Welcome to the October edition of Profound Connections.
In this issue of the newsletter, we launch Early Career Spotlight, where you’ll meet outstanding young researchers working on topics ranging from AI (Artificial Intelligence) to theoretical astrophysics to sustainable agriculture. This month we feature Computer Science PhD candidate, Domenic Rosati, who is conducting pioneering research on AI safety at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
This issue’s Researcher Spotlight profiles Kate Larson, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo and Research Scientist at DeepMind. Kate’s research focuses on multiagent systems and reinforcement learning, and applications of AI to support sustainable development and climate-related initiatives.
September was a busy month for the Profound Impact team. We celebrated the fifth annual Profound Impact Day on Monday, September 16, 2024. Inaugurated in 2019, Profound Impact Day is a celebration of the world’s diverse leaders, changemakers, and researchers who are leaving their mark on the global community through their initiatives, influence, and impact.
This year we recognized Roger Grosse, University of Toronto, Ali Ouni, ETS Montréal, and Liam Paull, Université de Montréal, the three winners of the CS-Can|Info-Can Outstanding Early Career Computer Science Researcher Award. Professors Ouni and Paull participated in a panel discussion with Feridun Hamdullahpur, former President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Waterloo and inaugural winner of the Impactful Actions Award.
Celebrations also included a conversation between Dr. Kelly Lyons, Professor, Faculty of Information and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, and Chair of the CSCan-InfoCan Awards Committee and Profound Impact’s Sherryl Petricevic. Kelly and Sherryl talked about the vital importance, challenges and benefits of industry-academia collaboration and the challenges of early-stage career research.
Check out the conversations with Kelly Lyons and the award winners on Profound Impact’s YouTube channel.
Profound Impact participated in the launch of Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW) Waterloo Region on September 18. This exciting event featured passionate conversations with forward-thinking investors, ambitious founders, and dedicated ecosystem leaders. We’re proud to be part of the powerful movement to bridge the funding gap for women-led businesses and reshape the future of angel investing.
We were pleased to sponsor the Accelerator Centre’s She Talks Tech event, a conversation focused on fostering a supportive environment for the next generation of women in STEM, on September 26. I participated in a panel conversation with other women entrepreneurs, innovators, creatives, and academics who have overcome barriers in their STEM careers. A full recording of the event can be found here.
Profound Impact team members Jacqueline Watty and Sherryl Petricevic were present to support our partner, Innovation Factory, southwestern Ontario’s business accelerator for tech innovation, at the 14th annual LiONS LAIR pitch competition in Hamilton on September 26. LiONS LAIR showcases the best local talent and innovation in Brant, Halton, Hamilton and Norfolk. Congratulations to prize winners Infinite Harvest Technologies, Yellowbird Diagnostics, Inc., Maman Biomedical and DOUBL.
Want to see firsthand how the revolutionary matchmaking features of our AI-powered platform, Research Impact, can transform your research projects by finding the perfect funding match? Join us for University Research Impact Demo Day on 23rd. Sign up here to participate.
As always, thank you for your support and we hope you enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections!
Profound Impact is proud to sponsor the 2023 CS-Can|Info-Can Outstanding Early Career Computer Science Researcher Awards. The awards will be presented at the Second CS-Can|Info-Can Conference Co-Located with CASCON, November 11-14 at York University in Toronto. Congratulations to all three winners!
Roger Grosse of University of Toronto
Dr. Roger Grosse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. With a robust research focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence, Dr. Grosse’s work explores innovative approaches to learning algorithms and their applications. His research interests span topics such as neural network training, probabilistic models, and scalable learning methods.
Dr. Grosse holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and has contributed significantly to the field through numerous publications and collaborations. His work is instrumental in advancing our understanding of complex machine-learning systems and their practical implementations.
As a leading researcher, Dr. Grosse is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with machine learning technologies, making impactful contributions to both academia and industry.
