Eight years ago, to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, the Government of Canada invested $117 million to launch a new initiative aimed at enhancing Canada's reputation as a global centre for science, research and innovation excellence.
The Canada 150 (C150) Research Chairs program set out to attract top-tier internationally-based scholars and researchers to Canada - with two international researchers joining the University of Waterloo.
As their C150 terms come to an end, both Dr. Anita Layton and Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn who will continue as professors at Waterloo, look back at their terms fondly and ahead to the future.
As C150 Chair in Intelligent Robotics, Dautenhahn says the Chair was a tremendous opportunity to open the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL) and relocate her family to Canada following her previous role in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Kerstin Dautenhahn, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
"This has worked out really well, and Waterloo is a great place. Collaboration across the University and with the faculties is encouraged, which is needed as my work is very interdisciplinary," says Dautenhahn, who is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "I couldn't have done these projects without Waterloo. It's a place with a lot of opportunities."
Since arriving at Waterloo, she has advanced and furthered her research in therapeutic and educational usage of social and intelligent robots. The robots have demonstrated the benefits and support that can be provided to children with speech and language challenges, along with helping children to learn about bullying and empathy.
Additionally, intelligent robots offer a tremendous opportunity to teach people without judgement, says Dautenhahn, making them highly suited for the role of a public speaking coach or a mental wellbeing coach, allowing students to practice skills and techniques.
"I really believe that there are many applications where robots can be beneficial, not replacing people, but taking advantage of the specific characteristics of robots," she says.
For Layton, the C150 Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine, the different funding landscape in Canada meant more research prospects.
Dr. Anita Layton, professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, cross-appointed to Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biology.
"With my research funding I was able to have a large group of students, branch out, collaborate, get more support and do the things I found exciting," Layton says. "I learned a lot about chronic disease and drug simulation and was able to take my knowledge to the public through the media."
She is a professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, cross-appointed to Computer Science, Pharmacy and Biology, and this interdisciplinary lens is central to her research.
Her research team uses computational modelling tools to better understand health and disease, in an approach she describes as using mathematics as a microscope. Through the use of computer simulations and mathematical analysis, her research has revealed insights into the progression and treatment responses of chronic diseases, and how sex hormones may explain individual differences. One of her recent studies found adding more potassium-rich foods to a diet may have a greater impact on blood pressure than reducing or eliminating sodium. This work gained significant media attention for promoting a simple change that can make a difference to many people.
As her seven-year term as a C150 Chair comes to an end, she has been named a University Professor at Waterloo.
Her plans include working with collaborators and the community, supporting the advancement of faculty, guiding postdoctoral fellows in knowledge translation, and training students to become independent thinkers who initiate research direction and communicate research.
"I want to do more to elevate others," Layton says.
