CFI grants fund two computing researchers

Two University of Victoria faculty members—Dr. Yvonne Coady (computer science) and Dr. Mihai Sima (electrical and computer engineering)—are recipients of New Opportunities Fund grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

Coady will use $78,500 to set up a UVic ubiquitous computing lab (UVicUbiq). Ubiquitous computing is the concept of building computers into everyday working and living environments to such an extent that data, rich media (advanced technology used in Internet advertising) and network access become constantly and transparently available.

The lab will support research into the development of stable system software and into some of the structural flaws plaguing integration of today's complex system infrastructure software.

Sima's $125,242 grant will be used to set up a reconfigurable computing lab (RCLab). Reconfigurable computing gives end users the freedom to adapt a processor's architecture to the characteristics of the program they want to run. For example, the computer can act as a media processor for watching DVDs and the next minute be a text editor, without compromising quality, efficiency or speed.

The CFI is an independent corporation established by the federal government to strengthen the ability of universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research that will benefit Canadians.