IDEAWORKS Catalyst Fund Projects instrumental in Mohawk’s top 10 research ranking

This week, Mohawk College was ranked number seven in Canada by RE$EARCH Infosource in their annual listing of Canada’s top research colleges. The nine spot jump – Mohawk was ranked 16^th in 2018 – was made possible by an ever-growing faculty and staff interest in research. The IDEAWORKS Catalyst Fund (ICF) has made research funding accessible for emerging researchers from across the college.

Now in its second year, the IDEAWORKS Catalyst Fund (ICF) is available to support and encourage Mohawk faculty and staff to engage in applied research and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) activities. The fund is designed to develop and build internal capacity for research and innovation by providing the funding needed for faculty and staff to turn their ideas into solutions.

Currently, the recipients of 2019-2020 ICF funding are looking into four areas of focus: healthcare and healthcare education; technology innovation; economic and social impact in the community; and student success. The projects, as categorized, are listed below.

Addressing industry needs in health care and health education

Projects looking at how to improve health outcomes locally through new technology adoption, innovative health education practices and leading-edge partnerships.

Pilot Midwifery Point of Care Ultrasound Course - Carol Bernacci, Special Projects, School of Health
Development of a Knowledge Translation Package to Support Clinical Care - Krissy Doyle-Thomas, Community Studies
Digital Storytelling: Traumatic Brain Injury Through a Lived Experience Lens - Anne-Marie DePape, Community Studies
Fetal Health Surveillance Course - Lyndsay Martin, Continuing Education
Understanding Anxiety and Depression for Helping Professionals - Kim Ann Laush, Child and Youth Care (CYC)

Supporting new technology innovation

Projects focused on helping local industries thrive through adoption of new technologies – including forward osmosis for the food & beverage industry, satellite imagery for agriculture, and improved consumer-facing virtual reality hardware.

Hamilton Culture Quest - Andrew Spearin, Computer Engineering
Agriculture Monitoring at Higher Spatial and Temporal Resolutions using Open-Source Satellite Imagery - Soham Shah, Continuing Education - Tech & Skills
Forward Osmosis Technology for Liquid Food Concentration Applications - Leonard Seed, Chemical/Environmental/Biotechnology
An Interface Converter for Battery/Ultra-Capacitor Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS) in DC Micro-grid - ZhenYu (Frank) Zhao, Electrical & Computer Engineering Technology
Volumetric Video Rig for Capturing Holograms - Jomar Gacoscos & Tracey Kadish, McKeil School of Business & Media

Growing our economic and social impact

Researchers looking to improve the social and economic outcomes for our community through early literacy, improved business practices, and a program to support newcomers to Canada in building resilience.

Agile Development Trends in Ontario Small & Medium Businesses - Chris Spraakman, McKeil School of Business
The Impact of Early Literacy Experiences in the Home - Kathy Kemp, Early Childhood Education/School of Community Studies
Mindfulness Practice and Feedback to Decrease Stress and Increase Resilience of Newcomers to Canada - Mary-Anne Peters, LINC Program

Helping Mohawk students to succeed in and outside the classroom

Mohawk teams are examining how we can best serve our students through innovative approaches, marrying scholarly inquiry with teaching practices to investigate new approaches to student success.

Stop/Start/Continue App - Peter Basl, Electrical & Computer Engineering Technology
Impact of Experiential Learning on Student Success - Monica Almas, Recreation Therapy
Student Engagement with text-to-Speech Reader Pens: Increasing Usage for Testing: A Mixed Methods Study - Andrea Zians & Kelsey Clohecy, Accessible Learning Services
Collaborative Faculty Support & Development – Janice Warren, Alison Dunn, Evan DiValentino, McKeil School of Business & Media

ICF Applications for 2020-2021 will be due in February 2020. Info sessions will be scheduled at all three campuses in January 2020.

If you’d like to learn more about IDEAWORKS, visit mohawkcollege.ca/ideaworks, or get in touch with us @mohawkIDEAWORKS on twitter or by email at ideaworks@mohawkcollege.ca