Prescribed fire and mechanical removal of woody vegetation have become popular disturbance methods for restoring globally rare alvar and grassland habitats that support many species at risk, such as reptiles. However, the effects that these restoration efforts have on rare reptiles is largely unknown. This study will identify alterations in habitat usage of endangered snake species by monitoring their presence within habitats, surveying vegetative structure, and monitoring environmental temperatures both before and after management across multiple locations with grassland-alvar habitat.

The partner organization (Forcen Inc) wants to design and manufacture a strain gauge that is stretchable, flexible and sensitive to different types of strain (tension, compression, shear and torsion). Unfortunately, the current metal foil and semiconductor strain gauge is brittle. That is why Forcen Inc partnered with University of Toronto to develop new generation of strain gauge that is flexible enough to be inserted into surgical and manufacture robot and it can detect strains from mult-directions.

Currently halogen-based flame retardant is widely used as cable covering material in various industries including oil and gas. Studies have concluded that these materials will produce toxic gases and acidic fumes, and also persistent against degradation in landfill. These negative consequences resulted in a global ban on halogen-based flame retardant. This project is a direct response to the global ban by developing new low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) flame retardant without the aforementioned problems.

Continuous variable (CV) encodings in photonic systems are emerging as one of the most promising avenues to near term, practical, quantum computing. In order for a CV quantum computer to outperform its classical counterparts it requires the integration of at least one “non-Gaussian” element.

Over the past 2-3 years, commercial quantum computing hardware has begun to come online. While emerging quantum processing devices (QPUs) are still small and noisy compared to ideal quantum hardware, they are nevertheless expected to demonstrate quantum supremacy soon. During the same period, quantum machine learning (QML) has emerged as a rapidly expanding research field, perceived as one of the most promising algorithmic paradigms for near-term quantum computers. In this project, the candidate will leverage their skills in machine learning to carry out research in QML.

DoseBiome has developed a new probiotic that targets several aspects of oral health: dental caries, periodontal diseases, and halitosis. This project aims to understand the exact mechanism of our probiotic's inhibitory properties against the pathogens associated with the above diseases. DoseBiome is a new start-up in the probiotic/microbiome health sector, and this project will allow for improved technology and manufacturing processes for our oral probiotic line.

Resistance exercise training combined with adequate post-exercise protein ingestion is known to increase muscle mass when completed repeatedly over a prolonged period of time (>6 weeks). Due to this knowledge much research has been conducted to identify the best protein supplements which allow for the greatest muscle growth with training.

The use of advanced manufacturing methods and analysis tools and bringing them to the plant floor is crucial for modern manufacturing. A gap that has become apparent is that often engineering capabilities are not available within many facilities – and this requires robust design and new thinking to ensure manufacturers ensure quality product. The pressure transducer is a device thathas not changed much over the past twenty year. This work will provide guidance through an improved pressure sensor for high-temperature applications by introducing optical approaches.

This project will aim to assess the impact of past pollution events from historic and ongoing anthropogenic activities in Coastal BC. This pollution has potentially led to a change in species presence at those sites. The intern will take part in field work activities, data analysis (including the assessment of species diversity) and reporting. Hemmera will use the results of this project to improve their understanding of coastal marine ecosystems and their responses to changes caused by human activities.

Drugs that inhibit a protein’s function do so by binding that protein and blocking interfaces relevant to its activity. This requires drugs to have high affinities towards and to be in high excess of their targets. Another approach called Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) can be used, which hijacks a cell’s protein-degradation pathway by linking an E3-ligase to a target protein, leading to that protein’s degradation. To date, PROTACs molecules only utilize a handful of the over 600 potential E3 ligase handles and this limits PROTAC developmental potential.