Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards (VKURA)
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This UVic award provides an opportunity for first year students to gain research-enriched and applied experiences in their discipline or field of study. Students gain first-hand experience in planning and undertaking research or creative works.
This UVic award provides an opportunity for first year students to gain research-enriched and applied experiences in their discipline or field of study. Students gain first-hand experience in planning and undertaking research or creative works.
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Browsing Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards (VKURA) by Department "Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering"
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Item Decentralized location sharing using blockchain(University of Victoria, 2025) Rylan, PeeblesLocation sharing on smartphones is becoming increasingly common; however, such services rely on a trusted intermediary, in the form of cloud servers owned by tech companies such as Apple and Google. This reliance means transmission of location data is not fully secure, and could be accessed by the company or exposed in the event of a data breach. This project explores the feasibility of using blockchain technology to enable secure, decentralized data sharing, through the development of a proof-of-concept decentralized application (DApp) on the Ethereum blockchain. This project leverages the security and immutability of blockchain to create an alternative to the existing location-sharing model. The design consists of a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain, developed using Remix IDE, and a mobile application built with Flutter. The Ethereum smart contract is deployed on the Sepolia testnet (thus, real ETH is not used for testing). Coordinates are retrieved from the device GPS and encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and communication with the blockchain is achieved via an Alchemy API.Item Machine learning algorithms, how they work, and their uses.(2022-09-08) Messier, SethMachine learning is a methodology that enables computers to predict outcomes based on specific input data. It is a broad field that is used to help identify trends in data and allow everything from personalized recommendations for things like movies and ads to self-driving cars. While there are many different machine learning algorithms, four of the most commonly used ones include, linear regression, logistic regression, neural networks, and collaborative filtering. Each of these algorithms has its different strengths, weaknesses, and primary uses. Machine learning algorithms have created a large number of useful tools. The application of these different tools has has and can be used across a wide variety of fields ranging from healthcare to climate change. My summer research project involved understanding the underlying algorithms used in machine learning and applying them to small-scale projects to gain a deeper understanding of how machines learn.Item SecureBid: Sealed-Bid auctions on the blockchain(University of Victoria, 2024) van de Vegte, ZoƫOver the summer term, I conducted a hands-on exploration of blockchain technology. I surveyed the infrastructure of blockchain, its current and potential applications, as well as its benefits and drawbacks. I implemented a smart contract for secure online auctions using hash functions, to preserve bidder honesty and to prevent auctioneer corruption. I began my research by following an online course on blockchain technology, as well as attending ECE 406: Applied Cryptography, a UVic course taught by my supervisor, Dr. Riham AlTawy. Both these courses developed my understanding of the concepts and techniques necessary to build and understand a blockchain application. I also began studying existing decentralised apps (DApps), specifically an auction DApp similar to what I aimed to build. Whereas the auction DApp I studied used more advanced techniques including elliptic curve cryptography, I was able to implement the necessary cryptographic properties for my DApp using hash functions, one of the most fundamental cryptographic primitives.