Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards (VKURA)

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https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/14088

VKURA website

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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Now showing 1 - 20 of 139

Acromial fracture testing and analysis: Research summary and key takeaways
(University of Victoria, 2025) Navsarikar, Zara
This research concerned the testing of foam and plastic scapulas, and the usage of Direct Image Correlation technology to analyze the locations of most and least stress and strain under physiologically accurate loading.
Alas for Non-Amrin: Writing High-Fantasy from a STEM background
(2022-09-07) Dam, Savannah
This project examines the process of writing a high-fantasy novel from a STEM background. High-fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by the use of a completely alternate world from the main setting. The second draft of the novel, Alas, for Non-Amrin, was completed, with an in-depth analysis, and of editing, the first chapter, and creation, and editing, of a chapter-by-chapter outline. Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, and The Brothers Lionheart, by Astrid Lindgren, were studied to provide a greater understanding of modern and historical fantasy fiction. Three other works (The Rhythm of War, by Brandon Sanderson, The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin) were read for a broadening of literary knowledge. A greater appreciation of literature was cultivated, writing skills were further developed and significant progress was made toward the completion of Alas, for Non-Amrin as a whole. Approaching a fictional work from the background of STEM led to a leaning towards more rigid, logical plot structures, and hard-magic systems.
Analysing the Performance of Cloud Gaming over a Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Network
(2023-09-18) Tolouei, Pouria
Starlink, as it continues to grow, brings the idea of a robust global network coverage one step closer to reality. Even though Starlink's performance has been a breakthrough for satellite internet by utilising low-earth orbit satellites, frequent satellite handovers are required to keep up with the high mobility of the satellites. Starlink performs these handovers every 15 seconds at synchronised 57, 12, 27, and 42 seconds after each minute. While this is effective for maintaining the connection, it leads to fluctuations in the latency which is not efficient for latency-sensitive applications such as cloud gaming. This study investigates the effect of the fast-changing delay of Starlink on cloud gaming. Through automated gameplay and data collection, the quantitative data analysis revealed that the Starlink network experiences higher and faster changing latency, less stable bandwidth, and more packet loss compared to a more traditional network. Furthermore, the satellite handovers cause frequent and predictable performance drops, especially in terms of input latency and packet loss which lead to stutters and input lag. While the fundamental structure of the Starlink network cannot be changed, the satellite handover can be anticipated by applications due to their fixed and synchronised nature. So, working toward a solution for satellite handovers will be the future of this work.
Analyzing the Accuracy of Agent Representations in Crowd Simulations
(2022-09-08) Shatzel, Liam
A crowd simulation is a computer-based simulation of a large number of characters. Crowd simulations are used, with increasing frequency, in fields such as movies, games, building design, and evacuation scenarios. For example, in emergency evacuation scenarios, crowd simulations can be used to predict the behavior of humans in order to test the safety of a building design. The focus of this research is to analyze the accuracy of representations of virtual humans (agents) within crowd simulations. Typically, disks are used to represent agents within crowd simulations, but these can oversimplify the area that an agent occupies. Having accurate representations of agents is necessary for a simulated crowd to reflect reality. In this work we focus on a comparative analysis, contrasting overestimates and underestimates of standard disk representations. Through this research, we provide quantitative data on the oversimplification that disk-based models present. This data can be used as a starting point for exploring better representations of humans in motion within simulated crowds.
Analyzing the broadband divide in the underserved Southern Gulf Islands
(University of Victoria, 2025) Archer, Finnegan
Broadband internet access has rapidly become essential for facilitating social, educational, and economic development. Yet rural communities lacking the economies of scale to justify the upfront costs of traditional cabled connections face a digital divide. To address this, line-of-sight (LOS) technologies help alleviate infrastructure deployment expenses, although they come with unique performance challenges. Starlink, SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite service, connects user terminals to overhead satellites and can outperform the Universal Service Objective (USO). Similarly, cellular networks such as those provided by Rogers and Telus use radio signals optimized for coverage and reliability. Our research explores the real-world performance of these solutions in the Southern Gulf Islands using a vehicular setup equipped with a Starlink Mini dish, an external GPS module, a dashboard camera, and cellular modems carrying Telus and Rogers SIMs. Metrics including latency, iperf3 throughput, GPS location, and cellular SNR were gathered alongside footage to assess performance. Quantitative data analysis demonstrated that regional terrain features, such as dense tree coverage, heavily affect line-of-sight performance.
Apologies: Beyond words, where's the change?
(University of Victoria, 2025) Lechovolea, Lavinia
This research project examines whether Canadian apologies of historical injustices lead to meaningful change. Using the Political Apologies Database and a provided list of Canadian political apologies, I began gathering an inventory of Canadian political apologies, identifying them by topic, source of the apology, recipient of the apology, and date. Then we will search the Hansard record of parliamentary proceedings for discussions of each apology or the historical injustice that apology addressed to determine what, if any, additional legislative or government action might have been involved in the case. The objective is to determine whether or not democratic principals such as equality, accountability, and minority rights are upheld if followed up by government policy.
