Heart Failure (HF) occurs when the heart becomes damaged or weakened. HF is an epidemic, with approximately 1 million Canadians affected. BNP is an effective diagnostic and prognostic marker for HF. There is a direct correlation between elevated concentrations of BNP in the blood and the severity of HF symptoms. The need for point-of-care monitoring of BNP levels in the outpatient setting is imperative. The main objective is to develop a portable immunoassay-based electrochemical sensor for rapid detection and monitoring of BNP levels in outpatient’s blood, for early detection of HF.

The aim of this project is to develop a novel catalyst system for treatment of organic and nitrogen containing pollutants in wastewater generated by various industrial sectors. Development of such system is necessary as the discharge regulations are becoming increasingly restricted. The research focuses on electrode design and fabrication that treat toxic wastewater, with an emphasis on the catalyst material, i.e. platinum group metals (PGM) alloys, and mixed metal oxides (MMO).

The removal of unwanted body hair by body sugaring is an ancient method commonly used in the middle east, and it is fast becoming the method of choice in North America. When not done properly, the removal of unwanted hair can lead to injuries to the skin and can cause ingrown hairs, also known as razor bumps. Most products available for the treatment of ingrown hairs are often saturated with alcohol, and harsh chemicals that strip the skin of natural oils, often causing burns, irritation, and lacerations.

The medical marijuana industry has attracted significant attention recently due to its impending legalization in Canada in the coming year. Along with legalization comes the need for accurate and dependable characterization of the components in the product that is to be consumed by the end user. Keystone Labs is a certified cannabis analysis lab with a growing client base. Hence, they are looking to increase their market share by developing a home testing kit that can be used by growers to monitor the plant's chemical composition as it matures.

This project is geared towards the development of a cost-effective method to fabricate thin films of carbon materials, such as diamond. The idea is to use solution-based methods coupled to electrochemistry to produce the films. Avenues for the deposition of the film on surfaces of arbitrary shapes will also be explored.

Hydrolysis lignins (HL) are a byproduct from acid or enzymatic biomass pretreatment processes such as the ones employed in cellulosic sugar and/or ethanol plants. They are mainly composed of lignin , unreacted cellulose and mono and oligosaccharides.

Cobalt thin-films have found widespread applications in microelectronics devices; such as liners in copper interconnects, wetting layers, and caps, in addition to applications for magnetic devices and CoSi2 contacts. CVD and ALD techniques are typically used to achieve cobalt films between 2-5 nm thick with excellent conformalities and negligible resistance increase. Leading precursors for cobalt thin-film deposition include cyclopentadienylcobalt dicarbonyl and dicobalt(hexacarbonyl)tert-butylacetylene.

Fluids used in hydraulic fracturing are designed to open fractures and transport proppant along the fracture to ensure conservation of the fracture. Scientists in the industry use commercially available polymers that are produced at low-cost in high volumes for other industries (e.g. water treatment) without really understanding the reasons why these polymers have the desired performance for fracking. The fluids we are focused on developing are used to reduce the cost of pumping/fracking to make drilling operations economically viable.

This MITACS proposal focuses on the chemical processes occurring that may enhance or inhibit microbial growth, identify and detect key microbial chemical precursors to MIC, and development of models to predict/mitigate MIC. It is part of a much larger Genome Canada project where the information and models developed in the proposal will be used in a genomic analyses and this information will in turn be used by this group to optimize models and detection systems.

There is a strong push toward producing fuel cells on a commercial scale. This means a greater focus on production speed and yields with a need to understand the unintended features that arise from larger-scale manufacturing processes. This project requires the set up of state-of-the-art, camera-vision, defect detection equipment to find and collect observed membrane features. These features will then be catalogued and tested to determine their impact on membrane durability and whether they affect later processing steps.