Shaping my Latinx body in Canada: challenging internalized anti-fat bias

This research project explores my journey as a Mestizo Latinx Immigrant woman in Canada and how, with a body transformation, I came to realize that I have an internalized anti-fat bias. As an autoethnographer, I delve into my life experiences, feelings, and memories to discover when this started and how much family, cultural context, education, and healthcare systems influenced its development. In this thesis, I discuss themes such as intersectional oppression, immigration, colonization, family interactions, and anti-fat stigma and bias, mostly in my home country, but also what I have experienced in two years of living in Canada. The findings of this research show: how the lack of attention on topics such as body and food relationships in the educational system affects the later development of a distorted body image and possible eating problems; how the colonization system influenced centuries of history such that a family can be led to grow with anti-fat stigma and bias; and how many racist ideals are perpetuated and enforced in younger generations, which in my case meant being forced into restricted dieting all my life. Finally, through the literature and analysis, this thesis examines and deconstructs how I reached the point where “fat” became a liberating word, a word of power, rather than a negative descriptor used to make me feel inferior. Through research, I built a new, powerful definition that empowers my body image, heals my journey, and leads me to advocate for a more diverse and inclusive world with different body shapes and sizes

Evaluating the linguistic coverage of OpenAlex: An assessment of metadata accuracy and completeness

Clarivate's Web of Science (WoS) and Elsevier's Scopus have been for decades the main sources of bibliometric information. Although highly curated, these closed, proprietary databases are largely biased toward English-language publications, underestimating the use of other languages in research dissemination.Launched in 2022, OpenAlex promised comprehensive, inclusive, and open-source research information. While already in use by scholars and research institutions, the quality of its metadata is currently still being assessed. This paper contributes to this literature by assessing the completeness and accuracy of OpenAlex's metadata related to language, through a comparison with WoS, as well as an in-depth manual validation of a sample of 6836 articles. Results show that OpenAlex exhibits a far more balanced linguistic coverage thanWoS. However, language metadata are not always accurate, which leads Open-Alex to overestimate the place of English while underestimating that of other languages. If used critically, OpenAlex can provide comprehensive and representative analyses of languages used for scholarly publishing, but more work is needed at infrastructural level to ensure the quality of metadata on languag

Water decontamination using magnetic biochar produced from biomass and mineral processing waste

Contamination from industrial wastewater is a serious environmental problem, often requiring innovative treatment methods beyond traditional technologies. This thesis explores the development of magnetic biochar (MBC), a carbon-rich, magnetically separable material produced by pyrolyzing biomass with iron sources as an efficient and sustainable solution for water decontamination. The research first reviews recent advances in biochar design, modification, and application for heavy metal removal, highlighting key factors like feedstock choice, pyrolysis conditions, and activation methods. In the experimental work, MBC was synthesized using different iron compounds and production methods. Among them, one-step co-pyrolysis of maple wood and FeO at 700 °C produced the most effective MBC for removing a model dye, Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR), achieving nearly 100% removal under acidic conditions. Adsorption studies revealed that the process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and fit the Langmuir isotherm model. Taking this a step further, a new approach was developed by co-pyrolyzing red mud, an industrial waste, rich in iron, with chemically activated biomass (treated with KOH and HNO3) to produce cost-effective MBC. The KOH-activated MBC demonstrated outstanding performance, achieving almost 100% removal of copper (Cu2+) and lead (Pb2+) ions from water, while also offering lower production costs compared to HNO3-activated MBC. Overall, this work demonstrates that properly engineered MBC materials, including those made from waste resources like red mud, offer a highly promising, low-cost, and eco-friendly solution for treating dye- and heavy metal-contaminated waters

