When Carleton PhD student Mohamed Abdelazez received a letter about his application for the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS), his reaction was one of disbelief.
“When I opened the letter and it said that I was awarded the scholarship, I didn’t believe it,” said Abdelazez. “I actually went to my supervisor and asked him if it was true or not.”
Aldelazez was indeed one of four Carleton University doctoral students named as Vanier CGS recipients, marking 2017 as Carleton’s best showing to date for the award. The Vanier CGS competition is open to PhD students across Canada, with scholarships valued at $50,000 per year for three years of doctoral studies.
Abdelazez is pursuing a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering and will now use the funds to fully dedicate his time toward research, which focuses on the development of a contactless, non-obtrusive healthcare monitoring system.
Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD student Mohamed Abdelazez was one of four Carleton students named as recipients of the 2017 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
A “contactless” and “non-obtrusive” system can be achieved through the use of monitoring sensors. Contactless sensors allow the patients to move about their lives with no hindrance of wires or cables attached to them.
“In recent years, the market and consumer adaptation of healthcare monitoring sensors has been booming,” explained Abdelazez.
However, these sensors have been developed for everyday consumers and are not yet ready for medical use.
Abdelazez hopes his research will bridge this gap and has the potential to provide many benefits to the Canadian health care system.
“As an example, the elderly can be more independent and live in the comfort of their homes knowing that their health is constantly monitored,” said Abdelazez.
Contactless sensors are especially important in Canada as they can be deployed in isolated rural areas.
“They can also be deployed in nurseries, or even the waiting room of a doctor’s office for pre-visit vitals checkup,” said Abdelazez.
The goal is for this system to be integrated seamlessly into the homes and workplaces of patients and consumers to provide reliable vitals monitoring.
Abdelazez is co-supervised by Dr. Adrian Chan and Dr. Sreeraman Rajan.
“Both of my supervisors have provided tremendous support throughout my academic career,” said Abdelazez. “They have advised me and directed me towards what was best for me, like volunteering in internal and external organizations such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Hacking Health. Their guidance and advice led to me winning the Vanier CGS.”
