BRAIN CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Getting a brain tumour diagnosis right the first time
Two specialists can read the same brain scan and reach different conclusions. A TRU-led team is building AI that brings imaging, genetics, and patient records together, so diagnoses come faster and more consistently.
INDIGENOUS-LED CONSERVATION
Knowing how many salmon made it home, the same day
Counts that once took hours of frame-by-frame review now arrive the same day, from an AI tool TRU data science students built for Skeetchestn and Secwépemc fisheries staff.
FOREST INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGY
Teaching a camera to spot trouble on the mill line
One jam can idle an entire sawmill. A TRU student and Kamloops firm Iron Code Engineering are training a camera to catch the problem early and warn operators before production stops.
TRU horaizon Game Changers
Across our campus, TRU faculty members and students are building tomorrow’s solutions that serve our communities today – spanning education, sustainability, Indigenous partnerships, trades, and health. These bold, transformative initiatives advance TRU’s leadership in community‑serving innovation, turning ideas into impact for current and future generations.
WHAT IF WE…?
Built AI that thinks with students, then supports them before they fall behind.
In our AI + Education pillar, researchers are exploring how AI can support learning in real time. Guided-question tools that help students build their own understanding, rather than just supplying answers. Early-alert systems that flag when a student needs support, while there’s still time to help. Data-informed platforms that let instructors design courses around how students actually learn.
This is what it looks like to put people back at the center of a university: sharper insight, earlier support, and a learning experience built around each student.
Dr. Quan Nguyen
Game Changers Lead, AI + Education
In partnership with TRU Faculty.
WHAT IF WE…?
Teach, learn and play on a self-improving campus, built for the decades to come.
In our AI + Sustainability pillar, researchers are turning scattered building data into one live campus energy dashboard. Today, that means real-time visibility into consumption and emissions across the campus. Next, the AI layer will help forecast tomorrow’s energy use, flagging anomalies before they arise, and recommending lower-carbon operations.
This is what a self-improving campus looks like: energy insight that arrives in real time, and infrastructure that learns from every season to be better prepared for the next one.
Dr. Zeinab Teimoori
Game Changers Lead, AI + Sustainability
In partnership with TRU Sustainability Office.
WHAT IF WE…?
Reimagine AI so it carries our responsibility to tellqelmúcw – those yet to be born.
In our AI + Healing pillar, we’re building on our responsibility to current and future generations, including tellqelmúcw – those yet to be born.
We are exploring local models that stem from Secwépemc and Indigenous worldviews, where OCAP and CARE principles are foundational.
Instead of adapting AI to fit, we are reimagining and redesigning the technology around Indigenous ownership, community knowledge, control and protocols from the start.
Dr. Ghazanfar Latif
Game Changers Lead, AI + Healing
In partnership with Secwépemc Special Advisor to the President.
Meet our experts
At Thompson Rivers University, our researchers are turning research into real‑world solutions that improve how people learn, work, and live. The Expert Bench showcases these leaders and the breakthrough projects reshaping our communities.