Note to potential graduate students: My current area of active research that is appropriate for graduate students is in the technological development of medical imaging, primarily Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) but there soon may be opportunities for graduate projects in Positron Emission Tomography (PET). A prime focus will be the development of the MRI TRASE imaging method. Many, if not all, of these projects will have an application to my interest on putting an MRI in space. I anticipate that many projects will be co-supervised with Paul Babyn who is now in the College of Medicine at the U of S. Students may enroll either through the Division of Biomedical Engineering or through the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics (press buttons below for application information).
I also have active research interests in both observational and theoretical astrophysics. On the observational side, my recent and current focus is on the environments of compact objects like black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs, primarily in systems known as High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs). Observations have been done, or are planned, of HMXBs across the electromagnetic spectrum from X-rays to the radio and I am currently working with data from the space telescopes RXTE, MOST and Spitzer. Summer student projects (USRA) directed at the analysis of the data from my observations, and for making further observations with the Plaskett telescope in Victoria are possible. On the theoretical side, I am developing numerical general relativistic models of spinning objects near black holes using the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations in collaboration with Dinesh Singh at the University of Regina. Dinesh and I can co-supervise graduate students interested in the MPD or closely related projects. Students may enroll through the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics (press buttons below for application information).
Students interested in mathematical models of ovarian physiology are also encouraged to contact me. There are some very interesting, and potentially beneficial from the health care point-of-view, directions to take this line of research. Students interested in this line of interdisciplinary work may apply either through the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics or through the Division of Biomedical Engineering (press buttons below for application information).
Some potential funding sources for international students are listed on Canada's International Scholarship site.
With that overview of my current research interests, here is the story of how brains, ovaries and binary stars symbolically represent my past and present career scientific research interests. My interests in all three catagories has included both the data (experimental) side and the mathematical (theory) side. A list of my papers is posted; you can also take a look at my academic pedigree for fun.
For brains I have applied functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to the study of the cognitive functioning of the human brain. I have a page with some useful fMRI research resources. I have also had a more general interest in MRI methods and data analysis in general including the development of novel pulse sequences for generating MRI image data. For fMRI, I have been involved, through my former graduate student Dr. Vasily Vakorin, in the development of a math model of the underlying hemodynamics that influences the fMRI signal. Another interesting application was the MRI of post-mortem brains, where I developed a mathematical model of formalin diffusion into the brain on the basis of MRI data.
With ovaries I have applied MRI to the study of these reproductive organs in both women and cows (cows being an excellent physiological model for humans). My primary collaborator is Roger Pierson, at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Saskatchewan. My primary theoretical creation in this field is the application of a math model of follicular dynamics to the problem of detecting ovulatory follicles by ultrasound in assisted reproductive therapy. The development and application of that model is ongoing.
Binary stars represents my current primary research interest in astronomy and my interests extend beyond binary stars. I have been an amateur astronomer since my age could be represented by a single character and one of my first professional publications was about fireballs. I have maintained the RASC Saskatoon Centre web page since its inception. Now I pursue research in astronomy as a professional. I still have an interest in chasing meteorite dropping fireballs, especially with my fireball cameras, but my current more major interest is in extreme binary star systems including cataclysmic variables (CVs) and high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). I have a variable stars research page with lots of useful information. My primary collaborators are Kinwah Wu of the Mullard Space Science Institute of University College London and Laszlo Kiss at the Konkoly Observatory, Budapest, Hungary. Actually, to get all the work done requires many other collaborators, far too numerous to mention here - you can see their names as authors on our publications.
"Brains, ovaries and binary stars" is really only symbolic of the range of my interests, which also cover engineering issues with MRI, astrophysics and space instrumentation. My industrial research interests currently consists of developing an MRI that will fly on the International Space Station and, eventually, one suitable for Moon Base use. I am quite excited about the MRI in space work and may post information about it here in the future as it unfolds.
My educational background is in Mechanical Engineering (BSc, New Brunswick) and Applied Mathematics (PhD, Saskatchewan). Between my undergraduate and graduate studies I worked at SED Systems in Saskatoon where I designed mechanical hardware for some of the first CCD cameras ever made (for WAMDII and WINDII - doppler imaging interferometers; WINDII was on the UARS satellite) and worked on various other space science instrumentation including a sounding rocket microgravity experiment to grow CMT, a material used in infrared CCD cameras.