The 2nd Annual P2IRC Symposium took place June 20-22, 2017 at the Delta Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The multidisciplinary event was hosted by the institute that manages P2IRC, the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS), and attracted nearly 300 attendees, including senior researchers, members of P2IRC’s International Science Advisory Committee, students, industry delegates, and producer group representatives. More information about the 2nd Annual P2IRC Symposium can be found here.
The Symposium featured a student poster competition that provided an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to showcase their research. Fifty-one poster entries and abstracts were displayed throughout the Symposium and highlighted the multidisciplinary and exciting nature of the P2IRC projects, as well as the contribution of many talented students to P2IRC’s progress. If you are interested in viewing a complete package of Symposium posters and abstracts, please email the P2IRC Secretariat at partnerwithus@gifs.ca.
GIFS Executive Director and CEO, Dr. Maurice Moloney, presented awards to the winners of the poster competition on June 21 at an event held at the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market. A judging panel consisting of International Scientific Advisory Committee members and industry representatives awarded first place to Connor Burbridge, Yan Yan, and Anthony Kusalik for their poster titled Comparison of Genome-Wide Association Results with Varied p-Value Thresholds and Input Data Quality. Second place was awarded to the poster, Canola Flower Detection and Growth Analysis on Outdoor Environments Using Time-Lapse Cameras, created by Javier Garcia Gonzalez, Ian Stavness, and Kevin Stanley. Symposium attendees also had the opportunity to vote for their favourite poster during the Symposium; the People’s Choice Award winners were Lujie Duan and Nadeem Jamali for their poster, Using Deep Learning with Nonlinear Synapses for Processing Plant Phenotyping Data.
The Global Institute for Food Security looks forward to hosting the 3rd Annual P2IRC Symposium and Student Poster Competition in 2018!
About the Winners:
Connor Burbridge was awarded first place for Comparison of Genome-Wide Association Results with Varied p-Value Thresholds and Input Data Quality. Connor is heading into his fourth year of undergraduate studies in the bioinformatics program at the University of Saskatchewan. He is currently working on P2IRC Theme 3.3 (Genotype and Environment to Phenotype) under the supervision of postdoctoral fellow Dr. Yan Yan and Dr. Anthony Kusalik. This is part of an Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship funded by the Department of Computer Science and the College of Arts and Science. Connor wishes to pursue graduate studies in the future and would like to continue collaborating on exciting research initiatives like P2IRC.
Javier Garcia Gonzalez received second place in the competition for his poster Canola Flower Detection and Growth Analysis on Outdoor Environments Using Time-Lapse Cameras. Javier is currently completing his Masters of Science in Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan and working under the supervision of Dr. Ian Stavness on P2IRC Theme 3.2 (Data Analysis for Rapid Plant Phenotyping). Javier is also working as Software Developer at SED Systems in Saskatoon. Previously, Javier earned an MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain) and an MSc in Electrical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL, USA) under a double-degree program. Outside of science, his areas of interest include software and hardware engineering, space exploration, and communications.
Lujie Duan was awarded People’s Choice for his poster Using Deep Learning with Nonlinear Synapses for Processing Plant Phenotyping Data. Lujie is currently a summer research student working under the supervision of Dr. Nadeem Jamali in the Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan. He received his Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Saskatchewan in May 2017, with a major in computer science and a minor in mathematics. He will begin his graduate studies in September 2017. Lujie is particularly fascinated by machine learning, high-performance computing, and software engineering.