Research Institute Day schedule

J.W. McConnell (Library) Building 
Room LB-103 
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8

Learn about how research institutes function at Concordia, how they began, the difference between a department and an institute, what projects the institutes are tackling now and what’s coming up next.

Space is limited—arrive early to secure your seat. Venue opens at 12:15 p.m. 
The panel will also be livestreamed through 4TH SPACE.

Panelists:

• Bart Simon — Director, Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology; Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, Concordia University. 

• Mireille Paquet — Director, Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS); Associate Professor, Political Science; Concordia Research Chair on the Politics of Immigration. 

• Ursula Eicker — Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable & Resilient Communities and Cities; Founding Director/Co-Director, Next-Generation Cities Institute (NGCI); Professor, Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering

• Nizar Bouguila — Founding Director & Interim Co-Director, Applied AI Institute (AI2); Professor, Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering; Concordia University Research Chair in Applied Artificial Intelligence.  

ER Building 
Room S.ER.7.02 (7th floor) 
2155 Guy Street, Montreal, QC, H3H 2L9

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

• Presentation lead by Dr. Valeria Kebets, Manager of Machine Learning Projects; Inés Gonzalez Pepe, PhD Candidate in Computer Science; and Erin Hassard, MA candidate in Communication Studies

• Research and development of Seek Easy Chatbot: Increasing Access to Reproductive Care with AI 

3:15 – 4:15 p.m.

• Gender Inclusivity at AI2: Presentation lead by AI professionals and students participating in Gender Equity Mentoring in AI Program

• Meet our mentors and mentees and learn more about how to get involved.

Ongoing activities (2:15 – 4:15 p.m.)

• Contribute to the Common AI Lexicon. Share terms, concepts and words you’re an expert on but are often misunderstood outside your field. 

• Who is your role model? Explore the contributions key figures have made to the fields of computing and AI and suggest your own additions.

FB Building 
Room FB 620.00 (6th floor) 
1250 Guy St., Montreal, QC, H3H 2S7

2:15 – 2:35 p.m.

• Presentation led by Mylène Coderre (Associate Professor)

• Interactive poll on migration opinions and issues (5 min)

• Discussion by Mylène on how her research relates to these topics (10 min)

• Overview of Mylène’s career path (5 min)

• Q&A (0-5 min)

2:40 – 2:55 p.m.

• Presentation by Émile Baril (Post-doc) 

• Research on immigrants in the food delivery and trucking industries

• Practical aspects of interviewing vulnerable population, recruitment techniques

• Video 

• Q&A

3 – 3.30 p.m. and 3:30 – 4 p.m.

• Presentation and Q&A by Thomas Reynolds (MA student – international student)

• The deservingness perception of international students as food bank users (MA research proposal) 

• Presentation and Q&A by Brianna Losinger-Ross (MA student – fast-tracking to PhD)

• On a LLM based on media coverage of migration that she helped build

• Presentation & Q&A: Why be an IRMS student?

• Detailed presentation breaking down the benefits of being a graduate student in IRMS

Ongoing activity (2:15 – 4:15 p.m.)

• Migration facts self-administered quiz:

• Working in pairs, participants draw a card featuring a fact about migration along with four possible answers. Together, they choose the correct option and use the fact as a springboard for discussion.

EV Building 
Room EV 11.455 (11th floor) 
1515 Rue Sainte-Catherine W., Montreal, QC, H3G 2W1

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.

• Milieux Guided Tour (Milieux Institute, Meeting Point in the Atrium, 11th floor)

2:30 – 3 p.m. 

• Presentation by the Concordia Ethnography Lab– “Mess and Methods: Outcomes of rapidly-deployable composite ethnography” (Speculative Life, 10th floor - EV 10.625)

3 – 3:15 p.m.

• Presentation by Richy Srirachanikorn (PhD student) – “How do you play with nostalgia?” (TAG Lab, 11th floor - EV 11.435)

3:15 – 3:30 p.m. 

• Presentation by Marc Lajeunesse (research associate and TAG coordinator) – “What a Year at TAG Looks Like” (TAG Lab, 11th Floor - EV 11.435)

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

• Milieux Guided Tour (Milieux Institute, Meeting Point in the Atrium on the 11th floor)

4 – 4:30 p.m. 

• Introduction to LePARC activities and mystery concert by Lília Mestre (Assistant Professor and LePARC co-director) (LePARC Performance Lab, 10th Floor - EV 10. 785)

Ongoing activities (2:15 – 4:15 p.m.)

