How one PhD candidate is engineering a better future

The Leonard F. Ruggins Engineering PhD Scholarship, named after an electrical engineer who worked in operations research, helps nurture new generations of talented researchers at Concordia.

The latest recipient of the award, Samuel Little, switched from mechanical engineering to biotechnology for his PhD. This required a bit of an adjustment.

“Because I was pivoting and applying a different perspective to a new field, the foundation for my research was lacking,” explains Little. “Other students would have been able to hit the ground running.

“Having the Leonard F. Ruggins Engineering PhD Scholarship basically provided me with the financial support I needed to learn the fundamentals and figure out how to be a good researcher in a new field. It alleviated the pressure of publishing something safe.”

Little, who grew up in Orillia, Ontario, dreamed of becoming a general contractor or builder. His father ultimately persuaded him to try engineering.

“More than anything, my dad just wanted me to go to university. While I was in the program, I became more sold on the concept.”

After graduating from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Little realized that he would need to further his education to accomplish his goals.

“I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to solve cutting-edge problems and work in a nimbler way, I would need to go to graduate school,” he says.

Little has come to believe that electrical engineering know-how combined with intensive synthetic biology can lead to astonishing breakthroughs. He hopes to one day focus on immune-cell engineering geared towards cancer research.

“I really want the donors behind my scholarship to know that they afforded me a real opportunity to be a little bolder. I think that’s what we want for research coming out of Concordia.”