Applied Sociology
(2022-09-09) Grant, Faith
Bruce Ravelli and I have created a resource for applied sociology and community engagement. Members of this discipline as well as people with an interest in this field now have a space to find research taken place in the community, classes with community involvement, and community partners who make this engagement possible. In order to do this we researched over 150 institutions across Canada and arranged the findings into the website to make it simple and accessible to retrieve information. There are many categories to search through allowing for a more personal and specified search for example you can search names, the type of work (i.e community based research), and the topic or area of interest (mental health, education, immigration, etc).
Artificial intelligence in supply chain resilience: A systematic literature review
(University of Victoria, 2025) Hillard, Joseph
As a research student, I have been involved in conducting a systematic literature review that examines the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing supply chain resilience. My work involved screening and analyzing over 900 academic papers, focusing on those that specifically related to the implementation of AI in supply chain resilience. I began by reviewing titles and abstracts and then conducted a full-text screening to ensure the papers aligned with the research topic. Once the relevant papers were compiled, I extracted key information from each paper and synthesized it into a comprehensive Excel database. Each paper was categorized by AI methodology, supply chain sectors, objectives, challenges, and future research directions. Using this information, I then created visualizations to highlight commonalities and present them.
An Assessment of Aging Systems in Zooarchaeology
(2022-09-07) Martiskainen, Ellis
The purpose of my internship was to acquaint myself with the methods that are used to determine the age-at-death of zooarchaeological finds, and to assess whether the systems that have been in use for the past fifty years are adequate. I studied the skeletal anatomy of mammals for some time. Then I did intensive reading of the literature regarding the aging of pigs, goats, sheep and cattle. I found that many aging systems have been based off of small populations of animals or unreliable data. In the future, more aging studies should be done on populations of known-age animals which are allowed to live their full lifespan. I also analyzed some data on goats found at the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük. I found that it is difficult to perfectly replicate aging done via Silver’s (1969) system without seeing bones in person, and noted some biases in which bones survive in the archaeological record.
Automated Feedback For Engineering: Assistance in Achieving Learning Goals
(2022-09-08) Nelson, Sam
The research done in this internship focused on developing a programming tool to provide students instant feedback on assignments and exercise problems. The goal was to integrate a comprehensive software tool that gives unique feedback rather than a generic incorrect message on each failed attempt which can be a source of frustration for students. Providing instant feedback messages gives students the opportunity to get a greater understanding of the content and makes it more interactive. In order to complete this goal, research was conducted to identify common errors and better understand the capabilities of how code is currently used to deliver feedback. The outcomes of the research consisted of automatically generated feedback with an appropriately coded response for a variety of types and difficulties of engineering mechanics problems.
Barriers to access in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territory and beyond
(University of Victoria, 2024) McCleary, Liz
This research project centers on visualizing barriers to accessing culturally significant plant species for the Squamish Nation. By utilizing an interactive map, community members can toggle layers on and off, making it easier to locate and access traditional harvesting sites within their territory. A key feature of this project is the "Community Harvesting Form," which allows Nation members to share information about specific harvesting sites and plant species. This project is designed to protect data ownership and sovereignty, ensuring that information remains within the community.
BC Impact Ventures Ecosystem
(2023-09-19) DesBrisay, Jack
The BC Impact Ventures Ecosystem project is an initiative of the UVic Impact Investing Hub that aims to build an eco-system map of SDG-aligned companies in BC. The goal for the database is to connect companies with likeminded investors, researchers, students and other organizations to support the growth of sustainable companies in BC. This initial data mapping project is currently being integrated in a larger collaborative project in partnership with other BC organizations. The companies were classified based on the Clean Technologies and SEGS guide and their impact was evaluated based on the UN's SDG targets.
Best Spider Friends Forever: Female-female socialization and cohabitation in intertidal jumping spiders (Terralonus californicus)
(2023-09-28) Mali, Paula
Jumping spiders are rarely social, guarding their nests and eggs. However, some exceptions have been recorded sharing interconnected webs. This study investigates social repulsion and attraction between female intertidal jumping spiders (Terralonus californicus). In each trial, an intruder spider was introduced to a resident spider’s nest. We compared the sociality of resident spiders with and without egg sacs laid. Overall, the trials showed low rates of repulsion in both egg presences and absences. In most of the trials, the resident and intruder spiders were observed nesting together. Additionally, other social spiders are suggested to benefit from cooperative egg-laying. We proposed that the spiders are more likely to lay eggs in a nest with preexisting egg clutches. The experiment found that on average, more egg sacs were laid in the trials where eggs were previously present. Further research could be conducted to investigate the benefits of female spiders cohabiting and laying eggs together.
Births Through British Columbia's Covid-19 Pandemic
(2022-09-07) Clarke, Colton
