Projets novateurs réalisés

Employee Engagement in Innovation

The project aims to show the tenuous relationship and importance between the concepts of motivation, creativity and innovation for a company in modern times where innovation is a requirement of the market. In addition, it proposes to demonstrate concretely how companies and their employees handle these factors to improve their productivity, taking real cases of companies as a reference.

Improving Caregiver Mental Health with the Use of a Smartphone App

Many of those dealing with anxiety and/or depression are frequently in the care of a friend, partner, or family member known as an informal caregiver. This important role can be very taxing both physically and psychologically, yet few resources are available to specifically target individual caregivers’ needs. The proposed project will contribute to our understanding of caregivers’ experiences as well as evaluating care’n, a smartphone application designed to support informal caregivers’ wellbeing. In addition, the partner organization will receive a best practice program evaluation of care’n. Ultimately, this initiative has the potential to promote positive mental health for caregivers which will allow them to care for others and themselves more effectively.

Synthèse d’inhibiteurs ? en structure d’épingle à cheveux du point de contrôle PD-1 / PD-L1

Il a été démontré que les tumeurs exploitent certains mécanismes liés aux récepteurs immunitaires (point de contrôle) pour échapper à la réponse immunitaire. La mise sur le marché d’anticorps monoclonaux (mAbs) approuvés par la FDA, pembrolizumab et nivolumab en tant qu’inhibiteurs du récepteur immunitaire programmed death-1 (PD-1), et du durvalumab et de l’avelumab qui ciblent le programme death ligand-1 (PD-L1), ont révolutionné l’approche actuelle de l’immunothérapie du cancer. Malgré des avantages évidents, en termes de survie liés à de tels traitements avec des mAb bloqueurs, le nombre d’événements indésirables auto-immunitaires a augmenté et le coût du traitement avoisine 250,000 $ par patient/an. Donc, une approche plus rentable avec des médicaments basés sur des petites molécules représenterait une alternative attrayante aux mAb inhibiteurs de l’interaction PD-1/PD-L1. TO BE CONT’D

Digital twin framework for modular residential construction systems

In order to address issues with affordable housing, new innovative approaches to construction are being developed which require customized feedback using smart data solutions. This research aims to develop the necessary software and hardware configuration to enable designers to optimize their decision making in design, construction and operations of single-unit and multi-unit residential buildings. The partner organization and intern will utilize an upcoming small-scale residential construction project to learn how best to create a smart data system that can be used to optimize and inform decision making. The result of this research will help the partner organization optimize future designs for large-scale affordable housing solutions. On a broader scale, the results will also benefit the Canadian economy by facilitating affordable housing solutions that have shorter project times, lower costs, and which are optimized to dwelling comfort and overall quality of living.

Net Zero Energy Strategies and Quick Assessment Tool for multiunit residential buildings (MURBs) in Toronto

Buildings are responsible for a third of the total carbon emissions worldwide. Net zero building is a type of building that produces as much energy as it consumes, and it has a great potential for energy and carbon reductions. This research aims to study how multiunit residential buildings (MURBs) (e.g. condominiums) in Toronto can become net zero, as well as to create a simple tool in order to quickly assess whether becoming net zero is feasible. The partner organizations are among the leaders in pushing the residential development industry to higher energy performance standards. This project will provide comprehensive information relevant to the design of low-energy or net zero condominiums. It will also equip the partner organizations to better meet the challenges in the coming transition to a zero or low-carbon economy.

Développement d’un inventaire thermoénergétique et optimisation technoéconomique du potentiel des rejets thermiques et de la gestion énergétique dans une entreprise spécialisée en usinage

Le secteur industriel est le principal consommateur d’énergie au Québec, avec 38% de toute l’énergie consommée. Or, les études montrent qu’entre 20 et 50% de l’énergie consommée en industrie est perdue sous forme de rejets thermiques. Il s’agit donc d’un important gisement d’économies potentielles d’énergie pouvant être exploité. Bien que le domaine de l’usinage ait fait l’objet de quelques travaux relatifs à sa consommation d’énergie, aucune étude n’a été répertoriée sur le potentiel d’intégration énergétique qu’il présente. Le projet vise à constituer un inventaire thermo-énergétique détaillé d’un atelier d’usinage afin de modéliser les flux d’énergie et d’exergie dans l’usine. Plusieurs sources d’informations seront exploitées afin de dresser ce portrait et une prise de mesure en usine sera faite pour compléter la collecte d’information. TO BE CONT’D

