Dear colleagues,

I hope you all had a fantastic summer!

It has already been a wonderful start to the new academic year at the Gina Cody School. I have many updates to share with you about our community's achievements and some exciting new announcements.

I am pleased to provide you with a first look into our planned celebration for the Gina Cody School's 5th Anniversary on Tuesday, September 26.

We also have our annual Shuffle event taking place on Friday, September 22, where we will walk together as the GCS EDI Trekkers team!

We have seen impressive achievements from both our faculty and students, ranging from winning various awards and organizing international conferences to the successful launch of a student-built satellite into space. I trust you share in my pride for everything we have accomplished these past few months.

I also have some milestones from 2022-2023 to share with you that highlight the outstanding motivation and resilience of our community.

• Our external research funding has experienced an outstanding surge of 30.44% when compared to the previous year (2021-2022). This remarkable growth in funding is a testament to our institution's research prowess, and I am eagerly anticipating the ongoing expansion of our research capabilities throughout this year. Notably, the Government of Quebec has generously allocated $21 million to bolster our research endeavors, while MITACS has extended its support with a significant contribution of $2.7 million. Additionally, the Applied AI Institute has successfully secured an impressive $1.5 million grant from PROMPT, further bolstering our research initiatives. 
• In line with our unwavering dedication to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, we are thrilled to report significant strides in increasing gender representation within our school. Our efforts have yielded a remarkable 29% surge in the enrollment of women students in undergraduate programs and an even more impressive 42% increase in graduate studies! Over the past five years, our commitment to fostering diversity has extended to our faculty members, with the successful recruitment of a notable 30% of women professors. These achievements underscore our resolute commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.
  
• Our student enrolment continues to grow, with an increase of 7% in undergraduate studies and 21% in graduate studies! We awarded 144 undergraduate entrance awards, with 63% allocated to women. We have enhanced our support to student societies and provided support to at-risk students with new advisors, peer study groups and bootcamps. As a result, our rate of at-risk students has been reduced by 19%, which is an amazing achievement. The new Quebec Perspectives bursary program has also provided our students with $5.365M per term. We are planning and preparing for our upcoming accreditation, a large undertaking that involves the collaboration of many of our units and departments.
  
• On the academic side, we have seen significant growth in faculty members, with an increase of new hires by 8.4%. We held faculty-wide teaching and learning workshops that were well-attended and widely appreciated.

As evident from our impressive achievements, the past year has been marked by exceptional productivity. I eagerly anticipate witnessing the remarkable milestones we are bound to achieve in the forthcoming year, 2023-2024. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your unwavering commitment and tireless efforts. As we embark on a new Fall semester, I wholeheartedly wish each of you the very best, and I'm confident that together, we will continue to reach new heights of success and excellence.

Best,

MD

Dr. Mourad Debbabi, Dean & Professor
Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science
Concordia University

Gina Cody School's 5th Anniversary Celebration

On Tuesday, September 26, we celebrate the 5th anniversary of our faculty's historic renaming to the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, in honour of our alumna and benefactor, Gina Cody. To mark the occasion, we will be hosting a Gina Cody School celebration and student club showcase from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. It is an opportunity for you to meet and explore the many student-led teams, clubs and associations of the Gina Cody School. Refreshments will also be served. 

I encourage you to register now to confirm your attendance! I look forward to seeing you there. 

Shuffle 34 is back for another year!

This year's Shuffle takes place on Friday, September 22! This event is an amazing opportunity to support our students and make a direct, positive impact on their success by funding our Gina Cody School EDI Award. We aim to raise $8,000 for this cause. All funds raised by our team will support the Gina Cody School EDI Award, supporting Gina Cody School students from underrepresented backgrounds. I encourage you to join our team and walk with us on September 22. If you can't attend in person, you can still make a donation by sponsoring us.

Semester Kickoff and Dean's Teaching Excellence Awards

On August 31, we held our Fall Semester Kickoff and the Dean's Teaching Excellence Awards Ceremony. It was wonderful to see our community of faculty and staff come together to celebrate the start of a new semester and to recognize our award recipients.

I would like to extend my congratulations to Farnoosh Naderkhani, Rastko Selmic, Onur Kuzgunkaya, Stuart Thiel, Abdel Rahman, Avirup Sarkar and Hamed Jafarpour on their outstanding contributions to teaching at the Gina Cody School.

PhD student Azfar Adib named Concordia Public Scholar

Azfar Adib, doctoral candidate in our Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named to the newest cohort of Concordia Public Scholars. His research focuses on developing age-verification systems using electrocardiogram.

Congratulations to Azfar and all the best in the 2023-2024 cohort!

Space Concordia launches first space-bound student-built satellite in Quebec

Space Concordia’s Orbital Dust Imaging Nanosat (SC-ODIN) was aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch on June 5. It was the first space-bound student-built satellite in Quebec! The achievement is four years in the making and the culmination of tens of thousands of hours of hard work and perseverance.

Congratulations to the team for their hard work on this project! 

Capstone team places third in international Solar Decathlon

Gina Cody School Capstone team Built for the North took home third place in the New Housing Division of the United States Department of Engergy's Solar Decathlon. The building engineering students' project is the design and structure of sustainable housing that meets the cultural and pracitcal needs of the Inuit population in Iqaluit. The team competed against more than 20 universities across North America, Australia, India and the United Kingdom 

Congratulations!

Screening of a documentary about computer science professor Aiman Hanna has fantastic turnout

Nearly 600 people attended the screening of the documentary on Saturday, June 10 in the Hall Building. Titled The Professor: The One They Call the King of Teaching, the film features interviews with many of Hanna's past and current students. They share their experiences with him and the impact he made on their overall learning experience at Concordia. 

Gina Cody School professors co-chaired Canada's largest environmental and sustainability conference

Catherine Mulligan and Chunjiang An brought the PEOPLE 2023 International Conference to Concordia from August 7-11. The event welcomed 200 in-person attendees from 20 countries, where experts shared their latest research in the field of environment and sustainability.

Congratulations to Catherine and Chunjiang on organizing this successful conference!

Huifang Bi and Victoria May are Concordia’s 2023 Vanier Graduate Scholarship winners

Huifang Bi, MASc 21, and Victoria May, MA 23, are the latest Concordia doctoral researchers to be awarded Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships. The pair have been recognized for their respective work on oil-spill cleanup techniques and making the performing arts sector accessible to Indigenous youth. Launched in 2008 by the Government of Canada, the Vanier scholarship program aims to position Canada as a global centre of excellence in graduate research. Congratulations!

Law Meets Engineering returns September 20

Law Meets Engineering returns this fall! The first talk takes place on Wednesday, September 20. Join guest speakers Vanesaa Henri and Jean Loup P.G. Le Roux for their lecture on Data Governance and Cybersecurity.