Next Generation
TMU is renowned for supporting students’ SRC activities by providing experiential opportunities to apply their education in real-world contexts. As research assistants, interns and entrepreneurs, students gain career preparedness for continued academic pursuits or post-education work environments.
Mitacs is a non-profit organization that helps bridge industry opportunities for graduate, post-graduate and postdoctoral students through internship and fellowship programs, bringing capacity to Canada’s next generation of research and innovation thought leaders.
Doctoral student Dana Cramer received a Mitacs Accelerate internship to explore the increasing role governments can play in internet regulation as it relates to critical public safety areas such as cybersecurity and data privacy. Cramer worked with professor Catherine Middleton (Information Technology Management) and the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Doctoral student Mahsa Hajialibabei received a Mitacs Accelerate internship to model how battery systems generate heat and how this heat can be managed in order to improve their performance, efficiency and safety. Hajialibabei worked with professor Ziad Saghir (Mechanical, Industrial, and Mechatronics Engineering) and Motsai Research, using the company’s “InfiniBatt” smart battery system.
Master’s student David Muwanguzi received a Mitacs Accelerate internship to develop and test a strategy to improve the programming scripts used to automate certain tasks in building design. Muwanguzi worked with professor Jennifer McArthur (Architectural Science) and Smith and Andersen Consulting Engineering.
Master's student Ajayvir Singh Rakhraj and undergraduate students Jeremiah Ruiz Alvarado and Orly Hyman received Mitacs Accelerate internships to investigate the challenges and requirements facing artists and industry professionals of Canada's Latin music community and to examine the global value of Latin music. They worked with professor Charlie Wall-Andrews (Creative Industries) and the organization Speaking Non-English.
Post-doctoral fellow Richard Rosenbaum received a Mitacs Accelerate internship to apply artificial intelligence algorithms to story analysis and generation, enabling software that will provide interactive storytelling experiences that respond to the reader’s choices in real time. Rosenbaum worked with professor Jamin Pelkey (Languages, Literatures and Cultures) and Transitional Forms Inc.
Post-doctoral fellow Edgardo Tovilla received a Mitacs Accelerate internship to advance much-needed standardization for the quality and environmental management of municipal and non-municipal wastewater systems in Ontario. Tovilla worked with professor Kernaghan Webb (Law and Business) and Good Roads, formerly the Ontario Good Roads Association.
Student Honours & Awards
Faculty of Arts
Kamron Zahedi, an undergraduate student in Criminology, and Arianna Guaragna, an undergraduate student in English, won Global Undergraduate Awards for their respective papers on Canada’s exploitation of natural resources in Colombia and a study of Rawi Hage’s novel Cockroach.
Faculty of Engineering & Architectural Science
Reza Eslami, a doctoral student in Chemical Engineering, received the Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation—PhD for his work revolutionizing diabetes management with his startup Sensofine, which is developing a first-of-its-kind smart garment that continuously measures blood sugar levels from sweat.
Faculty of Science
Danielle Olding and Aasiya Remtulla, Chemistry and Biology graduate students, won the Audience Choice Award at the FACIT Falcon’s Fortunes 2024 pitch competition for their innovative first-in-class treatment of ovarian cancer using MRKC inhibitors.
Ted Rogers School of Management
Aleenah Hassan, an undergraduate student in Accounting, received the Learning Specialist Association of Canada’s Undergraduate Student Award for her work on the Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) program.
The Creative School
Adrian Morphy, a master’s student in Fine Arts in Scriptwriting and Story Design, received the prestigious Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize for his feature film screenplay “The 300 Year Old Man.”
Lincoln Alexander School of Law
Katrina Friesen, a graduate student in the inaugural class at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, received the Royal Society of Canada Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella Prize for her research investigating bias in refugee law decision-makers.
Yeates School of Graduate Studies
Lorenzo Vargas, a doctoral student in Communication and Culture, received an International Doctoral Research Award from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for his research on the role of community radio in developing more inclusive environmental policies in the Amazon.