Ali Ouni of ETS Montréal
Dr. Ali Ouni is a Professor at École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) in Montréal, specializing in computer vision and machine learning. His research focuses on developing advanced algorithms for visual perception, object recognition, and scene understanding.
Dr. Ouni’s work is pivotal in the fields of computer vision and artificial intelligence, where he explores innovative techniques to improve visual data analysis and interpretation. His contributions aim to enhance the capabilities of machine learning systems in understanding and interacting with visual information.
With a robust academic background and a strong track record of research, Dr. Ouni is dedicated to advancing the state of the art in computer vision and its applications, driving progress in both academic and practical contexts.
Liam Paull of Université de Montréal
Dr. Liam Paull is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at the Université de Montréal. His research focuses on robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with a particular emphasis on developing algorithms that enable robots to perceive and interact with complex environments.
Dr. Paull’s work explores areas such as autonomous systems, robot perception, and human-robot interaction. He is dedicated to advancing the field of robotics through innovative research and applications that address real-world challenges.
With a strong academic background and a commitment to impactful research, Dr. Paull is shaping the future of robotics and AI, contributing valuable insights and technological advancements to the field.
Profound Impact is thrilled to announce that we are joining forces with eVision Inc., a leading research tech company located in Montreal and known for its innovative solutions in research administration, compliance workflow and grant management. We are excited to combine our strengths as two leading research tech companies to make finding and managing research funding easier and more efficient than ever before. We’ll be announcing more details about this powerful collaboration and how it will redefine the future of research funding.
Profound Impact is proud to sponsor the CS-Can|Info-Can Outstanding Early Career Computer Science Researcher Awards. The awards will be presented at the Second CS-Can|Info-Can Conference Co-Located with CASCON, November 11-14 at York University in Toronto. In this issue of Profound Connections, you’ll meet award winners Richard Grosse, Liam Paull and Ali Ouni and learn about the research they’re conducting in areas including AI, Neural Networks, Robotics and Software Engineering.
Profound Impact team member, Adele Newton, was honoured by ACM SIGGRAPH, the global non-profit organization serving the evolution of computer graphics and interactive techniques, at the SIGGRAPH 2024 conference in Denver on July 30. Adele received the Outstanding Service Award for her forty years of outstanding service to the computer graphics community and the SIGGRAPH organization and conference. Congratulations, Adele!
Our team is working on plans for the 5th Profound Impact Day, usually held on September 14th, but this year we will be celebrating on September 16th. Profound Impact Day is a time to commemorate the world’s innovative researchers and changemakers who are leaving their mark on the global community through their research, innovation, and impact. Check out Profound Impact’s social media channels and next month’s issue of Profound Connections to learn how you can join us to celebrate these researchers and their ground-breaking achievements.
Are you ready to revolutionize your research process? To learn how you can use the power of our AI-driven platform, Research Impact, watch our demo to see how we automatically match researchers with the perfect funding opportunities, saving time and boosting success.
As always, thank you for your support and we hope that you enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections!
Dr. Kelly Lyons Professor, Faculty of Information, Cross-Appointed to the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto Interim Director, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society
Kelly Lyons has always loved solving tricky puzzles and enjoyed math and science in high school. “Physics was my favourite,” she says. But when Mr. Lowe, her physics teacher asked her what she wanted to do when she graduated, she told him she hadn’t decided. He had a suggestion: “You should try Computer Science. My daughter is a computer scientist. She loves math and she loves physics and now she makes a ton of money and travels all over the world.”
Kelly was born and raised in Fort Frances, Ontario, an isolated town of 8,000 people located between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. “I went across the border to International Falls, Minnesota, to movies, dances and even for my piano lessons.” While many of her friends got jobs after high school, Kelly wanted to go to University. “I loved everything about school. I loved studying. Weirdly, I even loved exams.” She took Mr. Lowe’s advice and traveled east to Queen’s University to study computer science.
After completing her undergraduate degree, she applied for, and was awarded, an NSERC postgraduate scholarship to attend graduate school. “At the time, many of my university classmates were applying for jobs, so I submitted my resume to Bell Northern Research, Nortel and IBM, all of whom were interviewing on campus.”
