Cover Story “Why Research?”

Curiosity and Play at Work

Research is a concept that is universally known yet largely misunderstood. It isn’t just the tip of the iceberg that everyone sees—the conclusions of a study and resulting decisions—but everything that lies beneath, unseen to the naked eye. Thinking of research may conjure up images of undergraduate methodology classes, of the scientific method, of outliers and n numbers, of medical institutes, of “isms” and “ologies”. And how often have you read in the news that “studies suggest” something that is, quite frankly, common sense?

Students learning and collaborating with faculty

While research activities have traditionally been placed within the university landscape, applied research in the college, institute and polytechnic world is becoming increasingly more popular for its practicality and ability to impact real change in industry, education and communities.

At Humber, we engage in phenomenon-driven research (PDR) with students and external partners. PDR focuses exclusively on an observable problem—with real, measurable consequences—and the solutions that come about through collaborative efforts with industry and community. PDR observes, deconstructs, and analyzes the problem to create and advance knowledge about it.

What we have learnt is important for a variety of reasons, we need to restructure systems that are compassionate to peoples’ voices, and we intend to do it in a certain way. It requires developing an understanding for different ways of knowing and approaching research.

This may sound complex, but when it comes down to it, the research done at Humber begins simply: with an idea. With a spark of insight or curiosity into something about the world that begs to be discovered. Anyone at Humber can do research, and all you need is that spark.

Outliers: A concept in statistics, an outlier is a data point that doesn’t follow the trend displayed by the rest of a collection of data. Sometimes it can simply be an error, and is occasionally removed from the data set. For example, when considering average annual income, billionaires are outliers because they skew the data and represent such a tiny proportion of the overall population.

N Number: An “n” number is the usable sample size in a data set. If you were to report on a survey in which you received 75 responses but only 50 fully completed responses, your n number might vary depending on the context of your report (i.e., if you were to indicate how many people participated, your n number would be 75, but a complete picture is only provided by the 50 who submitted the full survey).

But Why Do We, at Humber, Do Research?

We know students are incredibly busy and may have little time to take part in extracurriculars, but the benefits of getting involved with research certainly warrant an extra coffee or three. Students are an important part of the research process, as they bring new insight and a fresh perspective on the problems research is tackling. While research benefits from student involvement, students can also benefit from these work-integrated learning experiences that allow them to engage with their future industries in meaningful and impactful ways.

Daniel Bear, PhD (Professor—Faculty of Social and Community Services) is mid-way through his research on ways to educate and engage young adult (18-35) cannabis users. It is a mixed-method, three-phase, three-year project that has had heavy student involvement from its launch. They've helped transcribing work, hosting focus groups, and organizing social media outreach. All this work is more than what one faculty member is capable of, and these students are gaining valuable experience that you can't find in the classroom.

We're preparing two publications right now, and we listed our research assistants as authors [in both] because of the amount of work they've done. So, they're not just getting remuneration and pay, but they're also getting the academic credit, which will support them in grad school and hopefully in their careers...Two of our research assistants on this project have both gotten into grad school and been funded, in part because they've got that research experience on their CV.

Maryam Davoudpour, PhD (Professor—Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology) is working with teams from St. Michael's Hospital, Ryerson University and the University of Toronto to develop a novel device that will connect to smart textile garments and enable automated, sustained neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy to prevent ICU Acquired Weakness. She believes that research empowers students, making them more confident in their implementation of knowledge. She recently took on a first-year co-op student and built up their confidence by ensuring they were an equal member of the team.

Some of the other members were impressed with him. They couldn't believe he was a first-year student. Because we gave him a chance, we sent him all the material...Students are very smart. They are thirsty to learn if they get the correct path.

Mixed-method: Mixed-method design incorporates both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In this way, researchers collect both numerical (quantitative, like measurements) and non-numerical (qualitative, like opinions or experiences) to develop both breadth and depth of understanding around a research problem.

