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The appetizers may have been organic, but the server was mechanical at a reception held April 15 to celebrate the University of Toronto Engineering's Institute for Robotics & Mechatronics.

The robot serving appetizers was just the latest example of creativity from the Institute, established in 2010 to bring focus on research and education in the fields of robotics and mechatronics. 

Headed by Professor Gabriele D'Eleuterio of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS), the institute involves researchers and students from across the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, particularly Electrical & Computer Engineering, the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, UTIAS and the Institute for Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering.

³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Engineering Dean Cristina Amon called the institute a wonderful example of the cross-disciplinary synergy that makes ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ the leading Engineering school in the country and among the very best in the world.

"Today, we are on the cusp of a robotics revolution not unlike that in computer technology 30 to 40 years ago," she said. "From health care to industry to interplanetary exploration, our researchers and students are leading the way in this robotics revolution, developing the next generation of mechatronic and robotic systems."

For more information about the Institute for Robotics & Mechatronics,.