Access the resources of some of the top thinkers in our country. Send your question to one of the scientists listed here - your question may be even become our Question of the Month!

Chemistry

Alain St-Amant, Chemistry

Dr. St-Amant's research team focuses on the development of accurate algorithms specifically designed to treat large systems. They are therefore actively working on creating linear scaling and QM/MM algorithms that are adaptable to massively parallel computer architectures. Novel molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo algorithms, so as to take thermal effects into account, are also being developed. Dr. St-Amant is also involved in the Mathematics Genealogy Project. The intent of this project is to compile information about ALL the mathematicians of the world. We earnestly solicit information from all schools who participate in the development of research level mathematics and from all individuals who may know desired information.

David Bryce, Chemistry

Biology

Gary Slater, Biophysics

Gary Slater has for quite some time been working on research in the area where physics and biology meet. He is considered a leading world expert on DNA electrophoresis. His work on the basic principles of separating DNA in gels is recognized as having had a major influence in the whole field leading to genome sequencing. Professor Slater and his team were not content with helping to give a solid fundamental and conceptual base to this cutting-edge field; they also introduced a number of remarkable innovations, such as the ELFSE technique.

In his work, Professor Slater has become interested in electrophoresis of hybrid DNA-peptide molecules; in the interactions between a DNA molecule and elements of microfluid dynamics in development; in hydrodynamics in the stretching of polymers in the poor solvents; and in systems for DNA analysis based on nanopores.

He has also undertaken the study of biofilms, the bacterial colonies that grow on surfaces and which can be a major threat when found on medical implants or in water conduits.

Dr. Walker's research interests concern the regulation of gene expression during development and in response to environmental and chemical stress. The hypothesis is that insects can adapt to a variety of natural and humanly modified conditions by the overproduction of target proteins as a consequence of specific gene amplifications. Such phenomena are well known in mammalian cells and tumors. In opposition to this drive to amplify, however, there have been strong selective forces to streamline the genome of some insects. In order to investigate this puzzle we have examined the molecular genetic basis of resistance in flies and locusts to an anti-cancer drug and to the environmental stresses of cold and desiccation. This work has led to the isolation and cloning of the first insect antifreeze protein genes and an interest in their structure and interactions.

Physics

Gary Slater, Biophysics

Gary Slater has for quite some time been working on research in the area where physics and biology meet. He is considered a leading world expert on DNA electrophoresis. His work on the basic principles of separating DNA in gels is recognized as having had a major influence in the whole field leading to genome sequencing. Professor Slater and his team were not content with helping to give a solid fundamental and conceptual base to this cutting-edge field; they also introduced a number of remarkable innovations, such as the ELFSE technique.

In his work, Professor Slater has become interested in electrophoresis of hybrid DNA-peptide molecules; in the interactions between a DNA molecule and elements of microfluid dynamics in development; in hydrodynamics in the stretching of polymers in the poor solvents; and in systems for DNA analysis based on nanopores.

He has also undertaken the study of biofilms, the bacterial colonies that grow on surfaces and which can be a major threat when found on medical implants or in water conduits.

Malcolm Stott, Condensed Matter Physics

A group within Queen's University's Physics Department is using the support of HPCVL and international collaborators to produce important results on materials problems. The group's work, led by Queen's University Physics Professor Malcolm Stott is using materials simulation methods based on fundamental physics principles. One foundation is density functional theory, a development for which the Nobel Prize has been awarded This circumvents the need to treat directly the interaction of each of the many electrons in the system with every other one.

Stott's team applies density functional theory in the ab initio simulation of the electronic and structural properties of materials, treating the quantum mechanical behaviour of electrons on an equal footing with the motions of ions. Materials under investigation include nanostructures on semiconductor surfaces, complex biomaterials for bone repair and liquid metals and alloys. The simulations lead to understanding of the relationship between the arrangement of the atoms and electrons to the properties of the materials that make them useful. Having access to HPCVL facilities is vital to this work.

William Atkinson, Computational matter physics

My field of research is condensed matter theory. I develop mathematical models which attempt to explain, at a microscopic level, why different materials have different physical properties. This field of physics dates back to the early 1900's, and the earliest research focussed on understanding the properties of simple metals and insulators. Currently, CMT is probably the largest field of physics, including research in nanotechnology, magnetism, semiconductors, polymers, strongly-correlated electron materials, and many other topics.

