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New autism and disability training at Aston University aims to close gaps in healthcare
Aston University is leading a national shift in healthcare education with the rollout of Tier 1 of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (OMMT) — a pioneering initiative developed by NHS England to improve support for individuals with autism and learning disabilities. Oliver McGowan was an 18-year-old with autism and learning disabilities who died in 2016 after a bad reaction to medication for epileptic seizures, which both he and his parents had requested should not be given after a previous bad reaction. Oliver's death was ruled 'avoidable' and revealed serious gaps in training for medical professionals caring for those with autism and learning difficulties. Oliver's mother Paula set up a foundation to campaign for appropriate training, and in 2022, an UK act of parliament mandated learning disability and autism training for all healthcare staff registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This is now being introduced. The evaluation of the project at Aston University is being led by Dr Amreen Bashir, senior lecturer in biomedical science, in close collaboration with Dr Mary Drozd, senior teaching fellow in nursing and Dr Jayne Murphy, associate professorial teaching fellow in nursing. Aston is one of the first universities in the UK to implement this training across undergraduate healthcare programmes, including Nursing, Biomedical Science, Pharmacy, Optometry, and Physician Associate Studies. “Our students not only gained new knowledge, but they were vocal about the importance of this training staying in the curriculum permanently,” said Dr. Bashir. Student feedback highlights the transformative impact of the training: “I will use the training to ensure the patient care I provide is accommodating to people with special needs and will offer reasonable adjustments when needed. I understand autism and learning difficulties are not like other disabilities which are commonly physically noticed and that they may me hidden.” “The most useful aspect of the Oliver McGowan training is its focus on real-life experiences shared by individuals with autism and learning disabilities. These personal insights help to contextualise the challenges they face, making the training relatable and impactful.” “It opened my eyes as to how even within people who are practising and have already been working in clinical settings lack the understanding on how to care and approach those with autism and/or learning disabilities. It shouldn’t have got to a stage where what happened with Oliver happened and I am glad I have had this training so that I know what I can do as a healthcare professional in these situations. My previous job as a support worker also helped as I worked with service users who had autism and learning disabilities as well as physical disabilities and so this training assisted the knowledge I had already gained.” Measuring the impact A total of 176 students completed the pre-intervention survey and 94 students completed the survey post-OMMT. Participants were drawn from Nursing, Biomedical Science, Physician Associate Practice, Optometry, and Pharmacy at Aston University. How the training works Tier 1 of the OMMT consists of two parts: a 90-minute e-learning session completed independently, followed by a one-hour live interactive webinar co-facilitated by trained professionals and experts by experience. This format allows for reflective discussion and a deeper understanding of autism and learning disabilities through real-world perspectives. Post-training surveys measured changes in knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions. Early results Students showed significantly improved understanding of autism and learning disabilities, as well as greater sensitivity toward tailoring communication to individual needs. The training also identified critical areas for further attention, such as the role of ethnicity in healthcare access and the impact of silent conditions like constipation, which can go undetected and lead to preventable harm. The findings will be presented at the upcoming 'Horizons in STEM' higher education conference, which is being hosted at Aston University, with a manuscript currently in preparation for peer-reviewed publication. By embedding OMMT into its core curricula, Aston University is setting a benchmark for inclusive healthcare education across the UK. To follow this research or explore collaboration on the OMMT initiative, contact: Dr Amreen Bashir – a.bashir6@aston.ac.uk Dr Mary Drozd – m.drozd@aston.ac.uk Dr Jayne Murphy – j.murphy5@aston.ac.uk
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s (CCI) Northern Virginia Node recently awarded a $75,000 grant to Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, to develop an ultra-subwavelength microwave polarization switch for secure communication. The one-year grant comes through the Cyber Acceleration, Translation and Advanced Prototyping for University Linked Technology (CATAPULT) Fund. It supports Bandyopadhyay’s project, “An ultra-subwavelength microwave polarization switch for secure communication,” which develops a nanomagnet-based antenna integrated with a piezoelectric component. This system can switch the polarization of electromagnetic beams at specific microwave frequencies to enable secret communication between two points without traditional encryption methods. “Secret communication sheds the need for encryption,” Bandyopadhyay said. “Any cryptography can be broken, but this scheme does not use cryptography for secret communication and does not suffer from this vulnerability. It is also entirely based on hardware and cannot be hacked.” The technology offers significant benefits for banking, healthcare and government communications where data security is critical because a hardware-based approach makes it immune to software hacking. Another result of the research is antenna miniaturization, with antenna sizes several orders of magnitude smaller than the radiated wavelength. This addresses limitations in algorithms, physical size and power requirements that current secure communication systems face. Bandyopadhyay is collaborating with two researchers from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech and Erdem Topsakal, Ph.D., senior associate dean for strategic initiatives and professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at VCU. Students involved in the project will be trained in antenna engineering, microwaves and communication engineering, gaining skills increasingly vital in today’s connected world.