Development of Mid-IR Laser

We proposed and demonstrated a mid-IR fiber laser at 1925 nm using a thulium-doped fiber as the gain medium. The designed laser needs lower pump power compared to that previously reported. The developed laser is compact and cost-effective to manufacture. We have presented the potential application of the laser in sensing gases responsible for climate change. We have developed a high-power pulsed laser at 1570 nm, which was used as the pump source for the thulium-doped fiber laser. Further, we have developed a pulsed laser at 1533 nm, which will be used as a pump source for generating a molecular gas laser using acetylene as a gain medium. We have also introduced and demonstrated for the first time the use of an aqueous solution of gold nanorods and polyvinyl alcohol as a saturable absorber to produce pulsed and tunable pulsed lasers in the mid-IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. We accomplished several important milestones, shaping future research endeavours in developing mid-IR lasers. Chapter 8 summarizes our research accomplishments

Leveraging the use of Liquid Metal Channels to Reconfigure Antennas’ Impedance and Radiation Performance

The advent of liquid metals in the domain of RF system has opened new avenues for the researchers in smart antenna designs. Reconfigurability of antenna’s characteristics has been a keen topic of interest for the past several decades. Under this umbrella, various techniques have been employed by the designers to achieve the desired tunability. These include but are not limited to, use of varactor and p-i-n diodes, magnetic materials, ferroelectric materials, MEMS. Alongside these, embedding of metallic microfluidic channels within the antenna substrate has emerged as the most recent and novel technique. Metallic fluids, with their high conductivity and fluid nature, provide unique ideas to the designer. This thesis explores two different antenna designs that rely on EGaIn channels, a non-toxic metallic fluid, to achieve frequency switching and polarization reconfigurability. A circular patch antenna is designed at 2.5 GHz on a Rogers 5880 substrate with an integrated artificial magnetic conductor layer to boost its gain. Acrylic substrates have been used to realize EGaIn channels between the antenna and the ground plane. By optimizing the AMC for both the vacuum and metal-filled states, the design achieves efficient frequency switching from 2.5 GHz to 1.6 GHz with stable gain performance. This provides a proof-of-concept for how a switchable artificial magnetic conductor can be designed using such a technique. On the other hand, the second design validates polarization diversity with the application of EGaIn channels within the antenna substrate. A single patch antenna is shown to operate both with linear and circular polarizations using this concept at 2.5 GHz. Both the designs, i.e., polarization reconfigurable and frequency switchable, rely on microfluidic channels integrated into the acrylic substrates, allowing the antennas to switch between two or more operational states. The research thus highlights the potential of microfluidic channels to achieve reconfigurability in modern antenna systems

Petrology and geochemistry of the Saddle North Cu-Au porphyry deposit, British Columbia, Canada.

The Saddle North porphyry Cu-Au deposit, northwestern British Columbia, Canada, is located in the Upper Triassic Stuhini Group and is associated with the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Tatogga Suite intrusions. This study integrates petrographic, geochemical, and geochronological data to characterize the deposit's intrusive evolution, alteration assemblages, and mineralization processes. Four intrusive phases (FQMP-I1 to FQMP-I4) of feldspar–quartz–monzodiorite porphyry were identified based on petrographic and geochemical criteria, demonstrating a progressive compositional evolution and varying intensities of potassic alteration. High-precision LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon geochronology yielded crystallization ages ranging from 205.3 ± 1.7 Ma to 208.2 ± 1.8 Ma, confirming the temporal overlap between intrusive emplacement and hydrothermal activity. Re-Os dating of molybdenite veins returned a model age of 205.6 ± 0.8 Ma, corroborating a genetic link between mineralization and magmatism. Whole-rock geochemistry reveals that the intrusions are alkaline to weakly calc-alkaline, with moderate to strong Nb, Ti, and Eu depletions consistent with subduction-related arc magmas. Micro-XRF maps further constrain the spatial distribution of key alteration minerals and elemental enrichments within the core of the deposit. Eight vein types were recognized and categorized into four paragenetic stages: early (A–D), main (C, F, G), late (E, F, G), and post-mineral (G, H). Early-stage veins (A- and B-type) are associated with magnetite, chalcopyrite, and molybdenite and are found in potassic-altered FQMP-I1 and I2 intrusions. The vein paragenesis and alteration zoning indicate a progressive decline in temperature and fluid metal content during hydrothermal evolution. These findings collectively support a magmatic-hydrothermal continuum model for Saddle North, similar to other porphyry systems in the Golden Triangle, such as Red Chris and Galore Creek, emphasizing its potential as a significant Cu-Au mineralizing centre in the Canadian Cordillera

