Despite advances in biotechnology and organic synthesis, plants remain the main source of many of high-value bioactive compounds used in the medical, fragrance and food industries. Increasing demand for bioactive plants (e.g., cannabis and extracts thereof) require robust authentication approaches to verify feedstock, identify product adulteration and ensure product safety for consumers.

Urinary tract infections caused by indwelling catheters (CAUTIs) employed for the treatment of urinary flow are very common. Almost 100 million of these devices are sold on an annual basis with around 25% of these being marketed in the USA. In addition to the cost of catheters and their insertion, hospital treatment of CAUITs runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

The goal of this project is to use naturally occurring bacterial partners to improve the flavour and nutritional properties of plants grown in hydroponic and aquaponics systems. This study will investigate ability of plant associated bacteria to alter the metabolic profile of select vegetables and leafy greens. Vertical farming is an increasingly popular solution for the production of plant produce year-round at a local level. However, it involves the growth of plants in engineered systems without natural soils.

Synthetic chemistry is used to assemble the small organic molecules that comprise many of the important consumer products used by society every day. Such fine chemicals are used to assemble drugs, agrochemicals, electronics, materials, dyes, etc.. Metal catalysts are part of the arsenal that the synthetic chemist uses to make such prized small molecules and Total Synthesis Ltd. (TSL), the sponsor of this research, is a globally recognized leader in catalyst invention and sales.

The stability of commercial ingredient emulsions is hugely important to the end-user. To that end, Botaneco’s oleosome-containing emulsions are characterized by the absence of changes over time in physical parameters such as particle size, pH and colour. Botaneco’s Hydresia® and CapsolTM products, which contain safflower and almond oleosomes, exhibit proven physical stabilities of up to two years.

We propose to perform detailed studies that characterize chemically and biologically and the unaltered ancestral plant species of the Cannabis genus. Chemically, these studies will provide the chemotype profiles for each parental species for a spectrum of non-tetrahydrocannabinoid compounds. Biologically, these studies will provide the pharmacological profiles for each parental species.

The electrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen gas is a technology of growing importance in the clean energy sector. Emerging technologies are employing membranes to provide physical separation of the cathode and anode compartments, thereby separating the product gases, while allowing ions to flow between the compartments to maintain the electrochemical reactions taking place.

Cellulose is a commercially important biopolymer. Due to its abundance, biocompatibility and renewability it has shown important commercial applications in food, pharmaceuticals, biomedical. Depending on the origin and the processing methods used, the resulting fiber dimensions, structure, crystallinity and molecular weight (MW) can vary over a broad range. MW is one of the most important parameters in polymer characterization as many of its properties depend on it. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) has been the technique of choice for determining these properties.

Vineyards, as with many other agriculture-based industries, often deal with time-sensitive decisions regarding how to manage their grapes to ensure the production of high-quality crops. Similarly, wineries need information quickly during fermentation to help guide winemaker interventions. Existing methods of obtaining the information needed by grape growers and winemakers is often time-intensive to collect.

SeeO2 energy and the Birss group (UCalgary) have developed world-leading catalysts for RSOFC systems with promising performance for the production of syngas and power from H2O/CO2 feeds. Today, the company is aiming to scale-up this technology and move towards commercialization by building larger cells, up to 5 x 5 cm2 (16 cm2 electrode area). However, the process of scaling-up RSOFCs presents many challenges in understanding the effects of fabrication and operation parameters on the cell performance at larger scale.