Research
Technical Reports
View some of our research on our Technical Reports page.
Research Day
View information on student Research Day activities on the Research Day page.
Research Areas
Faculty in SOCS work in one or more of the following research areas: applied modelling (AM),
artificial intelligence (AI), distributed computing (DC), and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
The following table lists some of the topics covered by these research areas as well as some of the
faculty whose main research projects are in these areas. Many faculty do research that spans these
groupings which serve only to introduce the range of research going on in SOCS. Please see each faculty
member's research profile to get a richer description of their research interests and range.
| Applied Modelling (AM) | Graph theory and algorithms, formal specifications, hardware-software co-design, and interdisciplinary work in environmental modeling and disease spread modeling. (Gardner, Grewal, Obimbo, Sawada, Swayne) |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Bayesian techniques, artificial neural networks, evolutionary computation, fuzzy systems, datamining, pattern recognition, intelligent agents. (Calvert, Chiu, Kremer, Matsakis, Song, Stacey, Wang, Wineberg, Xiang) |
| Distributed Computing (DC) | Parallel computing, distributed systems, embedded systems, multi-agent systems, mobile computing, wireless networks, and ad hoc networks. (Li, Mahmoud) |
| Human Computer Interaction (HCI) | Context-aware systems, usability, interface design, mobile and ubiquitous computing. (McCuaig, Nonnecke, Wirth) |
Laboratory Facilities
SOCS is home to innovative, interdisciplinary research groups and environments. Over the past 7 years, SOCS has completely restructured its teaching and learning environment to reflect state-of-the-art computing for its undergraduate and graduate students. The following labs house equipment, graduate and senior undergraduate students.
Centre for Mobile Education and Research (CMER)
The mission of CMER is to engage in leading edge applied research to develop state-of-the-art applications and services to facilitate and enhance mobile education and learning, and to provide leadership in integrating mobile devices into the computer science curriculum. This mission will be fulfilled in a variety of ways including, cutting edge research projects that have been completed or are in progress, research partnerships, and technology transfer. The research carried out in CMER has real and immediate applications in mobile education and learning.
Computing Research Laboratory for the Environment (CRLE)
The CRLE specializes in building models and developing decision support systems for environmental problems, using high performance computing and innovative reasoning and visualization techniques. Current projects include the digital divide, the effect of lakes on regional climate models, and water security for El Salvador.
Driving Research In Virtual Environments Laboratory (DRIVE Lab)
The DRIVE Lab features a state-of-the-art automobile driving simulator. Drivers are immersed in a safe virtual reality driving experience that allows the adjustment of road, weather, lighting, traffic and other conditions. This is a cross-disciplinary tool, bringing together faculty researchers and graduate and undergraduate students in computer science, psychology, medicine, biomechanics and engineering.
Guelph Natural Computation Research Group (GNCG)
GNCG is a collaboration between researchers in the field of Natural Computation and their graduate students. The research involves the development of novel NC techniques and the application of NC to areas such as bioinformatics, health informatics, biomedical data analysis and autonomous mobile robotics.
Intelligent Decision Support Systems Laboratory (IDSS Lab)
This lab houses both workstations and students working mostly in the areas of intelligent decision support systems. It aims to study and build intelligent programs that can reason and support decision making in large and complex environments. The research focus is on probabilistic and decision-theoretic graphical models, embedded in either single agent systems or multiagent systems.
Intelligent Mobile Agents Laboratory (IMAGO Lab)
The IMAGO Lab houses several servers for the research of intelligent mobile agents. It aims to the development of programming languages for mobile agent paradigm, the implementation of agent virtual machine and the experimental environment for graduate student projects.
Interactive Cognitive Computing Laboratory (ICC Lab)
The ICC Lab is concerned with enhancing the user's experience with interactive software systems by focusing on the interactions between users and electronic information. Specific research topics include multimodal and adaptive systems, trust and provenance in distributed environments, and performance and evaluation of interactive systems for all types of electronic information.
Modelling and Design Automation Laboratory
This research group is concerned with algorithms and optimization techniques for VLSI and FPGA related problems, such as placement and routing, and with higherlevel software and system synthesis methodologies for embedded systems. The lab houses equipment and software donated by Canadian Microelectronics Corporation, especially for rapid prototyping of FPGA-based embedded systems, in addition to Department supplied HP machines for the graduate students.
Natural Language Processing Laboratory (NLP Lab)
The NLP Lab houses several servers and students working on statistical natural language processing, with an application to web content filtering. The lab has recently secured a two-year grant with CITO (a division of Ontario Centres of Excellence) and will collaborate with a local company in Guelph to transfer research results into real-world applications.
Pervasive and Wireless Networking (PerWin) Laboratory
The PerWin lab houses state-of-the-art pervasive/ubiquitous computing and wireless networking research equipment with funding recently obtained from the CFI research infrastructure fund. The lab is primarily used by pervasive computing and wireless network research group but it is open to all researchers, graduate and undergraduate students working in related areas. The main focus of this group is to design, suitable networking and communication architectures, algorithms and protocols, evaluate them for deployment in mobile and pervasive.applications. Current projects include, pervasive health monitoring, scheduling in wireless mesh networks, chaching and prefetching in wireless mesh networks and the integration of FRID and the Internet applications.
Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET)
The SHARCNET is a network of high-performance computing clusters. It aims to: (1) accelerate the production of research results to meet the needs of researchers and industry partners in today's competitive fast-paced business environments, (2) attract and retain the best students, researchers and companies by providing cutting edge computational expertise and hardware, and (3) link academic researchers and corporate partners in a search for new business opportunities. SOCS researchers have been involved in the SHARCNET from the very beginning. Several faculty and graduate students have incorporated HPC into their research to speed up time to science or to advance the state-of-the-art in HPC research. Past SHARCNET site leaders for Guelph include David Calvert and Deborah Stacey. Deborah Stacey was one of the three original co-directors of SHARCNET and has also served as the Researchers' Representative on SHARCNET's Board of Directors. Guelph's SHARCNET staff and labs are located in the School. SHARCNET's technical manager, Mr. John Morton, is a graduate of the SOCS Master's program.
Wireless Networking and Mobile Computing Research Laboratory @ Guelph (WiNG)
WiNG conducts state-of-the-art research on different aspects of Wireless Networking and Mobile Computing to explore future of communications. We are engaged in industrial as well as academic research, covering various topics in wireless and mobile networks from the data link layer to application layer. We also provide training and education at graduate level as well as undergraduate level for students who are interested and dedicated to do research and development in this area. WiNG explores, designs, develops, implements, and studies wireless networks and their applications. The focus at WiNG is particularly geared towards the future of and the needs of telecommunication technology.