Computational investigations of integrated Vortex-Odor dynamics in the wake of fish for underwater sensing

This research investigates the interplay between vortex dynamics and odor transport in undulatory swimming using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Building upon initial two-dimensional (2D) analyses, we extend our study to three-dimensional (3D) simulations to quantify odor effectiveness and the role of kinematics and morphology in chemical dispersion. Our results reveal that odor transport is strongly coupled with vortex structures, with convection dominating over diffusion in aquatic environments. Kinematics, rather than body shape, primarily dictate odor transport, with anguilliform swimmers generating broader and more persistent odor trails than carangiform swimmers. Swapping kinematics between Jackfish and Eel models confirms that swimming motion, not morphology, governs odor dispersal. Increasing undulation amplitude enhances odor transport by increasing momentum transfer, reinforcing the dominance of vortex-driven convection. Expanding our study to fish schooling, we analyze odor dispersion across different group configurations. While lateral odor spread intensifies with group size, downstream transport remains largely unaffected beyond a critical distance. Quantitative analysis shows that odor effectiveness decreases linearly with increased schooling, indicating that collective swimming suppresses, rather than enhances, chemical cue propagation. These insights advance our understanding of biological chemosensory mechanisms and inform the design of bio-inspired robotic systems with enhanced chemical sensing and navigation capabilities

Traveling wave-based fault location in power grids using neural networks

downtime and improving public safety. One practical FL approach involves utilizing traveling waves (TWs) to locate the fault along a transmission line. TW-based FL methods are highly regarded for their speed and resilience to variations in fault parameters. However, many existing TW-based FL methods rely on constant propagation velocity assumptions, which can be challenging to apply in real-world applications. In response to these limitations, this thesis introduces two approaches integrating machine learning to locate faults in power grids and on hybrid lines accurately. First, a novel wide-area TW-based FL method is presented to handle complex grid networks, including multiple line type configurations and bus impedance variations. TW arrival times are collected via TravelingWave Recorders (TWRs) strategically placed across the network, capturing the FL information. A multi-task multi-layer perceptron (MLP) is then trained using TW arrival times throughout the network to simultaneously classify the faulted line and determine the exact FL within that line. Training the MLP avoids the need for explicit propagation velocity assumptions. This approach remains accurate with mixed transmission line types with varying line parameters and remains robust, even if the TW arrival times provided by the TWRs are slightly inaccurate. Furthermore, this method accounts for bus impedance effects, which affect the attenuation of the TWs, creating a more realistic scenario. Following the proposed wide-area method, the thesis addresses the unique challenges of hybrid lines (a series of non-homogeneous transmission lines). Conventional time-domain TW-based methods often face complications when the TW encounters varying propagation speeds, reflections at junctions, and distinct attenuation characteristics across nonhomogeneous line sections. To overcome these obstacles, the proposed FL technique uses the frequency-domain properties of TWs. Given that TWs are inherently tied to both distance and frequency, the proposed method captures the initial TW wavefronts at both line terminals, applies Clarke’s Transform and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to extract critical frequency content (FC) from the recorded signals. The FC is then processed by neural networks (NNs), which identify the faulty section of the line and determine the precise FL. Utilizing the frequency domain removes time synchronization requirements and the estimation of propagation velocity. PSCAD/EMTDC simulations are conducted to validate both proposed methods. The IEEE 39-bus system is used to validate the robustness of the wide-area FL method by including different line configurations and added bus impedances to mimic measurement equipment. The method’s ability to handle inaccurate arrival time data and various propagation velocities will be examined. Simulations will also confirm the accuracy and reliability of the proposed frequency-domain approach using a hybrid line from Mainland British Columbia to Vancouver Island. Various fault conditions, such as fault resistances and inception angles, will be tested. The impact of noise and sampling frequency will also be examined

