Faculty experts

Faculty members at UOIT are accomplished experts in their respective fields and are happy to share their knowledge with community groups and the media. If you would like assistance in finding an appropriate expert, please contact Bryan Oliver, communications officer, in the Communications and Marketing department at ext. 2209 or bryan.oliver@uoit.ca.

• Faculty of Business and Information Technology;
• Faculty of Education;
• Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science;
• Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science;
• Faculty of Health Sciences;
• Faculty of Science; and
• Faculty of Social Science and Humanities.

Faculty of Business and Information Technology

Dr. Bin Chang
Assistant professor

• Asset pricing; and
• Corporate finance.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Cuiping Chen
Assistant professor

• Internet marketing; and
• Retailing.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Shantanu Dutta
Assistant professor

• Corporate governance;
• Dividend policy;
• Market efficiency;
• Mergers and acquisitions; and
• Technology management.
• Additional languages spoken: Bengali and Hindi

Dr. Khalil El-Khatib
Associate professor

• IP telephony;
• Mobile Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (MANET);
• Network intrusion detection;
• Parallel discrete event simulation;
• Personal and service mobility;
• Privacy;
• Privacy negotiation protocols;
• Quality of service for multimedia systems;
• Sensor networks;
• Ubiquitous computing; and
• Virus detection.
• Additional language spoken: Arabic and French

Dr. John Friedlan
Associate professor

• Accounting management;
• Application of game technology to accounting education; and
• Earnings management.

• Evaluating educational technology;
• Decision theory;
• Risk analysis;
• Statistics; and
• Teaching critical thinking.

Dr. Shahram Heydari
Assistant professor

• Mobile Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (MANET) design and modelling;
• Network design, network monitoring and topology discovery;
• Network protection and failure recovery;
• Smart Grid communication; and
• Telecommunication protocol and services.
• Additional language spoken: Persian

Dr. Andrew Hogue
Assistant professor

• Animation;
• Computer graphics;
• Computer vision;
• Game design;
• Probabilistic sensor models; and
• Robotics.

Dr. Patrick Hung
Associate professor

• Business process integration;
• Electronic negotiation and agreement;
• Security and privacy; and
• Services and computing.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Ying (Annie) Jiang
Assistant professor

• Chinese consumer behaviour;
• Consumer goals;
• Consumer information processing and decision making;
• Hedonic consumption; and
• New production adoption decisions.

Dr. Bill Kapralos
Associate professor

• 3D (spatial) sound generation for virtual environments and video games;
• Multi-model virtual reality/environments;
• Perception of auditory events;
• Real-time acoustical modelling;
• Serious games that maximize knowledge transfer and retention.
• Additional language spoken: Greek

Dr. Salma Karray
Associate professor

• Advertising and promotions;
• Distribution channels;
• Marketing models;
• National brands competition; and
• Private labels.
• Additional language spoken: French

Dr. Igor Kotlyar
Assistant professor

• Leadership;
• Talent management; and
• Technology and cognition in the workplace.

Dr. Joe Krasman
Assistant professor

• General management;
• Human resources; and
• Organizational behaviour.

• Applied cryptography;
• Computer forensics;
• Mobile computing;
• Secure vehicular communication;
• Wireless networking; and
• Wireless network security.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese (Mandarin)

Dr. Zhenfeng Ma
Assistant professor

• Consumer innovation adoption;
• Food consumption;
• Marketing communications;
• Service management; and
• Social, cultural and emotional influences on consumer behaviour.

Dr. Miguel Vargas Martin 
Associate professor

• Adaptive virtual environments for education; and
• Computer/network security and public safety.
• Additional languages spoken: Spanish, French and Italian

Dr. Carolyn McGregor
Professor (cross-appointed with the Faculty of Health Sciences) and Canada Research Chair in Health Informatics

• Data warehousing, data mining and data stream event correlation;
• Health informatics;
• Intelligent decision support systems;
• Patient journey modelling;
• Service computing in health care;
• Women in Computing and information technology.

Dr. Jeff Moretz
Assistant professor

• Business models and strategies; and
• Impact of information, openness and information technologies on organizational designs.