Hiring Gen Z: What employers keep getting wrong
As with any new generation entering the workforce, Gen Z possesses unique tools and strengths but also experiences challenges trying to land that first job where Millennials, Gen X-ers and Baby Boomers are doing the hiring. University of Delaware career expert Jill Gugino Panté can talk about how employers can address gaps in the hiring process and communication issues as they relate to a generation that prioritizes work with purpose, authentic connections and work-life balance. Panté, director of the Lerner Career Services Center at the University of Delaware, pointed to the following three areas that should be prioritized: • Transparency. Gen Z wants to feel special and appreciates individual attention, Panté said. Employers should make the hiring process transparent and respond to emails. During busy times, they should use an out of office message that states when they will respond. • Clarity. Make details about salary, benefits, flexibility, skill building and career advancement clear. These details should be on a company's careers page so that candidates have a good understanding of what they can expect. Clarity in job postings is also important: It doesn’t make sense that an entry level position requires more than two years of experience. Don’t call it entry level if it’s not entry level. • Communication mistakes. Be transparent with Gen Z candidates about the process and timeline. More importantly, stick to that process. If a change is made, they should communicate it immediately. Also, employers should be authentic in their communication. If the process is taking longer than expected or they haven’t communicated effectively, employers should acknowledge it instead of continuing to ghost applicants. To reach Panté directly and arrange an interview, visit her profile page and click the "contact" button. Interested journalists can also send an email to MediaRelations@udel.edu.
From Johnny Carson to Campaign Debates – Farnsworth Brings Politics to the Public
Professor Stephen Farnsworth isn’t just analyzing politics, he’s shaping the conversation. Whether moderating congressional debates or exploring the political power of humor, he brings sharp insight and historical context to national audiences. As a professor of political science and director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington, Farnsworth recently moderated two high-profile congressional debates in Virginia’s 7th and 10th districts — both aired on C-SPAN (2024 7th District Debate; 2022 10th District Forum). He’s also delivered public lectures for UMW’s Great Lives series, using figures like Johnny Carson and Charlie Chaplin to trace the role of humor in shaping American political identity. Watch the full talks: Johnny Carson and Political Humor, and Charlie Chaplin. These public-facing programs reflect his broader mission: helping voters, students, and media audiences understand how politics works — and why it matters. Click the icon below to connect with: Stephen Farnsworth, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; Director, Center for Leadership and Media Studies. Expertise: Political communication, presidential humor, Virginia elections, public engagement.
Taming “The Bear”: Villanova Professor Examines Workplace Toxicity in FX’s Acclaimed Series
In the latest season of FX’s award-winning series “The Bear,” lead character and chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto finds himself at a crossroads. A culinary genius, Carmy has successfully overseen the reinvention of his family’s Italian beef shop as a high-end restaurant—shepherding a dedicated, if unpolished, crew of sandwich makers into a world of haute cuisine, fine wine and elevated service. However, over the course of this transition, his exacting standards have contributed to a culture of anxiety, dysfunction and resentment in the workplace. Despite staff members’ professional and personal growth, tempers still flare like burners on a range, with Carmy’s obsessive attention to detail and single-minded pursuit of perfection spurring conflict. By season’s end, grappling with the fallout from a mixed review seemingly influenced by the back-of-house “chaos,” the chef is forced to confront a complicated and thorny question: Am I getting in the way of my own restaurant’s success? Carmy’s dilemma, while fictional, reflects the very real challenges many modern businesses face when excellence is prioritized at the expense of psychological safety and workplace harmony. Per Manuela Priesemuth, PhD, who researches toxic work climates, aggression on the job and organizational fairness, the warning signs are all too frequently overlooked in high-pressure environments like restaurants. “Some high-stakes industries have a characteristic of having toxic behavior more accepted,” says Dr. Priesemuth. “When it’s more accepted or normed, it’s a real problem.” As she explains, workers in the food service industry, much like medical professionals in an operating room or military personnel in a combat zone, have a tendency to view measured communication and thoughtful interaction as a luxury or even, in some cases, a hindrance. Essentially, there’s a common misconception that working with an edge—yelling orders, avoiding dialogue and berating “underperformers”—gets the job done. “In all of these high-stakes environments where it’s thought there’s leeway to talk negatively or disparagingly, people are mistaken in the productivity result,” Dr. Priesemuth says. “It actually changes for the better in positive climates, because people who are treated with dignity and respect are better performers than those who are mistreated.” To Dr. Priesemuth’s point, research increasingly shows that workplace culture, not just talent or technical ability, is an essential driver of organizational success. In an environment like Carmy’s kitchen, where pride and passion often give way to personal attacks and shouting matches, the on-the-job dynamic can effectively undermine productivity. What may begin as an intended push for excellence can instead result in burnout, high turnover and weakened trust—outcomes that are especially problematic in collaborative, fast-paced industries like hospitality. “There’s even evidence that abusive behavior in restaurant settings can lead to food loss,” shares Dr. Priesemuth. “So, there is a sort of retaliation from the employees who are going through this experience, whether it’s measured [in profit margins] or impact on the customer.” In order to prevent these less-than-ideal outcomes, businesses should take steps proactively, says Dr. Priesemuth. More specifically, they should clearly articulate their values and expectations, considerately engage with their staff’s opinions and concerns and consistently invest in their employees’ growth and development. In the world of “The Bear,” a few of Carmy’s managerial decisions in the second season