Queering Canada’s tech ecosystem: Community-based research on lived experiences

The technology revolution has had a monumental impact on the lives of Canadians and people around the world. From increased access to information, better means of communication, and the deployment of innovative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges, the effects and advantages of technology cannot be ignored.

Research team’s breakthrough work helps revitalize Indigenous languages

An Indigenous-led research team at the Sanyakola Foundation, situated in Port Hardy, B.C. has initiated a multi-faceted, collaborative effort to recover Kwak’wala. Led by Sara Child, a professor of Indigenous Education at North Island College, the Sanyakola Foundation is undertaking work that involves Kwakwaka’wakw Elders and Knowledge Keepers and is engaging a younger generation in its work. 

New research on Bohemian queens wins master’s student Mitacs Award

Sophie Charron’s childhood interest in the queens of Europe drove her to pursue a master's degree in Medieval Studies. Working under Professor Shami Ghosh at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Medieval Studies, Charron’s highly original research focuses on the queens and noblewomen of medieval Bohemia.  

From Tunisia to Canada: Mitacs intern works to improve voice recognition technology

Semah Aissaoui’s journey with Mitacs began in summer 2018 as an undergraduate in Tunisia when he first came to Canada as a Globalink research intern. He progressed on to receive the Mitacs Globalink Graduate Fellowship and attend graduate school at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada with the award. He now works with Fluent.ai on a Mitacs Accelerate award, researching how to remove background noise and reverberation from sound signals to enhance the accuracy of offline voice-activated devices.

Revitalizing Indigenous languages using digital tools

When Annalena Felber made the journey from Germany to the University of Saskatchewan in the summer of 2017 to work with Assistant Professor Marguerite Koole, the pair had an entirely different summer research project planned.

User-friendly app for gauging autism

Autism spectrum disorder refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech, and nonverbal communication. This once misunderstood disorder affects a broad range of communications skills and behaviours.

According to Public Health Agency Canada, one in 66 Canadian children are diagnosed with autism.

“Research and innovation are important here”

Rui applied for the Mitacs’ Globalink Research Internship in the summer of 2014 —hoping to be accepted to the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at SFU. He was accepted to the internship, which would be supervised by Associate Professor Carman Neustaedter, to study interactive computing and design.

Big data takes a shot at crime in Saskatchewan

But now, a partnership between a team of researchers from the University of Regina’s Department of Computer Science and ISM Canada is creating new tools using “big data” that can help to tackle crime on the streets using information from the virtual world.

Seeking a big data solution

Protecting children and teenagers from cyberbullying

Although their filtering system is able to find malicious chat messages with high accuracy, Two Hat Security was interested in applying machine learning algorithms to automatically detect negative content. To help solve their research challenge, they turned to a Mitacs Accelerate internship with University of Alberta Computer Science PhD candidate Ken Dwyer.

Positioned for Success

However, his experience led to a change in perspective. “In a big company, there isn’t as much opportunity to make decisions that lead to improvements in a technology.”

Rohit had come to Canada in 2012 to pursue an MBA focused on entrepreneurship at the University of Victoria. During his program, he undertook a Mitacs Accelerate internship with Limespot, a small e-commerce start-up with five employees, a far cry from his experience at Blackberry.

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