Humber’s Office of Research & Innovation Annual Report 2021-2022

In a year of constant change and disruption, Humber’s research and innovation community has continued to lead, transform and differentiate through collaborating with industry and community partners and providing unparalleled learning opportunities to students.

Humber College now ranks as the #2 research college in Canada and #1 research college in Ontario, thanks to the growing research and innovation ecosystem enabled by all six Humber faculties, emerging and seasoned researchers, staff, and students, as well as the Centres of Innovation and the strong network of internal and external partners.

ORI’s Annual Report 21/22 spotlights Humber’s research philosophy, who we are, and how we approach research and innovation. Take a look at the breadth and depth of research projects contributing to Humber’s growing research portfolio. In addition, ORI sheds light on the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) and Humber Press. Also, read about Humber’s rock star researchers who collaborate with industry and community partners to solve real-world challenges, from affordable housing to 3D landfill modelling to youth crime and gang violence reduction. The report also highlights various training and capacity-building initiatives and dissemination opportunities that the ORI team provides in every step of the research and innovation journey, from when an idea is a spark of curiosity to sharing the impact of the research results. We continue to demystify innovation by supporting an inclusive innovation and research culture that celebrates low-cost/no-cost solutions to everyday problems.

Ginger Grant, PhD., Dean, Research & Innovation, and Tania Massa, PhD., Associate Dean, Applied Research & Innovation, welcome you into Humber’s research and innovation community with their forewords. As Dean Ginger Grant, PhD., expresses, “An idea is all it takes to begin the journey to research and innovation.”

We invite you to join us as we look back on a year of growth, resilience, and success, and we encourage you to share with us the ideas and questions that spark your curiosity. In the meantime, we look forward to creating new pathways for our wider Humber and growing research and innovation community to walk and talk “research” and “innovation.”

Read the full report

Humber’s quarterly research and innovation magazine SPARK Issue #4 is out now!

SPARK Issue #4 shines the spotlight on three interdisciplinary initiatives from Humber’s Visual & Digital Arts, Baking & Pastry Arts, and Fashion Management programs. From integrating AR/VR in the curriculum to using 3D printing technology to collaborating with global partner institutions, Humber faculty members, researchers and students are transforming their sparks of curiosity into classroom projects that further help students gain a competitive edge in the workforce of the 21st century.

SPARK features a foreword from Dianna Dinevksi, Associate Dean, Research & Development, and an editor’s note from Anju Kakkar, Managing Editor, Humber Press, Research & Innovation who welcomes you into the world of research and innovation through stories.

The new SPARK issue also spotlights “A Study on Skills Gap: Beyond COVID”—a research study led by Barath Roy Michel, Senior Project Manager, Office of Research & Innovation, whose insights have been highlighted in the BBC article, “What ‘upskilling’ means for the future of work.” The research study was published in the Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE) Vol. 4 No. 1.

Read SPARK Issue #4 today!

What ‘upskilling’ means for the future of work—many experts believe upskilling is urgent, but most people don’t know where to start…

A great article by Bryan Lufkin, BBC, featuring quotes from researcher Barath Roy Michel, MSW, IMGB™, Senior Project Manager, Office of Research & Innovation (ORI) at Humber College, alongside quotes from experts at McKinsey and LinkedIn.

Read the BBC Worklife article for some great insights.

Barath Roy Michel and his research team recently published an original research paper, A Study on Skills Gap: Beyond COVID, in the Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Innovation (JIPE), published by Humber Press, ORI.

Michel notes that upskilling can look different for everyone. He states, “Take a step back and see what’s happening in the wider industry, and see how you can get yourself ahead of the curve.”

Congratulations to researcher Barath Roy Michel. Don’t forget to read the article!
 

Ginger Grant, PhD., Dean, Humber’s Office of Research & Innovation, does it again!

You can now read Ginger Grant’s chapters in the book “Innovative Leadership in Times of Compelling Changes: Strategies, Reflections and Tools (2021): ‘Inclusive Leadership in a Creatively Compelling World’ and ‘Nurturing Creativity in a Culture of Care’” published by Springer. Her next project, also for a new Springer textbook, is titled “ReVisioning: The New World of Work,” to be published in late 2022 / early 2023.