Optimal and global autonomous navigation in environments with convex obstacles

Motion planning for autonomous navigation in unknown environments cluttered with obstacles is a fundamental challenge in robotics, requiring efficient, safe, and reliable strategies for path planning. This thesis introduces two novel autonomous navigation strategies for vehicles operating in static, unknown n-dimensional environments clut- tered with convex obstacles. The first strategy proposes a continuous feedback controller that steers a vehicle safely to a target destination in a quasi-optimal manner within a “sphere world,” where each obstacle is enclosed by a sphere-shaped boundary. Under this approach, the robot avoids obstacles by navigating along the shortest path on the sur- face of the cone enclosing the obstacle and proceeds directly toward the target when no obstacles obstruct the line of sight. This controller guarantees almost global asymptotic stability in two-dimensional (2D) environments under specific obstacles configurations. An extension of this method is also developed for real-time navigation in unknown, static 2D environments with sufficiently curved convex obstacles, maintaining the same stability guarantees. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the practical effectiveness of this approach in navigating real-world environments. While the first strategy ensures almost global asymptotic stability only under specific conditions related to the obstacles configuration and for 2D environments, the second strategy aims to provide a more robust solution with stronger stability guarantees. This second strategy introduces a hybrid feedback controller designed to navigate a vehicle in static n-dimensional Euclidean spaces cluttered with spherical obstacles. This approach ensures safe convergence to a predefined destination from any initial position within the obstacle-free workspace while optimizing obstacle avoidance. A novel switching mecha- nism is proposed to alternate between two operational modes: the motion-to-destination mode and the obstacle-avoidance mode, ensuring global asymptotic stability regardless of the obstacles’ configuration. Numerical simulations in both known and unknown 2D and 3D environments, along with experimental validation in a 2D setting, demonstrate the effectiveness the proposed approach. These strategies provide robust solutions for autonomous navigation in static, un- known environments, contributing to the advancement of safe, efficient, and optimal motion planning techniques for robotic systems in complex, obstacle-laden spaces

Teaching through the tensions: dwelling in multiple accountabilities and responsibilities as a scholar-activist educator

This portfolio explores the experiences of a twenty-first century educator (myself) in my role as a white settler educator working in a unique high school education model, in a diverse urban context in Winnipeg, Manitoba, facing interlocking oppressive forces of capitalism, colonialism, resource extraction, neoliberalism, and social inequities that make up the global crisis of modernity. Through autoethnographic poetic inquiry, I examine how I embody my accountabilities and responsibilities to/within my school context, and dwell in tensions between conflicting accountabilities and responsibilities, as I simultaneously work within institutions that perpetuate ongoing harms and injustices, and strive for anti-oppressive, culturally sustaining, and ecologically resilient education. The chapters included in the portfolio are: (1) an introduction, (2) a description of the research paradigm (based in relationality/relational accountability) and methodology (autoethnographic poetic inquiry), (3) a literature review documenting the multiple accountabilities and responsibilities that exist for teachers concerned with activism, climate justice, and liberation in the midst of multiple global crises that threaten the well-being of people and the planet, (4) a collection of original poems that document my lived experiences of dwelling within the tensions, (5) a thematic analysis of the poems that critically reflects on commitments and next steps, and (6) a conclusion. Through the thematic analysis, I found that naming tensions such as whiteness, relationship to time and power, harm and violence can open spaces for deeper engagement, and that commitment to meaningful practices is a critical way to train intuition and instinct, allowing for an embodied praxis of connecting with the world, others, and myself as a scholar-activist educator