On A Tangent

Fall 2026 marks the first year of a new undergraduate program within the Faculty of Science at TMU. An expansion on traditional cybersecurity training, the interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science in Cyber Science program covers much more than just technical skills. Not only will students learn to analyze system vulnerabilities and develop secure code, but they will also understand the legal, social, business, and ethical considerations, enabling them to communicate with decision-makers. In this episode, Dr. Marcus Santos, computer science professor and inaugural program director, gives us the inside scoop on what’s to come in the new program and how it will prepare students for the future of cybersecurity.

What is Cyber Science? 01:52 | Creating a new program 04:43 | Courses and curriculum 07:22 | Experiential learning opportunities 11:50 | Careers and advice 15:04

Mentorship can be a critical ingredient for success in the academic journey, offering students guidance, career opportunities, network connections, and sometimes even leading to lifelong relationships. Inspired by her own mentorship journey, Faculty of Science alumna Julia Pia (Chemistry ‘20) founded Ment Projects to provide accessible mentorship resources for students and professionals. Ment Projects launched in 2023 with The Mentorship Podcast, featuring diverse industry professionals discussing their field and career path. This fall, they launched their mentorship app, Ment, through a pilot with the Undergraduate Science Society at TMU. In this episode, we discuss why mentorship is so important in science and explore the range of mentorship tools and programs available to students within the Faculty of Science at TMU.

Discover mentorship resources in the Faculty of Science at TMU:

Why is mentorship important in science? 2:07 | Julia’s journey with mentorship 4:16 | Mentorship resources in the Faculty of Science at TMU 11:18 | Ment Projects and the Ment App 13:42

Why does the computing industry struggle with representing Canada’s diversity? In this episode, Dr. Preeti Raman, Computer Science professor and pedagogy researcher at TMU, highlights the critical issues surrounding the gender and diversity gap in computer science. It starts early – a lack of support or exposure to computing in grade school can leave women and underrepresented groups feeling unsupported in their career path, a trajectory commonly known as the "leaky pipeline." Leaning on her expertise in integrative analytics and care-centred pedagogies, she discusses why it is more critical than ever to make computer science accessible to all.

What is the diversity and gender gap? 1:38 | Why should we care about diversity? 3:10 | What does the data say? 4:12 | The “leaky pipeline” and its barriers 7:45 | How can we bridge the gap 15:22

While Indigenous Peoples can be considered the first scientists, the current Canadian curriculum is rooted in Euro-Western science, overlooking and excluding centuries of Indigenous Knowledges. In this episode, we sit down with Brooke Filsinger and Alacea Yerxa, two changemakers in the scientific and Indigenous community at TMU to learn about what decolonizing science education is and how they hope to change the system to include Indigenous perspectives.

What is Indigenous science? 2:55 | Inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: Indigenizing the Canadian Academy 6:22 | The future of Indigenous science education 11:23 | How they’re changing the system 12:51

Every year on the last Saturday of March, millions of people across the world turn off their lights for Earth Hour to raise awareness for the urgency of nature loss and climate change. But is ‘awareness’ enough? In this episode, we ask: Is it too late to change course? Are we headed towards environmental disaster? Whose responsibility is it to help save our planet? Our conversation with Dr. Bryan Koivisto takes an interesting approach as we explore this topic from different perspectives and consider how socio-economics, politics, and social media play a role in the mix. Bryan is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology and his research is in Organic-based Renewable Energy. He is also the Graduate Program Director for the Environmental Applied Science and Management Program and he is involved in mentorship in scientific discovery at the university.

What is Earth Hour? 3:10 | The Urgency of Climate Change 9:06 | Environmental Justice and Racialized Communities 11:01 | Can We Turn this Ship Around? 14:15 | Who’s Responsible: Individuals or Corporations? 16:31 | What We Can Do to Help 22:02

Every year on January 28th, Canada and many countries around the world participate in Data Privacy Day. On this day in 1981, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection was signed. Today, we use the anniversary as an opportunity to bring forward discourse around the value of protecting personal privacy in our digital society. In this episode, Shadan Ghaffaripour, a PhD candidate in computer science, explains what data privacy is, why we should care, and how users and corporations can protect personal data. Shadan currently works in the Information and Computer Security lab under the supervision of Dr. Ali Miri and her research area is in privacy-preserving technologies.

What is data privacy and why should we care? 1:10 | How can users & corporations protect personal data? 7:30

After community members raised concerns surrounding Ryerson’s namesake, the Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win Standing Strong Task Force has come forward with 22 points of action on how the university can acknowledge and address its colonial legacy. The university has accepted all 22 recommendations, including a call to rename the university. In this episode, Task Force Co-Chair, Elder Joanne Dallaire, and Faculty of Science Dean, Dave Cramb, chat about the task force's process and what allyship to the Indigenous community means in academia and in our personal lives.

The university invites community members to fill out a survey to share their ideas, opinions and perspectives on a new name. The survey will be open until December 7th 2021. https://www.ryerson.ca/next-chapter/renaming-process/community-survey/

A Task Force in an Indigenous Format 1:27 | Being an Ally to the Indigenous Community 19:11

As the world’s most popular drug, caffeine has been ritualized in daily routines all over the world. In this episode, Dr. Michael Olson chats about the effects of caffeine and its role in society. He also compares Canada’s coffee culture to what he observed while working and living in the UK. Dr. Olson studied Pharmacology in his PhD and is now a cell biologist and professor at Ryerson.

The Science of Caffeine 3:08 | Coffee Culture in Canada vs UK 13:39

Hackathon: a hacking marathon where teams aim to develop a functioning software or hardware project by the end of a time constraint. Hackathons are the perfect opportunity for students to build their skills and work as a team before going into the real world. Ryerson’s very own hackathon has set about to do exactly that—host an event for students to build skills, make connections, and have fun while they’re at it. In this episode of On A Tangent, fourth-year students Rupan Gill (Biology) and Farhan Mohammed (Mathematics) share what it's like planning RU Hacks, their motivation to join the team, and what you can expect as an attendee to the annual hackathon. For more information on RU Hacks, visit https://ruhacks.com/.

About RU Hacks 1:59 | Planning RU Hacks 8:39 | Info for Prospective Attendees 13:13

By now, you’ve probably heard the hype surrounding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Investors are profiting off the buzz of a “currency of the future” while corporations and governments are feeling pressure to acknowledge the growing technology. But do you really know what Bitcoin is and how it works? Computer Science alumna and blockchain expert Dr. Saeideh G. Motlagh gives us a crypto crash course with the rundown on Bitcoin and blockchain and what this means for the future of technology and finance.

Bitcoin Basics 02:00 | Blockchain Applications 08:28 | Are Cryptocurrencies the Currency of the Future? 12:40