor Elaine Coburn, director of the Centre for Feminist Research, who has led the organizing efforts for the yearly event series for the past three years. “This annual series exemplifies the kind of work that York’s Organized Research Units engage in year-round.”

Climate Change Research Month is hosted by York’s ORUs, centres of research excellence that bring together diverse experts from across the University to conduct inter- and trans-disciplinary research on some of the world’s most pressing challenges.  

To learn more about the series and each event, visit yorku.ca/research/climate-change-research-month-2024.