Tag: awards > Queen's School of Computing

QSC Celebrates Women in Technology

We’re thrilled to share with you the highlights from the recent Aspirations in Computing event in Toronto, where we celebrated the achievements of remarkable women in technology. Hosted by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), the event showcased the transformative power of encouragement, mentorship, and community in shaping the future of women in technology.

At the heart of this event were two dedicated organizers, Wendy Powley and Drorit Weiss, whose passion and commitment have propelled the mission of NCWIT forward. Prof. Wendy Powley is an Associate Professor at Queen’s School of Computing, Queen’s University with over three decades of experience. Wendy has mentored and inspired countless women in computing, both nationally and internationally. Her tireless efforts to celebrate and connect Canadian women in computing have left an indelible mark on the community.

The event was further enriched by the presence of five exceptional women—Nailah Ogeer, Julia McPolin, Julia Di Monte, Sinthu Sivanesan, and Shannon Klett. All former students of Prof. Wendy Powley, these inspiring individuals volunteered their time to engage with promising young women in computer science, sharing their insights and experience.

**Nailah Ogeer, Julia McPolin, Julia Di Monte, Sinthu Sivanesan, and Shannon Klett, former students of Prof. Wendy Powley**

Mohammad Zulkernine Receives 2022 Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision

QSC is delighted to announce that Dr. Mohammad Zulkernine was presented with the 2022 Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision at the Spring Convocation ceremony this June. The award reflects Dr. Zulkernine’s proven ability to inspire students academically and in their careers and guide the overall culture of excellence at QSC and at Queen’s. Dr. Zulkernine is the current Graduate Chair at QSC and has a long-standing reputation for being a supportive and encouraging mentor to his graduate students, which the School previously recognized in 2016 with the internal QSC Distinguished Graduate Supervision award.

The Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision is awarded to supervisors who demonstrate outstanding excellence in advising, monitoring, and mentoring graduate students. The School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs annually recognizes two leading graduate supervisors at the University. The 2023 recipients are Dr. Zulkernine and Jeffrey Brison, Co-Director of the Cultural Studies Program and Professor of History.

Dr. Zulkernine joined the School in 2013 and has mentored 13 postdoctoral fellows, 22 doctoral and 44 master’s students since then. Dr. Zulkernine was the Canada Research Chair in Software Dependability from 2011 to 2021. He leads the Queen’s Reliable Software Technology (QRST) research group and is currently focused on building secure software for cyber-physical systems such as connected and autonomous vehicles and other IoT applications. His supervised students have won conference best paper awards, the Governor General Gold Medal, PhD Research Achievement, and Distinguished Master’s Thesis awards.

Click here to read the original award announcement in the Queen’s Gazette.

2023 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Awards

In a special ceremony on May 7th, the Ontario National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Awards were presented at the Smith School of Business satellite campus in downtown Toronto. 36 female identifying secondary school students were celebrated for their inspiring accomplishments and contributions to the tech field. The organization partnered with Queen’s School of Computing Professor Wendy Powley in administering the awards. Congratulations to all the winners!

2023 Ontario Award for Aspirations in Computing Winners

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) honours and recognizes grade 9 through 12 students who self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education.
– National Center for Women & Information Technology

Professor Parvin Mousavi named CIFAR AI Chair

Dr. Mousavi was named as a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the Vector Institute. This title recognizes Parvin Mousavi’s expertise in biomedical and healthcare applications of Artificial Intelligence, which is one of the main priorities of growth within the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR. The full press release can be found on the CIFAR website.

Prof. Parvin Mousavi

Professor Mousavi is among eight newly appointed CIFAR AI Chairs announced this October. These exceptional researchers will advance Canadian leadership in artificial intelligence for priority areas, including health, energy and the environment, fundamental science and the responsible use of AI.

“Artificial intelligence is one of the greatest technological transformations and economic opportunities of our age,” says the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “That is why our government has placed fostering AI research at the heart of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. We continue to support and grow the Chairs program so Canada can continue to retain, attract and develop academic research talent in AI. Congratulations to our eight new chairholders – you join other world-leading researchers who are driving efforts to build a stronger economy, develop cleaner energy, improve public health, and increase innovation in Canada.”

Parvin Mousavi is the Director of Med-i lab at Queen’s School of Computing, which focuses on innovative computational approaches and intelligent systems that can predict and explain complex biological processes. Research is aimed at developing feature extraction, inference, modeling, and classification techniques for Systems Biology, Bioinformatics, Image-guided Diagnosis and Surgery, and Personalized Medicine.

Med-i Lab is home to the CREATE Training Program in Medical Informatics, one of two NSERC CREATE programs offered here at the Queen’s School of Computing (the only department at Queen’s University that offers more than one.) The $1.65M program offers funding for MSc and PhD students in the biomedical and related research fields in partnership with Western University. Dr. Mousavi and her team of investigators were one of thirteen research groups across Canada who were granted 6-year CREATE project funding in 2021. The research group is comprised of multiple labs with research spanning areas of genomics, bioinformatics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer aided surgery, and advanced imaging techniques.

