Benji Eisenberg

Synthetic biology is the design and engineering of biologically based parts, novel devices and systems as well as the redesign of existing, natural biological systems. It has the potential to deliver important new applications and improve existing industrial processes - resulting in economic growth and job creation.

As a multidisciplinary field, synthetic biology brings together social scientists, biologists, chemists, engineers, mathematicians, and others to identify major challenges in society and collectively find solutions.

Velocia mobility-as-a-service network that allows mobility participants to reward and leverage direct connections with end uses and operators. Participants include automotive OEMs, public transit operators and planning agencies, taxi companies, mobility apps (ridesharing, vehicle-sharing, deliveries), and insurance companies.

Velocia introduces three essential innovations that leverage blockchain technology:

1. Smart Mobility Channels (SMCs) - User-owned data leveraged across multiple mobility services. With users in control of their data, all mobility players on the network have a better, direct way to engage with users and be granted access to mobility-wide user data.
2. Smart Mobility Bounties (SMBs) - Automated rewards that can be set by any participant on the network through an online dashboard. SMBs enable an open ecosystem by providing a tool to influence the mobility choices of both mobility users and operators.
3. VELO token and wallet, required to reward mobility-specific actions and behaviors. They are used to create and access a shared user base, achieve VELO mobility status levels, reward collaboration across mobility apps, stake loyalty and user acquisition campaigns, and govern the ecosystem.​

The Velocia network's stated goals are to enable interoperability across all mobility verticals, drive healthier data practices, and reward better economic, societal, and environmental choices.

• World-renowned experts from leading academic institutions provide technical feedback to founders and advise the Fellows and Associates on objectives related to technology validation.
• MBA students work with founders to develop financial models, evaluate potential markets, and fine-tune strategies for scaling. The program is designed for early-stage, science-based technology companies, though we consider all applicants based on their potential to scale and the viability of their product.

As of 2018, the CDL has eight streams across its six locations:

• Artificial Intelligence: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities predicated on the application of machine learning. (Montreal, Toronto)

• Blockchain-AI: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities that benefit from exploiting a combination of blockchain and machine learning technologies. (Toronto)
• Cities: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities that enhance the productivity and livability of cities and neighbourhoods through, for example, the application of machine intelligence to public infrastructure or commercial real estate. (Toronto)
• Energy: For founders developing transformational technologies for the energy industry. (Calgary)
• Health: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities predicated on translational science and technology innovations that improve human health and wellness. (Toronto, Vancouver)
• Prime (General Technology): For founders pursuing commercial opportunities predicated on exploiting state of the art technological innovations that are outside the boundaries of the other streams. (Calgary, Halifax, New York City, Toronto, Vancouver)
• Quantum: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities at the intersection of quantum computing and machine learning. (Toronto)
• Space: For founders pursuing commercial opportunities that exploit the recent drop in the cost of accessing space. (Toronto)

The primary objective of tissue engineering is to understand the principles of tissue growth and to apply this to produce functional replacement tissue. Such tissue can be used to restore, maintain, or improve damaged tissues or whole organs. By 2005, engineered artificial skin and cartilage tissues had been approved by the FDA, however had limited use in human patients.

Tissue engineering is a subset of regenerative medicine, a field which deals with the process of replacing, engineering, or regenerating biological units to (re-)establish normal function using the body's self-healing capabilities. Tissue engineering focuses on cures, rather than treatments, for diseases related to biological tissues.

The field is multidisciplinary in nature, requiring collaborations between cell and molecular biology, clinicians, materials scientists, mathematicians, and more. For example, mathematical models are used to form a holistic understanding of complex biological processes in evolving tissues. The combination of biomimetic materials science and stem-cell biology with mathematical models is used to determine which tissue engineering strategies are most likely to be successful. Such an integration of mathematical models with experimentation in an iterative framework where each informs the other offers a way to better understand tissue regeneration.

How it works

Cells are the building blocks of tissues. Groups of cells make their own support structures, called extra-cellular matrices, or scaffolds. Scaffolds mechanically support cells and act as a relay station for various signaling molecules in the body. When a signal is received, it initiates a chain of responses that affect the cell. By better understanding how cells respond to signals, interact with their environments, and organize themselves into tissue and organisms, researchers are able to manipulate these processes to mend damaged tissues or create new ones.

In tissue engineering, a scaffold is built from a variety of sources, ranging from proteins to plastics. Cells are introduced to the scaffold with or without a mix of growth factors, depending on the application. In the right environment, an engineered tissue develops. In this process, the combination of cells, scaffolds, and growth factors produce a self-assembling tissue.

Another method is to use an existing scaffold from the collagen in cells of a donor organ. As of 2013, this method has been used to bioengineer heart, liver, lung, and kidney tissues. By using scaffolding from human tissue discarded during surgery, researchers are exploring ways to use a patient's own cells to make customized organs that will not be rejected by the patient's immune system.