Using information gathered on government sites for monthly births by local health area (LCA), yearly population, and unemployment rates, and using local public newspapers for lockdown and travel restriction severity, we perform several regressions that help us determine how the pandemic changed birth rates. Creating a forecasting model for the expected birth rates had the pandemic not happened, but the unemployment rates stayed as they were in the pandemic, for 2020 and 2021, we show different trends based on different census metropolitan areas and British Columbia overall. From November 2020 to December 2021, we find that approximately 95 births are missing in British Columbia overall but there is quite a bit of regional variation, with 1114 missing births in Vancouver, 47 missing births in Victoria, 100 extra births in Abbotsford/Mission, and 280 extra births in Kelowna in that same period.
Brought Up “By Hand”: Victorian Artificial Feeding Practices
(2022-09-08) Brinham, Anna
The widespread practice of hand-feeding in the 19th century led to the death of 90% of artificially fed babies as feeding devices were unhygienic, lead-soldered, and contained unpasteurized, unrefrigerated, and adulterated animal milks. Superstitions surrounding the ability of breast milk to carry wet nurses’ undesirable traits and to be soured by semen contributed to a decline in breastfeeding in the 1700s, which was later compounded by industrialization and rural-to-urban migration. Although breast milk was hailed as the best infant food by physicians, maternal and neonatal illness, maternal death, foundlings, the decline of wet nursing and women entering the workforce drove many mothers to rely on the convenience and “scientific” nature of artificial feeding. The promotion, socioeconomic trends, and mechanics of hand-feeding – including how the design and use of feeding vessels determined whether an infant fed actively or passively – provide a comprehensive portrait of artificial feeding in the 19th century as modern science illuminates the unsanitary conditions which sparked high infant mortality rates.
Burying Climate Change
(2022-09-09) Jung, Dave
This study aimed to develop sustainable operations and maintenance strategies for an offshore wind farm. In efforts to reduce carbon emissions that pollute the atmosphere, negative emissions technology is being researched to turn carbon dioxide into basalt rock. This process begins with an offshore wind farm accumulating air, which is then filtered to extract carbon dioxide. From there it is injected into ocean basalt beneath the ocean floor, converting it into basalt rock. The wind farm's components consist of wind turbines, direct air capture units, and injection systems that all need frequent maintenance and repairs for efficient carbon dioxide production. The study found that using a discrete event simulation to predict costs and production metrics, factors such as the distance from the wind farm to the shore significantly correlate with the predictions.
Business Storytelling
(2022-09-09) Mckenzie, Paige
This research project focussed on the power of storytelling and the value it brings to business learning. The goal was to research and gather a plethora of information on the current uses of storytelling in different disciplines to uncover a new research topic that has yet to be explored. The research topic of audience in storytelling was determined from brainstorming using mindmaps and the information gathered from a scoping review. The hope is to create a framework that other scholars can use through the use of audience storytelling to aid in the field of business learning.
Canadian climate change literature timeline
(University of Victoria, 2025) Hatch, William
My Canadian climate change literature timeline is an ongoing website project which features a compilation of poems and short stories relating to one or more of 25 climate topics. Common topics include: forest fires, species protection, and pollution. My research involves reading through prominent Canadian literary magazines, citing relevant texts and noting their relevance, then contacting authors to request permission to link copies of the relevant works to the website. The literary works are organized by year and are contextualized with information and imagery I collect about positive and negative climate events. Events include: UN climate conferences, major natural disasters, climate-related political decisions, and fluctuations in global indicators of climate change like Arctic minimum sea ice extent and Co2 PPM (parts per million). The website is designed for the use of high school teachers and students and includes descriptions of suggested exercises. My hope is that the literature on the timeline will provide Canadian students a humanizing understanding of the overwhelming and frightening concept of climate change.
Career Achievement Project
(2022-09-08) Bui, Hoai An
The Career Achievement Project (CAP) is an ongoing research project started by Dr. Rick Cotton over 10 years ago, compiling data on more than 30,000 individuals from 242 different professional and occupational national or international halls of fame. The study aims to examine the nature of extraordinary career achievement in order to identify the key factors that contributed to the development of exceptional success by the top 1-2% of role incumbents in different fields, helping to inform excellence going forward. During the VKURA internship, I collected and analyzed 8416 profiles from 14 public hall of fame websites. Additional in-depth analysis will be needed to fully answer the research question. The poster will (1) describe research performed on inductees of three halls of fame: Accounting, Art Directors Club, and Canadian Aviation, (2) highlight similarities and differences in career patterns within and across these three halls of fame, and (3) leverage the career concepts developed by Brousseau et al. (1996) to further examine inductee's career patterns.
Career Achievement Project
(2023-09-18) Vandenberg, Brooke
The Career Achievement Project (CAP) is an ongoing research project started by Dr. Rick Cotton over 10 years ago, compiling data on more than 30,000 individuals from 242 different professional and occupational national or international halls of fame. The study aims to examine the nature of extraordinary career achievement in order to identify the key factors that contribute to the development of exceptional success by the top 1-2% of role incumbents in different fields, helping to inform excellence going forward.

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