Dr. Mousavi says she is honored to be named as a CIFAR AI Chair. “Thank you to my team at the Medical Informatics Lab at Queen’s, collaborators, colleagues, and the Vector Institute,” Parvin wrote. “The program will bring about transformative and actionable advances with meaningful impact on patient health and survival.”

Queen’s School of Computing Celebrates the Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022

On June, 22^nd, 2022 Goodwin Hall was filled with life once again as the Queen’s School of Computing hosted its convocation reception for the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Dr. Hossam Hassanein welcomes attendees to the awards ceremony

As per tradition, the event is held in the foyer of Goodwin Hall. Since this event was celebrating three years of graduates it was important to ensure there was sufficient space, decorations, and of course, cake! The newly renovated Commons was the perfect venue.

It wouldn’t be a convocation reception at the Queen’s School of Computing without an awards ceremony. Congratulations to all the 2022 School of Computing Award winners:

The School of Computing Research Award: Tamas Ungi

Distinguished Service Award: Laurie Truman

PhD Research Achievement Award: Lama Moukahal

Ian A. Macleod Award: Maram Assi

Excellence in Teaching Assistance Award: Hebatalla Ouda

MSc distinguished thesis award: Alice Santilli

Distinguished Student Award: Sanindie Silva

Howard Stavely Teaching Award: Robin Dawes

Although this event was in person, guests and their family and friends were also invited to attend virtually while the awards ceremony livestreamed on Microsoft Teams and Facebook Live. The virtual stream provided loved ones who were unable to join in person with the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments together. The ceremony is available to watch on our YouTube channel for those who were unable to attend.

Two long years of social distancing made this gathering all the sweeter! The faculty and staff have watched graduands preserve through challenging times and it was an absolute joy to share this celebration with the graduands and their families. The convocation reception is a tradition that will continue to evolve at the Queen’s School of Computing for many years to come. Here are a few statements from the members of the department who were present at this event.

“It was an amazing event probably one of the best ones ever – especially having been in the new Commons room.” – Karen Knight, Undergraduate Program Assistant

“This was our first time hosting a hybrid event of any kind. The tech team worked together to brainstorm and execute a plan to connect the in-person event with a meeting on Microsoft Teams in a short amount of time, debugging it on the fly. Feedback was positive with friends and family from across the world able to watch and connect with the graduates at the event. We look forward to iterating and improving on the set up for future events.” – Doug Martin, Systems Specialist

“Celebrating all our graduating classes together was inspirational for the entire staff team. It helps bring meaning to our day-to-day work when we can take the opportunity to cheer for all our hard-working graduands. You did it! We are so proud of you all!” – Robin Tippett, School Manager

Congratulations to the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022! We’re so proud of your accomplishments and wish you all the very best in your bright futures ahead!

Images from the Convocation Reception and Awards Ceremony

2022 Early Researcher Award is presented to Dr. Amber Simpson!

Congratulations to Dr. Amber Simpson for receiving an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science! The Award was for her project “Machine learning analysis of 400,000 CT scans to map cancer progression“.

Dr. Simpson is the Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Computing and Informatics and Associate Professor in the School of Computing (Faculty of Arts and Science) and Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (Faculty of Health Sciences).

Dr. Simpson specializes in biomedical data science and computer-aided surgery. Her research group is focused on developing novel computational strategies for improving human health.

The Early Researcher Awards is a highly competitive grant program that helps exceptional early career researchers build their research team. Applicants must demonstrate strategic value to Ontario (i.e., economic, social, cultural benefits, knowledge transfer, and/or ability to enhance Ontario’s profile in the global academic community).

Dr. Sara Nabil receives the 2022 CHCSS Early Career Researcher Award!

The CHCSS Early Career Research Awards Committee has selected Dr. Sara Nabil as the recipient of the award for 2022. Congratulations to Dr. Nabil, Assistant Professor at Queen’s School of Computing, and head of the iStudio Lab!

The Canada HCI Society Committee chose Dr. Nabil for her outstanding guidance concerning scholarly impact, research vision, social benefits and contributions towards equity, diversity and inclusion. Dr. Nabil has an impressive publication record with an exciting breadth of scholarly outputs published in top quality venues.

Her research integrates interaction design with interior, fashion, and product design using soft sensors, smart fabrics, microcontroller circuits, e-textiles and smart materials that are malleable, shape-changing, and colour-changing.

With a desire to support the living quality of marginalized groups such as refugees, people with dual-identities, and people with physical disabilities; Dr. Nabil has carried out in-the-wild fieldwork in public spaces, design studios, galleries, museums and refugee camps.

Dr. Nabil is encouraging the next generation of researchers through the establishment of a vibrant research lab, exciting collaborations with non-profits, and numerous outreach activities.