I am a senior research advisor at the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (Université de Montréal) and the Institute for Data Valorisation (IVADO). My research interests are critical data, research and technology evaluation, gender analysis, international development and science and technology policy. My research focuses on the potent effects that a new technology can have, and may in future have, on society and introduces policy implications and strategies to orient emerging technologies toward equity and equality outcomes. I am also an adjunct faculty at the Center for Engineering in Society and a senior member of EDI Lab at Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University. I teach an undergraduate course “ENGR 392- Impact of technology on society”, during which I incorporate elements of my research into teaching.

The course explores the social and societal problems caused by the unexpected effects of technology and covers important topics, including (but not limited to) definition and politics of technology, technology assessment and policy, technology mapping techniques as well as science decolonization and responsibility, technology and gender, open science and innovation, and sustainable development goals.

In Winter 2021 and Fall 2020, I had the opportunity to teach ENGR-392-2204-RR and ENGR-392-2202-EE at Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University. The course featured semester-long, team-based projects on scientific and technological developments that are heavily used and applied during the pandemic and aim to “operationalize” a strategy to measure these developments and define their relationship with Canadian society. The techno-economic network (TEN) framework was used as an analytical tool to map this relationship. These developments were further aligned with the responsible research and innovation (RRI) approach and practical recommendations were provided for each element of RRI in order to reduce or remove the social harms during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this project, analysis of publication, funding, patent, company, and socio-economic data were conducted and various databases and visualization tools were used, including databases such as Compendex, Inspec, PatentScope, Mergent Online, and Statistics Canada, and visualization tools such as VOSviewer (for network analysis), and Prezi (for interactive maps).

My plan is to feature these projects and to make our community proud of how Concordia's engineering students responsibly reflect on technologies in pandemic times.

All the credit goes to the amazing students of ENGR-392-2204-RR and ENGR-392-2202-EE courses. I am very proud of how they managed this course during the pandemic. It is not an easy time. They were amazing and I could not ask for better students. A big thanks to Marc-André Simard who guest lectured the open access class with deep enthusiasm and to the teaching assistants, Kathleen Sherman, Amanda Kolopanis and Daniel Joseph Passaseo, who worked tirelessly throughout the past semesters. A special thanks to Ms. Chloe Lei, Teaching & Research Librarian, engineering & computer science at Concordia University, who were always available to help whenever needed. Last but not least, I would like to thank Dr. Tanja Tajmel and the incredible CES department at Gina Cody school of engineering and computer science who made this course possible.