2:15 – 4:30 p.m.

• Project Spotlight and Community Stitch: The Future is Wool (Textiles & Materiality, 10th Floor - EV 10.735) 

• The Textiles and Materiality Cluster will be hosting a community stitch event as part of the “La Laine : matériau d'avenir | The Future is Wool” project, exploring cross-cultural histories and planet-healing futures of our favourite fibre, local/regional/Canadian wool! Led by Dr. Kathleen Vaughan, The Future is Wool is a multi-pronged research, research-creation, and public outreach initiative that explores entwined considerations of personal well-being and sustainable planetary futures, and the role that wool can play in promoting both. 

Together, we'll create a multi-panel “Bayeux”-style tapestry about our wool. All materials provided, no previous experience required, and your ideas and stories invited as part of this Concordia University research and creation adventure.

2:30 – 4 p.m.

• Mini Mutek Forum (Milieux x AI2) - Milieux Resource Room, 11th Floor

• Will remain open during closing talk at 4:30 p.m. 

ER Building 
Room ER-1431 (14th floor) 
2155 Guy St., Montreal, QC, H3H 2L9

2:15 –2:45 p.m. (S-ER-1431-00)

Presentation

• Welcome to NGCI/CERC: Concordia's interdisciplinary institute driving innovation for sustainable, resilient and inclusive urban futures.

• Flagship Projects: Discover how applied research is shaping real-world solutions.

• Students' Stories: Engage with the inspiring journeys of current and former students.

• Q&A Session

2:45 – 4:25 p.m.

• Station 1: TOOLS4CITIES (T4C) / CITYplayer (NGCI Open Space - ER 1431.00) 

• Interactive presentation with hands-on demonstrations. 

• Presented by Christopher Gibbs, Senior Advisor, Tools4Cities initiative at NGCI and Jiarui (Ray) Li, Software Developer for CERC - Concordia's Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities. 

• Station 2: TOOLS4CITIES (T4C) / CITYlayers (NGCI Open Space - ER 1431.00) 

• Interactive presentation with hands-on demonstrations. 

• Presented by Gabriel C. Ullmann, Research Support Professional for CERC - Concordia's Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities and Oriol Gavalda, Lead, Zero Carbon Communities, Next-Generation Cities Institute and part of the UNIVER/CITY 2030 initiative. 

2:45 – 4:15 p.m.

• Station 3: Next-Generation Cities: An Encyclopedia/CITYchat (NGCI Open Space - ER 1431.00) 

• Interactive presentation of the MUTEK 2025 prototype.

• Presented by Sura Hanna, IT Support Professional and MSc student for CERC, Concordia's Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities and Connor Cook, Interactive Sound Design and a Professional Team Support at NGCI. 

2:45 – 4:15 p.m.

• Station 4: VR experience: NGCI Space Sensor Visualization demo (NGCI Visualization Space -1431.03)  

• Presented by Daniel Haselock and Victor Iliescu.

2:45 – 4:15 p.m.

• Station 5: Prototyping sustainable cities with LEGO Serious Play (NGCI Lobby - ER 14)

• Build creative urban future scenarios and connect informally with students.

• Facilitated by NGCI/CERC students. 

J.W. McConnell (Library) Building
Room LB-103 
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8

Discover tables and activities from 2 – 5 p.m.

• Graduate programs at Concordia: Admissions & funding opportunities for students

• Be at the forefront of electrification research — find out how to get involved and receive $35,000 per year through Volt-Age

• Experience a 3D visualization wall and immersive VR tour from NGCI and watch NGCI projects come to life through video stories

EV Building 
Room EV 11.455 (11th floor) 
1515 Rue Sainte-Catherine W., Montreal, QC, H3G 2W1

Speaker: Faisal Shennib, PhD Student, INDI Program (Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering)

Turning Data into Action for a Sustainable Future 

Faisal Shennib is passionate about rethinking how cities handle waste and move toward a circular economy — where nothing truly goes to waste. His research looks at how everyday data and smart technologies can help people and communities make better, greener choices, from waste-sorting tools to smarter recycling systems. In this closing talk, Faisal shares his story of discovery at Concordia — how curiosity about sustainability, technology, and design evolved into research that aims to make cities cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable for everyone.

Learn more about Faisal’s work.