Innovative Projects Realized

Dino Island: Improving Executive Functioning in Very Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have problems with attention and executive functions (EF). Cognitive interventions have great potential to improve attention/EF and related skills (e.g., academic learning, social function, behaviour etc.), but few such interventions exist with even fewer that can be delivered at home. In light of COVID-19, parent-delivered interventions are crucial for continuity of healthcare for children with ASD. We will evaluate the efficacy of a new attention/EF intervention (Dino Island), as delivered by parents at home to their children with ASD. Half of the children will complete a 12-week attention/EF intervention whereas the other half will complete a control intervention. We will conduct pre- and post- testing to assess cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes. We will also gather information on the use of an on-line telehealth tool (TelerooTM) for delivering home-based interventions.

Development of Enhanced RF-ICP thermal torch for waste to energy and radioactive waste material treatment

The fields of plastic waste management and radioactive waste treatment are essential for sustainable society that utilizes plastic waste for energy production and radiation safety. Land filing and incineration of plastic waste has large environmental impacts due to GHG emissions. The mentioned challenges could be eliminated using a more reliable and controllable thermal source such as inductively coupled thermal plasma (ICP) torches that enhance the chemical reactivity and operating parameters using radio-frequency thermal plasma jets. In this project an advanced 1100 W RF-ICP will be simulated, designed and constructed to generate RF thermal plasma jet which is integrated in Pro-flange stainless steel reactors at a pilot plant scale to enhance the chemical reactivity and produce clean gasoline and diesel fuels suitable for usage in ignition engines. This integration shall improve the quality of end-products, eliminate tar and wax content, provide better temperature control in chemical reactors, as well as enhance the chemical reactivity and thermal cracking reaction parameters. It is expected that thermal plasma torch temperature will reach to almost 8000 degree Celsius using Argon gas.

The A100 – Data Analyst

The A100 is dedicated to supporting the technology and innovation ecosystem in Alberta. By measuring the growth of our industry and benchmarking our progress against other jurisdictions we will be able to use a fact base to assist the way we advocate for tech and innovation companies in Alberta.
We intend to measure the impact of new GOA programs and assess their impact against programs that exist in other jurisdiction to understand where new efforts to accelerate the growth of this sector should be focused. As stated above, the information and tools we develop through this project will form an ongoing fact base that is currently absent and necessary to :
– make sound policy decisions to help diversify and strengthen the Alberta economy post COVID and post Oil and Gas downturn, and,
– Advocate for change necessary to accelerate the growth and advancement of tech and innovation industry in Alberta.

OEEDC x Helen Wang

The project will assist in development of a supply chain analysis and marketing strategy to support the transition of existing and new eastern Ontario companies to emerging opportunities in the advanced manufacturing, medical devices and food supply chains. This work will include integration of a virtual 3D tool the organization has developed as a new technology being adopted in preparation for implementing innovative new approaches to investment attraction and business support, transitioning from a basic online presence to an interactive, dynamic and measurable presence that will convene regional partners, promote opportunities and allow for real time performance measurement. The project will support our transition from a previous operating model that was sector focused and independent to an inclusive multi-sectoral approach that will allow the Commission to pivot to address emerging opportunities that are more effectively promoted in a regional partnership. The project will build on established successes in collaborative regional economic development activities and reset the organizations strategy with new initiatives to build infrastructure and promote opportunities to a global market.

Development Project for TCDC

The Carret Dance Conservatory (TCDC) provides serious Ballet and contemporary training for dance students from a young age to a professional level. Despite the excellent curriculum TCDC offers, they have been receiving a negative cash flow since April due to the lack of marketing and the inability to alter business development plans under change and stress. TCDC wants to grow and bring the highest-quality training to dance students.
The online program is a business model update for TCDC. It will break the geographical limitations, attract more students, decrease marginal cost, and obtain capital to grow its operation and develop more products.
Firstly, I will create a new business development plan for online dance education for TCDC. TCDC needs to make the transition during Covid-19. We aim to integrate the online and offline modes; each program will help to strengthen the other. Secondly, holding online classes is very new to the field of dance. I will work with teachers to solve the teach-without-touching difficulty for online courses and explore and test the marketing strategies in online student recruitment.

Research and Development of a Nanostructured Thin Film Diagnostic Platform

The proposed project consists of research and development for a thin film diagnostic platform. The purpose of this project is to better understand the impact of various manufacturing parameters on the resulting device structure and function. Our diagnostic technology operates through the thin film interference of light. Similar to the colours generated by a thin layer of oil on water, we are able to create thin film interference colours using thin nanostructured metals. Further understanding of how to tailor the device will allow for the optical properties of these metals to be adjusted such that small molecules (i.e. proteins and other biomarkers) can be easily visualized after binding to the metal surface via a colour change. The unique aspect of this diagnostic is that the technology easily allows for additional markers to be added to the test, a concept known as multiplexing. The platform has diagnostic potential in various fields such as agriculture, environmental, and clinical testing.

