Amy Wu, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Ingenuity Labs Research Institute
Helping robots learn to walk

Host:Barry Kaplan Synopsis:Dr. Amy Wu is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University. She leads the Biomechanics x Robotics Laboratory (BxRL) and is a member of the Queen’s Ingenuity Labs Research Institute. Her research interests include mechatronics, human biomechanics, and wearable and assistive devices. One of Dr. Wu’s projects, Rando the Robot, is a low-cost bipedal walking robot with an open-source mindset, to expand accessibility to and involvement in walking robot education and research. She has demonstrated this project at Queen’s Park in Toronto, Maker Faire Rome, and Science Rendezvous Kingston.In this episode, Dr. Wu discusses her work at BxRL and the first-principles approach in understanding the mechanics and energies of human movement for robot design and biomechanics. Shealso explains the motivation for constructing Rando the Robot with an open-source mindset to encourage cost-efficient robotics research.Please visit the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering for more information about Dr.Wu’s research.

Xiaodan Zhu, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ingenuity Labs Research Institute
Teaching language to computers

Host:Barry Kaplan Synopsis:Dr. Xiaodan Zhu is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen’s,where he leads the Text Analytics and Machine Learning Lab (TAML). He is also a member of the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute and is an affiliated expert with Queen’s Conflict Analytics Lab. He is associate editor of the journal Computational Intelligence and serves as the program co-chair of the 33rd Canadian Conference on Artificial Intelligence.His research interests include machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, and artificial intelligence.Prior to joining Queen’s in 2017, Dr. Zhu was a research officer at the National Research Council of Canada.In this episode, Dr. Zhu discusses how his research, at the frontier of artificial intelligence, is helping computers better understand language, with wide ranging applications. He also explains the intersections of law and AI with his work at the Queen’s Conflict Analytics Lab.Please visit the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for more information about Dr. Zhu’s research

Elaine Power, Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health StudiesCross-appointed, Department of Gender Studies Affiliated, Cultural Studies Graduate Program
Understanding our food habits

Host:Barry Kaplan
Synopsis:Dr. Elaine Power is an associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies and cross-appointed to the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University. She is the co-editor of the recently published book,Messy Eating: Conversations on Animals as Food and the forthcoming volume,Feminist Food Studies: Intersectional Perspectives. Her research focuses on issues related to poverty,class, health, and food security. In particular, Dr. Power uses qualitative research methods and critical social theory to investigate food practices, especially in relation to income and social class. She is also a founding member of the Canadian Association for Food Studies and the Kingston Action Group for a Basic Income Guarantee.In this episode, Dr. Power discusses her co-authored book,Acquired Tastes: Why Families Eat the Way They Do,which analyzes over 100 interviews with families across Canada to understand how food habituate shaped by class, health, gender, poverty, and food insecurity.Please visit the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies for more information about Dr. Power’s research

Shideh Kabiri AmeriAssistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
E-tattoos and healthcare: nano materials for superior wearable tech

Host:Barry Kaplan
Synopsis:Dr. Shideh Kabiri Ameri is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University. Her research focuses on 2D material-based electronic devices and their applications in wearable, bioelectronics, human machine interface, electronic tattoos, internet of things, and mobile healthcare. She leads the Ameri Nano Research Group interested in looking for innovative and novel solutions for technological challenges by applying nano-sciences to Engineering. In 2017, Dr. Ameri was awarded the Rising Star in EECE. In this episode, Dr. Ameri discusses her research on e-tattoos and their application on humans. She also mentions the work conducted at the Ameri Nano Research Group,which uses 2D and nano-materials to develop superior and minimally visible sensors and electronics for wearable healthcare technology.Please visit the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for more information about Dr. Ameri’s research.

Liying Cheng Professor, Faculty of Education

What’s in a Grade?

Host: Barry Kaplan
Synopsis: Dr. Liying Cheng is a professor of teaching English as a second/foreign language and Peer Research Consultant in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. She is also the director of the Assessment and Evaluation Group at Queen’s and was a recipient of the 2017 Prize for Excellence in Research, Queen’s signature internal research honour. Her research interests include the impact of large-scale testing on instruction, the relationship between assessment and instruction, and teaching and learning English for academic purposes. She has obtained research funding totalling more than $1.7 million and conducted more than 220 conference presentations with more than 140 publications.In this episode, Dr. Cheng discusses her project, “What’s in a Grade? A Multiple Perspective Validity Study on Grading Policies, Practices, Values, and Consequences.” She discusses the importance of understanding the teaching and learning values embedded into a given grade. Her project focuses on China and the interpretation of grades by multiple stakeholders with a comparison to a Canadian context.Please visit the Faculty of Education for more information about Dr. Cheng’s research.

Samuel Dahan Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s National Scholar

Algorithms and Precedent: How AI Can Provide Open-Access Legal Resources

Host: Barry Kaplan
Synopsis: Dr. Samuel Dahan is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law and a Queen’s National Scholar. He is the director of the Conflict Analytics Lab at Queen’s University, a LegalTech global consortium on the application of data analytics and AI to dispute resolution and negotiation. Dr. Dahan has worked as a legal secretary to the Court of Justice of the European Union and as a legal advisor for the Comparative Law Unit of the French Administrative Supreme Court. His research focuses on regulatory responses to the euro crisis from an empirical data perspective. He is also a nationally medaled athlete in Taekwondo.

In this episode, Dr. Dahan discusses the Conflict Analytics Lab and his open-access work training machines to read law texts and extract the relevant information, typically the precedent, to assist lawyers and self-represented litigants in their research. He also discusses the limitations of algorithms in predicting subjective outcomes in judicial decision making.

Please visit the Faculty of Law for more information about Dr. Dahan’s research