The manager from IBM was very enthusiastic during the interview. “I’ve already decided that I’m going to hire you,” announced the interviewer from IBM. “I just haven’t decided yet which team I’m going to put you on.”
Kelly deferred her NSERC scholarship for two years to take the job at IBM, where she worked on the testing team for Fortran compilers. “When I arrived at IBM, I told my manager that I would only be in the position for two years before returning to Queen’s for graduate school. He told me that he was going to pretend he didn’t hear that because if he did, I wouldn’t be offered the opportunities I deserved. And I might change my mind about grad school.”
At the end of those two years, newly married and ready to move back to Kingston for graduate school, Kelly let her manager know that she was leaving and asked for advice on how to resign. He suggested, and she agreed, to take a leave of absence instead so that she could, if she wished, return to IBM after completing her graduate work.
After earning her master’s degree, she applied to and was accepted into the PhD program at Queen’s. “When I told my manager that now I was definitely quitting, he said something I’ve never forgotten: ‘Never say never. The world could change. You could change. IBM could change.’ So, instead of quitting, I took an extended leave of absence.”
IBM launched CAS, the Centre for Advanced Studies, in Toronto as Kelly was approaching the completion of her PhD. When an IBM representative visited the Queen’s campus to talk about CAS, she met him for lunch and learned more about the centre. “This sounded like a great place,” says Kelly. “I then met with Jacob Slonim, the head of CAS Toronto, who was enthusiastic about having me join.”
Kelly’s first role at IBM was as a software developer. Nineteen years later, in 2004, she was appointed as the Head of CAS Toronto, where she was responsible for approximately 60 applied collaborative research projects with universities, approximately 100 visiting university researchers, and CASCON, Canada’s premier international general computer science conference which hosted over 1,500 attendees annually.
Kelly loved her work at CAS, where, in addition to heading the Centre, she co-supervised students and wrote research papers with them in her role as Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Dalhousie University and York University. “One of my proudest moments as the Head of CAS Toronto was when the CAS Toronto partnerships won the NSERCSynergy Award for Innovation in the Leo Derikx category for ‘an established innovative model of long-standing university-industry partnership in pre-competitive R&D that has improved the general well-being of an industry.’ Another proud moment was in 2005 when CAS Toronto celebrated incredible people and their inspiring stories via the Computing Pioneers of Canada.”
Kelly’s tenure at IBM was meant to be short-term. “I always knew I wanted to be a professor”, she says. The next logical career move at IBM would have been much more administratively heavy than her role heading CAS, leaving very little time to conduct research or work with students. It was time to pursue her dream of being a professor.
“I have been very lucky to work with outstanding researchers and leaders from across Canada while at CAS,” notes Kelly. She consulted with some of those researchers and was encouraged to apply for an open position within the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. She joined the faculty as Associate Professor in 2007 and is currently a Professor there with a cross-appointment to the Department of Computer Science.
Kelly’s experience in industry and as an active researcher has led her to work in a range of leadership roles at the University of Toronto. From 2015 to 2020, she was Associate Dean, Academic in the Faculty of Information, and from 2020 to 2021, she served as the Dean’s Advisor on Pandemic Planning and Response. She served as Acting Vice Dean, Research and Program Innovation, in the School of Graduate Studies from January to June 2023.
In January, 2024, Kelly was appointed Interim Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (SRI) at the University of Toronto after serving both as a faculty affiliate and one of the institute’s three associate directors. SRI’s focus on multi-disciplinary research on how technology, systems and society interact is a good fit for Kelly’s research on service science, knowledge mobilization, data science, social media, collaborative work and software engineering. “What defines a service system is value co-creation. It takes at least two entities to come together to co-create a service – it can’t be created without a client in mind. I conduct research on how social media can play the role of technological intermediary between and among service systems,” says Kelly.
