Contacts

Research interests: 

Jennifer Boger’s research focuses on intelligent technologies for enhancing the safety, health, wellbeing, and independence of older adults and people with disabilities. Jennifer employs transdisciplinary collaboration throughout her research to advance theory and create operational technologies that reflect the needs, abilities, and contexts of the people using them. A central theme to her research is the development of ambient zero-effort technologies – technologies that blend into people’s environments and operate with little or no perceived effort.

Primary affiliations

- Professor, Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo
- Schlegel Chair in Technology for Independent Living, Research Institute for Aging

Secondary affiliations

- Professor (cross-appointed), School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo
- Scientist (affiliated), AI & Robotics group, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute

Education

- BSc – Biological Engineering, University of Guelph
- MSc – Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
- PhD – Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University

Hajar is pursuing her PhD program in Systems Design Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Boger, Dr. George Shaker, Dr. Alex Wong and Dr. Plinio Morita. With background in microwave imaging, antenna design and machine learning, the focus of her research is on the use of radar in the smart bed. She is developing a sensor that uses electromagnetic waves to continually monitor patients at home or hospital without visual camera. Her research interests include radar systems, microwave imaging, antennas and wave propagation. 

Aishwarya recently started her MASc in Systems Design Engineering at UWaterloo. She has more than a year of experience as a software developer. Her research interests include HCI and AI. Under the supervision of Dr Jennifer Boger and Dr Kerstin Dautenhahn, her research focuses on promoting intergenerational relationships through social robotics. 

 
I am a third year doctoral student in Developmental Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Nicky Newton at Wilfrid Laurier University. My dissertation, funded by International Society for Study of Behavioral Development- Jacobs Foundation Fellowship for Early Career Scholars, examines the role of social support provided by a volunteer-based telephone helpline program in older adults’ lives. To extend my current research, I am also working with Dr. Boger’s Intelligent Technologies for Wellness and Independent Living team to design and evaluate innovative technology-based applications which promote healthy aging. Through advocacy, research, and creating innovative products, I am passionate about enhancing older adults’ and their care-partners' health, well-being, social connections, and overall quality of life.

I'm in third year Computer Engineering at University of Waterloo, and I have interest in Machine Learning, Cloud Development, and Big data.

I graduated with a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering – Control Systems in 2016. I am currently a master student in Systems Design Engineering at university of Waterloo. Under supervision of Dr. Jennifer Boger and Professor John McPhee the emphasis of my research is on rehabilitation, using the stroke rehabilitation robot for reducing pusher behavior in people with pusher syndrome. We are also interested to see how using machine learning along with head-mounted virtual reality might be used to enhance rehabilitation outcomes.

No one can ignore the vital role of science and technology in improvement of human life. By using my knowledge to build advances devices, I am here to be part of this improvement process to facilitate people’s lives. In my leisure time I like to go mountain climbing, caving, swimming.

With a specialization in health informatics and health research, Apery Kira is a Health Studies student who is working on a project to develop a driving self-assessment application for older adults to support the idea of early planning for driving cessation and to promote safe driving decisions. She has collaborated on a scoping review of ICT-mediated integrated care practices. As her honours thesis, she has also completed a systematic review on the efficacy of telehealth in multimorbid, older adults with cardiovascular disease. By joining the ITWIL lab, Apery aims to apply the skills she has gained as a School of Public Health and Health Systems student and from her co-op experiences as a research assistant for Sinai Health Systems and the Department of Psychology to aid the development of technology that empowers older adults to take control of their health and enables them to improve their safety and quality of life.

I’m currently a MASc student in Systems Design Engineering Department at University of Waterloo. My research and thesis work on developing VR exergames as well as effectiveness measures of the games in promoting physical activities by people with dementia. My research interests lie in healthcare, human factors, UI/UX designs, and even AI for developing ambient technologies.

I am a PhD student in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo with a background in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Joining machine learning and data analytics models with models of human behavior, I am interested in finding innovative ways to improve human-computer interaction. My research interests include:

• User-experience research
• Human factors engineering
• Decision making
• Cognitive task analysis
• Interface design and integration

At University of Waterloo, my research concentrates on developing an adaptive user interface for a mobile phone application designed to support people with cognitive impairments in task management and problem solving in the workplace. This research is supervised by Dr. Jennifer Boger and has received the AGE-WELL Graduate Award in Technology and Aging (2019). Moreover, it is part of a trans-Atlantic and transdisciplinary project between universities from Canada, Sweden, and Finland looking at legislation, problem-solving, and technology creation for people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment at work. See more information about MCI@Work here.

John Muñoz is a research scientist and game designer interested in using human body signals to create more "humanized" assistive technologies based on games and interactive systems. John’s research has been applied mainly in healthcare scenarios from physical activity promotion for the seniors to neurorehabilitation games for stroke patients. John has designed and co-developed a dozen videogames interfaced with physiological sensors such as brain-computer interfaces (BCI), heart rate monitors, depth cams, and wearable electromyography armbands as well as a set of software tools that to promote the synergy between physiological computing and gaming. 

Education
BSc: Physics Engineering, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (Colombia)
Msc: Electric Engeneering, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, (Colombia)​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​PhD: Human-Computer Interaction, Universidade da Madeira, (Portugal)

Following my undergrad in Engineering Design at IIT Madras, I've enrolled in the MASc program in Systems Design Engineering at UW. Under the supervision of Professors Jennifer Boger and Siby Samuel, I am working on developing a quantitative assessment tool to identify the stage of dementia when an affected person poses a risk as an active driver. My technical interests lie in UI/UX design and applications of machine learning to medical devices.

Logan Reis (B.Sc.) is a full-time graduate student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems with a focus in Gerontology. His research experience includes working for multiple research centers and programs in the fields of health studies, systems design engineering, and the advancement of co-operative education. Through these positions he has garnered experience in writing manuscripts for peer review and research grants for project funding, performing quantitative and qualitative analysis, conducting observational field notes and interviews and user testing with research participants. His areas of expertise are in health of older adults, with a focus on dementia and other mild cognitive impairments. His systems design research has also sparked interest in what assistive technologies exist to improve health and prevent functional decline in the aging population.

I’m a MASc candidate in Systems Design Engineering department. I graduated in Electrical Engineering and I have several years of experience in design and development of various software modules particularly for substation automation applications. I have also implemented different data communication protocols used in electrical industry. Currently, I’m working under supervision of Dr. Boger on development of an interface for a cognitive computing system (CARE-RATE application) as well as creation of novel ways of eliciting user context, passing this to the CARE-RATE engine, and returning relevant data to the user.