Explorer of Technology, Art, Music, & The Everyday
I was able to break out the Lego in my people-centred design software systems engineering class this week (ENSE 271), the last time being 2-3ish years ago due to Covid.
This activity was one I adapted/evolved from Stanford’s d.school to get SSE learners in the mindset of design thinking for their class project. Fun times!! Learners seemed to really enjoy the experience. I’ll have to do a write-up on it all in the near future – maybe for next year’s CEEA event!
The 2022 RCE Saskatchewan Annual Awards for Achievement in Education for Sustainable Development is happening on May 4, 2022. As director of the Humanity-Centred Computer Systems Engineering Graduate & Undergraduate Projects & Research Lab, I am pleased to announce that my students and I were successful in obtaining two awards for our efforts in the projects
As the event is in-person and being live-streamed we hope you can check it out!
For more information see here:
Hi all – Apologies for the late notice. This semester at the uni has breezed on by (where in the world did the time go?!?) – was in Zoom and in-person and in Zoom oh my – my poor brain! 
This Saturday, April 9th we are scheduled to have our first in-person Engineering Project Day event at the University of Regina since COVID graced us with its presence. Indeed, it is an in-person event and given COVID is still a thing, masking is a requirement as per the University’s masking policy. The event starts at 8:30 am and runs until 3:30 pm and is located on the main level of the Education Building. Admission is free! …and I know this question is likely to crop up – unfortunately, due to logistics, we will not be web streaming the event this year (I’m also sad but please know we do hope to explore this in future Engineering Project Day events).
There are cool projects from all engineering programs, but biased as I am, like toats mcgoats super cool-beans and awesomeo projects in software systems engineering this year (like in all years…ha 
). Hope you can make it out! https://www2.uregina.ca/projectday/
My team comprised of Ramona Kyabaggu-Sakubita Cheryl Camillo and me, along with our partners at Eden Care Communities (Billy Pratt, MA (Leadership) and Michelle Zulyniak) were awarded the Santé Award from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) for the Top Solutions Program: Innovation Grant in 2021-22. Exciting!
This work expands on explorations from one of our software engineering capstone student teams from previous years (Team Nicks). This is super exciting news as we continue our research and innovation exploration in the area in the coming year
For more information, see SHRF’s article “Interdisciplinary research team examining how technology can help improve the delivery of home care.”
Over the past year and a bit, I have been facilitating a learning experience for both my undergraduate and graduate software systems engineering (SSE) students. The learning experience involves an in-depth, independent exploration of solutions in support of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The general questions I am exploring is can the now-and-future (software) engineer be inspired to contribute to positive local and global change? Can this be accomplished by immersing learners in a “safe-fall”, guided learning exploration on the engineering of computer technologies in support of the UN’s SDGs? My wife would tell me these are all run-on sentences, and for surely they are. My writing is a work-in-progress- HA! That all being said, I want to share with you brief 1-3 minute solution commercials on my students’ creations from the Fall 2021 (undergraduate class) and Spring 2021 (graduate class) where students explored exactly this. I, for one, have been inspired by the outcomes of my students’ explorations. I hope you are as well.
As an aside: Look for a supporting publication as part of the 2022 Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) event.
(Undergraduate SSEers. Alphabetical by project codename)
Krupal’s “HealthHack” app to support people’s quest for healthy lives (Link leads to his commercial in GitHub)
(Graduate SSEers. Alphabetical by student first name)
Helly’s “Covid-Support” app to help companies manage COVID exposures (Link leads to his commercial in GitHub).
I know there is a lot to unpack here. That said, all of these projects and student explorations give me hope! I also know that many students learned a lot about the UN SDGs and were/are inspired to go forth and be awesome – positively advancing society for us all!
Another year around the sun. And another year of COVID fun. Reflecting on it all, it really wasn’t all that bad. I know some of you can’t wait to get back to “normal.” I for one don’t think the normality of pre-COVID life was anything to stick a flag into. This year brought growth, in work and play and maybe in more unwanted ways as well (#belly #covidcupcakes haha). But ya, on reflection, stuff & things are moving along and stuff & things aren’t as terrible as they and others may spout them to be.
There is a lot to unpack from 2021 but given this post is about music let’s stick to that. From a music perspective, 2021 was a stellar year. One of the better slices-o-life of our worldwide self-containment experiment of the last couple of years is that musicians took time to make some stupendous albums. And a lot of them did. I know I say I struggle most years to break it down to 10 albums but this year was the most difficult it ever has been. As such, rather than a top 10 as I normally do, you’re getting a top 20. Couldn’t be helped. I trimmed as much as I wanted to go – from over 100 albums, down to 45ish, to 30 and now 20 – ha! To trim anymore is to split the smallest of hairs. Every song on every album below is simply awesome in its own way! So, here we go!
20. Blue Rodeo. Many a mile. Canadian gems. Not a terrible tune to be heard! Favs include: It’s all in your hands, I owe it to myself, I think about you, and When you were wild
19. Julie Doiron. I thought of you. So good. The only reason this album is higher down on my list is that I only heard of it in December! Favs so far include: Thought of you, Dreamed I was, You Gave me the key, etc.
18. Pokey LaFarge. In the blossom of their shade. A few years back I saw Pokey & his gang at the RFF and they blew me away. This is a fun album! Favs include: Mi ideal, Killing time, Get it ‘fore it’s gone.