Dr. Lennart Nacke
Assistant professor

• Entertainment computing;
• Game design;
• Human-computer interaction;
• Physiological and affective computing; and
• User experience.
• Additional languages spoken: German, Swedish

Dr. Jennifer Percival
Associate professor

• Blending learning;
• Business strategies;
• E-learning tools; and
• Management of information systems. 
• Additional language spoken: French

• Cognitive science in the context of gaming;
• Distributed algorithms;
• Fault tolerance;
• Mobile computing; and
• Object-oriented software engineering.
• Additional languages spoken: Chinese and French

Dr. Kamal Smimou
Associate professor

• Commodity/currency futures;
• International finance and emerging markets;
• Investments and portfolio choice;
• Market microstructure;
• Risk management and optimization in finance; and
• Socially responsible (SRI) investing.

Dr. Chirag Surti
Assistant professor

• Health-care operations;
• Operations management;
• Pricing and game theoretical models; and
• Supply chain management.

Dr. Julie Thorpe
Assistant professor

• Authentication and software security;
• Biometrics;
• Graphical passwords;
• Interaction between human factors and information technology security; and
• Operating system security and security policy.

Dr. Terry Wu
Professor

• International business;
• International marketing;
• North American Free Trade Agreement; and
• Trade policy.

Dr. Ying Zhu
Associate professor

• Network optimization;
• Peer-to-peer networks; and
• Wired and wireless networks.

Faculty of Education

Dr. Shawn Bullock
Assistant professor

• Adult education;
• Digital technologies in adult education;
• History of science and technology education;
• Science teacher education; and
• Teacher education.

Dr. Francois Desjardins
Associate professor

• E-pedagogy;
• Human-computer-human interaction;
• Mobile learning;
• Synchronous online learning; and
• Techno-pedagogical competency.

Dr. Maurice DiGiuseppe
Assistant professor

• Digital gaming in science education;
• Science education and science teacher education/professional development; and
• Science textbooks and digital teaching/learning resources.
• Additional language spoken: Italian

Dr. Allyson Eamer
Assistant professor

• Aboriginal language learning;
• Bilingualism/multilingualism in families, schools and communities;
• English as a second language education;
• Ethnolinguistics and sociolinguistics;
• First-language maintenance in immigrant families;
• Language and multiculturalism; and
• Online language learning.
• Additional languages spoken: French, Cantonese and Spanish

Dr. Jim Greenlaw
Professor and dean (on sabbatical July 1, 2012 until June 30, 2013, returning as professor)

• Curriculum theory;
• Educational technology in humanities classrooms;
• Higher education and education for all;
• Internationalizing faculties of education;
• Philosophy of education;
• Post-colonial literary theory; and
• Teaching English as a foreign language.

Dr. Janette Hughes 
Associate professor

• Critical literacies;
• Digital literacies;
• Language and literacy;
• Multiple literacies;
• New literacies; and
• Secondary school English pedagogy.

Dr. William Hunter
Professor and founding dean

• Leadership and change in higher education;
• Online learning and social cohesion;
• Teacher education; and
• Technology and learning.

Dr. Robin Kay 
Associate professor

• Classroom response systems;
• E-learning;
• Emotions and the use of technology;
• Gender differences in the use of technology;
• Laptop use and mobile technology in the classroom;
• Learning and technology;
• Measurement of computer attitude and ability;
• Multimedia learning; and
• Pre-service teachers and technology use in the classroom;
• Scale development (computer attitude, ability and use);
• Video podcasts; and
• Web-based learning tools (learning objects).

Dr. Ann LeSage
Assistant professor

• Algebraic thinking;
• Children's literature and mathematics;
• Development of teachers' mathematics content knowledge;
• Mathematics education (kindergarten to Grade 8);
• Mathematics histories and teacher development;
• Pre-service teacher education; and
• Video podcasts.

• Primary/junior/intermediate science education.

Dr. Lorayne Robertson
Assistant professor, director of Graduate programs

• Body image;
• Critical health literacy;
• Critical media literacy;
• Curriculum and assessment;
• Multiple literacies; and
• Technology leadership in schools.

