Projets novateurs réalisés

Closed loop cementous mixing and feeding system development

The main problem being addressed is the current lack of control and quality in the deposition of mixed mortar in the application of large-scale 3D printing. This is a significant issue because the properties of the mixes used depend heavily on the material ratios and mixing/pumping time. This means that slight variations can lead to blockages in the system or even collapse of the intended printed items.
Current 3D Concrete printing system use many different mix/pumping systems. Two system which are very popular are the MTEC Duo Mix 2000 Connect from MTEC, MAI®MULTIMIX-3D. Both use a dual mixing chamber design but have different styles of controls and material flow.
During our research project the intern will
1) Evaluate and document state of current technology for mixing and pumping using the MTEC and Mai systems
2) Establish simple closed loop controls for the mixing of the materials with water and additives.
3) Test ratios of target variables to evaluate their correlations and create guide curves for more accurate control
4) Link the material handling system to the material feed system and printer controller
5) Confirm proper functioning of improvements through test prints.

Marine Protected Areas and Economic Development in Nunavut

Nunavut’s Inuit organizers have identified conservation, including the establishment of parks and protected areas, as an important pillar of culturally appropriate and sustainable economic development in Northern Canada. This project responds to this goals of establishing a ‘conservation economy’ in Nunavut by examining the economic costs and benefits associated with Marine Protected Areas in Nunavut. Through document analysis, it will identify ways for Inuit communities to capture larger shares of the wealth generated by Marine Protected Areas. This research will help advance Oceans North’s mandate to promote community-driven marine conservation.

La mise en place d’un régime de gouvernance mondiale en matière de lutte contre les maladies non transmissibles (MNT)

Selon l’organisation mondiale de la santé, les maladies non transmissibles (MNT) causent la mort de plus de 41 millions de personnes par an. Un régime de gouvernance mondial s’avère donc indispensable pour lutter contre les MNT. On pourra dès lors se fonder en partie sur l’OMS et ce , à cause de son rôle de leadership en matière de suivi de l’action mondiale contre les MNT. Ce régime de gouvernance peut alors donner lieu à une collaboration étroite entre les différents acteurs du droit international (ex : Organisation mondiale du commerce et OMS). Mes recherches visent essentiellement : tout d’abord démontrer, en se fondant notamment sur la constitution de l’OMS, que l’établissement d’une gouvernance mondiale en matière de lutte contre les MNT est possible et ce, du fait du pouvoir conventionnel de cette organisation. Ensuite, prouver que le régime de gouvernance représente la meilleure approche en matière de lutte contre ces maladies. Le but est donc est de proposer l’instauration d’un régime de gouvernance capable de lutter efficacement contre les MNT.

Mapping DeFi projects of Ethereum blockchain

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a nascent field that recently gained a lot of media attention. DeFi refers to financial service applications that are operated on blockchain technologies such as Ethereum. Such financial service applications include lending and borrowing, leveraged trading, asset management, insurance, and many new products and services that come out every day. These applications are currently active, and more than $10 billion has been circulating in the DeFi ecosystem. Thus the market for DeFi is real. The interoperability of smart contracts also made it possible to build “money lego,” where the user could chain together DeFi smart contract operations and perform advanced actions such as no-collateral flash loans. This study aims to survey the existing DeFi applications, establish a taxonomy of DeFi applications, and build a foundation for a follow-up study on DeFi. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of DeFi, the research output will help scholars from other academic disciplines to navigate the arcane DeFi application ecosystem.

COVID Business Strategy

Since COVID-19, our organization has realized that we require significant operational changes to adjust to a work-from-home, digital environment.
Namely, instead of using almost exclusively paper records, we require an accessible cloud-based filing system, relationship management system, and communication hub. Without these, we will most certainly continue to struggle to an increasingly digital world.

BUSAYO AWOSEMO – CEDAR CORE TECHNOLOGIES INC

With the current pandemic situation, the typical presentation of products and services to prospective clients is not possible, traditional “lunch and learn” events are no longer an option, and travel to some job sites is not recommended or it is restricted.

Our company is looking for help in defining a long-term strategy for product marketing.