Kelly has served the computer science community through her role on the Board of Directors of CS-Can|Info-Can from 2020 – 2023 and as a Member‐at‐Large of the ACM Council from 2008 to 2012. She has supported, advocated, and celebrated women in computing as a member of the Executive Council of ACM‐W and by her contribution to the book Rendering History: The Women of ACM-W. Kelly was one of nine influential women who expressed their views on representation within the technical and AI communities for a recent article in Forbes magazine. In the article by Hessie Jones, titled A Call For A Systemic Dismantling: These Women Refuse To Be Hidden Figures In The Development Of AI, she is quoted as saying, “I have been fortunate to be part of a strong network of very smart, technical women in industry and academia. We may be smaller in proportion within the technical community, but we are large in our voices, our contributions, and our support for one another. The need for initiatives increasing diversity in tech—and especially in the world of artificial intelligence—is vital. We must ensure that the people working on AI systems reflect the concerns, experiences, and identities of the populations affected by these systems. Advocating for women in the AI sector requires a strong, united voice.”
As she begins to plan for the next phase of her career, including plans for retirement, Kelly is focusing an increasing amount of her time on mentoring. “My plan is to retire from teaching and administration and to continue research as a Professor Emerita,” says Kelly. “I decided that I need a way to decide which of the opportunities presented to me to pursue. I am choosing those in which I can collaborate with and support women and others at the margins in Computer Science.”
Kelly’s career has included management and collaborative research roles at IBM, internationally-recognized research on developing technology with a human-centric approach, administrative leadership at the University of Toronto and service to the computer science community. And her success in her dream job as professor is best expressed by one of her students: “Kelly is a really good professor. She is compassionate and kind. She lights up the classroom with her passion about the subject matter.”
The first few weeks of 2024 have been busy as the Profound Impact team continues to work with universities and colleges and industry partners across Canada to deploy our AI-powered Research Impact tool, which matches researchers with the best research funding opportunities in their field and helps find industry partners to support successful grant applications. Through our innovative new partnership with CS-Can|Info-Can, the first of a series of collaborations with researchers across Canada, Profound Impact is providing CS-Can|Info-Can member Computer Science departments and researchers with free evaluations of Research Impact. Interested in learning more about Research Impact? You can view a video here or sign up for a live demonstration during one of the bi-weekly Demo Days that the Profound Impact team will be presenting throughout 2024.
I was pleased to share my insights on building Profound Impact’s team and our successful and healthy small business culture in the Grow a Small Business podcast. Profound Impact and my work were also featured in an edition of Women’s Biz podcast, where I talked about my journey in information security, my role in commercializing Elliptic Curve Cryptography, and the inspiration behind founding Profound Impact.
In August of 2023, Profound Impact announced the successful close of a $3.125 million pre-seed funding round of nearly all female investors, including many first-time angel investors. Inspired by this achievement, I joined forces with Profound Impact board chair Deborah Rosati and Lara Zink, VP of Client Service and Development at Delaney Capital Management, to create Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW). This collective, which challenges the status quo in the venture capital world and with first-time female angel investors by breaking barriers and building bridges for a more inclusive investment community, will launch in Toronto on February 7. You can read more about how WFW plans to change the VC landscape in Disruption Magazine’s recent article.
In this month’s Impact Story, you’ll meet WFW co-founder Lara Zink and learn more about her journey from working as a political aide to a successful career in finance. In our Researcher Spotlight, we profile Dr. Luigi Benedicenti, Professional Engineer, researcher and Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick, whose career took him from Genoa, Italy to Regina, Saskatchewan to Atlantic Canada.
We hope you enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections!
A recent partnership between CS-Can|Info-Can and tech startup Profound Impact creates the potential for Computer Science researchers to access new sources of funding.
WATERLOO, ON | JANUARY 23, 2024— Profound Impact™ Corporation, a technology company based in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor, is excited to announce its partnership with CS-Can|Info-Can, an organization with over 60 member Computer Science departments across Canada that aims to foster excellence in Computer Science research and higher education.
