In response to the vast amount of interest in the North Shore pertaining to intergenerational initiatives, this project seeks to bridge community agencies academic research to provide tangible tools and resources to broaden the awareness of activities connecting different generations in the North Shore to actively contribute to reducing social isolation and loneliness, while enhancing social capital, community capacity, cultural connectedness, social awareness, and social cohesion among various populations in the North Shore community.

The proposed research is aimed at understanding and predicting the adoption rate for a proposed commercialized platform, based on the HQB Prototype, and for providing essential insights into the user experience by both user groups of the HQB Prototype that will be included in the design specifications for the commercialized product.

HealthQB has been researching indications of the parasympathetic nervous system and wellbeing of chronic pain patients in allied health since 2018.

This proposed Mitacs project will investigate and further develop EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy), or AC-impedance-based measurement hardware used for diagnosing faults in PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell systems (FCS), and incorporating the on-board EIS function in the fuel cell dc/dc converters used to transfer power from the fuel cell to the vehicle traction drive.

This research looks to develop a wearable device that is capable of monitoring users’ vital signs to detect an opioid overdose and send an emergency notification to emergency services for intervention. The vital sign monitoring will be carried out by a pulse oximeter, and will focus on the blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate, and heart rate variation of users to determine when an overdose has occurred.

This project aims to 1) identify and understand the unique social and psychological burdens that vulnerable older adults face during the pandemic, 2) explore and identify successful and unsuccessful digital interventions that has been done at the West End Seniors Network (WESN) to help raise social connectedness, and 3) develop strategies and design future interventions to improve the mental wellbeing of the diverse senior population in Vancouver. The intern will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with seniors in the community in order to accomplish the project goals.

Resident killer whale populations in British Columbia (BC) are listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) as “threatened” and “endangered” for the northern and southern populations, respectively. Common pollutants such as PCBs and PBDEs, are considered a significant impediment to the recovery of resident killer whales. These chemicals bioaccumulate throughout the food web and strongly affect apex predators in marine ecosystems.

To reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from goods transportation low-carbon fuels can be combined with high-efficiency engine systems. Gaseous fuels such renewable natural gas and hydrogen offer low net GHG emissions from efficient direct-injection engines. These engines use high fuel injection pressures that need to be supplied during operation by a compressor on the vehicle. This project will investigate the technical pathways that could provide the desired fuel pressures.

In today’s landscape, it is important for businesses to acknowledge the complex histories of the land on which they operate and engage with truth and reconciliation within their policies and practices. The goal of this project is to support Helicat Canada (HCC) with its reconciliation efforts with local Indigenous Peoples by developing a strategic engagement plan to support mutually beneficial relations between HCC and its members and Indigenous Peoples.

Rapidly detecting SARS-CoV-2 in infected individuals remains a critical problem in Canada. The current detection method is hindered by the need for highly trained personnel and expensive laboratory equipment. Such requirements cause long wait times and reduce the ability to manage the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. This Mitacs Accelerate project aims at addressing such problems, i.e., developing a rapid, easy-to-use, point of care (POC) detection system for hospitals, airports, long-term care facilities and working places.

Commercial MagnetoRheological (MR) dampers are still bulky and consume relatively high power. Thus new designs to improve their energy consumption and total mass are required so that they can be used in applications such as prosthetics and small electric vehicles that are restricted by energy consumption and mass. To address the above issues, in this research we focus on the design of a MagnetoRheological damper to achieve small mass with low energy consumption for commercial use.