ICU Acquired Weakness is a skeletal-muscular condition caused by the immobility a patient experiences during prolonged periods in the ICU. It can extend hospital stays and affect a patient's overall quality of life.

Vladimira Steffek (Professor—Faculty of Business) worked with Rossie Kadiyska on researching engaging ways to study fashion sustainability. She believes, as an academic institution, Humber needs to make space for a dialogue and knowledge exchange, which leads to a deeper understanding of the skills students need to succeed. She uses research to have these conversations to strengthen student understanding.

Engaging these [student] entrepreneurs as part of the learning process was an essential element. Another critical component of designing and implementing these case studies came from our collective belief that students across faculties would benefit from an interdisciplinary collaborative learning environment.

Getting involved with research as a student can boost confidence and your knowledge base with training you can't get in a classroom. It builds on industry-specific competencies and skills through hands-on experiential learning. Almost all research opportunities are paid, too, and that never hurts!

For Faculty

Students and faculty brainstorming together

Though not (yet!) widely known, any faculty member at Humber can participate in research! Remember: all it takes is an idea. In many cases, faculty at Humber are “teacher-practitioners,” with both teaching and industry expertise. This places faculty in a unique position to bring industry and students (the future workforce) together to solve challenges, create new knowledge and build competencies.

Audrey Wubbenhorst (Professor—Faculty of Media and Creative Arts) has taken part in several projects with Humber. Her most recent project, Communications in the Time of COVID-19, documented organizational responses to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in real-time. Why does she do research? She agrees that—while it takes dedication and a lot of work—research pushes her to stay relevant in her field and enhances her teaching practices.

[Research] provides some different opportunities to work with other people outside of the college too, which I think is important, because sometimes you can get kind of stuck in your comfort zone…It’s definitely a front-end investment. But good experience.

Mark Stoiko (Professor—Faculty of Business) works with one our industry partners, NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada Ltd., to help them thrive into the future. By creating a model of NTN’s manufacturing and supply chain systems, Mark demonstrates how the strategic integration of technology could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of NTN’s processes.

How does research improve faculty experience? Here is what Mark has to say:

Research, much like other aspects of life, participates in the three transcendentals–three properties of being: truth, beauty and goodness. The interplay and connection with truth, beauty in discovery, and goodness in impacting real change. I celebrate the privilege of being an instructor who chooses to interplay with objective truth. It is attainable, reachable, understandable. The best part is that it is teachable. If a concept can be understood and explained, then by definition, it can also be taught.

Rossie Kadiyska (Professor—Faculty of Busi) used Humber’s Teaching Innovation Fund to support her research project on teaching sustainability in fashion. After Humber started focusing on sustainability in fashion, she and her research partner, Vladimira Steffek, considered how to make the topic engaging for students. She uses her research as a chance to learn from her students, which strengthens her ability to recognize where they need support.

We are living in unprecedented times of building new structures which require new sets of skills. Working in interdisciplinary and international teams across Humber in combination with industry partners; inspired by the work of the young generation is the way to build a more sustainable future and shape the leaders of tomorrow.

Dennis Kappen, PhD, (Professor—Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology) recently published a paper studying the use of gamification elements in older adults’ physical activity. As an Industrial Design professor, he also sees the value in rounding out his teaching with the research he’s conducting.

Whatever we do with students…we want them to understand their demographic; to have that participatory experience of being one with the demographic. So, you can actually be immersive in the experiences of what [your participants] are going through, and then design for them. That’s critical.

It’s impor tant for faculty to stay relevant in their field, and research is an excellent way to engage with impactful ideas, new trends and future possibilities. The research you do can contribute to your curriculum meaningfully and keep your students engaged with real-world applications of the subjects they’re learning.

For Industry

INDUSTRY IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT of applied research. Partnering with colleges and polytechnics provides industry with the unique opportunity to help guide the training of the next generation workforce. This can give industry partners a competitive edge in a changing work economy. Gaining access to the sharp minds of student research assistants to help solve complex challenges doesn’t hurt, either!

