Dr. Mike Duncan is the Research Chair, Computer Technology with the Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre. In the 11 years prior to this move, Mike and his team developed a number of enterprise level data processing portals for various purposes. These portals were designed to allow users to input data, store it, and manipulate it to create outputs relevant to their needs. For example, Mike currently leads a team working on solutions for agriculture partner, SoilOptix®.
Mike has been a steady leader and mentor throughout many of the projects he has worked on. He patiently trains the students as Research Assistants, and supports them when they eventually become graduates working in their respective fields. His focus is to enable students to work on projects where they are going to learn and grow and become a better student and eventually, working professional.
At Niagara College, Mike founded the Centre for Advanced Visualization (CFAV), a research group dedicated to exploring the use of virtual reality (VR) for urban and land use visualization. He received one of the first large grants ever awarded to colleges, when the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) invested more than $330,000 in CFAV. He also received one of six NSERC Community College Innovation Pilot Program grants awarded across Canada. In 2006, CFAV Inc. was incorporated to pursue private contracts, so Mike then founded the Augmented Reality Research Centre (ARRC) to continue research into VR and to expand its use into other areas such as precision agriculture.
Mike holds his PhD, MSc, and BSc in Physics from McGill University and a Post Doc in Remote Sensing from the University of Utah. Mike held the position of NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges (IRCC) in Precision Agriculture & Environmental Technologies from 2012 to 2023.