Sales Development Intern

Our brewery byproduct-based organic plant nutrients have been tested and used by flower greenhouse growers to promote healthy plant growth to tackle grower challenges in crop production such as uneven plant growth and chlorosis leaves. This makes flower greenhouse growers , our first and most ideal customer segment. With the COVID-19 pandemics, flower greenhouse growers were hit hard. Social distancing requirements have led to the cancellation of numerous weddings, funerals, and events which have made flowers a non-essential commodity. Flower greenhouse growers lost at least 60% of their yearly sales because they were not able to sell their flowers on Easter and mother’s day this year.

Nutrienvisus just started its marketing and sales activity at the end of last year. The pandemic is forcing us to modify our marketing and sales activity. Our customer discovery process, supported by field trials at local greenhouses in BC, has concluded that our ideal customer is Chrysanthemum (flower) growers. Flower growers (71%) may recover after the COVID-19 crisis. In parallel with marketing our products to greenhouse flower growers, the internship activity will aid us in exploring new markets, such as the microbial bioremediation industries.

Junior Business Development Analyst

Zennea is a Medical Device company that is creating a breakthrough therapeutic device for treating upper airway resistance syndromes to improve health through sleep. Zennea needs assistance conducting interviews as we need them to iterate on the design, usability of the device, and build on the development cycle for medical devices, but need assistance getting the volume & quality of feedback required. Kamil’s main goal will be to accept/reject as many product/business strategy hypotheses as possible through building relations with various communities. He will create surveys, interviews & focus group scripts, create reports & summaries of findings from primary & secondary research, and create presentations to deliver to the rest of the team.

Sales and Marketing Intern – NTWIST

Sales and Marketing Strategy Intern

Gestion des sédiments de dragage et processus bio-physico-chimiques impliqués

La marina Saurel connait un problème récurrent d’envasement du fait de sa position géographique la confluence du fleuve Saint-Laurent et de la rivière Richelieu. Cette situation conduit fréquemment à des dragages d’urgence, puis au confinement du matériel sédimentaire contaminé. C’est dans la perspective d’affiner la compréhension sur les mécanismes de mobilité géochimique et de spéciation des contaminants associés aux sédiments de dragage, que s’inscrit l’étude proposée. Pour se faire, 240 m3 de sédiments ont été dragués puis répartis équtablement dans six bassins expérimentaux. Ces derniers sont exposés aux différents impondérables qu’impliquent les conditions naturelles réelles. Chacun des bassins est relié à un regard permettant de recueillir l’eau de lixiviation. L’objectif de cet essai est de caractériser la spéciation des métaux et des hydrocarbures, selon l’évolution des conditions physico chimiques. Les possibilités de revalorisation des sédiments excavés, au niveau de sablières en fin de vie de l’entreprise partenaire, seront évaluées.

Development Intern

Our organization remains a leader in the Vancouver real estate development business, however the Covid-19 pandemic required a slow down in our acquisition and development activities. The situation has now changed to allow us to pursue multiple opportunities in acquisition, but we require more hands to help us with the analysis. The intern will work to help us understand the state of the real estate market in Vancouver and the lower mainland doing analysis on key sales activity to help us determine whether to embark on new sales activity. The intern will work to help us understand the viability of projects which have been presented to us as opportunities to understand the risks.

The role of regulatory T cells in blood during acute heart transplant rejection

Patients receive heart transplants as a life-saving measure after heart failure; thus, ensuring the success of the transplant is of utmost importance. Rejection is a primary cause for heart transplant failure, and consequently, patients must take drugs that suppress the immune system to prevent rejection. However, these drugs are highly unspecific and cause serious side effects that can be life-threatening. New immunosuppressive drugs that can prevent transplant rejection while allowing normal immune function can greatly improve care and patient outcomes. One type of immune cells called regulatory T cells (Tregs) can effectively suppress the immune system in a highly specific manner. We believe these cells can be effective in preventing and treating acute rejection. Working toward such a goal, our research plan is to first understand how Tregs behave during rejection. We will track their activities by measuring 46 genes in the blood of heart transplant patients throughout the first year post-operation. These genes provide valuable information on the risk of acute rejection at a given time and on changing Treg responses.