Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation Newsletter August 2021

BARRETT CTI HONOURED FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND DESIGN

BARRETT CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

NEWSLETTER

AUGUST 2021

The Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation’s (Barrett CTI) sustainability and design features are in the spotlight once again.

Sustainable Architecture & Building named the Barrett CTI as the winner of its 2021 Institutional (Large) Award at the 2021 Canadian Green Building Awards.

Humber College hired architecture firm Perkins & Will and Bird Construction for the Barrett CTI project, which took three years from inception to completion.

The net-zero building is rated LEED Platinum, which requires structures to include features like efficient lighting and HVAC systems, water conservation and reduced-use mechanisms, and the use of sustainable materials during construction.

The Green Building Awards jury wrote that many LEED-Platinum and net-zero projects can result in an uninspiring box-like form. They credited Humber for taking a creative, innovative approach with the Barrett CTI. Equipped with cutting-edge technology and supported by the best in advanced manufacturing, the building and its spaces continue to evolve, fostering that spirit of innovation in its users.

“We wanted people to arrive on campus thinking, ‘What is that building, and what’s going on inside?’ I think we achieved that. It elicits that kind of wonder,” said Scott Valens, director of capital development for Humber.

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Pictured above (L-R): Abgar Lagin, Humber research assistant, Anthony Nyman, Barrett CTI Technologist, and Ogi Ruzic, SEW-EURODRIVE Canada Technologist testing an energy harvesting prototype to power up SEW-EURODRIVE’s new smart sensor board.

Humber develops energy harvesting prototype for Barrett CTI Consortium Partner SEW-EURODRIVE In January 2021, Abgar Lagin and Eliseu Marcos, two students in their final semester of the Electrical Engineering Control Systems Program, were presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. They were asked to join a team comprised of SEW-EURODRIVE and Barrett CTI technologists to design a prototype for harvesting energy.

The Barrett CTI, one of Humber’s Centres of Innovation, is a place where education meets industry, allowing meaningful collaboration and producing solutions to real-world challenges. Partners like SEW-EURODRIVE and their talented and experienced staff work with students and other professionals at Humber to examine problems from diverse points of view, using students’ existing expertise and pushing their skills even further.

Recently, SEW-EURODRIVE designed a smart sensor board which needed to be powered, but chargeable or physical batteries were not an option. The team needed to find a way to harvest the SEW-EURODRIVE motor’s lost energy and convert it into a power supply that would power up SEW-EURODRIVE’s new smart sensor board.

The project team researched energy harvesting methods from existing machines to power their monitoring electronics. Their challenge was to find a mechanism to rapidly identify a single failed thermal device out of millions of functioning ones.

Their research concluded that energy can be harvested from heat emitted by the machine through vibration and sound using a specialized device; and through electromagnetic induction of the machine’s power using CT (current transformers) surrounding the power line in addition to other established methods. The team dove in and designed a model for the CT feeding power solution.

“I’m always up for a challenge, and I was eager to learn and be involved in such a project,” said Lagin, who recently graduated from his program. Lagin’s studies prepared him for the challenge and the project further enhanced his hands-on and theoretical skills. “The most difficult part was conducting research,” said Lagin. “There wasn’t much to read about on the Internet, so this definitely pushed me to learn more about it.”

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humber.ca/barrettcti

ARTICLE CONTINUED The project was funded by Humber College’s Office of Research and Innovation and the Barrett CTI, with leadership and ongoing support from Hussin Hassen, Electrical Engineering Control Systems program professor and SEW-EURODRIVE. Temu Moore, Barrett CTI project coordinator provided project management assistance.

Together, the team created a low voltage power supply design prototype after six months of research, design and development.

SEW-EURODRIVE is a world leader in drive technology and a pioneer in drive-based automation. The company has a history of solving the most difficult challenges in manufacturing. If it involves movement, they’re at the forefront of innovation. The company’s engineers from both their Brampton plant and from the R&D department at their German headquarters supported the students throughout the project, both in-person and online. By the end of their six-month project, Lagin, Marcos and the rest of the team identified a design concept to solve the complex challenge that SEW-EURODRIVE faced.

