Ontario Tech Expert Centre
The Expert Centre is your source to discover the university’s diverse collection of faculty expertise and thought leadership. Find an expert to provide analysis, commentary and insight on today's most engaging industry trends and developments!
All experts
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesZenia Kish, PhDDr. Zenia Kish is an interdisciplinary scholar committed to publicly-engaged teaching and research that bridges the humanities and social sciences. Her work explores unconventional forms of media across global contexts,including the mediation of philanthropy and agriculture, and makes connections between digital media studies, strategic communication, critical finance studies, American studies, food and agriculture, and development.
- Associate ProfessorYing Zhu, PhD
- Associate Teaching Professor | Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesVivian Stamatopoulos, PhDDr. Vivian Stamatopoulos holds a Master of Arts (Sociology) and Doctor of Philosophy from York University (Sociology). Her research interests focus on long-term care (LTC), child and youth-based caregiving (young carers) and unpaid family caregiving. She is also a leading advocate for LTC residents in Ontario and has provided almost 300 expert interviews on the topic of long-term care over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Theodore Christou, PhD, OCT, RECEDr. Theodore Christou is a Professor and Dean of the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Ontario Tech University. Theodore is a widely published poet, historian, and philosopher of education. Dr. Christou is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers and a College of Early Childhood Educators. Along with his years of academic service at Queen’s University and at the University of New Brunswick, Theodore has lectured and taught internationally in the fields of history education and social impact.
- Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesTanner Mirrlees, PhDDr. Mirrlees' research focuses on: the global creative and entertainment industries; social media platforms, politics and cultural policy; the transformation of work and labour in the digital age; persuasion, public relations, public diplomacy and propaganda; war, new media & conflict; the Internet and society; digital media activism; and, the social shaping of technology.
- Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyStephen Marsh, PhDDr. Marsh’s research focuses on a humanist view of technology, where human social norms are reasoned about by, and embedded into, artificial systems. His thesis (1994) formalized trust and started a new field of research in computational trust. He has extended this work to examine regret, forgiveness, hope and privacy in sociotechnical systems. He is currently examining the concept of public privacy and democracy. His textbook “Trust Systems” is available as an Open Educational Resource. Dr. Marsh has published in conferences, journals and books in his areas of expertise, supervised Masters and PhD students to completion, and been an invited speaker at conferences and workshops on the topic of computational trust.
- Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyStephen Jackson, PhDDr. Jackson's primary areas of research include cultural and behavioural issues surrounding information systems adoption, Electronic government implementation, Expectations management in realizing information systems benefit success, Human behaviour in cybersecurity.
- Faculty of Business and Information TechnologySalma Karray, PhD, MScDr. Karray uses optimization, game theory, data analytics, and AI techniques to help businesses improve their performance and strive in competitive environments. Applications of her work include digital advertising, pricing, retailing, loyalty program management, CRM, and e-commerce.
- Associate Teaching Professor, Teaching Scholar-in-Residence | Faculty of ScienceRandy Fortier, MScSince starting as a teaching faculty, Dr. Fortier's research has been focused on computer science education, including techniques for engaging students, building community, and incorporating technology into the classroom. Research projects include the development of educational tools, evaluating the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques within computer science education, and the creation of serious games designed to teach computer science concepts.
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceRamona Fayazfar, PhD, PEng
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyPooria Madani, PhDDr. Pooria Madani is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at Ontario Tech University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from York University in 2021. Dr. Madani's research interests include the use of machine learning in cybersecurity applications such as intrusion detection, malware classification, self-mutating codes, and theoretical attacks against learning algorithms in adversarial settings (i.e, adversarial machine learning).
- Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyPeter Lewis, PhDDr. Lewis’s research advances both foundational and applied aspects of trustworthy, reflective, and socially intelligent systems. Drawing on extensive experience applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) commercially, he is interested in where AI meets society, and how to help that relationship work well. Dr. Lewis is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, UK.
- Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyPejman Mirza-Babaei, PhDDr. Mirza-Babaei's research and teaching are centred on the design and evaluation of user experience in interactive entertainment systems. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles and is a sought-after speaker at both academic conferences and industry events.
- Pariss Garramone, PhD
- Associate Professor | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceMohamed Youssef, PhD, P.EngI am a power electronics and drives professional. I have a passion to implement new ideas and products through my industry projects. It is time to bring my previous industry experience to our classes and futuristic research projects. Power electronics is everywhere now; from cell phones, laptops, electric vehicles, electrified trains, to airplanes! Power electronics is simply everywhere!