could be seen as moves in the right direction. At that juncture, he was leveraging his industry connections to provide his restaurant’s staff with the tools and training necessary to thrive in Chicago’s fine dining scene, building skills, confidence and goodwill. “If you give people voice—such as input on the menu, for example, or more autonomy in completing a certain task—it boosts morale,” says Dr. Priesemuth. “It helps people feel that they have input and that they are valued members of the team; it’s this sort of collaborative, positive relationship that increases commitment and performance.” Establishing this type of work culture, grounded in open communication, mutual respect and a shared sense of mission, takes concerted effort and constant maintenance. In situations in which toxicity has already become an issue, as it has in Carmy’s kitchen, the task becomes decidedly more difficult. Typically, it demands a long-term commitment to organizational change at the business’ highest levels. “Adjusting the tone at the top really matters,” says Dr. Priesemuth. “So, if the owner were to treat their chefs and waiters with the dignity and respect that they deserve as workers, that also trickles down to, for example, the customer.” A leader’s influence on workplace morale, she contends, is nuanced and far-reaching. When those in charge model a lack of empathy or emotional distance, for instance, a sort of toxicity can take root. Likewise, when they repeatedly show anger, animosity or frustration, those same feelings and attitudes can have an ingrained effect—regardless of a staff’s talent or ability. Given the outsized role owners, supervisors and managers play in shaping organizational culture, Dr. Priesemuth further notes, “Leaders must also feel that they’re being supported. You can’t have someone who’s exhausted, works 80 hours a week and has relationship and money issues and expect them to say, ‘What are your problems? What do you need?’” In many ways, her insights speak directly to the struggles Carmy faces and prompts throughout “The Bear’s” run. At every turn, he’s dogged by family and relationship troubles, mounting financial pressures and unresolved trauma from a past role. Ultimately, as would happen in real life, his difficulty in healthily processing and addressing these issues doesn’t just harm him; it affects his staff, manifesting itself as a need for control and a crusade for perfection. “There are spillover effects from your own personal life into your job role. In the management field, that has become increasingly clear,” says Dr. Priesemuth. “Whatever you’re going through, whether it’s from an old job or something personal, it will automatically spill over into your current work life and your interactions. And, vice versa, what’s happening to you at work will [impact you off the clock].” In dramatic fashion, the fourth season of “The Bear” concludes with Carmy acknowledging as much. Determining that there are other aspects of his life desperately in need of attention, he surrenders the reins of his business to chef de cuisine Sydney “Syd” Adamu and maître d’hôtel Richard “Richie” Jerimovich, appointing them part-owners. While the soundness of this decision remains a subject for the show’s next season, Carmy justifies the move with a blunt admission: “It’s the best thing for the restaurant. We have to put the restaurant first… I don’t have anything to pull from.” In the end, in both “The Bear” and management studies, there’s an understanding that building healthy and productive work environments requires active engagement and positive reinforcement on the part of leadership. In a sense, creating a strong work culture is shown to be a lot like preparing a phenomenal meal; it’s a matter of attentiveness, patience and care. Without those ingredients, the result could very well be a recipe for disaster.
The Impact of Counterfeit Goods in Global Commerce
Introduction Counterfeiting has been described as “the world’s second oldest profession.” In 2018, worldwide counterfeiting was estimated to cost the global economy between USD 1.7 trillion and USD 4.5 trillion annually, as well as resulting in more than 70 deaths and 350,000 serious injuries annually. It is estimated that more than a quarter of US consumers have purchased a counterfeit product. The counterfeiting problem is expected to be exacerbated by the unprecedented shift in tariff policy. Tariffs, designed as an import tax or duty on an imported product, are often a percentage of the price and can have different values for different products. Tariffs drive up the cost of imported brand name products but may not, or only to a lesser extent, impact the cost of counterfeit goods. In this article, we examine the extent of the global counterfeit dilemma, the role experts play in tracking and mitigating the problem, the use of anti-counterfeiting measures, and the potential impact that tariffs may have on the flow of counterfeit goods. Brand goods have always been a target of counterfeits due to their high price and associated prestige. These are often luxury goods and clothing, but can also be pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and electronics. The brand name is an indication of quality materials, workmanship, and technology. People will pay more for the “real thing,” or decide to buy something cheaper that looks “just as good.” In many cases, “just as good” is a counterfeit of the brand name product. A tariff is an import tax or duty that is typically paid by the importer and can drive up the cost of imported brand name products. For example, a Yale study has shown that shoe prices may increase by 87% and apparel prices by 65%, due to tariffs. On the other hand, counterfeit products don’t play by the rules and can often avoid paying tariffs, such as the case of many smaller, online transactions, shipped individually. Therefore, we expect to see an increase in counterfeit products as well as a need to increase efforts to reduce the economic losses of counterfeiting. The Scale of the Counterfeit Problem In their 2025 report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), estimated that in 2021, “global trade in counterfeit goods was valued at approximately USD 467 billion, or 2.3% of total global imports. This absolute value represents an increase from 2019, when counterfeit trade was estimated at USD 464 billion, although its relative share decreased compared to 2019 when it accounted for 2.5% of world trade. For imports into the European Union, the value of counterfeit goods was estimated at USD 117 billion, or 4.7% of total EU imports.” In a 2020 report, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) estimated the size of the international counterfeit market as having a “range from a low of USD 200 billion in 2008 to a high of USD 509 billion in 2019.” According to the OEDC / EUIPO General Trade-Related Index of Counterfeiting for economies (GTRIC-e), China continues to be the primary source of counterfeit goods, as well as Bangladesh, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic, and Türkiye. Based on customs seizures in 2020-21, the most common items are clothing (21.6%), footwear (21.4%), and handbags, followed by electronics and watches. Based on the value of goods seized, watches (23%) and footwear (15%) had the highest value. However, it should be noted that items that are easier to detect and seize are likely to be overrepresented in the data. Although the share of watches declined, and electronics, toys, and games increased, it remains unclear whether this represents a long term trend or just a short term fluctuation. In general, high value products in high demand continue to be counterfeited. Data from the US Library of Congress indicates that 60% – 80% of counterfeit products are purchased by Americans. The US accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s consumers; however, it represents greater than 20% of the world’s purchasing power. Though it is still possible to find counterfeit products at local markets, a large number of counterfeit goods are obtained through online retailers and shipped directly to consumers as small parcels classified as de minimis trade. This allows for the duty-free import of products up to USD 800 in value. Counterfeit items may be knowingly or unknowingly purchased from online retailers and shipped directly to consumers, duty-free. Purchased products can be shipped via postal services, classified as de minimis trade. Approximately 79% of packages seized contained less than 10 items. Given the size and volume of the packages arriving daily, many or most will evade scrutiny by customs officials. This means of import is increasing over time. In 2017-19 it was 61% of seizures. By 2020-21, it was 79%. Economic Impact of Counterfeiting The scale of the counterfeiting problem has significant impacts on the US economy, US business interests, and US innovations in lost sales and lost jobs. Moreover, counterfeit products are often made quickly and cheaply, using materials that may be toxic. The companies producing these goods may not dispose of waste properly and may dump it into waterways, causing significant environmental consequences. Counterfeit products from electrical equipment and life jackets to batteries and smoke alarms may be made without adhering to safety standards or be properly tested. These products may fail to function when you need it and may lead to fire, electric shock, poisoning, and other accidents that can seriously injure and even kill consumers. Counterfeit cosmetics and pharmaceuticals can also lead to injuries by either including unsafe ingredients or by failing to provide the benefits of the real product. The Tariff Counterfeit Connection Tariffs may be seen as a tax on consumers and raise the price of imported products that are already the target of counterfeiters such as luxury leather products and apparel. It’s commonly understood that raising prices on genuine products can only drive up the demand for counterfeit goods. In general, consumers will have less disposable income and the brand goods they desire will cost more which is bound to increase the demand for counterfeit goods. Although recent changes removing the USD 800 tax exemption on de minimis shipments from China and Hong Kong will make it more expensive for counterfeiters to ship their goods internationally, tariffs are typically applied as a percentage of the cost of an object. This will cause the price of more expensive legitimate goods to increase even more than the cheaper counterfeit goods and likely make the counterfeit products even more attractive economically. Therefore, we expect to see an increase in counterfeit products as well as an increase in efforts to reduce the economic losses of counterfeiting. The Role of Technical Experts in Counterfeit Detection Technical experts play an important role in both the prevention and detection of counterfeits and helping to identify counterfeiting entities. Whether counterfeit money, clothing, shoes, electronics, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals, the first step in fighting counterfeits is detecting them. In some cases, the counterfeit product is obvious. A leather product may not be leather, a logo may be wrong, packaging may have a spelling mistake, or a holographic label may be missing. These products may be seized by customs. However, some counterfeit products are very difficult to detect. In the case of a counterfeit memory card with less than the stated capacity or a pharmaceutical that contains the wrong active ingredient, technical analysis may be needed to identify the parts. Technical analysis may also be used to try and identify the source of the counterfeit goods. For prevention measures, manufacturers may use radio frequency identification (RFID) or Near Field Communication (NFC) tags within their products. RFID tags are microscopic semiconductor chips attached to a metallic printed antenna. The tag itself may be flexible and easy to incorporate into packaging or into the product itself. A passive RFID requires no power and has sufficient storage to store information such as product name, stock keeping unit (SKU), place of manufacture, date of manufacture, as well as some sort of cryptographic information to attest to the authenticity of the tag. A simple scanner powers the tag using an electromagnetic field and reads the tag. If manufacturers include RFID tags in products, an X-ray to identify a product in a de minimis shipment (perhaps using artificial intelligence technology) and an RFID scanner to verify the authenticity of the product can be used to efficiently screen a large number of packages. Many products also may be marked with photo-luminescent dyes with unique properties that may be read by special scanners and allow authorities to detect legitimate products. Similarly, doped hybrid oxide particles with distinctive photo-responsive features may be printed on products. These particles, when exposed to laser light, experience a fast increase in temperature which may be quickly detected. For either of these examples, the ability to identify legitimate products, or – due to the absence of marking – track counterfeit products, allows authorities to map the flow of the counterfeit goods through the supply chain as they are manufactured, shipped, and are exported and imported to countries. For many years, electronic memory cards such as SD cards and USB sticks have been counterfeited. In many cases, the fake card will have a capacity much smaller than listed. For example, a 32GB memory card for a camera may only hold 1GB. Sometimes, these products may be identified by analyzing the packaging for discrepancies from the brand name products. In other cases, software must be used to verify the capacity and performance of each one, which is time-consuming