Global tech leaders are investing in York University to advance research that will transform technology and society.
Recent corporate donations from Google Canada, Samsung Electronics Canada and AMD to the Lassonde School of Engineering totalling approximately $275,000 will support cutting-edge research across engineering, computer science, vision science and Earth and space science.
“Corporate partnerships are catalysts for discovery, ”says Amir Asif, vice-president, research and innovation at York. “They empower our researchers and students with access to innovative technologies, industry expertise and the opportunity to translate discovery into real-world solutions, accelerating the journey from bold ideas to meaningful impact.”
The investments, says Asif, will help shape world-leading scholarship and technological innovation at the University.
“These collaborations position York at the forefront of global innovation. They enable our graduate students and researchers to co-create transformative solutions with leading multinational organizations, translate research to life at scale and forge pathways to career opportunities that shape the future of technology and society.”
He says by working with international partners, York’s research ecosystem remains “globally competitive” while also ensuring that "emerging technologies like AI are developed responsibly and in service of society.”
Google Canada $80,000
Google Canada contributed an unrestricted gift to support research led by Professor Sunil Bisnath, from Lassonde's Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering. With more than 25 years of expertise in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), Bisnath is internationally renowned for his work in precise positioning and navigation.
The research goal is to thoroughly analyze the large amount of GNSS – including GPS – along with other smartphone sensor data and reference solutions that Google has amassed over the years. The process will study errors in smartphone GNSS measurements in different environments, using reference data as well as conventional and new AI machine-learning tools.
Google Canada $70,100
Google Canada also awarded funds to Professor John K. Tsotsos, from Lassonde's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Tsotos is a global leader in computer vision, computational neuroscience, human vision, AI and robotics.
This investment supports research on human comfort and task performance in extended reality (XR) pass-through environments. Tsotsos and his team will explore how XR systems can be optimized to reduce discomfort, improve usability and enhance human performance – advancing more intuitive and accessible immersive technologies.
Samsung Electronics Canada $83,844
Samsung Electronics Canada's gift will support the research of Professor Michael S. Brown in Lassonde's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Brown’s research aims to improve the understanding of the physical world through camera images by investigating image formation models that describe how incoming light is converted to camera sensor responses under different scenarios. The research will also work on designing novel in-camera imaging pipelines that produce image outputs for both photographic and scientific tasks.
AMD $30,000
The unrestricted gift from AMD will support the research and teaching of Professor James Elder, a member of the Centre for Vision Research and a professor in Lassonde's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Faculty of Health's Department of Psychology. Elder studies how biological visual systems extract and interpret information and applies these insights to develop more powerful computer vision algorithms and machine vision systems.
The funds from AMD will be used to attract matching funding from the federal government to support collaborative research on accelerating the training of social robot AI systems through simulation, with applications to senior care.
With files from Karen Martin-Robbins