Projets novateurs réalisés

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.

Optimization of novel antibacterials targeting the ATP synthase of difficult pathogens

The proposed research project aims to develop new class of antibiotics targeting bacterial ATPsynthase for difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, particularly those involving Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli. To do so, one post-doctoral fellow will be recruited in the lab of Pr. P-L Boudreault (Université de Sherbrooke), to work on the synthesis of small molecule analogs. This class of molecules rely on a synthetic product recently identified through virtual high throughput screening (tomatidine pharmacophore model). The ability to kill bacteria, the inhibition of the molecules’ target, the protein ATP synthase, and the toxicity of the molecules are under investigation, to ultimately deliver an optimized lead candidate for subsequent preclinical evaluation.

Multiplication de Cannabis sativa par culture de méristèmes in vitro ; détermination du taux de mutation et optimisation des milieux et conditions de culture pour différents cultivars commerciaux

L’objectif du projet consiste à déterminer l’impact de la culture in vitro à long terme sur le génome du cannabis. Il s’agit d’effectuer des sous cultures toutes les deux semaines et d’extraire de l’ADN pour la séquencer de façon à obtenir de l’information sur le taux de mutations après plusieurs générations. La culture in vitro offre plusieurs avantages en comparaison avec la méthode de bouturage, notamment la libération d’espace de production et l’obtention de plantules saines. Il est donc essentiel pour les entreprises souhaitant employer cette méthode de connaître son impact sur la génétique de leurs cultivars, puisque celle-ci affecte ultimement le rendement de production ainsi que l’aspect des fleurs cultivées. Le projet comporte également un volet dédier à l’optimisation des milieux et des conditions de cultures, dans le but de déterminer les conditions optimales de croissance végétative in vitro et d’adaptation aux conditions de serre pour chacun des cultivars étudiés.

Artificial intelligence driven monitoring and prediction of true sleep health on CPAP machines to improve patient care and reduce the harm of obstructive sleep apnea

In this project we aim to evaluate the potential to effectively predict and prevent the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea during sleep therapy using multiple sensor inputs in conventional CPAP machines. This will be based on experimental tests during both non-REM and REM sleep and standard polysomnography (PSG) measurements. This project is expected to assess the effectiveness of proactive management and treatment of OSA using real-time monitoring of air pressure and airflow and deep learning predictive models while bringing into account the sleep stages detected by EEG signals. While preliminary work has proven the effectiveness of predictions using airflow and air pressure sensors, bringing sleep staging via analysis of EEG signal and the effect of other additional sensor will be explored. Accurate prediction and prevention of these events with respect to sleep staging could improve clinical treatment of people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome.

Developing Innovative Digital Interventions to Manage Chronic Pain in Canadian Veterans

Online health promotion programmes must be shown to improve health and promote a healthy lifestyle of the target population. These programmes are inexpensive and available to everybody. The company has previously
created an OHPP for Canadian Veterans in order to encourage a healthy lifestyle among Canadian Veterans. We will now develop a second platform to Compliment Chronic Pain in Canadian Veterans. Family members and other
participants will be able to profit from this programme as well. The most typical issues with OHPP are early dropout and low involvement. Gamification and health coaching will be used to minimise dropout rates and improve
engagement. Chronic pain is the most prevalent issue that Veterans face and is not adequately treated with currently available medications and health services. Relaxation techniques, exercises, socialisation with other
members, health coaching, and other interventions will improve the quality of life for Canadian Veterans and their families who suffer from chronic pain. CHIP is currently working with veterans affairs Canada to develop and test
Online Health Promotion Program for Canadian veterans and their families. Partner will benefit by developing and testing a chronic pain management program for Canadian veterans.