When they realized they didn’t have all the parts they needed, they reached out to local suppliers for assistance.

Hammond Manufacturing offered to provide the materials free of charge. Hammond was interested in the research and provided a second transformer that helped the team test the one they designed.

“The students were keen and interested to learn. Developing solutions to the challenges presented is not something they would be learning in school directly, so they had additional exposure to current issues and emerging trends,” said Moore.

Adhering to all social distancing and COVID-19 protocols, SEW-EURODRIVE engineers brought in new equipment to test the students’ design and show them how to work with the latest technology. “That direct interaction with industry professionals was really good for the students. They could ask questions face-to-face,” said Moore.

SEW-EURODRIVE saw the kind of innovation taking place at the Barrett CTI and became interested in the applied research happening in the building. Their partnership with the Barrett CTI and Humber continues to help the manufacturer understand their clients.

“We’ve had many years where we would be trying to sell them some super advanced automation solutions and our customers simply were not ready. Now this gives us the opportunity to leverage the Barrett CTI with our products and, with our solutions, educate our customers, the college, and even educate ourselves,” said Lyall Watson, SEW-EURODRIVE’s sales manager. “With this particular project, it has added yet another level to the partnership that we signed a number of years ago by including research on a product that has not yet been released. It further cements the relationship between SEW-EURODRIVE and Humber.”

Professor Hassen joined the research assistants in poring over websites and studies to find a solution to SEWEURODRIVE’s challenge. “The solution we provided is to harvest energy from the magnetic field surrounding the transformer. This is a touchless power supply that won’t touch the high voltage line,” he said. “This can make modification easier, safer and even cheaper.” Hassen asserts that Humber students are getting excellent, hands-on experiences, and the college also benefits from the project.

“We now have a complete lab to use for future projects in this field. If the company wants us to continue making improvements or developments, we can definitely help. We have the knowledge, and we have the components,” he said. “We made the prototype, solved the problem, and now the company will decide if they ever want to commercialize or mass produce this design.”

For Lagin, solving the challenge was rewarding. He applied everything he learned in the first five semesters of his program and grew his experience beyond what was assigned. He calls it a “lifetime opportunity.” “It was a pleasure to be part of professor Hassen’s team and the Barrett CTI team,” he said.

Over the next few months, the project team will present recommendations to SEW-EURODRIVE and discuss how to approach future phases of this project and others. While Lagin and Marcos have already found full-time jobs in their field, they have laid the groundwork for future Humber students to build on what they’ve done.

Read more about the project in the Office of Research & Innovation article.

For more information about the Barrett CTI, visit www.humber.ca/barrettcti or contact Neal Mohammed, director, Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation, neal.mohammed@humber.ca.

ARTICLE CONTINUED Other sustainability features of the building include a passive cooling system, green roof, hydronic in-floor heating and the use of a unique solar panel installation that helps power the building.

During the Barrett CTI’s construction, Humber also built a parking structure nearby. Humber added 1,832 400W solar panels to the parkade’s roof, which provides sufficient energy to power the entire Barrett CTI. “The college is not using any more energy now than before both buildings were built,” said Valens.

The building’s design and construction were supported by funding from The Barrett Family Foundation, the federal and provincial governments and Humber College. The 93,000 square foot building officially opened in the spring of 2019.

The Barrett CTI is one of Humber’s Centres of Innovation, and continues to be a shining example of how community and industry partners can collaborate with post-secondary institutions on a wide range of innovative projects and initiatives.

“The Barrett CTI is groundbreaking in terms of its approach to student education. It doesn’t have standard classrooms. The entire building is about a new way of thinking of education, where it’s more of a discovery than a chalk-andtalk,” said Valens.

Students benefit from the unique, collaborative spaces and from the Barrett CTI’s sustainable processes and systems, which serve as teaching tools.

Humber has also been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for the past six years. For more information about Sustainability at Humber, please visit www.humber.ca/sustainability.