Learn about my journey through art, karate, science, and law

Hello

Welcome to My Journey

If there is one thing that can be said of me – it is that I am driven. I am driven by a passion to compete, accomplish, and excel in all things that I put my mind to, whether they be academic or extracurricular.

Starting out

My Formative Years

The 2005 Ottawa Sun article, “Daisy Williams, 3 time World Kickboxing and Karate Champion.” At the time, this was an unparalleled feat, one which distinguished me from my competitive class and established me as an unquestionable talent in the sport of kickboxing.

I started Karate and Kickboxing at the age of nine years old under the supervision of ten time world champion (and member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame) Steve Anderson, and eleven time world champion Ben Stewart (current CEO of Springmasters). When I was thirteen years old I earned my black belt, and in the same year, I competed at my first World Karate Championship in Italy. It was my first world title in kickboxing, and immediately, I was hooked! The next World Championship which I attended was in Niagara Falls, Canada in 2005, from which I brought home three gold medals – in Karate, Kickboxing and Team Sparring.

In addition to competing in Karate and Kickboxing, I also volunteered as an instructor at a local School “Steve Anderson Karate” for several years, where I was a black belt. I took part in many demonstrations across Ottawa, geared towards promoting a healthy lifestyle in the community, and getting children interested in sports. For my achievements in kickboxing, I was named “Athlete of the Year” by the City of Ottawa, for showing exceptional ability in sports and dedication to the community, and was honoured as “Athlete of the Week” by various media outlets. Simply put, I have a strong passion for sports and my community.

In addition to martial arts, I also took a deep interest in sailing and painting. In 2005, I achieved the “silver” competitive racing level in sailing at the Nepean Sailing Club. In the same year, I won 1st Place in the “Laser Sailboat” Class at the OYSTR Regatta in Ottawa.

In 2009, I was also featured in art exhibition at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (Ottawa), and won 1st place in oil painting at the City of Ottawa Art Showcase (Councilor Peggy Feltmate Award).

Journey to Academia

Undergraduate Studies

Drawing from my competitive streak, I parlayed my sporting drive and achievements into academics.

In 2006 I was accepted into the Honours Physics-Mathematics degree at the University of Ottawa. While kickboxing may have been my athletic passion, my academic interests have always been with math and science. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I strove to achieve academic excellence, in the process earning a spot on the Dean’s List for students with grade-point averages exceeding 8.5/10. These academic achievements were crucial in my choice to pursue a Master’s degree in Physics upon graduation. Under the supervision of Dr. Xiaoyi Bao, who is the Canada Reseach Chair in Photonics, I was able to maintain my place on the Dean’s List, and obtained an ‘A’ average in all of my graduate courses. In addition to my high GPA, I was also making significant progress in research, and the University of Ottawa permitted me to fast-track directly into the PhD program without completing a Master’s defense.

Pursuit Of Knowledge And Inventions

Doctoral Studies - University of Ottawa

I worked in Professor Xiaoyi Bao’s and Professor Liang Chen’s fiber-optics research group for about five years, since my third year of undergraduate studies. During my doctoral studies, I focused on the theory of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) inside optical fibers, and its application to fiber sensing devices and fiber nonlinearity-based techniques.

I obtained the important understanding of minimizing pump depletion of optical signals in fibers, as well as its impact on the functionality of fiber sensors. I also expanded my knowledge of experimental techniques in fiber-optic measurement by conducting several experiments and taking courses on the subject, where I learned about the experimental setups and methods of fiber-based technologies. I worked with EOMs (electrooptical modulators), EDFAs (erbium-doped fiber amplifiers), PMF (polarization maintaining fibers), as well as HOMFs (high order mode fibers), signal generators, FBGs (fiber bragg gratings), couplers, polarization controllers, as well as several types of lasers, including the DFB laser (distributed feedback). Attending conferences at the University of Ottawa and going to departmental seminars has expanded my outlook towards other fields of research, and allowed me to make useful connections to my own research projects. In the Summer 2011 term, I participated in a Computational Neuroscience seminar at the University of Ottawa, which was geared towards the development of computational techniques through mathematical modeling. I analyzed real data, and learned to apply specialized computational methods to complex mathematical problems.

On the theoretical side, I researched methods of analytically solving non-linear systems of partial differential equations, and in particular, a system of five non-linear coupled differential equations representing the Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) in optical fibers. Since non-linear systems are notoriously difficult to solve analytically, I studied specialized programming languages and software packages designed for constructing numerical simulations of the solutions of such systems.

Part of my work describes a highly accurate, fully analytic solution for the continuous wave and the Stokes wave in Brillouin amplification in an optical fiber. It has been experimentally confirmed that the reported analytic solution can account for spectral distortion and pump depletion in the parameter space that is relevant to Brillouin fiber sensor applications. As such, the paper also provides a method of avoiding the undesired spectral distortion, which is crucial for optimal operation of fiber sensors. In this way, the efficiency and accuracy of fiber sensors may be greatly increased.

The patent entitled “Method for Optical Phase modulation, Optical Phase Modulator and optical network employing the same” utilizes an explicit relationship between the intensity of light of a continuous pump wave entering a fiber-optic cable at one end, and the phase of a pulse entering the fiber at the opposite end. This discovery led to the development of an invention which provides a means of modulating and transmitting the phase of a signal beam, via a method of amplitude modulation. Phase modulation is known to be of a better quality as compared to amplitude (and frequency) modulation, additionally having a wider spectrum, providing a means of increasing the speed of transmission, as well as the clarity of signal, through an optical fiber. The industry has the potential to benefit from a novel method of phase modulation.