Dr. Nick Scarfo
Assistant professor and director, Teacher Professional Development

• Educational law;
• Educational technology;
• Leadership theory; and
• Professionalism and ethics.

Dr. Shirley Van Nuland
Assistant professor

• Codes of conduct;
• Implications of Supreme Court of Canada judgments on schools, school boards, teachers and students; and
• Standards of practice and ethical standards for the teaching profession.
• Additional language spoken: Dutch

Dr. Roland van Oostveen 
Associate professor

• Educational informatics;
• e-Learning and m-Learning;
• Online learning curriculum development;
• Problem-based learning (PBL) in online environments; and
• Virtual environment creation.

Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science

Dr. George Bereznai 
Dean and professor

• Nuclear power plants. 
• Additional language spoken: Hungarian

Dr. Hossam A. Gabbar
Associate professor

• Chemical plant process engineering;
• Green hybrid energy planning;
• Nuclear power plant control and safety system design;
• Oil and gas plant safety management;
• Operation design;
• Risk-based smart grid control design; and
• Shutdown and disaster management system design.
• Additional languages spoken: Japanese and Arabic

Dr. Glenn Harvel
Associate professor

• Electrohydrodynamical (EHD) phenomena;
• Instrumentation;
• Neutron radiography; and
• Nuclear thermalhydraulics.

Dr. Lixuan Lu 
Associate professor

• Instrumentation and control;
• Networked control;
• Reliability and safety assessment; and
• Risk-informed maintenance.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Rachid Machrafi 
Assistant professor

• ADS systems and nuclear waste transmutation;
• Applied radiation science;
• Radiation detection; and
• Space radiation.
• Additional languages spoken: Arabic, French and Russian

Dr. Igor Pioro 
Associate professor

• Heat engineering;
• Nuclear engineering; and
• Thermal sciences.
• Additional languages spoken: Russian and Ukrainian

Dr. Anthony Waker
Professor

• Microdosimetry and radiation biophysics; and
• Nuclear instruments and methods.

Dr. Ed Waller 
Professor

• Health physics.

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science

Dr. Michael Bennett
Associate dean

• General engineering;
• Project management;
• Software disasters; and
• Software engineering.

Dr. Ibrahim Dincer 
Professor

• Energy and environment policies and program implementation techniques;
• Energy and exergy analyses of thermal systems and applications;
• Energy conversion and conservation;
• Food refrigeration, cooling, heating and drying applications;
• Heat transfer in thermal processes and applications;
• Hydrogen energy and fuel cells;
• Refrigeration systems and applications;
• Solar thermal systems and applications;
• Thermal energy storage systems and applications; and
• Transport phenomena in complex/advanced thermal-fluid systems and processes. 
• Additional language spoken: Turkish

Dr. Ebrahim Esmailzadeh
Professor

• Active vibration control;
• Directional control and stability of commercial vehicles;
• Intelligent and electric vehicles;
• Nonlinear dynamical systems;
• Optimal and nonlinear control systems;
• System modelling and optimization;
• Semi-active and active vibration control;
• System dynamics;
• Vehicle and ride dynamics;
• Vehicle suspension analysis; and
• Vibration of machines and flexible structures.
• Additional language spoken: Farsi

Dr. Min Dong
Assistant professor

• Adaptive signal processing for communications;
• Statistical signal processing; and
• Wireless communication systems and networks.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Mikael Eklund 
Director, Electrical and Software Engineering programs

• Electrical engineering;
• Healthcare information technology; and
• Mobile robotics.

Dr. Ali Grami
Professor

• Satellite communications.
• Additional language spoken: Farsi (Persian)

Dr. Yuping He
Assistant professor

• Design optimization;
• Mechatronic systems modelling and simulation;
• Vehicle chassis design; and
• Vehicle system dynamics. 
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Hossam Kishawy
Director, Automotive, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering programs

• Finite element modelling;
• Machining;
• Material and manufacturing; and
• Stress analysis of residual stresses.
• Additional language spoken: Arabic

Dr. Ramiro Liscano
Associate professor

• Access control;
• Distributed computing;
• Pervasive and ubiquitous computing;
• Semantic knowledge representation;
• Sensor networks; and
• Service-oriented architectures (SOA).

