Innovative Projects Realized

Desjardins

Les activités prévues dans le cadre du présent stage de stratégie d’entreprise Mitacs s’inscrivent dans la volonté d’optimisation et de perfectionnement des modèles d’apprentissage machine supervisé actuellement utilisés par l’organisation afin de pouvoir maximiser la valeur et d’accroître l’activité de l’organisation. Plus précisément, il s’agit d’identifier comment il serait possible d’améliorer les performances prédictives des modèles de « gradient boosting », en profitant notamment de leur processus itératif. En effet, l’objectif des modèles de « gradient boosting » et de pouvoir fournir une prédiction fondée sur l’ensemble des prédictions venant de modèles appelés « apprenants faibles » et qui permettent d’optimiser une certaine fonction de perte de façon itérative. Ainsi, il serait pertinent d’obtenir un code python permettant de sélectionner de manière plus optimale le meilleur « apprenant faible » possible à chaque itération du modèle de « gradient boosting » afin d’améliorer la prédiction globale du modèle. De plus, puisque les modèles « apprenants faibles » possèdent aussi des hyperparamètres, ceux-ci pourraient être sélectionnés de façon plus optimale à chaque itération. Les modèles de « gradient boosting » ayant la particularité de produire du surapprentissage des données d’entrainement,

Flair Stratégie Inc. – Isabelle Séguin-Zilio

Sous la supervision du stratège SEO principal, la candidate aura comme objectif principal d’identifier des solutions tangibles pour des petites et moyennes entreprises en matière de référencement organique principalement sur les moteurs de recherche Google et Bing. À titre d’exemple, via des méthodologies et outils technologiques en SEO, la candidate aidera les entreprises à augmenter leur visibilité local sur des mots-clés importants, ce qui contribuera à la croissance commerciale des entreprises sur le web. La candidate fera également des documents de recommandations avec un calendrier des activités étalé sur plusieurs semaines afin de rencontrer les objectifs d’affaires et de marketing numérique.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Ackah Business Immigration Law – Innovative Legal Service Delivery in Immigration Law

Ackah Business Immigration Law has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in research, information gathering, analysis and reporting in a number of aspects of law, immigration and business. The intern will have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to deliver accurate and timely reports and recommendations that integrate the law and regulation, the practical delivery of legal services to a client and the business impact of doing so efficiently.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Simplex Legal – New legal service delivery for a post-COVID legal profession

Simplex Legal has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern to design a technology that is accessible, customer centric and cost effective which brings efficiencies in management while adequately protecting the intellectual property of the company’s clients. Simplex Legal is in the business of changing the way legal services are delivered with new and innovative solutions in the profession. The innovation intern will be a critical contributor to the team conducting research into protection of intellectual property for new software development and will be involved with the legal team in terms of designing corporate structure and technology licensing, and providing insights into a broader commercialization plan to roll product out nationally.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Athennian – Innovative Legal Service Delivery

Athennian has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in data migration, document automation and research to support customer success in the legal profession. Athennian sees evidence that the business of legal is changing, and thus the talent that executes legal requires a change as well. Lawyers and other legal professionals are adapting to the changing market requirements that are being placed on them, this includes: leveraging technology, organizing data and finding new ways to engage legal customers and users. The UCalgary Law Innovation intern will have an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to support future success in the profession.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Donna Purcell QC Law – Integration of Digital Technology for Legal Practice

Donna Purcell QC Law has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in actively advance DPQC Law’s objective of establishing a law firm of the future, through the ongoing use and integration of digital technology into the daily practice of law. The intern will engage in project management and hands on adaptation of precedents into automated digital documents using cloud-based file management and document automation, provide research and formal opinions on new and innovative technology that may be integrated into the firm’s digital practice, and assist lawyers and staff in the use of digital technology in their daily practice in order to ensure continuity of client service responding to the current pandemic and into the future.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Athennian – Innovative Legal Service Delivery

Athennian has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in data migration, document automation and research to support customer success in the legal profession. Athennian sees evidence that the business of legal is changing, and thus the talent that executes legal requires a change as well. Lawyers and other legal professionals are adapting to the changing market requirements that are being placed on them, this includes: leveraging technology, organizing data and finding new ways to engage legal customers and users. The UCalgary Law Innovation intern will have an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to support future success in the profession.

