Research Impact Awards

The Research Impact Awards are given to Concordia faculty members in recognition of the exceptional impact of their research or research-creation.

The awards honour the many ways that research and research-creation can have academic and scientific impact, as well as contribute to society, culture, policy, innovation and the broader community.

Awardees each receive a $5,000 research award and are invited to showcase their impact through featured activities.

Elizabeth Miller

Professor, Communication Studies
Faculty of Arts and Science

Using technologies like 360-degree film and augmented reality, Elizabeth Miller creates award-winning documentaries that highlight the medium’s capacity for community building, social engagement and knowledge mobilization. Miller’s innovative research-creation work engages audiences in pressing social concerns like climate change, environmental justice, migration and gender equality both while watching her work and throughout the creation process.

Ching Yee Suen

Professor, Computer Science and Software Engineering
Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

Ching Yee Suen’s work in pattern recognition and artificial intelligence has been foundational to technologies such as handwriting recognition, fingerprint recognition and document identification. Over the course of more than 50 years working in the field, Suen has established himself as one of the leaders in the field through his widely cited publications, contributions to the scientific community and mentorship activities.

Ted Stathopoulos

Professor, Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering
Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

Ted Stathopoulos’s contributions to the fields of structural and environmental wind engineering have laid the scientific groundwork for several wind load building standards and codes in Canada and internationally, leading to more sustainable and resilient buildings. Stathopoulos also pioneered the use of technology to advance work in the field, such as computational fluid dynamics and machine learning techniques.

Kristy Snell

Associate Professor, Journalism
Faculty of Arts and Science

Journalist Kristy Snell, a member of the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation, has made transformative contributions to Concordia’s Department of Journalism. Since arriving at the university in 2022, Snell published the first-ever exploration of Indigenous students' experiences in Canadian journalism programs to get insight into how to create more inclusive and welcoming spaces. Her research-creation work through the Kahnawà:ke Survival School (KSS) Newsroom Project has developed a lasting collaboration between Concordia and KSS to support students in creating original journalism about their community for CBC.

Mohsen Ghafouri

Associate Professor, Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering (CIISE)
Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science

Mohsen Ghafouri specializes in securing wind energy power grids, electric vehicle systems and micro-grids against cyber-attacks, an important step in integrating renewable energy sources while also maintaining their stability and security. Ghafouri has further applied his work through collaborations with industry and academic partners, resulting in real-world outcomes such as advanced algorithms for power system problem solving.

Jessica Bleuer

Assistant Professor, Creative Arts Therapies
Faculty of Fine Arts

Jessica Bleuer’s work examines how socio-political realities shape psychological well-being and influence classroom learning. To make her research as accessible as possible, her dissemination methods use theatre-based performance approaches to great effect. Her action-research on racial and ethnic microaggressions in higher education resulted in a practical model used in workshops at McGill University, Dawson College and Concordia. Her research on the barriers to employment faced by new immigrants informed changes to an Ontario Human Rights Commission policy on hiring.