Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

13270 Completed Projects

1072
AB
2795
BC
430
MB
106
NF
348
SK
4184
ON
2671
QC
43
PE
209
NB
474
NS

Projects by Category

10%
Computer science
9%
Engineering
1%
Engineering - biomedical
4%
Engineering - chemical / biological

Development of a renewable and small scaled heat and power generation system for remote location using woody biomass as fuel

The key objective of this research is to develop a unit for combined heat and power production using biomass feedstock that can be used in remote areas where no grid power is available. Canada as the second largest country in the world, has a great potential for such units. Aboriginal communities or remote work facilities are only two possible applications for this technology. The existing heat and power generation system mostly rely on diesel and natural gas. Replacing the system with renewable biomass fueled units would have a positive impact on carbon dioxide emissions and promote the domestic market for pellets and renewable fuels. To develop the technology this research focuses on the properties of different feedstocks and technologies. A successful project would allow FPInnovations to either provide such a system or the necessary know how on the Canadian market.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shahab Sokhansanj

Student:

Christoph Schilling

Partner:

FPInnovations

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Controls on diagenetic evolution in Tithonian Jeanne d’Arc Formation, Terra Nova field: Implications for reservoir quality evolution

Hydrocarbons are hosted in porous sedimentary rocks which were deposited several million years prior to the ingress of hydrocarbons. Once these sedimentary rocks are deposited, other physical, chemical and biological, all termed diagenetic, processes act to modify their original properties. A major product of this diagenesis is cementation. The cement (minerals) occludes (plugs) the pore spaces in the sedimentary rock thus, in general, reducing its capacity to host hydrocarbons. This project, among others will seek to understand the types of cement and their origin in Terra Nova field. It will also attempt to predict their spatial distribution in the rock. The project is thought to be important because the cements sometimes ‘compartmentalize’ hydrocarbon volumes and pressure systems in the rock, which can have negative impact on hydrocarbon exploration and production. Such impact may or may not be significant depending on other factors.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Karem Azmy

Student:

Babatunde John Olanipekun

Partner:

Husky Oil Operations Ltd.

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Designing a Usable Software Lifecycle Traceability Language Part 2

Teams of specialized workers develop most software. For example, one team may specialize in the requirements that describe what the software is to do. Another team may specialize in producing the software itself. Yet another team may specialize in determining whether the software meets the desired requirements. Supporting communication between all these teams is challenging: each team is focusing on their part of the system, yet needs to have awareness of the work being performed by other teams.
This project (continuing from part 1) investigates appropriate mechanisms for providing developers access to software lifecycle information through a natural language interface. New knowledge gained from interaction and usage of the natural language interface may help the organization plan future product offerings and will potentially help improve the productivity of its own developers through increased visibility into software lifecycle information.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ivan Beschastnikh

Student:

Sam Creed

Partner:

Tasktop Technologies

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

High Efficiency PFC Rectifier using Wide Band Gap Power Device

The energy-hungry telecomm industry is in need of power supplies with ever-increasing efficiencies to conserve energy and reduce carbon footprint. In collaboration with the industry partner, the proposed research project aims at developing a power factor correction (PFC) system, an essential component in a telecomm power supply, for achieving efficiency of 99% or above. The project will make use of emerging power semiconductors with superior characteristics to build a PFC circuit using one of the most promising circuit structures. It will focus on various technical aspects around the main topic and will eventually implement, test and verify the developed prototype to reach the proposed efficiency goal.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jiacheng (Jason) Wang

Student:

Rifat Alam Siddique

Partner:

Alpha Technologies Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

Program Design and Evaluation of Conservation Messaging at Ducks Unlimited Canada Events and Centres

Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is an established non-governmental organization (NGO) which promotes conservation. In recent years, support for the organization has dwindled. For the organization to continue its work and maintain necessary support, DUC must improve their understanding of how they gain and retain both volunteer and financial supporters. The objectives of the internship are to determine (1) the importance of early/youth engagement in DUC for their later, continued support for the organization, and (2) the impact of introducing conservation messaging at DUC dinner events on support-related behaviour. Results will assist DUC to make decisions about youth education programming, event planning, and outreach, all of which will assist in fund raising. Through this project, the intern will be able to identify key factors that influence long-term retention of volunteer and financial supporters, and to identify important ways which DUC can move forward to encourage conservation behaviour.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kate Sherren

Student:

Mhari Lamarque

Partner:

Ducks Unlimited Canada

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Scenario optimization for robo-advisory analytics.

In recent years, improvements in technology provide the opportunity for investors to use computer algorithms to produce low-cost guidance on possible portfolio investment mixes and strategies. This project is directed at the research and development of one such “Robo- Advisor” algorithm based on forward-looking scenario optimization, in order to determine the efficacy of the strategy. Here optimal portfolios are selected based on investor’s views on future scenarios, goals and risk tolerance. Given an investor’s goals, optimal portfolio selection under various risk constraints will be compared to determine the trade-off between risk and reward in achieving desired goals. This approach will be tested with portfolios of ETFs, and compared to some of the more widely used approaches that are based on the historical average and variance of returns.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Lozinski

Student:

Koopa Hakimi

Partner:

RiskGrid Technologies Inc.

