Engineering researchers receive UOIT's first-ever Early Researcher Awards

OSHAWA, ON. - Two professors at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) were recently awarded $140,000 each to further develop clean and green wireless communication technologies and reduce production costs of manufacturing companies with new and improved manufacturing robots. Dr. Shahram Shahbazpanahi and Dr. Dan Zhang have secured the university's first Early Researcher Awards, a program sponsored by the Ministry of Research and Innovation.

"Congratulations to Dr. Shahbazpanahi and Dr. Zhang for this outstanding achievement," said Dr. Michael Owen, associate provost, Research. "This provincial government funding recognizes the excellence of UOIT's researchers and our commitment to develop and pursue research-based, innovative solutions that positively impact our economic productivity, contribute to the education and skill development of high-quality knowledge workers and help build a sustainable future."

Exploring information and communication technologies to develop new strategies for data transmission and reception is the focus of Dr. Shahbazpanahi's research, an associate professor with the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS). He is developing novel network architectures that allow efficient utilization of the power available at each node in the network as well as sharing the radio spectrum among different user devices. The aim of this research is to minimize the power consumption in the network while providing a satisfactory level of quality of service, which will be achieved through enabling the co-operation between user devices and the ability to relay each others' data and routing it throughout the network. This research will develop new low-cost, power-efficient and bandwidth-saving technologies for collaborative relay ad-hoc networks.

The manufacturing industry is competitive and to remain successful, businesses must continually advance their quality, efficiency and reliability. The implementation of advanced robotics and automation has proven to be an effective and cost-efficient measure. Dr. Zhang, an associate professor with FEAS and Canada Research Chair in Robotics and Automation, will focus on the performance improvement of parallel robotic systems in terms of accuracy, load capacity, flexibility and reliability. Currently the use of a manufacturing robot is limited with respect to performance capabilities. Dr. Zhang's work will develop a general design methodology for optimizing the performance of parallel robotic systems, leading to improved manufacturing capabilities, and resulting in higher efficiencies and cost savings for manufacturing industries.

The funding will be distributed over the next five years and will benefit the university's robust graduate programs. Dr. Shahbazpanahi's award includes funding for two Master of Applied Science students, two PhD students in Electrical and Computer Engineering respectively, while Dr. Zhang's funding includes two Master of Applied Science students and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering student.

In seven years, UOIT has gained a solid reputation as a research-intensive university; establishing its first spin-off company, filing more than 30 patents in various jurisdictions and receiving six prestigious Canada Research Chairs and five Industrial Research Chairs. UOIT research is focused on five primary research themes, all of which emphasize a multidisciplinary approach: Applied Bioscience; Automotive, Materials and Manufacturing; Community and Social Wellness; Information and Communication; and Sustainable Energy. These themes are closely aligned with both federal and provincial research and innovation priorities in the context of Advantage Canada's Federal Science and Technology Strategy and the Ontario Innovation Agenda.

The ERA program helps promising, recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams of undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants, associates, and technicians. The goal of the program is to improve Ontario's ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent. Ontario is providing more than $11 million to support 80 emerging researchers and their teams at 16 institutions across Ontario through the Early Researcher Awards program. Lead researchers will receive up to $140,000 through the program.

About Ontario Tech University
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