Several of my journal articles and Canadian and U.S. patents describe a method of realizing all-optical NAND/NOT/AND/OR logic gates, based on the principles of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in an optical fiber, including configurations for multiple-gate linking. All-optical logic gates are deemed to be the main component in future integrated photonic circuits, and are the focus of many current research efforts. All-optical gates are not limited by the inherent speed limitations of electronic circuits, and also have a higher bandwidth. All-optical gates based on SBS also prove advantageous, since the resulting gates are void of polarization effects which cause spectral distortion which is inherent in current fiber-based methods. I completed the PhD degree in September 2014, before commencing the Juris Doctor program (English Common Law) at the University of Ottawa.

Legal Interests

Intellectual Property

My interest in law developed throughout my PhD research. In addition to publishing five prestigious journal articles, I became the inventor of two inventions in the field of photonics. Since it was unorthodox for students in my department to pursue obtaining intellectual property, I took the initiative to conduct the relevant legal research and to educate myself about the intellectual property regulations at the University of Ottawa. I currently have three issued patents in Canada and the United States with respect to new and innovative concepts and technologies

My legal interests developed when I started working part-time at an Ottawa-based Intellectual Property (IP) firm. There, I drafted patent applications, prepared responses to office actions, interviewed clients, and conducted legal research and patent searches, among other tasks. I found it incredibly interesting to learn about new areas of law, and work with inventors in the patent drafting process. It was an intellectually engaging exercise to find the ‘nub’ or ‘essence’ of the invention and subsequently describe this feature in legal language. The entire process was incredibly rewarding, and allowed me to do my part to promote bright-minded individuals in creating the technology of tomorrow.

Helping inventors to determine the structure and scope of their inventions from a legal perspective and obtain the largest scope of patent protection based on knowledge of the patent system is an invigorating experience. As I continue to work in the IP field, I found myself becoming more and more interested in the legal side of intellectual property, often reading up on patent and trademark literature in my spare time. Moreover, having drafted my own patent applications for the inventions I created while working on my PhD, I saw the process from the inventor’s point of view. This experience has increased my understanding of the inventor/patent attorney relationship and has given me a deeper appreciation of the qualities needed to be a good patent lawyer.

In today’s world of ever-changing technologies, I feel that intellectual property law is a very important part of technological advancement and development. Helping companies or inventors obtain legal protection for their technologies is a vital part of the commercialization process, and one which I want to be a part of. More than that, however, I want to promote technological advancement by helping inventors obtain sound legal patent protection both in Canada and the United States.

Teaching Experience

Algonquin College

In 2014, I worked as a Professor of Mathematics at Algonquin College. I taught Calculus to engineering technician students, and Differential Equations to the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) group. Before that, I mentored undergraduate and high school students one-on-one in physics and mathematics, explained important concepts, as well as showed problem-solving techniques. Additionally, I have aided aspiring med-students prepare for the MCAT exam. I have taught several problem-solving courses in introductory physics, as well as conducted laboratory sessions during my graduate studies.

Law School

University of Ottawa

My academic success continued into law school, where I gained an in-depth understanding of a number of legal topics.

In addition to course-work, I authored articles and book chapters on the topics of patent law, family law and constitutional law. Namely, during an internship at Aitken Klee LLP, I co-authored a LexisNexis book chapter on patent infringement litigation with Marcus Klee and Bryan Norrie. The book is entitled Intellectual Property Litigation: Forms and Precedents and was published in April 2016. During a second internship at MBM Intellectual Property Law LLP, I co-authored an article with Randy Marusyk on the constitutional protections afforded to scientific inquiry by section 2(b) of the Charter. The article is entitled The Right to Scientific Inquiry and is being prepared for submission to the Canadian Bar Review. Last year, in a course on family, I wrote an article on the division of intellectual property assets upon family dissolution. The professor of the course, Professor Natasha Bakht, recommended the article for publication. It is entitled The Division of Intellectual Property on Marriage Breakdown: How should patents be divided? and has been submitted to the Canadian Journal of Family Law. My experience in academic legal writing has allowed me to learn the writing and editing process involved in publication process, as well as gain an in-depth understanding of various legal topics.

Additional exposure to intellectual property occurred when I was hired as a summer student at Borden Ladner Gervais (BLG) LLP in 2009, and performed an internship at MBM Intellectual Property Law LLP and Aitken Klee LLP in the summer of 2015, three law firms in downtown Ottawa. I was hired back as a summer student in 2016 at Aitken Klee LLP, which specializes in biopharmaceutical litigation. I spent a summer obtaining a deeper exposure into the field of patent litigation. I will be articling with Aitken Klee LLP in the 2017-2018 term.

Achievements and Experiences

Over the course of my academic studies and professional experience, I have developed a multitude of skills and valuable knowledge. To date, I have three issued patents in Canada and the U.S. on two inventions in the fields of photonics and fiber-optics; I’ve published five peer-reviewed articles published in reputable scientific journals and a PhD thesis; I’ve co-authored a LexisNexis book chapter on patent litigation, written three academic legal articles for submission, and drafted countless patent applications (including three for my own inventions).

Currently my hobbies include pursuing a pilot’s license, and baking and decorating cakes for friends and family.

Thank you for taking the time to read my journey. If you have any questions, I encourage you to ask by hitting the ‘contact’ button on the left side menu.