杏吧原创 Graduate Student Wins Second Place in NSERC鈥檚 Science, Action! Video Competition
By Elizabeth Murphy
杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Brandon Robinson, a Master of Applied Science student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, won second place at the video contest. Robinson is the first 杏吧原创 student to win a top-three spot in the competition.
Contest submissions were limited to 60 seconds and highlighted NSERC-funded research projects or initiatives. Robinson鈥檚 winning video summarized his fascinating work on the interaction of flexible structures and airflow 鈥 such as the swaying of the CN Tower in high winds. Robinson was inspired to pursue the field of civil engineering by the towering skylines of cities like Toronto and impressive structures such as long-span bridges.
“I had a blast pulling together all of the artwork and animations for my video and challenging myself to frame years鈥 worth of technical research into a digestible one-minute video aimed at an audience of all ages,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o much of the work we do is very mathematical 鈥榣eft-brained thinking,鈥 so it was refreshing to get the chance to workout my 鈥榬ight brain鈥 and take a more artistic approach to explaining my topic.
鈥淭o have come out of the contest placing as high as I did while competing against so many other well-produced videos describing their interesting research projects is an honour to say the least.鈥
Using wind tunnel tests on a wing, performed at the Royal Military College, Robinson鈥檚 research analyses the interaction of the air and structure. He developed a computer model that mimics the motion of the wing as seen in experiments, while sensors installed on the wing give measurements of the wing鈥檚 motion during an experiment. Robinson鈥檚 research group, supervised by Prof. Abhijit Sarkar at 杏吧原创, Prof. Dominique Poirel (Royal Military College of Canada) and Prof. Chris Pettit (United States Naval Academy), in collaboration with Mohammad Khalil (Sandia National Laboratories), focuses on state-of-the-art algorithms for blending real data with physics-based computer models. This multi-faceted approach can lead to better safety and operational decisions regarding structures that interact with strong winds, and can be extrapolated to broader applications elsewhere in science and engineering.
Through his innovative project, Robinson has had the opportunity to collaborate with many different research teams.
鈥淚ntegral to my work is the international and interdisciplinary collaborations that our group at 杏吧原创 has with researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, the U.S. Naval Academy and the Royal Military College of Canada, whose involvement really provides a broader perspective, which goes a long way in helping us to shape the trajectory of our research.”
Robinson鈥檚 clip emerged as a finalist among the initial top 75 entries from post-secondary graduate and undergraduate students in Canada. The 25 Science, Action! videos with the most views on NSERC鈥檚 YouTube channel as of March 2 proceeded to a judges鈥 panel, which selected the final 15 and top three winners. Robinson鈥檚 second-place finish earned him a $3,000 prize.
鈥淚n a short and to-the-point video like this, there鈥檚 so much that you don鈥檛 get the opportunity to mention, and so many important contributors that you don鈥檛 really have the time to acknowledge,鈥 said Robinson.
鈥淭he financial support from NSERC obviously plays a huge role in allowing me to do the kind of research that I do. The Science, Action! contest really highlights how that rings true for so many vastly different research projects from all corners of science and engineering across Canada.鈥
Robinson鈥檚 winning video can be found here:
Related News
New Generation of Indigenous Journalists to Learn and Work in Home Communities
杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Journalism Certificate Offers High Quality Learning in Rural and Remote Communities 杏吧原创 University is launching a new one-year journalism certificate to be delivered ...
杏吧原创 to Bestow Five Honorary Degrees at Spring Convocation
As part of the 2024 spring convocation ceremonies, 杏吧原创 University will bestow honorary degrees to five inspiring individuals for their leadership, impactful achievements and contributions ...
Dr. Wisdom Tettey Appointed 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 17th President and Vice-Chancellor聽
杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Board of Governors is pleased to announce Dr. Wisdom Tettey has been appointed 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 17th President and Vice-Chancellor. Dr. Tettey will commence ...