2025 Ward Summer Research Student

**Status**:Temporary Full Time (1.00 FTE)

**Compensation**:$17.20/hr

**Start Date**:May 5, 2025

**End Date**:July 25, 2025

**Lab**:PEARL Lab

**Supervisor**: Elaine Biddiss

**Program**:Bloorview Research Institute

Join us in building a world of possibility for children with neurodevelopmental differences and disabilities

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is Canada’s largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital and is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. It has ranked amongst Canada’s top 40 research hospitals for more than a decade. Holland Bloorview has won numerous awards including Greater Toronto's Top Employers, Canada's Top Employers for Young People and Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures. We offer an inspiring, inclusive, innovative, and collaborative work environment with competitive compensation and benefit packages and programs that support ongoing learning and professional growth.

The Bloorview Research Institute (BRI), embedded within the hospital, is the only university-affiliated research institute in Canada dedicated to pediatric disability, and one of very few around the world. BRI’s vision is to be a global leader in transformative, equity-driven research dedicated to enabling personalized versions of a good life across the lifespan, for all individuals with childhood onset disabilities, acquired injuries and developmental differences, their families and communities.

**Description**

The mission of PEARL (Possibility Engineering and Research Lab) is to conceptualize, develop, and evaluate innovative technologies that create possibilities for young people with disabilities to participate more meaningfully in arts, music, physical activities, and therapies.

We are looking for an enthusiastic summer student to work on improving our interactive gaming platform Bootle Blast. Bootle Blast uses a 3D camera to track a player's movements. The system consists of several mini games, each of which is played with different body movements, such as shoulder abductions, that may be relevant to their physical and occupational therapy goals. In this role, you will work on improving the functionality of mini games in Bootle Blast that use object detection to play.

The Bloorview Research Institute is pleased to launch **SOAR**(Sparking student Opportunities for Advancing inclusive childhood disability Research) in partnership with the Community of Support-Research Application Support Initiative (COS-RASI). SOAR aims to provide students experiencing structural disadvantages based on their identities, socioeconomic backgrounds and lived experience with research and mentorship opportunities as part of the Ward Family Summer Student Research Program. Eligible students include but are not limited to those who identify as Indigenous, Black, Filipino, socioeconomically disadvantaged, or identify as having a disability. Applications for **SOAR** positions are submitted _separately_. Please click here for more details on how to apply.

**Compensation Details**

The program runs for 12 weeks from May 5, 2025 - July 25, 2025. Students will be paid $17.20 per hour based on a 37.5 hour week (full-time), less statutory deductions, including 4% in lieu of vacation and relevant statutory holiday pay. Students will be paid biweekly through payroll.

**Key Responsibilities**
- Learn how current colour based object detection is performed in Bootle Blast
- Research techniques to improve object detection
- Development of a new and improved object detection algorithm
- Additional duties assigned as required

**Qualifications**
- Students must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program with minimum GPA of 80%
- Previous experience in computer vision based algorithm design is required
- Previous experience writing software in C# is an asset
- Able to communicate effectively with staff and clients
- Ability to work collaboratively as a member of a multidisciplinary team

**Application**

Please submit the following in one (1) pdf file in the order indicated below:

- A copy of your most recent curriculum vitae (CV)
- A copy of your most recent unofficial university transcript