Projets novateurs réalisés

New Techniques for Continuous Biohydrogen Production from Poplar Biomass

Through decades of mining and oil exploration, over 10,000 contaminated sites are found in Canada with toxic levels of heavy metals and harmful contaminants. In many cases, the contamination is on local farmland and the impacts on the environment and especially on the native communities and Indigenous inhabitants is devastating. This project will be committed to use abandoned mines in order to provide biomass by planting poplar trees which are resistant to the contaminations in order to lead biomass to the biohydrogen production. In this way, along with greenization of the polluted soil and marginal lands, the biomass of poplar leaves is considered as a sustainable approach for biohydrogen production as a promising energy resource. In order to achieve these goals, experts will set up a system based on the selected target mine heavy metal levels to grow the most promising cultivars of poplars and consequently, the biomass system.

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Test Development

To increase the production of EV chargers to meet market demand, there needs to be advanced engineering solutions and demonstrated knowledge of EV charger testing and performance. More solutions and capabilities will result in greater support for product development. Celestica and the Centre for Urban Energy (CUE) at Ryerson University will collaboratively develop a testing solution to be used for a variety of EV chargers. This solution will be tested on a laboratory-scaled prototype. Its results will be collected and shared to inform future development of EV charging infrastructure. Development of the test solutions has an end goal of enabling increased production capacity of EV charging stations to meet market demand.

Screening of Pre-Cancerous Oral Lesions via Dual-Spectral Autofluorescence

The proposed project will focus on expanding upon existing autofluorescence based cancer screening techniques. In particular, our efforts will be focused on using a dual-spectral approach to extract the intrinsic fluorescence of the sample. Current methods of autofluorescence based oral cancer screening capitalize on the fact that tumorous or pre-cancerous tissue exhibits reduced autofluorescence relative to healthy tissue. Because hemoglobin absorbs the autofluorescence emissions of interest, increased blood-flow to an area can results in false positives and unnecessary biopsies. Our proposed method is to quantify the amount of fluorescence signal being absorbed via a reflectance channel tuned to the wavelengths of the autofluorescence emission. By dividing the fluorescence signal by this channel, we expect to minimize the effects of hemoglobin absorption, which could potentially reduce false positives if employed in a clinical setting. The partner organization could potentially commercialize an apparatus such as this which would have the potential to streamline oral cancer screening.

Digital Main Street Support

Working with CBDC NB, the interns will form a digital squad which will works with business owners to improve their digital presence. The squad takes the digital recommendations and guides businesses to determine what the priorities are to give the business owner the most traction in the digital world. The squad works with multiple business owners and uses available resources to find solutions and create a positive and productive relationship.

Investment Readiness Program Evaluation, Mapping & Peer Learning

The Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) operates at the nexus of many social economy organizations in Canada and is leading the development of a platform for people to conduct social financing in Canada. Social finance involves investments which seek a measurable social or environmental impact in addition to generating a financial return for the investor. The social finance sector and the social economy it supports are growing rapidly in Canada, in particular in response to the Government of Canada’s commitment of $755 million through their Social Finance Fund. This action research is embedded within Canada’s social economy ecosystem and is seeking to catalyze governance work within the sector in the direction of greater social innovation capacity, scale of deal flows, and inclusiveness in its participants. The approach will involve a design-led approach to principle-based evaluation, system mapping, and peer-learning so that the sector can better govern itself.

ENGAGE: The Role of Academic Research and Technology Innovation for Improving Parkinson’s Disease Outcome and Life-style modifications

Phase I: Development of Intellectual Property to Facilitate Partnership Agreements with Business and Non-profit

Organization

Before partnership agreements with the business sector (companies) and not-for-profit organizations can be undertaken, intellectual property rights need to be established. Thus, we will first develop and validate GaitreminderTM as a method for evaluating gait abnormalities in normal ageing and diagnosed populations which will include collaboration with an established industry partner to finalize these technologies and develop intellectual property protection to promote transfer into the marketplace.

1. Intellectual Property and the drafting of provisional patents

Prior to filing or even drafting a patent application, it is important to gauge the success which the hypothetical patent application may have when it is sent to be examined by a patenting authority [7]. Thus, a state-of-the art (evidence of use) and patentability (novelty) patent searches will constitute an important component of phase I. These searches are important as the former allows for a comprehensive overview of a product or technology while the latter finds all relevant prior art that may impact the likelihood of getting a patent granted, including issues such as novelty, nonobviousness, and utility.

Expand design and manufacturing capabilities and develop a business strategy

Skilled Accents is a social enterprise that is providing employment to refugee women in London, Ontario to create unique and decorative pillows and other decor products from upcycled fabric, sourced from local drapery and furniture stores.

Their vision is to reduce unemployment in the visible minority communities, while saving the environment from fabric waste. Skilled Accents believes in having a triple bottom line for their business: People, Planet and Purpose. By repurposing materials they save the environment, and create a revenue stream to employ refugees, immigrants and other marginalized community members.