Dr. Lixuan Lu 
Assistant professor

• Instrumentation and control;
• Networked control;
• Reliability and safety assessment; and
• Risk-informed maintenance.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Greg F. Naterer 
Associate dean, Research and Graduate Studies, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems and professor

• Clean energy systems;
• Fluid mechanics;
• Heat transfer; and
• Hydrogen technologies.

Dr. Scott Nokleby 
Assistant professor

• Advanced kinematics;
• Automation;
• Mechanisms;
• Mechatronics;
• Mobile-manipulator systems mechanism;
• Redundant manipulator systems;
• Robot design optimal design; and
• Robotics.

Dr. Vinh Quan
Lecturer

• Forecasting;
• Inventory control;
• Labour and production scheduling; and
• Quality control.

Dr. Shahryar Rahnamayan
Assistant professor

• Evolutionary computation and its applications; and
• Medical image processing.
• Additional language spoken: Azerbaijani, Farsi (Persian) and Turkish

Dr. Ghaus Rizvi 
Associate professor

• Composite processing and characterization;
• Materials science;
• Polymer processing and characterization; and
• Thermal spray coatings. 
• Additional language spoken: Urdu

Dr. Marc A. Rosen 
Professor

• Energy efficiency and conservation;
• Energy technologies and use;
• Engineering education;
• Environmental impact of engineering systems; and
• Renewable energy.

Dr. Shahram Shahbazpanahi
Assistant professor

• Signal processing; and
• Wireless communications. 
• Additional languages spoken: Farsi (Persian) and Kurdish

Dr. Vijay K. Sood
Associate professor

• Flexible AC Transmission Systems;
• High Voltage DC Transmission systems;
• Power electronics; and
• Power systems.
• Additional language spoken: French

Dr. Dan Zhang 
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Robotics and Automation

• Advanced manufacturing technologies;
• Design optimization techniques;
• Mechatronics;
• Modelling and simulation of complex mechanical systems; and
• Robotics.
• Additional language spoken: Mandarin

Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr. Emma Bartfay 
Associate professor

• Caregiver burden;
• Dementia care;
• Global health;
• Patient outcomes; and
• Quality of life of patients and caregivers.

Dr. Wally Bartfay
Associate professor

• Caregiver burden associated with chronic disease;
• Global health;
• Health-related quality of life;
• Men in nursing; and
• Public and population health.

Dr. Carolyn Byrne
Professor (on leave)

• Depression;
• Health care;
• Mental health;
• Nursing; and
• Post-partum depression.

Dr. Sue Coffey
Associate professor; director of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program

• Accessible post-secondary education for non-traditional students;
• Curriculum evaluation;
• Innovative nursing curriculum; and
• Nursing theory development.

Dr. Brenda Gamble
Assistant professor

• Funding and delivery of medical laboratory services;
• Health human resources;
• Health policy analysis;
• Health services research;
• Interprofessional education and collaboration; and
• Public/private sectors in health care;

Dr. Clemon George
Assistant professor

• Community-based research;
• Sexual health (HIV, STD and MSM research);
• Race and ethnicity, particularly African/Caribbean;
• Social epidemiology; and
• Youth and women.

Dr. Ayush Kumar
Assistant professor

• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria;
• Efflux proteins;
• Gene regulation;
• Gram-negative bacteria; and
• Multi-drug resistance (MDR).
• Additional language spoken: Hindi

• Chronic diseases;
• Gerontology;
• Health human resources;
• Living with diabetes;
• Oncology and end-of-life;
• Quality-of-life; and
• Program evaluation. 
• Additional language spoken: French

Dr. Gail Lindsay
Associate professor

• End-of-life care;
• Experience of students, nurses and patients;
• Narrative inquiry;
• Nursing knowledge development;
• Reflective practice and the use of 'I' in scholarship; and
• Science of nursing education through curriculum development and evaluation.