when analyzing a large number of products. Forensic investigators, comprised of forensic accountants and forensic technologists, are heavily involved in efforts to combat this illicit trade. By analyzing financial records, supply-chain data, and transaction histories, they trace the origins and pathways of counterfeit products. Their work often involves identifying suspicious procurement patterns, shell companies, and irregular inventory flows that signal counterfeit activity. Forensic investigators often begin by mapping the counterfeit supply chain, an intricate web that often spans continents. Using data analytics, transaction tracing, and inventory audits, they identify anomalies in procurement, distribution, and sales records. These methodologies help pinpoint the origin of counterfeit goods, the intermediaries involved, and the final points of sale. By reconstructing the flow of goods and money, forensic investigators can begin to unmask activities. Cross-border partnerships are essential for tracking assets, sharing insights, and coordinating with financial regulators. Public-private partnerships further enhance the effectiveness of anti-counterfeiting efforts. Forensic investigators often serve as bridges between government agencies, brand owners, and financial institutions, facilitating the exchange of key information. These partnerships increase information-sharing, streamline investigations, and amplify the impact of enforcement actions. A promising development in this space is the World Customs Organization’s Smart Customs Project, which integrates artificial intelligence to detect and intercept counterfeit goods. Forensic investigators can leverage this initiative by analyzing AI-generated alerts and incorporating them into broader financial investigations, which allows for faster and more accurate identification of illicit networks. Jurisdictional complexity is a major hurdle in anti-counterfeiting efforts. Forensic investigators work closely with legal teams to navigate these challenges to ensure that investigations comply with local laws, and evidence is admissible and can withstand scrutiny in court, especially when dealing with offshore accounts and international money laundering schemes. Forensic investigators follow the money, tracing illicit profits through bank accounts, shell companies, and cryptocurrency transactions. Their findings not only help recover stolen assets but also support disputes by providing expert testimony that quantifies financial losses and identifies the bad actors. Conclusion Imitations of brand name products have become more convincing, harder to detect, and the sources of the counterfeit goods more difficult to identify. While counterfeiting clearly has evolved because of technological advancements, e-commerce, and the growing sophistication of bad actors, the process has now been complicated even further by the unpredictable tariff and trade policies that are affecting businesses worldwide. Consequently, companies need to take a multi-faceted approach to these new challenges introduced into the counterfeiting of products by tariffs. By engaging high-tech product authentication measures, utilizing technology-based alerts about counterfeits, and retaining the specialized skills of forensic investigators and other experts, companies will be able to navigate the risks posed by the complex and changing relationship between tariffs and counterfeit goods. To learn more about this topic and how it can impact your business or connect with James E. Malackowski simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today. To connect with David Fraser or Matthew Brown - contact : Kristi L. Stathis, J.S. Held +1 786 833 4864 Kristi.Stathis@JSHeld.com
Ontarians have spoken, and the results are in. For a second consecutive year, the 2025 CAA Worst Road in Ontario is Aberdeen Avenue in Hamilton. Frustrations with potholes and poor road maintenance have kept this road in the number one spot. It first debuted on the top regional list for Hamilton in 2021 and moved onto the provincial list in 2023. In second and third place are Barton Street East in Hamilton and County Road 49 in Prince Edward County, two roads that have previously appeared on the CAA Worst Roads top 10 list six and seven times, respectively. Both roads are expected to receive significant upgrades and are in the planning stages. "Timely repairs, better communication, quick fixes, pothole funds, and using recycled aggregates are just some solutions to fix unsafe roads," says Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of government and community relations, CAA South Central Ontario. "CAA continues to urge all levels of government to prioritize road safety with stable funding to do so." This year, participants nominated over 2,400 different roads from 208 municipalities, up respectively from 2,000 roads from 145 municipalities in 2024 – a 20 per cent increase in roads nominated and a 42 per cent increase in the number of municipalities with roads nominated. Municipalities are responsible for approximately 140,000 kilometres of roads across the province. "For over two decades, the CAA Worst Roads campaign has given Ontarians a voice to spotlight unsafe roads in their communities and push for much-needed repairs,” says Di Felice. "This list provides a powerful snapshot to governments on where to prioritize budgets and move up road repairs, and we know that the public supports these efforts." CAA research shows that 26 per cent of survey respondents expressed dissatisfaction with road work projects, stating that they take multiple seasons to complete. However, 85 per cent are willing to put up with the inconvenience of construction in exchange for long-term improvements. Ontarians shared their primary reasons for selecting a road, with 84 per cent citing potholes, followed by poor road maintenance (77 per cent) and traffic congestion (15 per cent). Ontario's Top 10 Worst Roads for 2025 1. Aberdeen Avenue, Hamilton 2. Barton Street East, Hamilton 3. County Road 49, Prince Edward County 4. Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto 5. Hurontario Street, Mississauga 6. Leveque Road, South Frontenac 7. Highway 50, Caledon 8. Sider Road, Fort Erie 9. Gardiner Expressway, Toronto 10. Sheppard Avenue West, Toronto Worst Roads by Region Toronto – Eglinton Avenue West Hamilton – Aberdeen Avenue Halton-Peel-York-Durham— Hurontario Street, Mississauga Central—7th Line, Innisfil Eastern— County Road 49, Prince Edward County Niagara— Sider Road, Fort Erie North— Panache Lake Road, Greater Sudbury Southwest— Banwell Road, Windsor Western— Dundas Street, London Ottawa— Carling Avenue For the complete list of the 2025 Worst Roads, please visit www.caasco.com/worstroads The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) has verified Ontario's top 10 list. CAA is proud to have RCCAO as a technical partner in the CAA Worst Roads advocacy campaign.