Plastics Packaging Materials with Antifungal/microbial Properties

Plastic packaging materials are needed in many food products to prevent spoilage and to extend shelf-life. This project focuses on developing plastic packaging materials that will not permit bacteria and fungi to grow on the surface of the plastic in contact with the food , bread in this particular case. Besides the obvious performance requirement of incorporating a barrier against fungal/bacterial growth, the packaging solution must also satisfy the following criteria: i) it must not affect the taste, texture of the bread, ii) the additive must be “natural” and not contain preservatives such as calcium propionate which compromises the healthy connotation of the particular product line of bread, iii) the optical and mechanical properties of the packaging film must not be compromised, iv) the solution must be industrially amenable to existing plastic processing techniques and v) not have any negative environmental impact upon disposal.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship – Borden Ladner Gervais Digital Hub Engagement

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in the BLG Digital Hub to emerge the intern in knowledge resource co-creation, document/task automation and adoption of legal technologies.

UCalgary Law Innovation Internship with Athennian – Innovative Legal Service Delivery

Athennian has partnered with the University of Calgary to engage a UCalgary Law Innovation Intern in data migration, document automation and research to support customer success in the legal profession. Athennian sees evidence that the business of legal is changing, and thus the talent that executes legal requires a change as well. Lawyers and other legal professionals are adapting to the changing market requirements that are being placed on them, this includes: leveraging technology, organizing data and finding new ways to engage legal customers and users. The UCalgary Law Innovation intern will have an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills to support future success in the profession.

Mila AI for Humanity Institute

At Mila, and specifically within the AI for Humanity department, our mission is twofold; 1) we scale and deploy socially beneficial AI research, and 2) we advocate for human rights respecting technology. Recently, we’ve begun working on a project that will allow us to do both. This project is called the AI Databank, a searchable, AI-powered database containing international case law and jurisprudence on AI. The goal for the AI Databank is for it to enable NGOs, policy makers, lawyers and judges to identify meaningful ways to hold AI developers accountable for the human rights abuses perpetrated by their technologies.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic, we have had to retain a lean organizational structure and have been unable to hire an individual with the mandate and skills necessary to advance this project. However, with the opportunity presented by Mitacs’ Business Strategy Internship as well as the support of Renaud Charest, we will be able to build a foundation upon which to progress with our AI Databank. Once Renaud Charest has completed his internship, we will be in a position to solicit funds and researchers to support the creation of this legal database.

Geoid determination using an innovative, robust, and efficient algorithm – Year two

In a geographical information system, latitude, longitude, and height are commonly used to represent the location of a point on or near the Earth’s surface. The first two, called horizontal coordinates, refer to reference ellipsoid and are known as geodetic latitude (?) and longitude (?). The third coordinate, i.e. height of a point is referenced to the Geoid which is an equipotential surface (level surface) of the Earth closely approximating the mean sea level. The geoid is used as a reference surface for heights (height datum) and can be determined globally and regionally. Near-surface configuration of the Earth’s structure, e.g., tectonic plate movements, surface deformation, sea-level changes etc. are reflected in the shape of the geoid. A global geoid model, derived from satellite observations, normally cannot meet the accuracy desired for smaller regions due to omission errors and methodological complications. Determination of a regional geoid model requires a combination of gravity measurements from spaceborne, airborne and terrestrial platforms with topographical data. Sander Geophysics (SGL), is one of the international pioneer companies in collecting such data. Upon completion of the proposed project, SGL will be the first Canadian company with the capability of calculating the regional geoid for their customers.