Since arriving at Â鶹¹ÙÍø in May as a BCDI Scholar, Niyodouba Aïcha Bonzi has been engaged in an intensive program of research and professional development. A PhD student at in Burkina Faso, Aïcha is spending the summer in the under the supervision of Dr. Qingguo Li.
You are more than three-quarters of the way through your research stay at Â鶹¹ÙÍø’s. Looking back on your experience so far, what have been some of the highlights?
One of my highlights at Â鶹¹ÙÍø's is the annual student and staff event at Â鶹¹ÙÍø's University that I had the pleasure of attending. I also had a memorable experience on Canada Day, where I attended the fireworks. Another highlight was my participation in the event organized in honor of scholarship recipients where I met many people.
You have been conducting research in the Bio-mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory with Dr. Qingguo Li in Smith Engineering. Can you describe your research activities and share how the experience has been going so far?
For my research, I work on ergonomic risk assessment in a laboratory environment. For the evaluation, I use images of postures adopted in the laboratories of Burkina Faso in general. This research aims to make work easier and reduce the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. I also took an employability training course where I learned a lot. One thing that really struck me was the constant availability of the students and Professor Li to support me on my project throughout my stay in the laboratory.