Dr. Meghann Lloyd
Assistant professor

• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DSD);
• Children and infants;
• Down Syndrome;
• Obesity in children with disabilities;
• Physical activity and motor development with and without disabilities; and
• Physical literacy.

Dr. Fletcher Lu
Assistant professor (on leave)

• Artificial intelligence;
• Computers and health care;
• Fraud detection;
• Health informatics; and
• Robotics.

Dr. Bernadette Murphy
Professor; director of Bachelor of Health Science and Bachelor of Allied Health Sciences programs

• Chronic back and neck pain;
• Exercise for chronic health conditions;
• Neural adaptation and learning;
• Neural effects of exercise;
• Neurophysiology of musculoskeletal treatments;
• Overuse injuries; and
• Sensorimotor integration.

Dr. Kevin Power
Assistant professor

• Exercise and neuromuscular physiology;
• Neuroscience; and
• Nervous system excitability.

Dr. John Samis
Assistant professor

• Bacterial protease and prion protein biochemistry;
• Bleeding;
• Blood coagulation;
• Inflammation and acquired blood disorders;
• Infections; and
• Thrombosis.

Dr. Otto Sanchez 
Associate professor; director of Research and Partnerships

• Educational technology in health;
• Environmental factors of cancer;
• Knowledge synthesis and translation in environmental health; and
• Pathophysiology of cancer.
• Additional language spoken: Spanish

Dr. Wendy Stanyon 
Associate professor

• Community health nursing;
• Mental health/illness awareness (first responders, general population);
• Mental health training, education tools (mindsight) and simulations; and
• Vulnerable populations.

Dr. Holly Jones-Taggart
Associate professor

• Cancer cell response to external stimuli;
• Molecular manipulation techniques;
• Nutritional genomics education; and
• Technology-enhanced strategies for delivery of health sciences education.

Dr. Ellen Vogel
Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences

• Chronic disease prevention;
• Food and nutrition policy;
• Food security;
• Nutritional genomics;
• Nutrition labelling;
• Teaching and learning technologies; and
• Telecommuting.

Dr. Robert Weaver
Professor; director of Graduate Studies

• Chronic disease self-management;
• Clinical decision support;
• Community health and community-based research;
• Knowledge coupling;
• Health informatics
• Social capital; and
• Social detriments of health.

Dr. Paul Yielder
Assistant professor and associate dean

• Anatomical modelling;
• Computed tomography;
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI);
• Neuroscience and neuroanatomy;
• Performance asymmetry;
• Psychopathology; and
• Ultrasound.

Dr. Hilde Zitzelsberger
Assistant professor

• Chronic illnesses;
• Community health;
• Disabilities and differences;
• Gender and health (i.e. women and girls); and
• Health-care technologies.

Faculty of Science

Dr. Peter Berg 
Assistant professor

• Energy science;
• Fuel cells;
• Hydrogen technologies;
• Oil and gas peak; and
• Traffic flow. 
• Additional languages spoken: German and Norwegian

Dr. Sean Bohun
Assistant professor

• Analytic, asymptotic and numerical solution of nonlinear processes;
• Applied mathematics;
• Mathematical modelling of problems from industry; and
• Mathematical modelling specializing in the growth of crystals.

Dr. Jeremy Bradbury
Assistant professor

• Software development; and
• Software quality assurance.

Dr. Pietro-Luciano Buono 
Assistant professor

• Dynamical systems;
• Mathematics; and
• Mathematical models of biological phenomena. 
• Additional languages spoken: French and Italian

Dr. Brad Easton 
Assistant professor

• Electrochemistry;
• Fuel cells;
• Materials science; and
• Polymer electrolytes.

Dr. Shari Forbes 
Assistant professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Decomposition Chemistry

• Analytical chemistry;
• Forensic science; and
• Taphonomy and decomposition.

Dr. Sean Forrester 
Assistant professor

• Molecular biology;
• Neurochemistry;
• Parasitic nematodes; and
• Pharmacology.

