New ways to monitor data transmission all-optically
The grant allows Rhys to conduct research in the field of photonics, an area of science that looks at the interaction of light and electronics, in collaboration with professors at McGill University. Rhys Adams’ research focuses on the processing of optical signals for high-speed data transmission such as internet connections.  As advances in technology increase the speed of the optical transmission of data, the capacity of monitoring the quality of that transmission is in jeopardy since current monitoring is done electronically.  In the future electronic techniques may become obsolete since they will likely be too slow to monitor the quality of high speed optical signals. Rhys will study new and innovative ways to monitor the data all-optically. 

Cleaner, faster data transmission
If a transmission signal is not clean, information gets lost.  This means an email goes to the wrong destination or goes nowhere at all, or a website does not open properly and takes a while to refresh itself.  Both these situations indicate there are errors in the data signal.  So Rhys is looking for an optical way of doing the monitoring – a live integrated diagnostic tool that will detect errors and send a command to correct them. The future implications of his research could mean that internet signals are fast and clean. 

The Photonics Systems Group
The experimental research will be performed at McGill University with the Photonic Systems Group that is part of the Electrical Engineering department. The research group has world-class, state-of-the-art facilities including bits error rate testers worth over $10 million, and occupies 4,500 square feet of office and laboratory space.

Vanier Honours Science students will get to use high tech lab
The research grant will also benefit Vanier College students.  Funds have been allocated to bring the Vanier College Honours Science class to the Photonic Systems laboratories to perform experiments relevant to the content of their Cegep Waves and Modern Physics course and use sophisticated equipment as lasers and high-speed optical equipment.

Two-week paid research activity for two lucky students
Furthermore, each year, Rhys Adams will provide a two-week paid research activity for one or two Vanier Honours Science students to assist him in conducting experiments, thus providing opportunities to students that cannot be matched by other colleges.

International recognition
When completed, Rhys Adams will publish results of his research in peer-reviewed journals and present them at international conferences, which will ensure that researchers around the world will associate Vanier College with university calibre scientific research.

Rhys Adams research grant News Release

Rhys Adams research grant News Release FR

Becoming leaders in the advancement of knowledge
Another tool for “One of the major assets of Vanier College is the high number of research-capable faculty members in all disciplines, many of whom hold Doctorate degrees,” states Director General, Gilbert Héroux.  “The SSHRC accreditation is one more important tool to allow the College and its teachers to be leaders in the advancement of knowledge.”

What SSHRC research covers
SSHRC-supported research delves into social, cultural, technological, environmental, economic, and wellness issues in society.  SSHRC also encourages researchers to learn from one another’s disciplines and to share research outcomes with communities, businesses and governments.

Important to support research in the Humanities and the Social Sciences
“Having SSHRC accreditation means that Vanier teachers in the Humanities and Social Sciences will be eligible to apply for a wider range of SSHRC research grants including the SSHRC Institutional Grant whose eligibility criteria were expanded last year to include Cegeps,” indicates Humanities teacher Brian Aboud.  “It opens up funding opportunities to pursue one’s ongoing research or to undertake new research, something that is very difficult to do while teaching full time. But, doing research in one’s academic field also brings, potentially, measurable benefits to teaching through the deepening of knowledge and the exploration of new questions in a given area of specialization.”

SSHRC funded research at Vanier
Catrena Flint who teaches Music History and Ear Training at Vanier is already benefitting from a $48,000 grant from SSHRC’s International Opportunities Fund.  She currently heads a team of Canadian musicologists working on digitizing music criticism texts going back two hundred years.  As well, in the past, retired Vanier teacher, Henry Milner enjoyed SSHRC funding for his study on political participation.

All disciplines covered with SSHRC and NSERC eligibility for Vanier
With SSHRC eligibility, research at Vanier can now cover the full spectrum of disciplines and interests of the College. Indeed, teachers of all fields can apply for grants given that last year the College obtained certification from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada that supports research in the sciences.

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SSHRC eligibility granted to Vanier News Release FR

 SOMECE was an ideal springboard for the Vanier-UNAM project, because it brings together teachers and experts from around the world to discuss the use and integration of technology in the classroom at all levels of education, from elementary school to graduate studies. 

Lto R: Sophie Jacmin, Marielle Beauchemin, Philippe Gagné

 Several recent Vanier pilot-projects added a unique perspective to the symposium’s program.  Marielle Beauchemin (Micropublishing and Hypermedia) presented her research on hybrid online courses offered at Vanier.  Philippe Gagné from the French Department described using a problem-solving approach to virtual teaching within a hybrid course comprising of synchronous and asynchronous work periods.  And finally, Humanities teacher, Sophie Jacmin, presented her virtual team-teaching experience with Cégep de Sept-Iles, a pilot-project in existence since 2006.

 “This trip allowed us to meet people who work in a totally different context from ours and one where access to higher education is a privilege based on merit,” says Philippe Gagné. “While that is true here as well, it is even more so in Mexico where the applications for university far outstrip the number of places available. In this context, e-learning can play a significant role to allow more people to have access to higher education. Even so, I was surprised that UNAM offers online courses to 20,000 students and has 500,000 students registered with the university overall.”

 The meetings were so useful that Gagné goes on to say that “We are going to try to set up a community of practice on line with teachers we met there.  Like us, they are concerned with integrating forms of teaching that involve students in active learning exchanges and projects.”

 “The Vanier College-UNAM project is unique in that participating teachers communicate in Spanish, English and French, and new teaching materials will be produced in all three languages,” indicates Judy Macdonald, responsible for teacher mobility projects at Vanier.  “The project is also innovative because both institutions work in a multicultural environment with students and faculty representing many countries and ethnicities. The exchanges will therefore represent a great number of perspectives, not only national and discipline-related, but also truly global.”

Press release Mexico IT Symposium 2009

Press release Mexico IT Symposium 2009 FRENCH

“The difficulty for many students is passing the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) French proficiency exam,” says project coordinator Yung Truong of the Vanier French Department.  “Only students who did not obtain their high school leaving certificate in Québec must write the exam but it’s a difficult exam, and many fail.”

Yung Truong has been working with the Nursing program to produce French courses specially tailored for Nursing students.  These are French courses that are part of their regular DEC program but with terms and vocabulary useful to students in health care programs such as Nursing and Respiratory and Anaesthesia Technology.

In addition to Vanier’s Yung Truong who is the Coordinator, the project’s Inter Cegep committee consists of Catherine Duranleau, Christian Paré and Suzanne Tremblay who are French teachers from Vanier College, Dawson College and John Abbott College, as well as Veronica Gill from the CCDMD.

“We have experience in adjusting French courses to address the specific needs of weak students.   We have a framework for redesigning courses.  We have recently opened four new sections of a course that give students an extra sixty hours of French classes to upgrade their skills,” indicates Eric Lozowy, Coordinator of the Vanier French Department.

As well, Yung Truong and other teachers involved in the project have already started to research what resources currently exist to help professionals improve their French. “Many resources exist,” says Yung Truong, “but are not known or have not been centralized.  For example, the Québec Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities already has helpful teaching materials, and McGill University has developed material for advanced and intermediate students, but there is still a lack of material for weaker students.”

The first step in the new CCDMD project is to develop a plan of action.  The committee should be able to start creating new teaching materials as early as next semester.

“The ultimate goal of the project is to help students gain the necessary French skills to pass the OQLF exam, find a job within their area of expertise, work well, and function fully within Québec society,” says Eric Lozowy.  “English Cegeps are an essential part of Québec society and this kind of project increases the unity between the different communities we live in and with – Francophone, Anglophone, and Allophone.”

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