U of T's research strength is more than a numbers game. It's about great scholars with innovative ideas who rank among the best in the world. Case in point - this past fall, three of our younger faculty members gained international recognition for the mark they're making in their fields.

Parham Aarabi (above, left), of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and an expert in robotics, human-computer interaction and robust speech recognition, was named among the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's prestigious Technology Review magazine.

Maydianne Andrade, a zoologist at the University of Toronto at Scarborough who uses cannibalistic redback spiders to study the evolution of mating strategies, was named one of the "Brilliant 10" by Popular Science magazine in its fourth annual "Brilliant" feature. The Brilliant 10 initiative recognizes "the most dynamic, promising young researchers at institutions around North America."

And Ted Sargent, also of ECE, was included in the 2005 Scientific American 50. Sargent was named Research Leader in the ranking, which recognizes leaders in science and technology, for advancing the field of solar energy by developing paintable solar cells that absorb infrared light, a discovery that could dramatically enhance solar cell performance.

- Paul Fraumeni