November 17, 2023 – Thunder Bay, Ont.

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded a total of $811,056 for six research projects at Lakehead University through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). The infrastructure grants will supply researchers with the equipment and space needed to advance holistic forest management, evaluate climate change, and further develop low-dose digital x-ray technology.

Dr. Nathan Basiliko, professor in the Faculty of Natural Resources Management, and co-applicants and colleagues Dr. Seung-Il Lee and Dr. Ashley Thomson, have received $174,996 to study how ecosystems in Canada’s Boreal environments are responding to interrelated stressors, including climate change and industrial forestry.

The team – Basiliko a soil scientist, Thomson a tree geneticist, Lee a forest entomologist, alongside Lakehead undergraduate and graduate students – will look at soil microbial communities, invertebrates, and tree populations to understand how they respond to climate change and other stressors such as invasive species and demand for forest products.

“The exciting part is that we’re using a transdisciplinary approach to study how different parts of forest ecosystems interact and that’s key to understanding how forests function,” explains Dr. Basiliko. “This project will expose Lakehead students to big picture, real-world contexts of forestry management and forest disturbances.”

The research will contribute to knowledge that will guide future forest management with a more holistic lens of biodiversity and help understand mechanisms behind northern ecosystem feedbacks to climate change and other contemporary environmental stressors.

Dr. Alla Reznik, professor in the Department of Physics and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Physics of Radiation Medical Imaging, has received $124,574 to support the crucial stages in scaling up of a new photoconductor material for digital X-ray imaging systems.

An evaluation of the photoconductive properties of amorphous Lead Oxide (a-PbO) – the material developed by Dr. Reznik’s group at Lakehead’s Rezniklab – as an important component of X-ray medical imaging detectors offers high-speed imaging and lowering patient exposure to radiation for a variety of diagnostic and image-guided therapeutic procedures.

Funding received through CFI JELF will enable the Rezniklab to optimize the a-PbO technology and fabricate and evaluate full-scale detector prototypes with the goal of developing detectors for fluoroscopic applications used in cardiac intervention and 3D mammography tomosynthesis.

“This is an important scientific and engineering accomplishment in the continuing development of X-ray imaging systems,” said Dr. Reznik. “It will lower the barrier towards harm-free X-ray imaging to the benefit of healthcare in Canada and worldwide.”

Dr. Adam Algar, associate professor in the Department of Biology, has received $119,591 for a five-year project that will look at how climate change and land cover change affect the ecology and evolution of species. Using amphibians, specifically gray tree frogs, Dr. Algar and his research team of graduate and undergraduate students will use lab experiments, field studies, remote-sensing and data modelling to shed light on the future of biodiversity in Canada and worldwide.

“I’m interested in what limits species distributions and ranges, how they survive in their environment, and how they respond when those environments change,” said Dr. Algar. “Northwestern Ontario is the most extreme environment where species like the gray tree frog can survive so it’s a great natural laboratory to study the limits of their physiology and their ecology and how those might evolve or how they may adjust their behaviour to cope with future changes.”

From there Algar and his research team will build data models where they can expand what’s happening now at the local level to try and predict how species will shift its range across all of North America in response to climate change or forest change.

“Lakehead researchers continue to tackle issues that impact people, our communities and the planet,” said Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President, Research and Innovation. “With support from CFI, our research teams will have access to state-of-the-art equipment that will help them facilitate high quality research. We thank CFI for their continued support.”

Canadian Foundation for Innovation, John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) Awards 2023

Total funding: $811,056

• Dr. Adam Algar, Department of Biology, "Laboratory for Physiological Macroecology", $119,591
• Drs. Nathan Basiliko, Seung-Il Lee and Ashley Thomson, Faculty of Natural Resources Management, "Research Infrastructure for Multitrophic Studies of Boreal Forest Landscapes", $174,996
• Dr. Gautam Das, Department of Physics, "Microscope, and Trace Gas Analyzers (Nitrous Oxide and Ammonia) for Photonics and Bio-Photonics Research Facilities", $166,892
• Dr. Apparao Dekka, Department of Electrical Engineering, "Design and Development of Powertrain Technologies for Heavy-duty Electric Transportation Applications", $100,017
• Dr. Ebrahim Rezaei, Department of Chemical Engineering, "Laboratory for Climate Change Mitigation and Air Pollution Control", $124,986
• Dr. Alla Reznik, Department of Physics and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Physics of Radiation Medical Imaging, Scientist, Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, "Low-dose Direct Conversion Radiation Medical Imaging Detectors", $124,574 

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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2023 World Universities Rankings for the fourth consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 9,000 students in THE’s 2023 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, speaks with Dr. Kathy
Sanderson, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration, during a taping
of Research Matters.

July 26, 2022 – Thunder Bay, Ont.

Lakehead University is partnering with Shaw Spotlight on a new Community Link television program that will connect the public with university researchers.

Research Matters, a monthly 30-minute talk show, will be hosted by Lakehead's Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, and have university researchers share their journeys and research outcomes with the public.

"Community-engaged research is an important priority for Lakehead University," said Dr. Dean. "Our faculty and student researchers are often the ones behind the scenes innovating and discovering and making meaningful contributions towards our communities and regions. This series will allow us to raise their profile within the community and publicly share their research's impact beyond the University's walls. We are grateful to Shaw for its support of this programming."

The program will feature interviews with Lakehead researchers from a broad spectrum of disciplines – from natural sciences, engineering, and health to social sciences and humanities. Through conversation, the show will examine the context of research, explore community connections and industry partners, and delve into the relevance and potential impact on society from a regional, national, and international perspective.

Research Matters will be accessible to viewers in Thunder Bay, Atikokan, Fort Frances, Nipigon, and Terrace Bay on Shaw Spotlight channel 10 and can be seen Monday to Friday at 9 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm.