As part of this partnership, Profound Impact will provide CS-Can|Info-Can member Computer Science departments and researchers with free evaluations of Research Impact, Profound Impact’s AI-driven researcher to funding matching tool. Research Impact uses proprietary AI-powered algorithms to match industry and academic researchers with the over $300-billion available in funding opportunities worldwide.
“We are thrilled to embark on this transformative partnership with Profound Impact™ Corporation, as it signifies a significant stride forward for our CS-Can|Info-Can members. Profound Impact’s commitment to providing free evaluations of Research Impact, their cutting-edge AI-driven researcher-to-funding matching tool, aligns perfectly with our mission to foster excellence in Computer Science research and higher education across Canada. This collaboration opens doors for our member Computer Science departments and researchers, addressing the funding challenges that often hinder the expansion of vital research initiatives. We believe this partnership marks the beginning of a fruitful series of collaborations, empowering our members to achieve their funding goals and contribute to the advancement of Computer Science research in Canada.” says Gina van Dalen, Executive Director CS-Can|Info-Can.
This partnership with CS-Can|Info-Can is the first of a series of collaborations with researchers across Canada as Profound Impact works with industry leaders and researchers to initiate new research funding connections to help Canadian research institutions and their partners meet their funding goals.
“Computer Science research drives technological innovation. Yet many researchers and departments struggle to find funding to continue and expand their research,” says Profound Impact President & CEO, Dr. Sherry Shannon-Vanstone. “We are excited to offer this solution to the CS-Can|Info-Can membership. We all succeed when researchers get the funding they need to continue to innovate.”
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ABOUT PROFOUND IMPACT™ CORPORATION
Based in the Toronto-Waterloo technology corridor, Profound Impact’s AI-powered tool – Research Impact – helps academic and industry researchers find the perfect funding match. With over $300 Billion in research funding opportunities, 100,000s industry partners and 8.8 Million researchers globally, finding the optimal grant for academic and industry innovators is often overwhelming and unnecessarily time-consuming. More than just a search engine, Research Impact offers automatic, targeted and timely matching. Profound Impact’s customers include top North American research institutions, universities and industry partners. CEO and Founder Sherry Shannon-Vanstone is a serial technology entrepreneur with an unparalleled track record. She has had five successful start-ups and exits in Silicon Valley and Canada, including two IPOs and acquisitions.
About CS-Can|Info-Can
CS-Can|Info-Can counts among its members more than 60 Canadian organizations active in computing research: academic departments of computer science and computer engineering; laboratories and centres in industry, government, and academia; and affiliated professional societies. CS-Can|Info-Can works with these organizations to represent the computing research community and to effect change that benefits both computing research and society at large.
Profound Impact is excited to start the new year with the announcement of a new partnership with CS-Can|Info-Can, a professional organization representing more than 60 Computer Science departments and faculties across Canada.
CS-Can|Info-Can and Profound Impact worked together in 2023 to produce two webinars on researcher and industry collaboration. Recordings of those webinars are available for viewing here.
This new partnership provides an exciting benefit to the CS-Can|Info-Can members – a free evaluation of Research Impact, which uses advanced AI to match researchers with the best research funding opportunities in their field and helps find industry partners to support successful grant applications.
Would you like to see Research Impact in action? You can view a video here or sign up for a live demonstration during one of the bi-weekly Demo Days that the Profound Impact team will be presenting throughout 2024.
This month, we’re proud to present profiles of two 2023 Impactful Action Award finalists. These finalists exemplify what it means to make a profound impact in the world, and we are honoured to share their stories. You’ll meet Leigh Zachary Bursey, an activist, journalist, former three-term politician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and author, and Lynn Smith, a proud member of the Peavine Métis Settlement who is leading her northern community through a significant change to take control over monitoring the impact of climate change on their land and waterways.
The Profound Impact team is excited about our plans for 2024 and looks forward to sharing those with you. Enjoy this month’s edition of Profound Connections and best wishes for a productive and happy new year!
