The AC Human-Centred Design Lab collaborates with Dominica State College
Posted on Monday, November 21st, 2022
Image: From left to right, Professor Jed Looker (HCDL), Gilmar Joseph (DSC), J’Quan Lecointe (DSC), Luna Liu (HCDL), Jaimon Orlé (DSC), Dr. Hermancia S. Eugene-Zamore (DSC), and Jane Wang (HCDL) at Dominica State College.
Jed Looker, Research Chair of the Human-Centred Design Lab (HCDL), along with student interns Jane Wang and Luna Liu of the Interdisciplinary Studies in Human-Centred Design postgraduate program, participated in a mission to the Commonwealth of Dominica in support of the Skills to Access Green Economy Program (SAGE) applied research project.
The mission took place from Oct. 17 to 28 and was managed by Julita Palka, Senior Regional Manager, International Education Centre, responsible for the implementation of SAGE initiatives.
The applied research project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and administered by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). The goal of the project is to increase economic opportunities for graduates of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Dominica with a particular focus on climate-smart construction/carpentry skills for the green economy.
Led by Algonquin College, the project is implemented in partnership with Dominica State College (DSC) and their team under the direction by Dr. Hermancia S. Eugene-Zamore, Dean of Academic Affairs and Academic Quality Assurance officer Mr. Ewin Lloyd, with active participation from a group of DSC students.
The goal of this multidisciplinary project is to improve the resilience and agility of the people of Dominica with respect to tropical hurricanes or other unforeseen destructive events and, on a more general level, to support better industry linkages between government, employers, skilled labour and educational institutions.
Through the application of a human-centred lens, the project aims to collect data on carpenters in the Commonwealth of Dominica that will inform both employment growth and economic development, and support the design of a public online database of local carpenters.
During the 10-day visit, the HCDL team successfully co-designed research methods and instruments with the DSC team and prototyped the database that will capture and store the carpenters’ data. Further work and collaboration will continue remotely.
The database will be developed in the new year by student interns of the Algonquin College Data Analytics Centre, under the direction of Dr. Theodore Mirtchev and Principal Investigator Adesh Nilesh Shah. A beta version of the database is expected to be ready for testing by April 2023.
SAGE is a five-year program. Algonquin College involvement spans May 2020 to May 2024.