How an Interaction Design student is helping turn research data into impactful experiences

For second-year Honours Bachelor of Interaction Design student Carla Farag, involvement in research at Sheridan has looked very different from the common stereotype — no lab coats, high-end equipment or dense technical reports.

Instead, her experience expands what research can be and how it creates impact. Through communication, storytelling, relationship-building and strategic outreach, Farag has helped research move into real-world contexts where it can be understood, trusted and applied.

Across research projects in healthcare, artificial intelligence and gender equity–focused entrepreneurship, her journey highlights that research doesn’t advance through discovery alone. By deploying skills that connect ideas to people, she has played a vital role in translating research into accessible insights, supporting Sheridan’s research partners and connecting diverse audiences to knowledge that can drive change.

Supporting healthcare innovation for older adults

Working with Generator at Sheridan’s Centre for Elder Research (CER), Farag applied skills learned through Sheridan’s Interaction Design degree to support older adults and healthcare innovation.

Through the Centre’s collaboration with AIM Fitness, an online fitness training company helping older adults improve their strength, mobility and overall health, she helped develop the study protocol, analyze data from questionnaires and produce detailed visual presentations and reports.

Under the guidance of CER Research Coordinator Isabel Paniak and Schlegel Innovation Leader in Arts and Aging Dr. Kate Dupuis, Farag also contributed to the development of a business model, internal report and public-facing brochure, turning complex research findings into actionable improvements. Her synthesis of research insights into practical, engaging materials helped AIM Fitness refine its digital offerings and strengthen program engagement — demonstrating how thoughtful communication can directly influence service design and adoption.

Increasing accessibility to AI knowledge mobilization

Farag is also helping to coordinate the CanCollab AI Speaker Series, a national initiative supporting AI knowledge mobilization across Canada’s creative technology sector hosted by Generator at Sheridan’s Screen Industries Research and Training (SIRT) Centre and Durham College’s Mixed Reality Capture (MRC) Studio.

In this role, she organizes monthly virtual events, manages technical event logistics, liaises with speakers and develops post-event assets such as transcripts, recordings and audience insights — helping the event hosts ensure that the complex discussions about AI are delivered to audiences in an engaging, accessible and structured format.

Removing barriers that hold women back in the workplace

Beyond her work at two of Generator at Sheridan’s research centres, Farag is also supporting Pathways to Potential, a multi-year research project aimed at uncovering and dismantling the systemic barriers that hold women back in the workplace.

Under the direction of Sheridan's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Dr. Sara Cumming & Dr. Jessica Pulis, she leads the project’s social media strategy and content creation. Farag also plays a key role in translating data from project surveys and interviews into practical training materials, tools and resources that are grounded in lived experience and can be shared in the future through educational initiatives led by women-focused organizations.

“One of the biggest things I have learned is that research is not a linear path. Working across different contexts has strengthened my creative problem-solving skills and analytical thinking.”

– Carla Farag

Reflecting on these experiences, Farag highlights how moving between disciplines has reshaped how she understands innovation.

“One of the biggest things I have learned is that research is not a linear path,” said Farag. “Working across different contexts has strengthened my creative problem-solving skills and analytical thinking — helping me approach research projects and my academics with more flexibility and confidence. It has also shown me that communication really matters and being willing to adapt how you share ideas depending on who you’re working with is critical.”

Farag’s experience challenges traditional notions of what research looks like and what moves it forward. By centering communication, storytelling and relationship-building, she demonstrates how knowledge is most impactful when people can authentically and accessibly engage with it.

Interested in learning more about how to get involved as a student in research, innovation and entrepreneurship at Sheridan? Visit sheridancollege.ca/generator.