Ginger aims to publish a book chapter yearly.

In the past, she has contributed chapters to “The Routledge Companion to Inclusive Leadership (2020): ‘What Pepper Can’t Do (And Why We Should Care)’”; “The Routledge Companion to Management and Workplace Spirituality (2019): ‘Awakening Leadership: The Outer Reaches of Inner Space’”; and the “Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation (2018): ‘The Untapped Power of Imagination in the Workplace.’” Her workbook, Finding your Creative Core, was first published in 2009. 

Humber’s Office of Research & Innovation congratulates our visionary leader, author and storyteller Dr. Ginger Grant!

Purchase "Innovative Leadership in Times of Compelling Changes" today!

Humber’s Research and Innovation Quarterly SPARK Issue #3 is out now!

The special issue shines a spotlight on Humber’s Centres of Innovation—an essential part of the research and innovation ecosystem that propelled Humber College ITAL’s research ranking to #2 in Canada and #1 in Ontario.

Whether it is collaborating with industry partners on transformative projects, shaping the future of business and entrepreneurship or housing North America’s first-of-its-kind Broadcast-Broadband Convergence (B2C) Lab with an ATSC 3.0 broadcast system and 5G core network, Humber’s Centres of Innovation (COI) are continually pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. The new issue of SPARK includes the latest updates from Humber’s COI Network as well as special contributions by Dr. Sharon M. McIntyre, founder and president of New Cottage Industries & Co., and Tyler Charlebois, Director, Centres of Innovation Network and Partnership Development.

SPARK features Dean’s Message Ginger Grant, PhD and Editor’s Note Anju Kakkar, IMGB™ who welcome you into the world of research and innovation. No matter where your curiosity lies—from social innovation to health & wellness to technology innovation to business and entrepreneurship—SPARK is here to inspire you on your research and innovation journey.

Read SPARK Issue #3 today!

To our research and innovation community,

The Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE), Humber Press, Office of Research & Innovation (ORI), has compiled a comprehensive and detailed JIPE Submissions Handbook which we have the pleasure of sharing widely with our research and innovation community. You may make submissions to JIPE.ca at any time.

Have you participated in or conducted a research/innovation study? Do you have research you want to share? Every research project, study or initiative is a journey. Researchers and innovators embark on this journey, and their work advances essential knowledge and changes the way we understand the world.

JIPE welcomes research stories and manuscripts from seasoned and emerging researchers from across the polytechnic and community college sectors, both within and outside Canada. Students/research assistants are also encouraged and invited to submit in collaboration with a faculty member/researcher.

JIPE publishes original research papers, review articles, brief reports, book reviews and our “micro-dissemination” options: innovation spotlights and more.

As part of Humber College’s sustainability plan, JIPE will only be published electronically to reduce paper consumption. JIPE is an online, open-access journal for double-blind peer-reviewed submissions/manuscripts that mobilize knowledge and insights generated by the global polytechnic community. The articles published in this open journal are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Read JIPE's Submission Handbook today!

I am pleased to announce and welcome Dianna Dinevski MBA, (abd) as Associate Dean, Research & Development at the Office of Research & Innovation (ORI), Humber College. Since July 2020, Dianna has worked at ORI as a Research Specialist. Prior to joining Humber, Dianna excelled as an Industrial Liaison Manager with Sheridan College’s Research Department since 2010.

At Humber College, Dianna will build capacity on specialized research and innovation projects including, but not limited to, the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), our work with the Global Polytechnic Alliance, Humber Innovation Management Analytics Program (IMAP), as well Humber Press which includes Humber SPARK and the Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE). She will work closely with Tania Massa, PhD, Associate Dean of Applied Research & Innovation, to continue to grow the research grant portfolio for Humber College.

Dianna holds an MBA, MA and is wrapping up her PhD Management—Leadership and Organizational Change (abd). She has extensive experience in grant administration and grant development and is a valuable addition to our Research & Innovation team.

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Dianna Dinevski, Research & Development, ORI.

Ginger Grant, PhD
Dean
Humber Research & Innovation