Due to the pandemic in 2020/2021 their revenues decreased significantly. The goal for the next three years is to create a consistent and sustainable revenue stream allowing sustainable growth and creating opportunities for marginalized groups.

The focus in this project are the following key deliverables. They would hire more staff for management, marketing and communication, and business development by growing their revenues. The new product line and programs should be integrated into the business plan and be part of the strategy for the next three years (2022-2024). Prepare this business model to be attractive to investors and organizations interested in funding this social enterprise.

What changed the movement direction of the Pacific plate: A numerical geodynamic modelling approach

Plate tectonics is the fundamental process driving geologic deformation and diversity on the planet, as well the engine for the life-sustaining global carbon cycle. The tectonic plates are in continual motion, creating and destroying the massive ocean crustal plates at mid-ocean ridge and subduction boundaries, however, there are still substantial uncertainties with aspects of this ocean/continent drift. The purpose of my research is to look at one of the primary outstanding questions: an enigmatic change in plate motion direction change of the Pacific plate approximately 47 million years ago. Although there were attempts to explain this major geodynamic event, none of the previous studies provide a convincing explanation. Advances in computational methods and processing are enabling more detailed numerical models of the dynamics of tectonic plates and their relationship with the Earth’s interior in long-time intervals. For the proposed project, I intend to collaborate with researchers in the UK to develop a new suite of 3D computational models to investigate the Pacific plate motion puzzle. We believe that this geodynamic modelling approach will yield useful new insights, and the impact of the outcomes of this project will be high.

Electrochemical Ammonia Removal for Aquaculture

Ammonia is a toxic metabolic waste product of marine organisms grown or held in aquaculture tanks. Typically, ammonia is degraded using bacteria grown on filter media, but these bacterial colonies can take weeks to become established, which requires significant planning before seasonal fisheries begin. An alternate electrochemical method for eliminating ammonia could be turned on at any time. However, such methods can co-generate highly toxic hypochlorite ions from seawater. The proposed research project seeks to modify the design of electrochemical water treatment systems to eliminate both ammonia and hypochlorite before they exit the treatment system. This would remove a major risk factor and enable the use of electrochemical alternatives that allow for more agile response to changing environmental and market conditions.

Lock-in detection of Raman resonance (LIDORR) in the presence of overwhelming fluorescence

Efforts to sequester atmospheric carbon in soil require effective monitoring methods. Soil water content confounds the conventional application of infrared absorption. Raman spectroscopy contends well with water, but suffers from the overwhelming fluorescence typically encountered in the analysis of soil samples. Here we propose to combine an modulated two-colour illumination scheme with antiphase lock-in detection that will serve to suppress fluorescent backgrounds and uncover Raman signatures of organic substances captured in soils.

Interopérabilité des systèmes d’information en agriculture verticale

Ferme d’Hiver propose de bâtir un système décisionnel basé sur les données visant à augmenter la productivité et à minimiser les coûts en énergie en agriculture verticale. Le projet innovateur suggère de regrouper l’ensemble des fonctionnalités d’un complexe en salle fermée/serre traditionnelle en un seul et unique système de production et de décision automatisé. L’un des défis sera de gérer les différents systèmes implantés pour la capture de données interopérables en utilisant un vocabulaire commun basé sur les descripteurs sémantiques. L’intelligence artificielle (IA) jouera un rôle important dans la gestion des opérations et des algorithmes seront entraînés pour apprendre les besoins de la plante ainsi que les conditions idéales pour sa croissance et ainsi optimiser les variables de production. Le développement des technologies en agriculture verticale permettra, par une réduction des coûts et de l’empreinte écologique, de se détacher de l’agriculture conventionnelle et de complémenter la culture en serre traditionnelle par transfert d’énergie.

Characterizing the dietary and physiological factors related to gut health in newly-weaned pigs

Critical to development of successful strategies to improve short- and long-term growth and health of pigs is to understand the impact of dietary factors on intestinal health of newly-weaned pigs. This will become increasingly important as additional pressure is placed on the livestock industry to replace animal-based protein sources, include higher levels of plant and alternative feedstuffs, and reduce antibiotic use. Dietary indigestible protein content (protein not absorbed in the small intestine) is available for microbial fermentation and may have detrimental effects on gut health, with high protein diets predisposing pigs to post-weaning diarrhea due to intestinal pathogens. While the overall goal is to limit dietary indigestible protein content, with the move away from animal protein-containing nursery diets and inclusion of more plant-based proteins, which contain higher amounts of indigestible protein, this will become increasingly difficult. Information on key factors associated with gut health will aid in the development and evaluation of additional dietary strategies, such as inclusion of dietary fibre, to improve intestinal function, animal health, and animal performance.