Developing point of care diagnostic tools to improve patient outcome – Understanding the need for point of care pathogen detection

Spectra’s first technology allows for police to analyze drugs at the scene of a crime, meaning they know what they are dealing with immediately, versus standard one to three-month turnaround times from current lab testing processes. Public health can also use the tech at supervised consumption sites to help those who use drugs make informed decisions on what they are consuming. This drug analysis information can then be sent to a centralized database, allowing for the monitoring of street drugs both locally and nationally. To help accelerate development, Spectra is competing in Health Canada’s Drug Checking Technology Challenge, where they are one of three finalists and have received ~$190K in funding to date.

Beyond drug analysis, Spectra is has recently begun working on the development of future offerings, specifically for pathogen detection. The overarching theme of this project is to lead new vertical market research/business development efforts. As Spectra is early in the developments of their second product, this work can inform the technical team of what specific application(s) this work should be tailored toward, while allowing the business team to focus on selling the existing drug analysis product.

Structure-Property Based Design of Novel Composite Proton Exchange Membranes

Composite proton exchange membranes (PEM) with tuned microstructure, and novel proton conductors have been highlighted as promising alternatives to conventional PEMs, which suffer from high-humidity and low-temperature requirements. However, the exact structures and thus proton and water transport in these materials are poorly understood. High performance polymeric membranes with 2D material additives mixed into the framework have been successfully fabricated and studied using neutron scattering techniques. A related composite structure composed of a 2D material single layer will be produced using interfacial chemical assembly, as well as a novel ionic liquid intercalated graphene composite, at the University of Waterloo. Structural investigation of these three composite types, at specified hydration and temperature, will be conducted at the University of Calgary. Correlation with previous investigation will unveil the mechanisms of water uptake, phase separation and proton conduction in the mixed composites. Moreover, optimal composite architecture and additive loading will be established to direct the design of future membranes.

Wild bee pollinator habitat restoration through dietary breadth, nutrition and microbiome characterization across Canada

Wild bees are vital to our parks, gardens, greenspaces and ecosystem services, but we know surprisingly little about their habitat requirements and dietary breadth. In this proposal, we will characterize wild bee nutrition including their health and microbiomes across Canada. The postdoc will learn skills in bioinformatics, science writing and science communication. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation will benefit from furthering their mission to facilitate transformative research on the microbiome that will improve the health of Canadians. With these data, we will determine preferred floral resources and hubs of healthy bacteria to promote habitat restoration and wild bee conservation. We will focus on urban centres to have maximal benefit for the >80% of Canadians living in cities. Taken together these data will provide invaluable open-access resources for bee nutrition, sustainability and long term city planning and conservation efforts.

Species traits as clues for who will win or lose: Large mammal responses to landscape change

Resource extraction has caused extensive landscape change that impacts wildlife. This is especially true in Alberta, Canada, where forestry, oil and gas and similar industries stretch across the province. While these industries are known to negatively affect some wildlife species, other species benefit from the features that these industries introduce, such as roads. In consequence, wildlife communities in human-modified landscapes consist of ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ species. Though this pattern is consistent across the province, the mechanisms that cause mammal species to experience either positive or negative impacts are unclear, which makes conservation difficult. However, ecological theory suggests that species’ characteristics, such as diet, determine how they respond. Using motion-activated camera traps to survey wildlife, this project will examine whether species’ characteristics explain whether species ‘win’ or ‘lose’ in human-modified landscapes. This will provide a better understanding of how landscape change impacts wildlife, which will also help wildlife and economically important industries coexist.

Parking Utilization Assessment Using Deep Learning

Analyzing parking behavior and usage in large open-concept retail centers enables owners and managers to better understand how their parking facility is being used. Most large, open-concept shopping centers are experiencing a parking oversupply problem. Current parking allocation is inefficient and contributes to urban sprawl, large concrete pads that trap solar heat and a waste of valuable real estate resources. Parking studies are generally conducted on foot using a combination of manual tallying or with ground level cameras used to collect imagery of ingress / egress traffic. These techniques are labor intensive and error prone. In this research, we aim to employ artificial intelligence techniques to automate and scale this process. We will use drones to capture aerial imagery of parking facilities, pre-process images, design a human intelligence task for annotation of the acquired images and develop a deep learning-based vehicle detection method to assess parking utilization across multiple observations.

Optimisation et intégration d’un nouveau procédé Organosolv

Le modèle de bioraffinerie moléculaire intégrée vise à identifier des technologies propres et viables économiquement afin de valoriser les matières lignocellulosiques par famille de molécules : extractibles dans le cas des écorces, cellulose, hémicellulose et lignine. C’est dans ce contexte que l’entreprise fait appel au CÉPROCQ pour que dernier l’aide à optimiser et intégrer un nouveau procédé Organosolv breveté. Ce projet s’attachera à lever plusieurs incertitudes pour que ce nouveau procédé Organosolv soit viable et applicable à l’échelle industrielle : i) rendre le prétraitement plus efficace, particulièrement pour les résineux, ii) valoriser la fraction hémicellulose et identifier des voies viables de conversion en xylose et xylitol; iii) valoriser la lignine et étudier la faisabilité de sa conversion en fibres de carbone