The proposed research project will focus on understanding the in-vineyard and in-winery mechanisms responsible for the phenomenon of smoke-taint in wines—that is, the tendency of grapes exposed to forest fire smoke to produce smoke-flavoured wines in the absence of any perceptible aroma in the grapes. Of interest here is discerning exactly how the flavoured compounds of smoke are biochemically stored within ripening grapes in addition to how they are released again by yeast enzymes during the fermentation process.

Development and testing of a trace explosive sensor based on silicon nanomaterials or quantum dots. The project will involve interaction and pilot testing with the RCMP and Transport Canada. The success of the project will enable Applied Quantum Materials to introduce a new product into the security marketplace and form a platform technology for the development of drug and chemical agent detection.

Batteries are ideally suited for energy storage application due to their pollution-free operation, high efficiency, flexible energy and power characteristics to meet different grid functions, cycle life, and low maintenance. The proposed project aims to develop a non-explosive, non-toxic, non-flammable all-solid-state sodium-ion battery with a commercially competitive business case for applications in grid-scale battery storage, the electric vehicle industry, and consumer electronics.

Bipolar membranes (BPMs) are already a commercially relevant technology as they are used in the electrodialysis process, that is, they are used to convert salt water into industrially useful acid and base products. Recent research, on the laboratory scale, has demonstrated that bipolar membranes also have useful applications in water splitting technologies that produce hydrogen gas, which can then be captured, stored and used as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Our group developed a new generation of chip-based small-scale devices for continuous purification of chemicals and nanoparticles, based on the interactions of analyte with multiple types of driving forces in an electro-fluid-dynamic (EFD) system. One series of the purification devices has the electric field in parallel with the fluid flow direction (E?F), while the other series has two orthogonal driving force fields (E?F).

Currently, no Canadian-based companies are involved in the manufacturing of state-of-the-art research tools for atomic layer deposition (ALD). Angstrom Engineering is a leading manufacturer of similar technologies – physical vapour deposition and chemical vapour deposition – and have identified an opportunity to produce the first ALD research tool manufactured entirely in Canada. ALD is a vapour phase technique that offers sequential, self-limiting surface reactions to deposit thin films with exceptional control over thickness and composition, as well as conformality and uniformity.

Pulp and paper producers would profit enormously from an advanced knowledge of the physical and mechanical properties of a fibre product based upon a measure of the pulp while it is still in process. This project aims to develop such a tool. Using a laser backscattering technique called Raman spectroscopy, will calibrate the molecular bar code it reads from an in-process pulp to accurately predict the properties of a paper or other fibre products that can be made from that particular pulp.

One aspect of modern drug development involves understanding how enzymes function in terms of the progress of certain diseases in humans. This MITACS project involves the synthesis of small-molecule labels that can bind to a specific enzyme of interest, so as to better understand the mode of action of this enzyme as related to the progress of cancer. This work will involve the preparation of organic molecules possessing appropriate structural features that will enable selective and irreversible binding to the desired enzyme.

Mutations in the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) are the most common genetic risk factor for development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD is characterized by the buildup of abnormal protein deposits in the brain, followed by progressive loss of neurons and behavioural symptoms. Numerous studies have noted a correlation between reduced GBA1 activity and increased levels of these abnormal protein deposits in the brain, but the relationship remains poorly understood. The aim of this project is to create an inhibitor that can enter the brain and be used to determine GBA1 in the brain.