Before asking Prof. Hu (hus@algomau.ca) to join the lab, please first read this page carefully. Then, if you are interested or if you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact him.
Please note: no paid opportunities are currently available. However, students can still work with him for thesis or computing project course credits. Students who are also seeking to have their manuscripts published may also seek his supervision.
Normally, a student in the BSc, and BCOSC students Algoma University can join the lab by applying for the following courses:
A Bachelor's Thesis: An honours student can complete a two-semester reading course with Prof. Hu on a topic related to R2C2's interests during the fall and the winter semesters. Alternatively, the student can complete the thesis in the summer semester. However, the student is expected to work harder.
A Computing Project: A graduate or an undergraduate student can ask to complete a 3-credit course with Prof. Hu.
Prof. Hu can also act as an examiner (a.k.a. reader) for a Bachelor's Thesis as well.
The courses are not paid opportunities. However, they can be used to fulfill certain program requirements. Students with the following interests are encouraged to apply:
Extended Reality
Game Development
3D User Interface and Spatial Computing
Streaming and Virtual Streaming
Artificial Intelligence for Spatial Analysis
Explainable AI and Visualization
Developing Instruments for Psychology and Social Science
In the future, paid opportunities may become available. However, students cannot earn course credits from these opportunities as they are considered employment.
At Algoma University, an MCS student is allowed to take a single computing project course. To join the R2/C2 lab, the student simply applies for COSC5286 and asks for Prof. Hu to be the project supervisor. Although this is not a paid opportunity, the student can earn 3 credits towards their graduation.
Please note that MCS is not a research-based program. Therefore, it may not meet the requirements for some PhD programs.
The MCS program does not require the student to identify any prospective supervisor before applying. Therefore, the student should only contact Prof. Hu once accepted into the program.
Currently, Prof. Hu does not have sufficient funding to support research-based graduate students.
Any prospective student should keep these points in mind before emailing the professor:
The student should provide some information about their research areas, and their research plan. The information does not need to be in detail.
Prof. Hu can accept students who are interested in AI. However, they must keep the following in mind:
Prof. Hu is transitioning away from immersive analytics. The main research goal is no longer about visualizing statistical and machine learning models; however, these can still fall under a secondary research goal.
The student's plan for AI must have XR elements - be it to use it for mediating various computing devices, for helping with data collection or for performing data science on XR data.
The student does not need to have prior XR background. However, they must be willing to learn one of the following frameworks: Unity, Godot or A-Frame.
The email should not be AI-generated; in Prof. Hu's experience, AI-generated introduction emails are often repetitive and overly long.
Please do not attach the transcripts unless asked for one; Prof. Hu does not rely on GPA and tries to avoid making biased decisions based on them.
You can still mention your courses and what you learned from them.
Please be aware that Algoma University's graduate programs are quite new; Prof. Hu will not know all the rules himself.