Projets novateurs réalisés

Development of a bio-based non-isocyanate polyutherane

This project aims to innovate a Made-in-Canada methodology for producing non-isocyanate
polyurethane (NIPU) to replace traditional polyurethane (PU) rigid foam which is produced through a
hazardous process from toxic materials such as isocyanates and phosgene.1 We aim to partner with
Polychem Consulting Solutions Ltd, a privately held Canadian company based in Vancouver, BC and a
developer of polyurethane foam from recycled sources, to develop non-toxic, CO2 and forestry waste
based polyurethane using new catalyst technology developed in our group. If successful, the impact of
this project will be three fold: 1) the commercialization of a sustainable, made in BC product to replace
currently toxic material; 2) valorization of wood waste products such as lignin, and 3) utilization of
global warming gas CO2 in the reaction, creating a market for CO2 capture plants based in BC.

Novel Inhibitors of Tissue Transglutaminase

Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) is a protein that is able to mediate the cross-linking of other proteins. The unregulated activity of TG2 is implicated in fibrosis, celiac disease as well as cancer cell survival. Blocking this activity has been shown to decrease tumour size and growth in mice. We have previously designed small molecules that are highly effective at binding and blocking the activity of purified TG2, as has the Löser group. In this project, we will combine our design strategies to conceive more potent potent inhibitors, synthesize these inhibitors and test them against TG2, using activity assays developed in the Löser group. We will also take the best of these inhibitors and test them in cancer cells, to determine if they are both and selective. The results from this project will be used to design future molecules that are more selective for TG2, and will work more effectively inside human bodies as a cancer therapeutic.

Effects of host plant quality on the transcriptional signatures of flight in migratory butterflies

Migratory insects surpass migratory terrestrial vertebrates in biomass and play essential roles in global ecosystems and agroecosystems serving as pollinators, biological control, or food and nutrient sources. They can also have detrimental effects as vectors of plant and animal diseases or as ecological pests. It is therefore essential for food, ecological, and human security to forecast insect migratory behavior, particularly as migratory patterns change worldwide with anthropogenic activities and climate change. Human societies in semi-arid regions heavily rely on insect migration services but increased drought has led to decreasing host plant quality. How this decrease in host plant quality is altering the migratory behavior of insects remains unknown but could have major consequences to ecosystems and agroecosystems. Here, we will investigate the effects of decreasing host plant quality on the larval performance, flight capacity, and gene expression profiles of active flight in the migratory butterfly, Vanessa cardui. The results of this study have broad reaching relevance to agricultural, human and ecological security.

Social Lead Identification Year Two

Millions of people post information on social media sites about their interests, preferences, opinions etc. on a daily basis. LeadSift mines this data stream in real-time to generate incredibly accurate and targeted sales leads. Given the short text and ambiguity around a social post, it gets very difficult to accurately identify intent. This project will explore different Natural Language Processing techniques to analyze the inherent semantic structure of social posts. Due the real-time nature of the social data, the algorithms need to be extremely efficient and scalable. The expected benefit to LeadSift will be dramatic improvement in the quality of the sales leads we can generate from socia media

Ordonnancement des retraits d’équipements électriques de transport

L’ordonnancement des retraits d’équipements électriques de transport est un défi auquel de nombreuses compagnies oeuvrant dans le domaine de l’énergie doivent faire face. En effet, chaque équipement de transport (p.e., une ligne de transmission) s’use avec le temps et doit, durant son cycle de vie, être maintenu pour s’assurer de son bon fonctionnement. Une fois en période de maintenance, un équipement ne peut pas être utilisé pour le transport d’énergie, ce qui risque d’engendrer des pannes de courant pour les clients. Cela peut être évité par des mécanismes de redondance des équipements. Ainsi, l’enjeu de ce projet de recherche est de concevoir et d’implémenter des approches innovantes pour obtenir une planification de la maintenance des retraits d’équipements électriques de transport, tout en s’assurant de la stabilité du réseau de transport.

Joint Research Program in Atmospheric Chemistry

The objective of this international collaboration between P.M. Mayer and J. Giorgi at the University of Ottawa and Maxi Burgos Paci at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba is to understand the fate of reactive organic carbon in the atmosphere. Reactive Organic Carbon (ROC) includes a wide diversity of chemicals that react with atmospheric gases, free radicals, and particulate matter such as aerosols and ice to form hazardous products. The two interns will conduct experiments in their host institution exploring fundamental aspects of these reactions to better understand the chemistry. This collaboration will bring unprecedented resolution to atmospheric reaction pathways leading to improved simulation models for the atmospheric fate of reactive organic carbon.