Embedded Sense is a technology company that focuses on electronics engineering, wireless solutions, and product and software development.

Orren Johnson (Professor—Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology) worked with our industry partner, Embedded Sense, to build an occupancy monitoring system. Occupancy monitoring systems map out the movement of people and items in a space in real time and can alert operators of the movement immediately. Orren and his team created an algorithm that helps plan future space occupancy, and can be used to help monitor the movements of those with Alzheimer’s Disease. He reveals that the relationship between Humber and Embedded Sense Inc.—the industry partner on his project—was so strong that they hired some of his students at his recommendation.

I think it’s a great push by Humber to engaging professors, but also engaging [industry partners]. They’re getting a preview of what is happening in colleges, but also a preview of some of the talent that they could hire.

Savdulla Kazazi, PhD, P.Eng, (Professor and Program Coordinator—Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology) partnered with Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. to redesign the outdated circuit boards in their Integral Vacuum Loaders (mechanisms that move plastic components from one part of the manufacturing process to another). His team provided a cost-effective circuit board that can be reprogrammed internally as needed, improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process. He loves to give students hands-on experience and has created labs with industry-leading equipment. These labs are not simulators; they are real equipment used by industry. This means the students using these labs will require less upskilling to keep up with industry changes and be work-ready right out of their programs.

For students that just go from high school to college, it’s all about learning and getting a grade. When they go for a co-op, one year to work in the industry, they see what the industry requires, and what is required to be successful while working. So, it focuses more on the learning than just getting a grade.

Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. helps plastics processors improve their productivity and efficiency, focusing on a wide variety of products.

Meaghan Strimas (Professor and Program Coordinator— Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences) spearheaded the HLR Spotlight project, giving students invaluable experience in writing and editing. The publishing industr y is ver y competitive, and of ten gate-kept by experience. This project allows students to gain experience in the writing and publishing industr y, giving burgeoning writers and editors their first by-line. She consistently works to empower students and encourages their creative thinking and leadership skills—skills they bring into industry.

The student editors, marketers and designers learned how to operate as a cross-functional team. And, for most of the writers, this was their first publication credit, and there is nothing more emboldening than seeing one’s name ‘in print’ for the first time. We believe these experiences allow students to shift away from the mindset of ‘I am a student’ and toward that important next stage of being a career-ready professional.

Engaging in research opportunities can not only help industry find innovative solutions, but it also inserts industry into the training process for their future workforce. The result? A smaller perceived skills gap. It’s a low-risk, cost effective way to keep innovating (and doesn’t hurt to have it on an annual report, either!).

For Institutions

WHILE HAVING A RIGOROUS RESEARCH portfolio can help boost national and international institutional ratings (and we’ve been doing wonderfully!), at Humber, engaging in research means we are embodying our institutional values and are leading, transforming, and differentiating. Research helps us fulfill our promises to our students, to be engaged in our communities and to enact lasting, impactful change.

Shahdad Shariatmadari (Professor and Program Coordinator—Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology) developed a mathematical model to predict the resources a hospital requires to manage existing and anticipated COVID-19 cases. Many organizations have specific needs which sometimes require very specific knowledge. He saw his former students become faculty within the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology to work alongside him. Involving students in research is a cyclical process; imparting knowledge to students gives them real-world experience so they can go on to impart that knowledge to their own students and helps to improve the overall quality of teaching and learning at the college.

One of the things [I’ve noticed is] that there is a gap between the educational system and industry. The only way that we can fill up that gap is through research. I found, when we step into a research project and talk to industrial partners, we came to know the gaps that we have in our programs.

STudent

Tina Lackner (Professor— Faculty of Social & Community Services) works with Sara Nickerson-White on a three-year research project producing a compassion-based, consumer-informed, guiding framework for human services. She believes this kind of social research is vital to unlearning a science-based approach that more traditional academic institutions take par t in.

