Keith Huynh's research involves hydrogen gas and fuel cells.

Four recent PhD graduates have received $70,000 each to apply their well-honed research and innovation skills at Queen’s.

Keith Huynh, Azadeh Moghtaderi, Farhana Zulkernine, and John Lam are among 80 Ontario researchers to receive funding through Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS), which provides PhD holders with fellowships to partner with Ontario companies and carry out complex research on real-life projects.

“I am honoured to be selected for this fellowship and extremely excited to carry out research at one of Canada's top universities,” says Dr. Huynh. “It is of utmost importance to retain PhDs who are trained in Canada and to not lose top talent to other scientifically-advanced countries.”

Dr. Huynh is working with the Queen’s chemistry department on projects involving new chemical methods to deliver hydrogen gas to portable fuel cells for transportation applications.

Dr. Zulkernine from the School of Computing is planning to investigate the challenges of storing and analyzing performance management data in large data warehouses. She is doing collaborative research between the School of Computing, Queen’s University and IT management software company Computer Associates.

Farhana Zulkernine is doing research with the Queen's School of Computing.

“I was absolutely thrilled to get the award not only because it is a great award and offers one of the best postdoctoral fellowships but also because it provided me with the opportunity to come back to Canada,” said Dr. Zulkernine, who was working in Italy.

Ensuring that Ontario’s PhD holders are retained and equipped for future careers locally, MITACS enables highly-skilled individuals to gain valuable research experience, as well as training in non-technical professional skills. Studies show that, traditionally, PhDs leave the province in large numbers in pursuit of greener pastures in the U.S. or abroad.