Connor Isaac, who is Chippewa (Ojibwe) and Potawatomi, graduated in June and became a direct-entry PhD student under Professor David Sinton in mechanical and industrial engineering. As an undergraduate he worked on engineering projects in his home community of Walpole Island First Nation.
He is an IBET Momentum Scholar and will be part of CANSTOREnergy, a project that brings together researchers from 11 Canadian universities with community, utility and industry partners to re-envision energy systems and storage technologies.
Isaac found his direction in an NSERC-funded summer research placement in Sinton’s lab, where he helped design a machine for making the catalyst layer of an electrolyzer. He says he has always been interested in new forms of energy.
Reported from IBET Momentum Scholar Connor Isaac investigates how to help Indigenous communities explore the potential of clean energy generation and storage (U of T Engineering News, September 9, 2026).
More from the original reporting: news.engineering.utoronto.ca/ibet-momentum-scholar-connor-isaac-investigates-how-to-help-indigenous-communities-explore-the-potential-of-clean-energy-generation-and-storage/