Aster Penney
Aster Penney is the Partnerships Assistant at the Future Cities Institute, working to expand the FCI’s vast network of collaborators, identify funding opportunities, and assist drafting proposals. He brings a diverse range of expertise in research, writing, and data analysis from their educational background in Health Sciences. He has previously worked in research, communications, and advocacy, and volunteers regularly on campus. Aster is excited to expand their knowledge and work alongside the passionate team at the Future Cities Institute!
Ben Kroeker
Ben Kroeker is a Partnerships Assistant at the Future Cities Institute. His work involves supporting and managing grant proposals and reports, highlighting FCI project outcomes and impacts. He maintains partner databases and supports internal documentation and record-keeping. Majoring in Environment, Resources and Sustainability, Ben brings a comprehensive understanding of environmental policy and sustainability, further informed by his completion of a certificate in Renewable Energy Techniques and ongoing studies in Environmental Policy, Politics, and Governance.
Len Dizdar
Len Dizdar is a Research Assistant and Software Developer at the Future Cities Institute, where he and his team are creating a tool for city planners and developers that promotes data-driven decision making in municipal growth management. With a pre-existing passion for walkability and sustainable transportation, he is delighted to be working with diverse organizations spanning the field. He is eager to apply his background in Data Science to solving complex problems in modelling, simulation, and data visualization, all while broadening his horizons with the FCI.
Leah Versluis
Leah Versluis is a Partnerships Assistant at the Future Cities Institute, where she works on a variety of research projects, including researching Welcoming Cities. A 4th year Environment, Resources, and Sustainability student with a minor in Urban Studies, Leah is passionate about ensuring the sustainability of future urban spaces. With previous co-op experiences in environmental planning and urban microclimate research, she is excited to apply her skills and creativity to this role, while continuing her learning with the FCI.
Praveena Chenthooran
Praveena Chenthooran is a Student Developer Intern at the Future Cities Institute, where she contributes to the development of AI-driven tools that support community and economic development initiatives. She works on building scalable, production-ready artificial intelligence systems that move beyond experimentation and into real-world application. As a first-year Systems Design Engineering student, she has a strong foundation in systems thinking, software development, and applied machine learning. Her technical interests include end-to-end AI pipeline development, data engineering workflows, model deployment, and retrieval-augmented systems. She is eager to apply these skills to interdisciplinary projects that create meaningful, data-informed impact and is excited to continue growing within the collaborative environment at the Future Cities Institute.
Jimmy Phan
Jimmy Phan is a Research Assistant at the Future Cities Institute, where he leads the development of a municipality-wide development charges dashboard and specializes in transforming FCI’s proprietary datasets into actionable insights. With a background in Computer Engineering and extensive co-op experience in machine learning and data analytics, Jimmy is excited to leverage an engineering mindset to drive data-informed decision-making and is dedicated to collaborating across interdisciplinary teams to create a measurable impact on communities.