Projets novateurs réalisés

Mobile medical imaging device – Substantial technical improvement leading to new market opportunities

Canada Technology Connection Inc. (CTC) is a biomedical engineering company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that focuses on innovative health technologies in the field of 3D human body imaging. We invest in innovation, research and clinical science in complex 3D human modelling, imaging, and modern computer vision. Our goal is to research, test, validate and commercialize this innovative health solution. Our vision is to use innovative science and 3D imaging technology to address some of society’s most challenging healthcare issues.

CTC aims to bring a significant technical improvement to our mobile medical imaging device for infectious diseases and enable new market opportunities in deep vein thrombosis and inflammatory-diseases. The project will require a technical comparison between the current imaging technology and prospective technologies, performance analysis comparing technologies, and a clear plan for implementing the technical improvement with minimal impact to our current technology stack. This project will allow CTC to open new markets and help increase the quality of life for Canadian and International citizens.

Semantic Classification of Short Texts

This project consist in researching and implementing a set of algorithms to do semantic classification of short texts in social networks. The classification task consists in identifying relevant posts from social network in a specific context .Calculating the relevance of a posts is a difficult task that can be solved using semantic analysis. The goal of this project is to solve this problem with a high accuracy and precision. The resulting system will be used by nGauge to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their services.

Assessing the needs of residents within the City of Brantford regarding recreation, physical activity, and sport.

The City of Brantford is interested in understanding its community better with respect to how recreation centres, pools, parks and trails, neighbourhood associations are utilized by members. Surveys will be distributed across the community at events in the late summer and early fall. Part of the proposed work will be to engage directly with those members of the community who may be less inclined to complete such a survey. These include, but are not limited to, equity-deserving groups, older adults, and families with children with a disability. Follow-up focus groups and/or interviews will be conducted with a sample of the population to explore these issues in more detail. Following data collection, a report will be created for the City outlining the key findings. The report will also be helpful for Laurier’s Sun Life Centre for Healthy Communities as it broadens its outreach to the Brantford area.

Dynamic study of the power network system for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer supplied from renewable energy sources

In order to accelerate the energy transition to a carbon-free economy, hydrogen is becoming increasingly important as an energy carrier. One way of producing green hydrogen is via water electrolysis using renewable energy. Strong governmental policies are being deployed around the world to support the implementation of the hydrogen infrastructure. However, the intermittent and fluctuating nature of the renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, can lead to perturbations and the power network will be more sensitive to the load changes. This project aims to investigate the power quality and power flow management issues from renewable power sources connected to large-scale electrolyzers under dynamic operation conditions to understand the impact between the power network and the electrolyzer’s performance over time.

Comprendre les conséquences locales et géopolitiques du recyclage des métaux : modèle multirégional et analyse stratégique de l’émergence du recyclage des métaux échangés

La transition énergétique et le développement de nouvelles politiques en faveur du recyclage des matériaux dans les pays du Nord impliquent de nouveaux modèles de commerce des matériaux. En particulier, les régions qui importent des matériaux vierges pourraient passer au recyclage local, réduisant ainsi leurs importations. Ce remodelage initial des échanges de matériaux pourrait inciter les pays exportateurs à développer le recyclage pour devenir des leaders de l’exportation de matériaux vierges et recyclés. Par conséquent, nous construirons un modèle d’échange théorique multi-période basé sur la disponibilité des matériaux vierges et recyclés et les coûts de production (extraction et recyclage) et de transport. Le modèle tiendra compte de la politique spécifique du pays en matière de taux de recyclage des matériaux et des accords commerciaux. Grâce à ce modèle, l’article analysera le développement futur possible du recyclage et du commerce des matériaux. Des conseils politiques seront tirés des résultats du modèle afin d’aider les gouvernements à mettre en place une transition mondiale juste, impliquant à la fois les pays du Nord et du Sud, vers le recyclage des matériaux.

Microplastics within two estuarine environments and risks presented to the associated food webs

Building on research initiated by CERCA and Project Watershed on microplastic presence in the Cowichan and
Comox estuary respectively the scope of the proposed project has been substantially expanded by including live
samples of crustaceans, fish, and algae apart from sediment and water samples from the estuaries and their
tributaries. The research will be conducted by a postdoc fellowship candidate, supported by MSc interns using the
research data for their graduate projects. The research findings are expected to shed light on the impacts of
microplastics on estuarine life and how it affects the food chain. The study results will be used by both NGOs to
raise public awareness on microplastic contamination in general and hopefully assist in source identification and
polluter education leading to a reduction of contaminants in both estuaries.