- Associate Professor | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceMohamed El-Darieby, Ph.D, P.EngMohamed El-Darieby specializes in software engineering and technology topics such as deep learning, multi-modal machine learning, big data systems and analytics, and the Internet of Things. El-Darieby's focus also includes connected and autonomous systems, intelligent transportation systems, agriculture systems, age-friendly and dementia-friendly smart cities, EdTech, AgeTech and AgriTech.
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceMeaghan Charest-Finn, PhDDr. Charest-Finn looks forward to continuing her research that has been industry-centric on other applications. These research areas include automated robotic inspection, advanced driver assistance programs, and other processes where deciphering and acting on data quickly is required.
- Associate Professor | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceMasoud Makrehchi, PhDLeading social media research analytics to predict trends in behaviour for safer communities
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyLi Yang, PhDDr. Li Yang's research focuses on applying AI and machine learning to cybersecurity, with a particular emphasis on intrusion detection and anomaly detection in 5G/6G networks and IoT systems. This involves the development of optimized and Automated ML (AutoML), concept drift adaptation, online learning, and continual learning techniques to enhance cybersecurity measures. Additionally, his work extends to the realms of trustworthy AI and AI security, specifically addressing adversarial machine learning attacks and defense strategies.
- Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesLes Jacobs, PhDProfessor Jacobs is a leading international expert in human rights, including issues focused on policing and race data collection, global health and equity, privacy rights, and links to trade and international economic law. He has served as the expert consultant for the 2017 Anti-Racism Act, an advisory on race data collection by police services, and as an expert witness for human rights litigation.
- Faculty of Health SciencesLaura Banks, MSc, MA, PhD, R.KinDr. Laura Banks is a recent graduate from the Master of Arts program in the Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education with an interest in evaluating flipped classroom instructional design. As the Teaching Scholar in Residence (2024-2026), her work focuses on “Exploring Teaching Excellence in our Academic Community: Hybrid (e-TEACH) Approaches to Enhance Student-Centered Learning Experiences”. She is also an Adjunct Scientist with the University Health Network with clinical research experience in cardiovascular physiology and cardiac rehabilitation.
- Associate Professor and Associate Industrial Research Chair | Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceKirk Atkinson, PhDDr. Atkinson is expert on Small Modular Reactors in the marine context. He joined Ontario Tech University as an Associate Professor in January 2019. As naval reactors are the original SMR’s, he has real-world experience working in a successful program encompassing the design, manufacture, operation, and disposal of small, pressurized water reactors (PWRs).
- Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceKhalid Elgazzar, PhD, P.Eng, SMIEEDr. Khalid’s research explores the link between physical infrastructure and technology innovations. He’s uncovering new information on the expansion of Internet-enabled computing devices and advancements in wireless technologies. His research findings have applications for the seamless interaction of smart services in areas such as health care, transportation, industrial automation, emergency response and law enforcement.
- Professor | Faculty of ScienceJeremy Bradbury, PhDImproving software quality through enhanced development practices, tools and education. Supporting software developers test and analyze software with the support of machine learning automation and recommendation. Supporting computer science education and developer retraining through AI-powered personalized learning tools.
- Faculty of Health SciencesJanet McCabe, RN, MEd, PhDWorking with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to promote health and well-being with a focus on physical activity and healthy living.
- Faculty of Engineering and Applied ScienceJaho Seo, PhD, PEngDr. Seo's area of research focuses on control, sensing, and safety algorithms for autonomous/automation mobile machines and systems and route optimization for specialty vehicles such as snowplowing/sweeping/waste collection trucks and autonomous tractors
- Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesIsabel Pedersen, PhD
- Associate Teaching Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyHaytham El Miligi, PhDDr. El Miligi's research focuses on improving the security of systems and networks using machine learning techniques.
- Assistant Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyChen Shen, PhDDr. Shen's research and teaching interests are in empirical corporate finance, household finance, climate change on finance, and corporate governance. Before joining academia, he worked as a Financial Analyst at Accenture (China).
- Associate Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyAmirali Abari, PhDDr. Abari's research is focused on designing, exploring and extending the capabilities of user-centred intelligent systems, aiming to automate or assist human decision making.
- Associate Teaching Professor | Faculty of Business and Information TechnologyAmin Ibrahim, PhDDr. Ibrahim's research interests include multi- and many-objective evolutionary algorithms and their applications (especially application of evolutionary computation for big data), high-dimensional visualization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
- Faculty of Social Science and HumanitiesAlyson E. King, PhDDeveloping pathways to a positive educational experience for students from all backgrounds and promoting integrity in academia.