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

Optical short reach interconnect

In the era of ‘BIG DATA’ and ‘Internet of Everything’, in order to provide the meshed data network with high capacity, advanced optical short reach interconnect technology are eagerly required. Silicon photonics has attracted intensive interest as it succeeded to provide highly energy efficient and broadband width integrated photonic devices on one chip to satisfy the requirements of optical interconnect. One of the problems is that silicon always requires an off-chip light source as silicon cannot emit efficiently. In this project, we will hybrid tunable laser diodes modulator from other gain material on a silicon chip as light source. Selective area laser bandgap engineering will be used to reduce the absorption loss and improve the bandwidth tuning range. Finally, a high speed and low power cost optical transmitter will be developed and packaged. The device will be investigated in the optical short reach interconnect system in Ericsson Company to provide an innovative
solution for its future data center development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Plant

Student:

Neng Liu

Partner:

Ericsson Canada

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Advanced manufacturing

University:

McGill University

Program:

Accelerate

Game private networks and game server performance emulation and evaluation

This infrastructure will allow new servers to be automatically deployed and configured for use as private game servers, while also monitoring their performance and usage statistics. By using the novel predictive models, which are to be developed in this proposed project, new virtual servers will be automatically created and added when the traffic levels require more resources to maintain optimal performance. The goal of these network tests is to identify the point at which the network software can no longer keep up to the flow of traffic. The tests will also serve to identify the capacity of the game servers and their host virtual machines in terms of the number of players that they can support. This knowledge and associated experimental functionality exists nowhere else in the industry and will provide WTFast with deeper knowledge and industrial innovation in the game networking area.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Julian Cheng

Student:

Heath Caswell

Partner:

WTFast

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Investigations into the stability of large power systems with embedded power electronic subsystems using frequency impedance scanning

In this study, an advanced frequency scanning method is used to extract the frequency dependent network equivalent (FDNE) impedance characteristic of a power electronic subsystem such as an HVDC transmission system or FACTS device including its controls. This is achieved by simulating it in the time domain on an EMT program, and exposing it to an energy dispersed chirp disturbance which has a broad harmonic spectrum. The impedance (or admittance) of this subsystem at the given operating point can then be determined using a Discrete Fourier Transform. The impedance scan can be in the form of a frequency response plot or can be fitted with a rational transfer function. This method will be used to identify potentially unacceptable resonance or instability modes in the power network of Manitoba Hydro, thereby improving the security of power supply to its customers. Also, the scanning result, coupling with analytical study, will benefit the future planning and controller design in Manitoba Hydro system.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Aniruddha Gole

Student:

Yi Qi

Partner:

Manitoba Hydro

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Implementing Community Climate Action Plans in Canada: The Relationship between Implementation Structure and Outcomes

This study builds upon our previous work, to identify and confirm key structural features for the implementation of community climate action plans in Canadian communities, through examining their relationship with plan outcomes (outcomes related to the plan goals, e.g., actual greenhouse gas reductions), and partner outcomes (outcomes the partners experience, such as improved reputation). Key structural features for implementation of a collaborative community sustainability strategy (e.g., climate action plans) are structures in place that help to facilitate the implementation of a plan (such as communication, and engagement of key partners). Information to be collected includes plan details, implementation structures, plan outcomes, and partner outcomes – important for informing the design of implementation structures and reaching desired goals. As ICLEI Canada provides consulting and information services to members, they will benefit from this research as this study will expand the knowledge base for how best to design implementation structures for climate action plans, adding timely value to products and services.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Amelia Clarke

Student:

Krista Wong

Partner:

ICLEI Canada

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Energy

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Measuring Knowledge Translation in Academic / Industry Collaborations

As manufacturing and resource-based industries face growing challenges, Canada’s future increasingly depends on advances in and sustainability of knowledge organizations. Knowledge-based workers comprise a growing proportion of the workforce today. More often than not, they work in the context of large-scale expert networks, spanning across different disciplines and organizations. They rely on software technologies for their discipline-specific activities, the coordination of their activities, and their communication with each other. This type of networked interdisciplinary work is motivated by the belief that the complex problems of our time can be effectively addressed only through such broad collaborations of experts and partners who can act as knowledge receptors to create value through new products and services, based on the work outputs. However, even as this belief is generally, and increasingly, shared, the questions of when, why, and precisely how these research networks are made effective are still very much open and the subject of considerable debate. We aim to study an existing, long-standing collaborative research network (the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies) to build an understanding of the relationships between collaboration, innovation and knowledge translation.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kelly Lyons

Student:

Yunpeng Li

Partner:

IBM Canada

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Production Line Packaging Sensor Validation and Optimization

This research project brings together current academia and a vibrant, growing commercial enterprise to solve real world problems. The industry partner has recently developed a high-tech, sensor-based diagnostic tool which will be evaluated by the graduate student intern. The capabilities and features of the tool will be extended through the innovative, collaborative design efforts of the intern and the industrial partner. Additionally, savings of time and material are anticipated from the improvements in enclosure design and manufacturing. Projects such as this are extremely valuable to the industrial partner as they seek to maintain their cutting-edge solutions for the packaging industry.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Rickey Dubay

Student:

Jacob Wilson

Partner:

MASITEK Instruments Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program:

Accelerate

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