When Luis Quiroga-Nuñez, Ph.D was appointed director of Florida Tech’s Ortega Observatory and its primary tenant – a non-functioning, 32-inch telescope – in 2023, he decided it was time to provide astronomy students and others a window to space. The observatory is already a base for research across a spectrum of cosmic exploration through disciplines such as astronomy and astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. However, current students have yet to see the stars up close, as the aging telescope, commissioned in 2008, has sat dormant for the last several years. With restoration, the telescope could be a powerful tool to train students to use professional telescopes and make observations – critical skills that will help prepare them for their future careers. It soon became apparent, however, that this was no simple task. The restoration would necessitate reverse engineering on a large scale to even understand how to fix and upgrade the telescope, much less actually repair it. It would also, as Quiroga-Nuñez wisely recognized, be its own powerful educational opportunity, providing unique hands-on learning opportunities for students in the College of Engineering and Science. “We are an institute of technology. We have perfectly capable people, like these young students, ready to join hands-on projects, get crazy and start to be creative.” Luis Quiroga-Nuñez With various issues to tackle and eager to support home-grown expertise, Quiroga-Nuñez and Lee Caraway, Ph.D, an instructor in the department of electrical engineering and computer science, recruited students with varied backgrounds, from astronomy to electrical engineering and computer science. Students could apply what they learned in class and grow their portfolios with a real-world project, the sort of experiential learning that is a hallmark of a Florida Tech education. Some improvements have been made, but the project remains an exciting puzzle for students and faculty alike. Here’s how they are doing it. An Interdisciplinary Project In January 2023, Quiroga-Nuñez partnered with Caraway to rebuild the telescope from the inside out. They say the conversation started over lunch, sketching ideas on a napkin. With various issues to tackle and eager to support home-grown expertise, Caraway and Quiroga-Nuñez recruited students with varied backgrounds, from astronomy to engineering to computer science. “This is about as real-world as you can get without leaving school. We have this giant piece of technology that is not working. Figure out why,” said recent graduate Adrianna Agustin ’24, who helped update the telescope’s communication system. “All of those problem-solving skills will directly translate to wherever we go in the future.” The project’s multidisciplinary nature also boosts collaboration between both sides of the college. “We keep integrating different parts of the university and involving students in a project that we were blinded by,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. “We sit between the scientists and the engineers.” And there’s no shortage of tasks. In addition to the refurbishment, Quiroga-Nuñez and Caraway are also completing routine telescope maintenance, with students taking on adjacent projects around the observatory. With the telescope repair, each student is given their own task, such as redesigning a small clip that supports the dome’s electric current, reviewing the conditions of the finder’s lens or understanding how analog devices control the telescope’s focus. This allocation allows each student to claim their own individual contribution to the greater telescope puzzle. Opening a Time Capsule The telescope’s biggest issues were mechanical and electrical, all exacerbated by age. Its motors were decades old and naturally failing, Caraway said. These motors controlled the telescope’s right ascension and declination – essentially, its ability to move. The chaotic interior also involved multiple individual systems with dozens of wires. And the circuits controlling the motors, which dated back to the 1980s, were also failing due to age. As Caraway noted, his students are sweeping off “dust older than them.” “The technology back then simply did not exist to control the motors, run the diagnostics and make it all happen,” Caraway explained. “They’re not designed to run 30 years.” Additionally, the computer program that controlled the motors was outdated and did not meet to the university’s security requirements. Given all this, the team needed to develop a new communication system for the telescope, starting with the computer software. They decided instead of purchasing an upgraded computer system, they could build and program their own in-house from scratch. Next, once the new computer was up and running, it needed motors to command. Marisa Guerra ’24 worked on a senior design project involving a robotic arm whose motor structure was the same as the telescope’s. She crafted a blueprint for the telescope’s new motors using what she learned for her capstone project. At the same time, Agustin worked on developing a cleaner communication system between the computer to the motors. Her senior design research focused on electric vehicles and their internal circuit systems, and she could replicate something similar within the telescope – but not without digging through the decaying electronics first. “We had to reverse engineer and actually redraw the circuits, which was good practice because a lot of the time, for senior design at least, you don’t really have to design a new circuit. You are just kind of puzzle-piecing it together,” Agustin said. “But with this circuit, all of them were