Reducing Social Isolation Through Better Transportation Options for Seniors

Seniors may experience social isolation when they lose the ability to drive their own car due to the loss of access to services and opportunities to socialize. I will examine the role of public transportation in reducing social isolation for seniors in Metro Vancouver. With BC’s aging population, the transportation needs of this demographic will become increasingly important over the coming decade. While many studies focus on how to ensure seniors can continue driving, this project will focus on barriers to other modes of transportation and programs or options to reduce these barriers. Although increased transportation options alone will not reduce social isolation, access to services and opportunities to socialize are key in reducing and preventing isolation, as well as having stronger, more diverse neighbourhoods. My methodology will be a literature review, a jurisdictional scan, expert interviews, and focus groups.

Developing Recrystallization-Resistant AlScZrMn(Mg) sheets for automotive brazing applications

This internship project aims at developing superior alloy chemistries and processing routes for the manufacture of recrystallization-resistant AlScZrMn(Mg) sheets for automotive brazing applications. Various alloys will be thermodynamically modelled, cast and rolled to thin sheets followed by a stabilization heat treatment. The sheets will finally undergo a simulated heat cycle that resembles that of a typical brazing process during manufacture of automotive heat exchangers. The sheet specimens will be metallurgically characterized by means of optical and electron microscopy as well as tensile testing. The test results will be analyzed in order to depict the optimum alloy/process design for highest recrystallization resistance as well as for the least use of Sc in the composition which is an expensive element. The development of such knowhow will place Alcereco Inc. as an R&D pioneer in a fast growing market for thermally-resistant, light-weight Al alloys, particularly in the auto and aerospace sectors.

Nanwakolas Aquaculture and Tourism Research Cluster

The Nanwakolas Council Society and its eight member Nations are moving through a regional economic development planning initiative to create a more diversified and sustainable business profile. This research cluster is intended to provide additional insights into culturally valued industries of the member Nations, specifically within shellfish aquaculture and tourism industries. The research would encompass six research projects, as follows:• Project 1: DMT Fisheries Shellfish Aquaculture Investigation • Project 2: K’omoks Shellfish Processing Feasibility Analysis• Project 3: Regional Shellfish Aquaculture Partnership Investigation• Project 4: Da’naxda’xw Awaetlala First Nation Tourism Product Research• Project 5: Hanson Island Development Project Investigation• Project 6: Regional Tourism Partnership Investigation

FIve innovative research techniques will be applied within this research as detailed in the full application. This applied research will be a successful case study that increased knowledge mobilization for Canadian First Nations and for Canada overall.

Human Errors Analysis in an Aircraft Engine Assembly Center

Human operators show significant variability in performance when operating in complex manufacturing systems that are usually referred to human errors. Such errors are identified as the failure to perform an action within the safe operating limit and often lead to product quality defects. Approximately 50%-80% of the incidents and accidents in safety-critical systems have been associated with human error.
Despite the recent technological advances in eliminating error in the manufacturing of aircraft engines, the engine assembly centers are heavily dependent on human interventions. Occasional human errors occur in these work centers due to different factors. The delivery of defect-free products to customers that also conform to regulatory requirements calls for a systematic approach for identifying, reporting, and managing human errors. This project aims to develop a robust human error assessment framework in order to identify: i) different categories of human errors; ii) root causes of errors; and ii) mitigation actions.

Using soil water stable isotopes (?18O and ?2H) in the unsaturated zone to assess groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration in Nordic humid region dominated by snowmelt

The groundwater recharge is the quantity of water reaching, through infiltration, the groundwater already existed in the geological formation. The groundwater recharge is considered as relevant parameter for evaluating the water resources. In Nordic countries including Canada, the highest groundwater recharge is often associated with snowmelt, and it is affected by the geology of site and the environment conditions (e.g., sites covered by dense vegetation, slopped sites, etc.). Accordingly, it is important to understand the snowmelt infiltration process to better quantify the groundwater recharge. The proposed research project consists to use the stable isotope depth profiles, which could be obtained from the isotopic analysis of deeper sampled soils cores, for estimating the groundwater recharge in Nordic humid zone dominated by snowmelt. TO BE CONT’D

Evaluating the Influence of Student-Teacher Relationships on Chinese and Canadian Elementary School Systems

I will look at the interactions between Canadian elementary students as well as Chinese elementary students and their respective teacher. Through observation and casual conversations I will record how the relationships affect the learning of of students and what kind of effects this produces outside of the classroom setting. This information will be compared with each other in hopes to demonstrate that both education systems can benefit from reciprocal learning.