Dr. Franco Gaspari 
Assistant professor

• Nanotechnologies;
• Photovoltaics; and
• Semiconductors. 
• Additional language spoken: Italian

Dr. Mark Green 
Professor

• Computer games;
• Computer graphics;
• Computers in the entertainment industry;
• Digital media; and
• Virtual reality.

Dr. Douglas Holdway 
Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Toxicology

• Aquatic toxicology;
• Effects of toxicants on aquatic organisms;
• Fish physiology;
• Metals;
• Pesticides; and
• Pulp mill effluents. 
• Additional language spoken: limited French

Dr. Andrea Kirkwood
Assistant professor

• Algae;
• Aquatic ecology;
• Environmental science;
• Fate of contaminants; and
• Invasive species.

Dr. Greg Lewis 
Associate professor

• Applied mathematics;
• Computational science; and
• Mathematical modelling.

Dr. Fedor Naumkin
Assistant professor

• Cluster science;
• Computational chemistry;
• Electronic structure of polyatomic systems;
• Intermolecular interactions; and
• Molecular junctions and interfaces.
• Additional languages spoken: Russian and Ukrainian

Dr. Krisztina Paal
Assistant professor

• Biological chemistry;
• Ligand-protein interactions;
• Protein modification; and
• Targeted drug delivery.
• Additional languages spoken: German and Hungarian

Dr. Ken Pu 
Assistant professor

• Computer and information systems.

• Microbial ecology;
• Microbiology genomics;
• Phylogenetic analysis; and
• Proteomics streptomyces.

Faculty of Social Science and Humanities

Dr. Shahid Alvi
Associate dean and professor

• Immigrant women;
• Poverty and crime;
• Violence against women; and
• Youth crime.

Dr. Nawal Ammar
Dean and professor

• Battered immigrant women;
• Islamic law and violence against women;
• Muslims and incarceration;
• Women in prison; and
• Women in the Middle East and Islam.
• Additional language spoken: Arabic

Dr. Sasha Baglay
Assistant professor

• Immigration law and policy; and
• Refugee law and policy. 
• Additional languages spoken: Russian and Ukrainian

Dr. Liqun Cao
Professor

• Comparative criminology;
• Criminological theory;
• Gun control;
• Juvenile delinquency;
• Policing; and
• School violence.
• Additional language spoken: Chinese

Dr. Carla Cesaroni
Assistant professor

• Corrections/penology;
• Youth in custody; and
• Youth justice.
• Additional language spoken: Italian

• Perceptions of gender;
• Stereotypes and prejudice; and
• Wrongful conviction.

Dr. Wesley Crichlow
Associate professor

• Anti-racist education;
• Critical race theory and human rights;
• First Nations criminal law;
• Gay and lesbian issues;
• Meditation alternatives;
• Policing and racial minority communities;
• Popular culture and youth;
• Race and immigration;
• Racial minorities and the law; and
• Youth and the law.

Dr. Brian Cutler
Professor

• Eyewitness memory; and
• Forensic psychology.

Dr. Walter DeKeseredy
Professor

• Criminal justice policy;
• Hate crime;
• Poverty and crime; and
• Woman abuse.

Dr. Molly Dragiewicz
Assistant professor

• Child custody;
• Fathers' rights groups;
• Human trafficking;
• Violence and gender; and
• Woman abuse.

Dr. Judith Grant
Assistant professor

• Addiction to/recovery from controlled substances;
• Community-academic alliances;
• Community activism;
• Drugs and gender;
• Drugs in society;
• Public policy; and
• Violence against women.

Dr. Ron Hinch
Professor

• Criminology theory;
• Policing violent crime;
• Serial murder;
• Violence against women; and
• Violent crime.

Dr. Sharon Lauricella (Loverock)
Instructor

• Information literacy; and
• Laptop use in post-secondary education.

Dr. Patrik Olsson
Assistant professor

• Child participation;
• Children and adolescents in conflict with the law;
• Children and discriminatory practices; and
• Rights of children.
• Additional languages spoken: Swedish and Spanish

Dr. Hannah Scott
Associate professor

• Crime prevention through environmental design;
• Gender and crime;
• Homicide;
• Statistics; and
• Victimology.