bad.” Using Guerra’s and Agustin’s senior design research, the team reprogrammed the telescope’s circuits. What once took 20 wires to operate now only takes two. They also reduced the weight of the telescope’s motors from 40 pounds to just 2 pounds. Once the communication system was finished, the team was just waiting for mobility. And on a day in Spring 2024, thanks to the refurbished system, they were able to create movement within the telescope for the first time in years. “I didn’t even know if that device could move internally,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. The moment was celebrated, but the team knew this success triggered a new challenge. It was time to tackle high astrometric precision – a crucial element of properly tracking movement in space. “We are pointing to tiny points in the sky. If we do not track that properly, we are going to be lost in the universe,” Quiroga-Nuñez says. The Value of Time Perfecting precise movement is expected to take some time, but that’s not a bad thing, Quiroga-Nuñez says. He believes that a lengthy timeline will offer more value in the long run because it will give even more students a chance to get involved. Besides, its primary purpose will be to teach students how to use a telescope and allow them to make observations and prepare for their future careers. Ultimately, Quiroga-Nuñez predicts that the telescope could pick up its first image from space in about a year if everything stays on track. However, the team still has a lot of ground within the telescope to uncover, with an unpredictable number of potential troubleshooting challenges. For example, while rebuilding the motor, they discovered that the internal mirror that illuminates the telescope’s visuals was in poor condition – it needed cleaning and new aluminum to reflect enough light to see the telescope’s imagery, Agustin explains. So, the team had to remove the mirror and ship it to New York for refurbishment – a process that took several months. Once the mirror is reinstalled, they can return to their quest for better precision. The mirror is just one example of unpredictability in reverse-engineering. Ultimately, dedicating more time to understanding and solving the unforeseen challenges allows more students to participate in the telescope’s journey, Quiroga-Nuñez says. “This is like a big Lego for them,” he says. “They are learning the process, and the students, I think, will have found a very valuable life experience.” If you're interested in connecting with Luis Quiroga-Nuñez, director of Florida Tech’s Ortega Observatory - simply contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.
Do We Need to Worry About Safety at the United States' Busiest Airports?
For the second time in two weeks, air traffic controllers directing planes into the Newark, New Jersey, airport briefly lost their radar. The outages have sparked travel chaos, with hundreds of flight delays and cancellations after the FAA slowed air traffic to ensure safety. The country's aging air traffic control system is in the spotlight. Media, politicians and the public are demanding both solutions for the system and answers on how safe traveling is at the moment. To provide insight, Florida Tech's Margaret Wallace is lending her expert opinion and perspective on the issue. Margaret Wallace is Assistant Professor of Aviation Management at Florida Institute of Technology, where she teaches Air Traffic Control and Airport Management courses. She spent over 15 years in the industry prior to teaching as an Airport Manager (4 years) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and an Air Traffic Controller (10+ years) in the U.S. Air Force. “The recent communication failure at Newark Liberty International Airport has raised serious concerns about the safety and dependability of air traffic control systems in the United States. On April 28, 2025, the Newark air traffic facilities lost all radio communication with approximately 20 airplanes for up to 90 seconds due to an equipment breakdown. During the outage, pilots and controllers were unable to communicate. Controllers were unable to maintain aircraft separation during crucial flight phases, and pilots were unable to receive air traffic clearances and instructions. Situations like this, as well as aircraft incidents, bring stress and trauma to the controller's mental state. Most people cannot fathom how much mental stress the controller experiences in everyday job settings. Situations with defective equipment, combined with lengthy work hours due to a scarcity of controllers, appear to have taken their toll based on the fact that several controllers have taken leave for mental stress. This situation posed a safety risk to all planes and passengers. Fortunately, there were no incidents, and everyone remained safe. However, this demonstrated some of the flaws in the outdated air traffic system equipment. Sean Duffy, the new Transportation Secretary, has acknowledged the critical need to improve our current technology. While air travel is generally safe, our current administration must continue to prioritize the upgrade of air traffic systems and increasing the staffing in air traffic facilities. To ensure safety, I believe we should consider having airlines restrict the number of flights available and the Air Route Traffic Command Center to introduce delays to avoid overloading the system.” Margaret Wallace If you're interested in connecting with Margaret Wallace about the ongoing issues at airports across the country, let us help. Contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology, at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.
