Foreword THE VOICES OF SPARK
WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION of Humber SPARK!
You may be asking: Why? Why bother with applied research in a pandemic?
We are now one and a half years into the COVID-19 pandemic. This tragic point in history has resulted in significant loss of life, demonstrated the inequities in health care and education systems, and the rise of PPE waste. Though we are seeing economic recovery, it is K-shaped (Chen, 2021). Some industries such as technology, retail and software are recovering to pre-pandemic levels. Others, such as travel, entertainment and hospitality, in which socio-economically disadvantaged groups are disproportionately employed, will need significant assistance to become re-established.
The simple answer is…applied research is important for people and our communities! AR solves real-world challenges in collaboration with our community and industry partners, cocreating knowledge and improving products and services. Not only does AR provide wonderful experiential learning opportunities for the thousands of students working on projects across Canada but it also enhances the faculty experience which bolsters curriculum and improves the quality of our academic programming.
Humber Spark will share the stories of the research being done, the people This has also been a time of significant championing it, and the impacts the transition and rapid implementation of research has in our communities. We’d innovation. Many positive words have love to hear your feedback and are open come to the forefront, such as hope, pivot, to collaborating with you. Enjoy and stay resilience, recovery and build back safe my friends! better and greener! The postsecondary Chen, J. (2021, May 10). K-shaped recovery. sector—and Humber is no exception—is Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/kalso experiencing these transitions with shaped-recovery-5080086 the quick moves to online learning, virtual workplaces for faculty and staff and the continuation of applied research (AR) in remote or socially distant environments.
Tania Massa, PhD Associate Dean, Applied Research and Innovation
ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK/ALEXANDRA ROMANOVA
SPARK | 7