Development of mixed wettability surface for high yield solar desalination

This project focuses on developing a mixed wettability surface to improve the freshwater yield of a solar thermal desalination system. The solar desalination system that will be used for this project is the solar still system. The objective is to find the optimized ratio of high wettability to low wettability area on a polymeric surface that gives the highest freshwater yield for the solar still system. A mixed wettability surface is developed by introducing different wettability ratio on the polymeric surface. Laser micro machining is used to fabricate a high wettability area on the surface. The fabricated surface will be used as the cover of the solar still and will be placed on the inner side of the solar still to promote condensation and freshwater collection. The intern will use the ultrafast laser at the University of Ottawa to texture and thus controls the wettability of the solar still, and will set-up an experiment to test the solar still desalination potential.

Exploring access to abortion services in India during the COVID-19 era: A multi-methods study

Public health restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic have caused a decrease in access to sexual and reproductive health services including abortion care. In April 2020, the Indian government declared abortion care an essential service. Even though abortion is legal in India, the access to abortion care has been far from equitable owing to structural barriers relating to gender discrimination, caste, and class. Some evidence suggests that the pandemic could have worsened these barriers, thus further impeding women’s access to abortion care. We know very little about the comprehensive impact of the pandemic on women seeking abortion care, especially widely used medication abortion. Drawing from the data from the field, this project aims to assess and document the impact of COVID-19 on abortion care in India through the experiences of women and providers (doctors and pharmacists), highlight innovative strategies in service delivery, and further the development of resilient population health interventions.

Ultrafast Laser Interaction for Chemical and Topological Functionalization of Metallic

This project is to understand the chemical modifications induced by laser irradiation leading to the formation of periodic nanostructures on the surface of metals. Such a study is very significant since it will allow to tune metallic surface properties to control for instance wettability, i.e. whether surfaces are hydrophillic (attract water) or hydrophobic (repel water). Laser surface modification also have applications in catalysis, biomedical fields, etc. The main goal of the work is to create chemical modification on the surfaces of metallic samples using the ultrafast laser in Prof Weck’s lab. Specifically, we aim to better understand the kinetics of surface contamination and aging after laser irradiation in various processing environments, to tune the physico-chemical properties of the resulting surfaces.

Rigidity of Pham-Brieskorn Threefolds

Algebraic geometry is generally concerned with understanding the properties of geometric objects defined by polynomial equations. These geometric objects, called “varieties”, are points, curves, surfaces and higher dimensional objects. To each variety there is an associated abstract object called a “commutative ring”. It is interesting to try to determine whether a variety contains a certain type of structure that we call a “special cylinder”. A given variety contains a special cylinder if and only if the associated commutative ring is “non-rigid”. The goal of our research is to understand whether a particular family of varieties called Pham-Brieskorn varieties contains these special cylinders, or equivalently, to understand whether the commutative rings associated to them (Pham-Brieskorn rings) are rigid.

Understanding which Pham-Brieskorn rings are rigid has been an open question in the field of algebraic geometry for over 20 years. In the 3-dimensional situation, only three open cases remain. Our immediate goal and expectation is to solve these three remaining 3-dimensional cases, and over the longer term is to bring new insights and techniques towards characterizing rigid rings.

Financial Social Media Analysis for Canadian Market

With the rise of mobile technology and online communities, social media has become an increasingly important information channel for investors, especially the younger-generation retail investors whose number is rapidly growing. The recent ‘MEME’ stocks phenomenon clearly demonstrates the potential influence of social media on the market. A ‘MEME’ stock refers to a stock that gains frenetic attention from retail investors on social media such as Reddit forums, which often prompts dramatic price movement. In order to better understand the market behavior, it is very helpful to be able to systematically monitor and analyze the social media contents that are relevant to financial markets and investors. In view of the increasing importance of social media to detect anomalies in the Canadian derivatives market, we propose in this project to expand the data coverage by building an analysis pipeline to focus on social media posts that are relevant to Canadian market.

Bomford Studios Digester

In order to address the growing need for urban composting of organic matter, Bomford Studios has successfully created a working prototype putrescent organics processing unit (the Loki Digester), which breaks down organic matter into fertilizer suitable for both gardens and large-scale farms. Working with Camosun Innovates, Bomford intends to create a more robust, user-friendly, and cost-effective device, by optimizing the machinery and the manufacturing process. Once design work is completed, the Loki Digester will be suitable for production and sale to local and regional organizations. Two organizations have already expressed a desire to purchase a finished unit, and initial sales will allow for refinement and further distribution, eventually scaling up to Canada-wide distribution.