17. Gojira. Fortitude. I love these fine folks. All songs are epic masterpieces but to pick a few favs: New found, Hold on, Amazonia, Born for one thing, Into the storm, Another world.
16. Descendents. 9th & Walnut. These folks know how to rock it out. What a great album. Favs include: Mohicans, Sailor’s Choice, Nightage, man – all of it!
15. Architects. For those that wish to exist. What a fantastic album. The heaviness is next level. Favs include: Black lungs, Giving blood, An ordinary extinction, etc.
14. Wardruna. Kvitravn. What a super interesting & unique album. I simply love the rhythms and droning beats. From Munin, Kvitravn, Gra, Ni, etc. All fantastic!
13. Brandi Carlile. In these silent days. What an awesome talent. I saw her play on SNL and immediately fell in love with her music. Favs include: Right on time, Letter to the past, This time tomorrow
12. Face to Face. No way out but through. Another fantastic album from one of my all-time fave bands. Favs include: Blanked out, Anonymous, Farwell song
11. Serj Tankian. Elasticity. An EP from one of the best vocalists and songwriters out there. All is there to enjoy as it’s a short EP but Your mom is a definite standout
10. Courtney Barnett. Things take time, take time. Another fantastico album from Courtney and Co. Favs include: Sunfair sundown, Rae street, If I don’t hear from you tonight, Before you gotta go, etc.
9. Bachelor, Jay Som & Palehound. Back of my hand. So very good. Favs include: Back of my hand, Sand angel, Moon, etc.
8. Bloodbound. Creatures of the dark realm. Just a super great head-banging event. Favs: When fate is calling, Ever burning flame, March into war, Kill or be killed, etc.
7. Lucy Dacus. Home video. Super songwriter and musician. Favs: Hot & heavy, First time, Christine, Going going gone, etc.
6. Greta Van Fleet. The battle at garden’s gate. These fine folks are the real deal. Just wonderful. Favs include: The barbarians, broken balls, My way soon, etc!
5. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. When god was great. These folks are gold! Favs: MOVE, I don’t believe in anything, The truth hurts, Decide, etc.
4. The Killers. Pressure machine. The unabridged version with the storyline is so good. Favs: Quiet town, Cody, In another life, Runaway horses, etc.
3. Teenage Bottlerocket. Sick sesh! Gold! These folks I love so very much! Favs: You’re never going out of style, Ghost story, Hello dana, etc.
2. The War on Drugs. I don’t live here anymore. So so so very awesome. Goosebumps every time I listen. Favs: Harmonia’s dream, Victim, I don’t live here anymore, Living proof, etc.
1. Bleachers. Take the sadness out of Saturday night. One truly excellent album. So fantastic. Favs: How dare you want more, Chinatown, Big life, Stop making this hurt. All solid gold and was in rotation much of the year which is why it is my very top pick
0. Bowling for Soup. Getting old sucks. And just because. My favourite song released in 2021 was not any album that was released in 2021 but I’ll have you know, this band, and this song. So fucking great which is why it is here! Here’s hoping these dudes make another album soon – with this tune on it!
And there you have it. There was just no way I could reduce my top 20 down to 10 so here you have 20 solid gold albums, and one solid gold tune, from 2021. What do you think? What are yours?
A pause for reflection from Ethan Zuckerman: “The metaverse isn’t about building perfect virtual escape hatches—it’s about holding a mirror to our own broken, shared world” from: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/facebook-metaverse-was-always-terrible/620546/
As we continue to explore variations on the metaverse (variations of online digital spaces), which I think are inevitable, and as we inch even closer to a near Ready Player One existence, my question is where do/can we go from here? Can #softwareengineers & #computerscience practitioners make a difference? I think, maybe yes?
Towards this, my students have been exploring (PDSA) solutions in the realm of providing immersive experiences around the UN’s 17 SDGs and it has been interesting to see how my students are providing opportunities for folks to “[hold] a mirror to our own broken, shared world” while also providing knowledge growing opportunities embedded within their computer system creations to allow humanity to positively progress forward. I look forward to sharing my student’s creations from this current term in a future post (here’s my post about my student’s creations in a past class).
As I continue to explore this idea it is my hope that when my students are unleashed into the world that they take with them a sense of duty in the spirit of Eli Pariser’s idea of being responsible/ethical digital urban planners – those that seek to create palaces for the people where we all can all learn and grow in a more human(e) way.
Candace and I recently presented at the 2021 Research Impact Canada (RIC) annual conference (http://researchimpact.ca), discussing our collaborative explorations between the Regina Fire and Protective Services and undergraduate students in one of my Software Systems Engineering classes (People-Centred Design) at the University of Regina to engineer modern software applications for fire safety education. Enjoy!
Abstract: Over the past years, Regina Fire & Protective Services has provided an interactive activity, delivered by firefighters, designed to lead kindergarten to grade three students through the components of a family fire escape plan. While the original intent of this fire education program is still valid and necessary, the original design has become obsolete and lacks relevance with current technology and communication tools. In collaborating with the University of Regina Software Systems Engineering program, a modern technology was designed and developed by post-secondary students to evolve the teaching tool, saving lives by partnering education and the latest technology and engineering possibilities.
As with last year, my favourite conference event of the year is happening online and for free registration. Fellow creatives, register and set up your schedule now!
Although work is still ongoing, students in my Spring 2020 graduate class on “People-Centred Design” and I received an award for initial work in exploring new website (digital habitat) experiences for the RCE Saskatchewan Community. Exciting and great work students!