Most companies around the world have a leader, whether that title is a President, CEO, or Founder. There’s almost always someone at the very top of a corporate food chain, and from that position down, the company is structured hierarchically, with multiple levels of leadership supervising other employees. It’s a structure with which most people in the working world are familiar, and it dates back as long as one can remember. The word itself—leader—dates back to as far as the 12th Century and is derived from the Old English word “laedere,” or one who leads. But in 2001, a group of software engineers developed the Agile Workflow Methodology, a project development process that puts a priority on egalitarian teamwork and individual independence in searching for solutions. A number of businesses are trying to embrace a flatter internal structure, like the agile workflow. But is it necessarily the best way to develop business processes? That’s the question posed by researchers, including Goizueta Business School’s Özgecan Koçak, associate professor of organization and management, and fellow researchers Daniel A. Levinthal and Phanish Puranam in their recently published paper on organizational hierarchies. “Realistically, we don’t see a lot of non-hierarchical organizations,” says Koçak. “But there is actually a big push to have less hierarchy in organizations.” Part of it is due to the demotivating effects of working in authoritarian workplaces. People don’t necessarily like to have a boss. We place value in being more egalitarian, more participatory. Özgecan Koçak, Associate Professor of Organization & Management “So there is some push to try and design organizations with flatter hierarchies. That is specifically so in the context of knowledge-based work, and especially in the context of discovery and search.” Decoding Organizational Dynamics While the idea of an egalitarian workplace is attractive to many people, Koçak and her colleagues wanted to know if, or when, hierarchies were actually beneficial to the health of organizations. They developed a computational agent-based model, or simulation, to explore the relationships between structures of influence and organizational adaptation. The groups in the simulation mimicked real business team structures and consisted of two types of teams. In the first type, one agent had influence over the beliefs of rest of the team. For the second type, no one individual had any influence over the beliefs of the team. The hierarchical team vs. the flat structured team. “When you do simulations, you want to make sure that your findings are robust to those kinds of things like the scale of the group, or the how fast the agents are learning and so forth,” says Koçak. What’s innovative about this particular simulation is that all the agents are learning from their environment. They are learning through trial and error. They are trying out different alternatives and finding out their value. Özgecan Koçak Koçak is very clear that the hierarchies in the simulation are not exactly like hierarchies in a business organization. Every agent was purposefully made to be the same without any difference in wisdom or knowledge. “It’s really nothing like the kinds of hierarchies you would see in organizations where there is somebody who has a corner office, or somebody who is has a management title, or somebody’s making more than the others. In the simulation, it’s nothing to do with those distributional aspects or control, and nobody has the ability to control what others do in (the simulation). All control comes through influence of beliefs.” Speed vs. Optimal Solutions What they found in the simulation was that while both teams solved the same problems presented to them, they achieved different results at different speeds. We find that hierarchical teams don’t necessarily find the best solution, but they find the good enough solution in the shorter term. So if you are looking at the really long term, crowds do better. The crowds where individuals are all learning separately, they find the best solution in the long run, even though they are not learning from each other. Özgecan Koçak Özgecan Koçak (pronounced as ohz-gay-john ko-chuck) is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. For example, teams of scientists looking for cures or innovative treatments for diseases work best with a flat structure. Each individual works on their own timeline, with their own search methodologies. The team only comes together for status updates or to discuss their projects without necessarily getting influence or direction from colleagues. The long-term success of the result is more important in some cases than the speed at which they arrive to their conclusion. That won’t work for an organization that answers to a board of directors or shareholders. Such parties want to see rapid results that will quickly impact the bottom line of the company. This is why the agile methodology is not beneficial to large-scale corporations. Koçak says, “When you try to think about an entire organization, not just teams, it gets more complicated. If you have many people in an organization, you can’t have everybody just be on the same team. And then you have to worry about how to coordinate the efforts of multiple teams. That’s the big question for scaling up agile. We know that the agile methodology works pretty well at the team level. However, when firms try to scale it up applied to the entire organization, then you have more coordination problems. Özgecan Koçak “You need some way to coordinate the efforts with multiple teams.” The Catch: Compensation Makes a Difference The simulation did not take into account one of the biggest parts of a corporate hierarchical structure—incentives and reward. The teams in the simulation received no monetary compensation for their leadership or influence. That is not something that happens in real life. Koçak says, “If you built up an organization with just influence, you just say we’re not going to have any authority, and we’re not going to give anybody the right to control anybody else’s actions. If we’re not going to be rewarding anyone more than the other, there’s not going to be any marks of status, etc. We’re just going to have some people influence others more. I would guess that would automatically lead to a prestige hierarchy right away. The person with more influence, you would start respecting more.” It’s almost like we’re incapable of working in a flat society, because somebody always wants to be or naturally becomes a leader and an influencer whether they planned on it or not. Özgecan Koçak The paper concludes that both methodologies, with either hierarchical and flat organization of teams, reach their goals. They just arrive at different times with different end results. If an organization has the luxury of time and money, a flat, agile methodology organization might be the right structure for that company. However, even agile workflow needs some coordination, according to Koçak. “There are also some search tasks that require coordination. You can’t always be searching on your own independently of others. There are some situations in which search needs to be done in a coordinated fashion by more than one person in teams. That’s because many of the knowledge-based settings where we do discovery require some division of labor, some specialization by expertise.” Communication is Key The key to any successful workflow, whether it be agile or hierarchical, is coordination and communication. Looking back to the example of scientific researchers, Koçak said, “You have scientific teams working independently of one another without a common boss dictating what they do research on or how they do it. Instead, they explore and experiment on their own. They write up their results, share their results, and learn from each other, because they are in the long-term game. The goal is to find the truth, however long it takes. “But when you look closely at a scientific team where everybody’s exploring, there is still some need for coordination. A lot of that happens through communication, and a lot of times projects will have a lead. Not necessarily somebody who knows better than the others, but somebody who’s going to help with coordination.” The leaner, flatter organizational structures in businesses might be gaining popularity. This simulation done by Koçak and colleagues, however, shows that it isn’t a perfect fit for every company, Further, some form of hierarchical workflow is necessary to maintain communication and coordination. Hierarchical structures don’t always find the best solution to a problem, but it’s almost always a good solution in a timelier fashion. Looking to know more? Özgecan Koçak is associate professor of Organization & Management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She is available to speak with media about this topic - simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
