Fayed Maraj Position/Title: Msc. Thesis Student email: maraja@uoguelph.ca Phone: Office:

During my youth, I heard multiple stories about my grandfather and his work as a veterinarian. This inspired my love for animals and led me to the University of Guelph. I received my Bsc. in Animal Biology in 2020, and currently pursuing a Msc. in the same field under Dr. Jennifer Ellis.

My research focuses on creating and improving a model that can simulate various key variables during the growth of broiler chickens. Currently the model is being created by using a previous work done for turkeys whilst improving stability and computation time for each simulation. This is done through making changes to computer code and changing current exponential equations in the model to Michaelis-Menten equations. Quality of life improvements are also being added the model, allowing users to input csv data, and receive a csv file of the each simulation run. Additional inputs are also being added to the model, such as stocking density and temperature stress. This allows for a more robust model that can account for multiple variables in each simulation. Upon completion further work will be done to reparameterize for broiler chickens. The end goal would be to create an application that can successfully predict key variables of different genetic lines of broilers, with emphasis on various slow-growing and fast-growing lines. In my free time, I enjoy practicing mixed martial arts and watching movies.