Stavros Tavoularis, Fluid Mechanics

Following doctoral studies and a research appointment at The Johns Hopkins University, Professor Tavoularis has, since 1980, been a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, where he served terms as Department Chair and Director of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He is Director of the uOttawa Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, supervising a large team of graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers on a variety of experimental and computational projects concerning turbulence, turbulent mixing, vortex dynamics, aerodynamics, nuclear reactor thermalhydraulics, bio-fluid dynamics, and design of flow apparatus and instrumentation. He has initiated fundamental and applied research projects supported by grants and contracts from NSERC, MRC, NRC, DND, EMR, AECL, NRCan and Pratt and Whitney Canada and has served as a consultant to government and industry.

His research interests are in Fluid Mechanics, including turbulence, aerodynamics, biomechanical engineering, and biofluid dynamics.

Professor Tavoularis has been elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and is a recipient of the George S. Glinski Award for Excellence in Research. He is the author of the graduate textbook "Measurement in Fluid Mechanics", published by Cambridge University Press, and numerous research articles and reports.

John Tse, Theoretical material science

My research focuses on the fundamental principles governing the structure, stability and thermodynamics of materials and the prediction of material behaviour. The objective is to provide the guiding principles for the rational design of novel functional materials. To do this, we have developed new theoretical models and implement new computational techniques. In many instances, we planned and performed synchrotron x-ray and neutron experiments to complement the theoretical studies.

Michael Stacey, Ocean Physics

Dr. Michael Stacey specializes in numerical ocean modelling. He has spent many years studying inlets, primarily on the west coast of Canada, and has also been funded to study the circulation in the northeast Pacific Ocean. His work includes the use Argo float profile data and a novel spectral nudging data assimilation scheme.

Dr. Stacey is a Canadian delegate to the International Association of the Physical Sciences of the Ocean (IAPSO) and a member of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) Finance Committee.

Engineering

Andrew Pollard, Mechanical Engineering

Professor Pollard explores the fascinating world of fluid dynamics using real-world experiments and virtual-world computer simulations. He is known nationally and internationally for his leadership in high-performance computing (HPC) through Canada's national advocacy group, C3.ca, and is the principal driver behind the High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory that is headquartered at Queen's University. Dr. Pollard championed the formation of the new Collaborative M.Sc. programme in Computational Science and Engineering that currently encompasses 15 departments. He received a prestigious Queen's Research Chair in 2005.

Andrew Pollard's research area is fluid turbulence, which remains the chief difficulty in understanding the motion of fluids. He uses mathematical theory, experiments and computational methods to uncover fundamental phenomena within complex continuous flow fields. His research has explained why ersatz shark skin can be used effectively for swimsuit and aircraft applications, and how to better deliver drugs to the human lungs through the use of metered-dose inhalers.

"What I find exciting about fluid dynamics is that the fluid moves in twisted but also beautiful ways. Fluid dynamics appeals to the scientist part of me, the artistic side and, when put into functional use, the engineering side as well. This excitement and enthusiasm is what I try to bring to my teaching and research with my students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The application areas of fluid dynamics are boundless, which makes this research challenging, rewarding and fun".

Computer Science & Electronics

Joerg-Rudiger Sack, Computer Science

Dr. Sack received a Ph.D. from McGill University in 1984. He is the principal investigator in an R&D project supported in part by SUN and NSERC on developing an intelligent system for Geographic Information Services. His main area of research is the design, analysis and implementation of algorithms for solving a variety of problems from different domains. The common theme is the investigation of efficient computation in these areas. With a large group of graduate students, he is undertaking a comprehensive research project to find novel techniques for using parallel computing. Wireless technology applied to geomatics and supported with larger servers is a new research topic, termed Intelligent Map Agents.

Other

Doug Mewhort, Psychology

Dr. Mewhort's research concerns human performance and how to model it. This work is done in the Human Information Processing Laboratory (HIP Lab). Current work centres on computational models for perception and memory with emphasis on decision and choice in speeded-performance tasks. The HIP lab is especially well equipped to deal with computationally expensive models. We are supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and by Sun Microsystems of Canada. He is actively involved in the development of the supercomputer centre established by a consortium of four Eastern Ontario universities Queen's, Carleton, RMC and Ottawa.