Amid a backdrop of a growing collection of 3D printers, Connor Isaac recalled that he has always loved to create, whether it was 1000-piece puzzles or Lego. He grew up in the Walpole Island First Nation of Ontario, and after being drawn to the sciences in high school — and finding inspiration in Star Trek’s advanced technology — he gravitated towards engineering for its real-world applications. 

When he was 16 years old, Isaac received a 3D printer and kickstarted a lifelong passion for creativity and construction. In an interview with The Varsity, he said, “When I was a kid, I would often play with puzzles, I would take things apart, [and] I would kind of just see how things work.” 

Getting started: Engineering and sustainability

After receiving a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Student Research Award earlier this year, Isaac spent the summer working on a research project with Professor David Sinton: the current Canada Research Chair in Energy and Fluids and U of T professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. 

During this time, Isaac worked on building an auto sprayer for electrolyzers. Electrolyzers use electricity to separate water into its chemical building blocks hydrogen and oxygen — a reaction called hydrolysis — and is a promising option for producing sustainable energy. Isaac explained that the auto sprayer would increase repeatability of results and allow researchers to dedicate more time towards testing and processing data. 

“The auto sprayer… was used to reduce the human time spent on spraying catalysts. So, the sprayer would [deposit] a liquid-suspended nanoparticle… onto a substrate layer… This nanoparticle-loaded substrate is the electrode where… [electrolysis] occurs in the electrolyzer cell,” he explained.

Manufacturing impact

Beyond focusing on carbon capture and conversion in his lab, Professor Sinton is also director of CANSTOREnergy, an interdisciplinary venture that brings together exceptional researchers across 11 Canadian universities alongside community and industry organizations. 

The project’s focal point is to mitigate climate change while addressing social inequalities across regions of Canada — in particular, in Hamilton, Ontario and the Yukon. CANSTOREnergy focuses on how renewable energy storage solutions can be integrated into highly contrasting regions that experience varying energy resources and needs.

Project members work across three teams: Discover (led by Professor Sinton), Direct, and Develop. For the next year, Isaac will be working on the Direct team with UTM anthropology professor, Tracey Galloway. The work will involve connecting with different stakeholders such as companies and community members in the Yukon to ensure CANSTOREnergy invests in broader societal interests. 

Fostering a future of Indigenous accessibility in science

Apart from his enthusiasm for research, Isaac also strives to promote accessibility of various different fields to Indigenous youth. In addition to his research with Galloway, Isaac will be completing his third year co-op term back home for the governance of Walpole Island, where he hopes to ignite interest in the youth community by introducing an assortment of community activities. 

Isaac shared, “I’m currently trying to look through various workshops that I can present to my Chief and Council, or even just run solo… of teaching good ideologies or kind of thought processes to tackle different fields.” 

When asked about how it felt to be the only Indigenous undergraduate researcher in the Faculty of Engineering, Isaac noted, “It’s still not really kind of processing in my head that I am the only one, but I kind of want to see that change. I want to inspire more people, more Indigenous engineers, or even just Indigenous people in STEM.”