The series is streaming on Lakehead's YouTube channel.

Funded by Shaw Communications Inc., Shaw Spotlight supports community members, local groups and volunteers to create programming and establish a forum for the sharing of locally relevant stories and information. Our passionate local producers bring to life compelling human-interest stories from their communities in diverse short-form documentaries.

Shaw Spotlight supports individuals and groups within our communities to produce content that keeps viewers connected with coverage of local events, festivals, sports and more, and offers opportunities for individuals interested in video production to benefit from training and participate as volunteers.

More information about Shaw Spotlight can be found at shawspotlight.ca. 

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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Jaclyn Bucik, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at 705-330-4010 ext. 2014 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University's achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among Canada's Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean's 2021 University Rankings; as well as included in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2022 World Universities Rankings for the third consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 10,000 students in THE's 2022 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.

Before he became a university professor and author, Dr. Kunle Akingbola had a successful career as a Human Resources (HR) professional. He was the HR manager for the Canadian Red Cross in Toronto while working on the second of his three Master’s degrees. As he grappled with choosing a thesis topic, his research advisor made a suggestion that would change the course of Akingbola’s work and his life.

At the time, the Red Cross had just taken over managing a homeless shelter over the winter for the City of Toronto, which was downsizing services to the non-profit sector. On top of their regular programs, Red Cross employees had to create and staff a completely new program that they would give up in six months time, only to bring back another six months after that.

Akingbola took his advisor’s advice and used the Red Cross case study as the basis for his Master’s thesis on non-profit HR management. That line of study eventually led to his Ph.D. dissertation, which examined the entire strategy of non-profit organizations across Canada and the impact of government funding and the environment.

Akingbola’s growing expertise led to part-time university teaching. He eventually left his HR career to become a full-time professor. Today he is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour in the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University’s Orillia campus.

With numerous publications including books, chapters in edited books, and articles in leading journals, research continues to be a large part of Akingbola’s work, which looks at ways to optimize the effectiveness of non-profit organizations while increasing employee satisfaction and improving outcomes for the communities they serve. He encourages his students to get research experience by helping him do surveys and data sorting.

“Prior to my study, no one had ever looked at HR management in non-profit organizations, says Akingbola. “There had been research on volunteers, but not employees of non-profit organizations that make up a major part of the Canadian social sector and account for about nine per cent of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

His vast personal experience in HR in non-profit and healthcare sectors combined with his extensive ground-breaking research give Akingbola rare insight and expertise into social purpose enterprises. He understands the fine line organizations are forced to walk to secure the funding that is essential to support their services. It’s especially frustrating in the face of what Akingbola calls “mission drift.”

“How do you manage people who joined your organization because they believe in your mission, but now you have to go in a different direction because that’s where the funding is dictating you go?” says Akingbola.

One thing he is certain of is the importance of the human component in non-profit activities.

“The nature of service is emotional and it is human based,” says Akingbola. “You can install an ATM on Jarvis Street in Toronto that gives out blankets and coffee to the homeless on a cold winter’s night. But it can’t dispense compassion. In that regard you can’t replace human capital.”

Dr. Kunle Akingbola is the lead author of the book "Change Management in Nonprofit Organizations: Theory and Practice" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and the author of "Managing Human Resources for Nonprofits" (Routledge, 2015).

As the negative climate effects of fossil fuel-based energy sources become more apparent, governments, scientists and industries around the globe are putting more resources into developing sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives.

Locally, Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin is contributing to the effort with his research, funded through Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants, on optimizing the efficiency of wind energy and electric motor drives.

A professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Lakehead University, Uddin and his graduate students are working on wind energy conversion systems to achieve maximum power extraction from the wind and maximum output from wind generators. They do this by creating intelligent algorithms that mimic the human brain by telling the system what to do in any given circumstance.

To illustrate what an algorithm is, Uddin gives the example of a commuter on the way to work in Toronto. “As she heads down the highway, her brain has planned out the shortest and fastest route. That’s an algorithm. Then she hears on the radio that there is an accident up ahead. Her brain takes that new information and creates an alternate route. That’s another algorithm.”

Uddin’s team has also developed control algorithms that improve the power quality and dynamic performance of wind generators by responding appropriately and quickly to unpredictable abnormal variations of wind speeds or power system fault conditions. Thanks to this kind of research the creation of a cost effective and sustainable wind energy system can be achieved.

Another area of Uddin’s research involves loss minimization in electric motors. “Fifty-five per cent of the total electric energy produced in the world is consumed by electric motors,” says Uddin. “If we use the algorithms to force the motor to follow certain conditions so that voltage and current give the minimum loss, then we can improve the overall efficiency of the system and achieve the best motor performance.”

Uddin has shared his findings in 228 papers that have published or accepted in refereed journals and conferences including 53 papers in IEEE Transactions which is considered the top ranking journal in his area of research. In 2010 he won the Lakehead University’s Distinguished Researcher Award.

Uddin’s impact in the field of Electrical Engineering goes beyond his own research. After more than 25 years of teaching and research experience at various universities in Canada, the United States, Bangladesh, Japan and Malaysia he has mentored and inspired many students. They include 50 highly qualified engineers (nine Ph.D., 24 Master’s, 14 Research Associates and three Postdoctoral fellows) and 82 undergraduate students. Most have gone on to work for companies like General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Rockwell Automation, AMEC, Caterpillar and Schneider Electric where they continue to develop optimization algorithms that improve efficiencies in motor drives used in transportation, robotics, automotive and oil industries.

Dr. Mohammed Nasir Uddin is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Lakehead University; Coordinator of the Electrical Engineering program under the Lakehead-Georgian Partnership; and the Director of the Renewable Energy, Power Systems and Drive Research Lab located in Barrie.