We are proposing that what we have learnt is important for a variety of reasons, we need to restructure systems that are compassionate to peoples’ voices, and we intend to do it in a certain way. It requires developing an understanding for different ways of knowing and approaching research.

Audrey Wubbenhorst’s COVID-19 communications project has brought both Humber and her acclaim. Through this project, she was invited to speak at events (one notable mention—Texas Christian University) and has received praise from the community about the impact of her project.

People kind of found us and found me [through this project], and I was able to speak in a couple of different places, which was great. This kind of thing just happened, and was not really on my radar. It’s definitely flattering to be approached [for speaking engagements].

Research improves institutional credibility, helps bridge the skill and training gap, and helps to create a research network with which to mobilize new knowledge generated.

For Community

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS ARE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL mechanisms to make positive change in our communities. Applied research with community organizations is a fantastic way to co-create a better world for us all.

Maria Jacome’s (Professor—Faculty of Applied Sciences & Technology) project, focusing on monitoring ground water aquifer contamination, took place at a landfill in Simcoe County. Landfills are common causes of contaminated ground water, and aquifers near landfills need to be consistently monitored. While traditional methods of testing involve drilling down to where the ground water is, proving to be costly, time consuming and disruptive, Maria’s solution was to inject electrodes into the ground to determine contamination levels.

“Groundwater is, I believe, one of the main sources of drinking water in Canada, especially in the northern communities—even north of the GTA. All these communities are basically using groundwater as the source of drinking water. So, we need to protect our aquifers.”

Rapid testing of the water can lead to better health outcomes of the communities around landfills by detecting potential hazards early. This solution will have a direct impact on aquifer monitoring in rural communities nation-wide.

Electrodes: Using DC currents can detect conductive metals that are common contaminants, such as magnesium, iron, and mercury.

Salomeh Ahmadi (Professor—Faculty of Social and Community Services) partnered with LAMP Community Health Centre on The Affordable Housing Needs in South Etobicoke research project. Toronto is currently in a housing crisis, and South Etobicoke has gone from being an af fordable option for low-income households to being completely inaccessible. This project is studying the underlying issues through community-based research to develop a baseline of housing af fordability.

Research is not new, but research and leading a team, and community mobilizing is a new experience and has given me the opportunity to really apply my years of frontline experience and academic background into practical ways. I’ve always been adamant about the importance of bridging the gap between theory and practice in what I do and how I teach. This research project has been another reminder that research can have tangible possibilities, when done right.

This kind of research can have implications for the GTA at-large, which has been affected by skyrocketing prices and has only intensified during the pandemic. These solutions could have an impact on homelessness, create inclusive and accessible communities and advocate for new affordable housing through social policy change. Research can also help work to fight social stigma on controversial topics.

Daniel Bear’s research project explored how to market cannabis education materials to young cannabis users (18–35) so they can use it responsibly. Though cannabis became legal nationwide in 2018, there is still a wealth of misinformation on its effects, especially for young people, many of whose parents grew up in an era of “anti-drug” messaging.

That othering effect really permeated even things like cannabis. Growing up, I was told that, if my parents ever found cannabis, they would take me to the police themselves…[But] infrequent, or even regular cannabis consumption by young adults is not something where we see dramatic life altering effects, absent other issues.

Many people outside of Daniel’s target age group wanted to participate, suggesting that there remains a universal gap in knowledge on safe cannabis consumption. The research can help inform other demographics and suggests there is more community research to be done in this area. Ultimately, Daniel’s research seeks to reframe perceptions of cannabis use at a societal level.

Conclusion

The research being done at Humber benefits everyone involved. The relationship among faculty, students, industry and community feeds innovation and helps create meaningful solutions. Getting involved in research is easy: all you need is an idea. If you’re a member of the Humber community, or would like to get involved with us, get in touch and let’s get those sparks flying!

Further Reading

National and International Institutional Ratings (https://researchinfosource.com/top-50-researchcolleges/2020/spotlight-on-research-activity)