New Canada Research Chairs at the forefront of transformative research

Research
Canada Research Chairs
Research and innovation

By University of Ottawa

Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, OVPRI

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From left to right: Melike Erol-Kantarci, Tricia McGuire-Adams, Stephen Newman
Two new Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs (CRCs), and one renewed Tier 2 CRC have been awarded to three exceptional University of Ottawa researchers at the faculties of Education, Engineering and Science.

This latest cohort is poised to make significant strides in research on artificial intelligence-based wireless communication as well as on Indigenous intellectual traditions. For its part, the renewed Tier 2 CRC will focus on furthering knowledge on sustainable catalysis.

“The Canada Research Chairs earned by these three remarkable academics will help propel their cutting-edge research to newer levels of knowledge and innovation,” said Sylvain Charbonneau, vice-president, research. “They will undeniably help the University achieve the core aspirations of its Transformation 2030 strategic framework.”

The Canada Research Chairs Program aims to support and retain world-class researchers in postsecondary institutions across the country.

The Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs are:

Melike Erol-Kantarci – Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence-Enabled, Next-Generation Wireless Networks

Melike Erol-Kantarci’s research is at the forefront of AI-enabled wireless networking. A researcher in the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Erol-Kantarci focuses on applying AI techniques, including advanced machine learning algorithms, to 5G wireless communications, to further the capacity, flexibility, reliability and low latency of such networks.

Through her cutting-edge work on resource allocation in wireless systems, processing very high volumes of data with minimal delay and network self-optimization, Erol-Kantarci will contribute to improving autonomous vehicles, smart grid technology, wireless-powered systems and health care networks. She is also designing 6G algorithms to take wireless networks to the next level.

Tricia McGuire-Adams – Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Ganandawisiwin (Good Health) Sovereignties

Tricia McGuire-Adams’ research addresses the health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada and provides insight into Indigenous theoretical approaches to well-being. Through transdisciplinary partnerships with Indigenous communities and leading disability scholars, among others, she will lead innovative projects that centre on Anishinaabeg theory and knowledge to better inform approaches to Indigenous health and well-being.

A professor in the Faculty of Education, McGuire-Adams is developing an Indigenous disability project that is collaborating with Indigenous peoples who live with disabilities and will seek to better understand Indigenous concepts of disability. She will also implement a decolonization method using physical activity to foster opportunities to engage in well-being processes. Through her research program, and in an effort to address the disruption of ganandawisiwin resulting from settler colonialism, McGuire-Adams’ projects will help renew Anishinaabeg knowledge systems to inform well-being.

The renewed Canada Research Chair is held by:

Stephen Newman – Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Catalysis

Stephen Newman’s research focuses on developing new, industrially-relevant chemical reactions and processes, such as transition metal catalysis. His lab in the Faculty of Science will use automation and computer-guided intelligence to develop technologies that improve the practice of synthetic chemistry.

Professor Newman and his team aim to provide chemists in academia and the pharmaceutical industry with novel tools and new mechanistic information that will help them create complex organic molecules more efficiently. A leader in the fields of synthetic organic chemistry, metal-mediated catalysis and flow chemistry, Stephen Newman is also recognized for developing cutting-edge green chemistry by designing processes through which valuable chemical by-products are recycled.