This project aims to validate and explore the application of tailored polymeric materials developed in the department of chemistry at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) for chemical analysis. The main application of such material is in the sample preparation and reducing the workload in laboratories. The materials will be used to treat the various samples such as water (i.e., drinking, river, and sea water) food, and biological samples.
This study will investigate the links between dog behaviour and gut microbiome content in dogs living in St John’s and surrounding areas. The temperament of each dog will be assessed using an online behavioural questionnaire, and additional information will be collected about the dog’s lifestyle, diet and medical history. The intern will take fecal samples from dogs of a range of personality types (including anxious and aggressive) to assess the bacterial content of the gut through DNA analysis.
Humankind has always been creative in evolving and adapting to a convenient and comfortable lifestyle. One of the common problems most of us face is vehicle maintenance. This service overlaps with work schedules and requires pick-up and drop arrangements. Our company proposes Mobile Auto Repair that provides customers with their vehicle maintenance performed at their preferred location and time by the certified mechanics. This project will aim to identify barriers that mobile auto repair businesses face while launching in Canada.
Using simplified language understandable to a layperson; provide a general, one-paragraph description of the proposed research project to be undertaken by the intern(s) as well as the expected benefit to the partner organization. (100 - 150 words) This project aims to increase image datasets by not doing experiments or collecting physical checks. Instead, the image data augmentation is implemented by generative adversarial networks (GANs), generating new images from original images using different algorithms. GANs have a generator and a discriminator.
Using simplified language understandable to a layperson; provide a general, one-paragraph description of the proposed research project to be undertaken by the intern(s) as well as the expected benefit to the partner organization. (100 - 150 words) 7 Fathoms Seaweed Skincare (7FSS) is a small business that has developed products which incorporate an extract of Laminaria Digitata seaweed. The extract is prepared using a proprietary method and customers have reported dermatological and other benefits to using their products.
The current project aims to design and optimize the cryogenic CO2 capture process in terms of CO2 removal efficiency and energy requirement. The serious concern of global warming due to increasing CO2 emission has urged policymakers to employ various CO2 capture methods. Note that among different CO2 capture methods, the cryogenic capture is a favorable option since it uses less energy and no chemicals in the CO2 removal process. Cryogenic CO2 capture suffers from high equipment costs and energy consumption.
The aquaculture industry is growing rapidly worldwide and provides job opportunities as well as food for humans. However, diseases that are bacterial or viral, having a devastating effect on this sector. Every year huge economic losses are occurring due to bacterial diseases. Though there are several commercial vaccines available on the market, their efficacy is still questionable.
Research will involve capturing of commercially valuable wild fish species aggregated around sea cage aquaculture sites in different parts of Newfoundland, including one previously sampled. These specimens will then have samples taken that will be evaluated for an ‘aquaculture signature’ that would indicate direct or indirect consumption of sea cage feed and waste that becomes available to the local environment.
Aerial full-motion video, marine systems and space-based earth observation share key characteristics: they involve critical infrastructure, they rely on sensitive information and they require strong data provenance. We have applied cryptographic techniques — derived from both historic security protocols and newer blockchain systems — to create a novel research cryptographic filesystem in a previous Mitacs project, and now we will apply that filesystem to these three problem domains.
The risk of an oil spill in the marine environment always exists during offshore oil production and transportation. The oil spill can affect the marine ecosystem, including seabirds, aquatic organisms and even humans health, both directly and indirectly. The best solution to the oil spill incident is collecting the spilled oil, extracting that from the marine environment and potentially taking it back to the energy cycle. However, depending on the situation and severity of the oil spill incident, it can be partially possible or even impossible.