Demand Forecasting for Store Labour Scheduling at Major Canadian Retailer

The SportChek / Atmosphere banners of Canadian Tire Corp. have over 200 corporately operated retail stores across Canada that vary in size and market demographics selling an assortment of footwear, athletic apparel, and sporting goods. The inherent complexity of the business on top of variation of customer demand year to year makes store labour planning a challenging problem that is well suited to machine learning.
Quality scheduling is an important element of a good employee experience and provides a stable foundation for a retail business to drive sales and operate efficiently. The objective of this research is to explore advanced forecasting and optimization techniques that could improve the quality of sales forecasts and integrate into the weekly scheduling processes for every store.

Intégration des connaissances sur les habitats fauniques pour la planification territoriale autochtone : le cas du lynx du Canada

Le projet vise à caractériser le potentiel d’habitat de plusieurs espèces culturellement significatives, dont le lynx du Canada, sur le territoire de 2 communautés autochtones de l’Abitibi, à proposer un zonage du territoire selon des vocations identifiées par les communautés (ex. chasse au petit gibier) et à élaborer des recommandations d’aménagement du territoire. Le stagiaire développera dans son projet de maitrise un outil de caractérisation de l’habitat du lynx, basé sur des données collectées localement, grâce à des lynx équipés de colliers émetteurs, pour lesquels une analyse des habitats préférés sera réalisée. Les stages permettront de mettre en place une recherche collaborative en impliquant les communautés tout au long du projet et fournissant des outils leur permettant de participer activement à l’aménagement de leur territoire.

Cubbi Market Expansion Marketing Innovation

Cubbi is fuelling the people building tomorrow. No one wants the same food every day for lunch, and nobody wants to make it. This is why Cubbi manufactures IoT refrigerated food pick-up pods for the modern workplace. Their mobile application allows users to order from various vendors for delivery into their Cubbi pod. Each order is delivered into each Cubbi pod on the chosen delivery day and stored at the perfect temperature. Each Cubbi pod is accessible via the same mobile app to ensure access whenever you have time to eat during your busy schedule.

The goal of this project is to solve the innovation problem of scaling the company to cities across Canada. This project will mainly focus on the marketing side of the problem. The marketing problem will need to be solved in coordination with other current teams at the Start-up to figure out how to effectively scale to a new city.

Le marquage CE sous la nouvelle réglementation Européenne 2017/745 – Le cas d’une compagnie canadienne

Le stage en stratégie d’entreprise Mitacs que j’effectue pendant huit mois consistera en développement des dossiers techniques dont celui pour le marquage CE (« conformité européenne ») sous la nouvelle réglementation Européenne 2017/745. Dans le cadre du stage, j’aurai comme responsabilités d’établir et exécuter une stratégie réglementaires pour les portions du projet qui me seront confiées.

Je serais ainsi activement impliquée dans le maintien de la compliance des dispositifs médicaux, de cosmétiques et de suppléments alimentaires au Canada. Ceci me permettra de me familiariser avec les réglementations Canadiennes et produire une comparaison de la nouvelle réglmentation Européene et Canadienne qui sera le sujet principal de ma thèse.
Cette comparaison, permettra ensuite une analyse d’impact sur les companies Canadiennes ayant mis en marché leurs dispositifs en Europe et qui doivent à présent satisfaire des obligations lourdes imposées par la commission Européene. En conclusion de ma thèse, sera une réflexion l’impact de nouvelles réglementations sur l’industrie MedTech au Canada.

Understanding Organizational Routine Evolution and Change in Healthcare: The case of CPOE Use at The Ottawa Hospital

The Ottawa Hospital is implementing a new information technology application system, or Clinical Provider Order Entry (CPOE) system. The students will model and study all aspects of the operational routines that are affected by the technology introduction and investigate how these routines evolve and change through simulation modeling. Examining the process of changing organizational routines is particularly important, not only because they are significantly related to the performance and survival of organizations, but also because routines represent the foundation of effective organizational performance. It is these changes, when optimized that can lead to cost savings and reduction in health care costs. Discovering how best to introduce such changes, and understanding the problems that can arise will provide lessons for other hospitals and organizations who want to implement similar disruptive technology.

EvacCompass-TheoTech Solutions Limited

The goal of this project is to generate feedback on the EvacCompass app from key stakeholder groups:
• Fire departments
• Property management companies / Stratas
• Multi-unit residential residents
The intern will conduct solution interviews with the 3 main stakeholder goups to:
• Solicit feedback on whether EvacCompass as designed will address fire safety risks in multi-unit residential buildings
• Prioritize features for the launch product
• Uncover any additional problems not covered in the current demo of EvacCompass
• Rough test pricing