Profiles

Allyson Kukel leads Airline Engagement for the Halldale Group which specializes in aviation training. She is the product owner of a collaborative effort between the Halldale Group and the ATPG, a sub-group of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is currently striving towards their Big Data MVP.

Dr. Costa Kapsis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Costa’s research lies at the interface between science, engineering and architectural design with an emphasis on energy in buildings and communities. His research is focused on questions of energy efficiency, solar energy generation and energy transaction in the built environment.

Dan Chaudhry is the co-founder of Sky Sight Inc. and a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Bachelor’s of Geography and Aviation program. Dan has a passion for aviation and during his time as a student he founded the University of Waterloo Aviation Society - a student association focused fostering a foster a community for those interested in aviation. Dan completed his flight training at the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre and holds a CPL, Group 1 Instrument Rating, and Class 4 Flight Instructor Rating.

University research chair in Global Change and Tourism, Dr. Daniel Scott is a professor in and the director of the Master of Climate Change program. Scott received his doctorate in 1998 and has served in a variety of directorships and chair roles at the University of Waterloo since 2003, including executive director of the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change at the University of Waterloo. Scott has worked extensively in the area of climate change and the global tourism sector, including the transition to a low carbon tourism economy and adaptation to the complex impacts of a changing climate, having published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles on these topics.

To advance science in these areas of interests, Derek is currently using remotely piloted aircraft to remotely sense agriculture and urban areas using thermal, multi-spectral, and LiDAR sensors. Collected data are used for a variety of purposes that include: quantifying natural processes (e.g., erosion, carbon storage) at the scale of individual property parcels or agricultural fields; calibrate and validate models of natural processes; and among other interests, generate 3D immersive environments for visualization and knowledge transfer.

Dr. Logan Jones works on operational analytics for NAVBLUE, to improve efficiency and planning in airline flight operations and innovate to provide airlines with solutions for sustainability. Previously with Airbus, he worked on the development and certification of Airbus’ Runway Overrun Prevention System and Braking Action Computation Function. He served on EUROCAE and ASTM standardization committees for runway safety technologies and spoke on runway safety at IATA, ICAO and Flight Safety conferences.

Dr. Martin (Marty) Smith completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Waterloo and since completing his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Université du Québec à Montréal 28 years ago he has developed numerous decision-making software solutions that target and mitigate the psychological drivers for operational non-compliance.  Airlines, Air Navigation, and Airport Authorities around the world have deployed his solutions. Marty is a noted conference speaker and consultant to IATA, ICAO, TSB, NTSB, Eurocontrol, and Flight Safety Foundation.  Most importantly Marty remains an active pilot, having accumulated numerous endorsements and licenses over his 43 years of flying.

Sunjoo Advani graduated from the University of Waterloo in Mechanical Engineering in 1985. After completing his M.A.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto, he was offered a position as Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. There, he created the SIMONA institute and its unique flight simulator, conducted research in simulation and Human Factors, and completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering. His company IDT provides specialised knowledge to airlines, aviation authorities, airframe manufacturers and research institutes.  

Dr. Elizabeth Irving is a clinician/scientist with internationally recognized expertise in vision science including eye tracking and binocular vision. Good vision is widely being advocated as an important factor learning. Irving has led a variety of different types of studies; evaluating ocular parameters, validating novel testing procedures, investigating the need for stereopsis (depth perception) in military helicopter pilots, studying the effects of space flight on the eye, studying eye tracking in concussion and investigating new ways of educating the public on eye disease and eye care.

Dr. Evan Risko is currently an associate professor and a Canada Research Chair in Embodied and Embedded Cognition in the Department of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. Since receiving his PhD at the University of Waterloo, he has been pursuing his research interests in issues related to the embodied and embedded nature of cognition and the utilization of cognitive psychology to help improve practices in education and training. He has published over 100 papers, received research funding from numerous agencies (i.e., NSERC, SSHRC, CFI), worked with numerous industry partners and received various accolades for his research including Early Career awards from the Psychonomic Society, the Province of Ontario, and the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science.

Dr. Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo completed her graduate work at the University of Toronto and joined the University of Waterloo in 2012. Her research program is grounded in systems neuroscience and focuses on discovering the fundamental mechanisms involved in the central nervous system control of eye and hand movements across the lifespan. She has expertise in the field of visuomotor neuroscience, including gaze behaviour, hand-eye coordination, motor skill development and learning. 

Fatma Gzara is an Associate Professor with the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests lie in the areas of optimization, network models, supply chain management, transportation risk and logistics. Currently, she uses bi-level mathematical modelling to determine the routes that trucks carrying hazardous materials will be most likely to take. Professor Gzara gathers real data and uses it to keep residential and industrial areas safe. In the last few years, she has written articles for journals such as Operations Research Letters, Telecommunication Systems, and the European Journal of Operational Research. 

Jeremy Wang is co-founder and COO of Ribbit, a venture-backed startup creating the world's first airline to use fully autonomous aircraft. Since founding in 2020, Ribbit completed the first hands-free gate-to-gate flight in Canada, received approvals for remotely piloted test flights in Alberta, signed on multiple online retailers and wholesalers, and has been awarded a federal contract to resupply remote northern communities. Prior Ribbit, Jeremy was CTO of one of Canada's top drone operators and named as one of AIAA's 20 Twenties in 2018. He holds a BASc in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Captain John Craig is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and the Aviation program at Seneca College and is currently the Director of Training for a major airline in Canada, responsible for all pilot training programs. He currently flies the Boeing 777 and has over 30 years of experience in flight training in various roles from ab-initio to turboprop and large jet transport aircraft.

Dr. Mehrdad Pirnia, a PhD Waterloo alumnus in Electrical and Computer Engineering, is a faculty member and Graduate Attributes lecturer in the Department of Management Sciences. His main research focus is enhancing the operation and planning of energy and transportation systems through artificial intelligence, optimization and stochastic techniques. He has previously held positions with California ISO, ALSTOM Grid, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Naila's research explores how gaze behaviour can provide an objective measure of information processing, decision-making and complex skill performance. She is currently working to apply these questions to aviation education with the broader goal of enhancing our understanding of the complex human factors involved in piloting an aircraft and guiding the development of novel training paradigms and industry practices.  

Paul is a sustainability researcher with a passion for low carbon aviation and a love of teaching. He brings social science expertise to a diverse set of energy and development research projects, often with engineer colleagues. He has 175 publications and over 230 presentations on a broad range of projects: zero-carbon buildings, energy retrofits, smart grid technologies, renewables in remote communities, sustainable economic development and community energy planning. Electric and low carbon aviation is the next challenge.                                      

Shi Cao (“SHER TSAO”) studies human factors engineering. His research projects include human performance and workload modeling, human-machine system reliability, the applications of virtual and augmented reality, and new aviation training technologies. Cao has developed computational cognitive models and human performance prediction systems (Google Scholar list). He is also the director of Human Optimization Modelling Lab (HOMLab) and the Committee Chair of the Collaborative Aeronautics Program.

Dr. Suzanne Kearns is an aviation academic with a focus on education and optimizing pilot performance, receiving her PhD from Capella University in 2007. Her research explores how to optimize the next generation of aviation professionals (NGAP) by analyzing processes to attract people to the field of aviation, optimizing and innovating the traditional education pathway, and improving the retention of professionals within the field. She is a former airplane and helicopter pilot and is internationally recognized within the aviation industry.

Xianguo is a Professor in the Deparment of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. His main research interests and activities are in the area of thermal fluid/science, including energy systems and energy storage, various energy conversion devices, propulsion and power generation systems, aerosol generation and applications, and transportation fuel cell and battery systems.