A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Wires investigated software techniques for efficiently processing very large data sets. As part of his research, he built a high-performance storage system that dynamically optimizes how hardware resources are allocated as workload requirements evolve. His work reduces the time and money required to perform data-intensive analysis tasks. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Graves studied the economic interactions between consumers and firms in both established and emerging markets. His research highlights the sophisticated motivations behind features of the economy we observe every day, such as sales at a grocery store or entrepreneurs pitching new projects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Economics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Guan studied the effect of the autonomic nervous system and individual stress profile in predicting ischemic stroke after an initial transient ischemic attack. She developed a novel predictive tool for use in emergency and other clinical settings to help physicians identify the high-risk patients and provide personalized medical care for them. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Davis' study uncovers the procedures and policies governing the military's acquisition and ongoing control of vast tracts of national territory in Canada and the United States. In examining how emergency war powers and land use practices took hold and were given permanent spatial arrangements, this study provides a critical overview into origins and functions of North American defense lands. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mumuni studied teacher practices in kindergarten classrooms, in Ghana. His findings revealed that teaching practices were developmentally appropriate, making learning meaningful through contextually relevant language of instruction, age-and culturally-appropriate learning materials, and the use of storytelling, traditional songs and traditional rhymes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Klein-Bosgoed studied protein synthesis in anucleate blood platelets. She investigated a technology based on UV light and vitamin B2 that is designed to kill potential pathogens in blood products. Her findings will lead to the advancement of blood safety in transfusion medicine. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Huebel examined the identity of Jewish men in Nazi Germany through the lens of gender. His findings show how the Nazis tried to emasculate Jewish men by ways of propaganda, law and violence and how Jewish men's self-understanding of their own identity changed. This work helps us better understand the consequences of gender roles and discrimination. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hochbaum explored the extent to which child characteristics determine parental disciplinary behaviours. She showed that mothers respond to increasingly socially competent children by rewarding them more and punishing them less. The findings of her study strongly suggest that child characteristics contribute significantly to parenting behaviour. | Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Li developed a novel method of producing hydrogen peroxide using a combination of existing fuel cell technologies and a special catalyst that facilitates hydrogen peroxide generation. This method can be powered either with Hydrogen/oxygen as fuel source or electricity. His work can be applied to remote communities where on-site water treatment agents are needed. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Shahbazi has developed a numerical tool to predict the evolution of critical damage modes in composite materials. This virtual testing framework can replace physical testing and will reduce associated costs. Her novel methodology will be applied to advanced aerospace structures and automotive components. | Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Brown demonstrated that Catholic monks living in the American West blend biblical motifs, religious symbols and environmental discourse into their experience of place and landscape. This research shows that religious and environmental discourses are relationally attached to and molded by experience with land. | Doctor of Philosophy in Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Sima studied ischemic heart disease risk factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She found that exercise training reduces arterial stiffness, but does not impact the resting heart rate. Her findings contribute to the field of pulmonary rehabilitation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Troester studied dark matter by combining measurements of gravitational lensing with other cosmological probes. The measurements provided new insights into the nature of dark matter and its relationship with ordinary matter on cosmological scales, informing the analyses of upcoming, large-scale cosmology experiments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Damberg studied brightness perception in cinema and found that we need intensities up to 20 times or higher compared to today's movie projectors for realistic looking images. He developed a new technology to efficiently achieve these intensities and commercialized it in a local start-up. He recently sold to the world's largest cinema projector maker. | Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mills investigated the tensions former high-performance figure skaters experienced in their training and competition. She used narrative inquiry to help collect and report participant's stories. Her findings support the need for critical conversations about the normalizing conditions in figure skating and their cost on participant well-being. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hergesheimer examined small-scale farmer participation in international fair trade banana and mango supply chains in Haiti and Ecuador. His work explores practical mergers between market-based approaches, such as fair trade, and more radical approaches such as food sovereignty. His work informs policy for more equitable, sustainable and participatory international trading arrangements. | Doctor of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Mottok characterized gene mutations that are frequent in blood cancers and she found that they play an important role in the interaction of cancer cells with normal immune cells. These findings improve our understanding of how cancer cells avoid immune attacks and will inform on how new drugs can lead to better outcomes for lymphoma patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Using machine learning techniques, Dr. Zhang developed a method to group high-dimensional cases using hierarchical approaches. He also developed a predictive framework called Regression Phalanxes which selects subsets of features that work well together for prediction. This new framework outperforms current methods in a variety of applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Moghadam-zadeh studied mineral process engineering. She developed a test procedure to evaluate the advantages of high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), an application for extracting precious compounds. This test procedure will replace conventional techniques with energy-efficient methods in the early stages of industrial project studies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Desnoyer studied the fundamental reactivity of late transition metal complexes. He examined how metals like nickel and rhodium interact with other molecules to either make or break chemical bonds. His work will be used to develop new, more efficient methods to make more complex products from simple, abundant starting materials. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Ma completed his studies in the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering with a focus on data communication. He developed several signal processing designs to improve the performance of visible light communication in indoor environments. His work provides insight for designing next-generation wireless communication systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Harrison studied the elemental and isotopic composition of volcanoes along the 2300 km Northwest Hawaiian Ridge. She integrated those results with the entire 5800 km-long chain, and showed the chemistry varies temporally. This implies that the deep mantle contains distinct reservoirs sampled episodically by the moving Hawaiian plume. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Falah-Toosi studied superhydrophobic polymeric surfaces and their antibacterial activities as potential application to medical sciences. Superhydrophobic surfaces have the ability to hold air pockets in their surface in contact with liquids and remain extraordinarily clean of fouling in highly bacteria-rich systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Fergusson researched the cognitive mechanisms involved in the timing of everyday activities, such as steeping a cup of tea or cooking an egg. These intervals had previously received very little attention in the timing literature. Her research demonstrates that these intervals appear to be reconstructed based on our memory for the events that have occurred. | Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Zaman studied the numerical modelling of swirling turbulent flows of water encountered in a variety of natural and engineering phenomena including in hydrocyclones. He proposed a novel criterion to help analyze such flows. His work provides a foundation to reduce the computational cost of numerical modelling of swirling flows | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |