Projets novateurs réalisés

Development of a portfolio of graphite and graphene based processes and products

The interns involved in this MITACS cluster will work in close collaboration with the industrial partner, Grafoid, a Canadian company based in Kingston, Ontario, to develop a portfolio of graphene-based products, including autonomous sensors, energy storage, fuel cells and electrically conductive devices. The ultimate objective is to develop proof of concept products including automotive parts, cathode materials in Li-ion cells, antimicrobial surfaces, super-capacitors and wearable sensors. This three-year spanning research will have the following outcomes: (a) environmentally friendly, scalable, reproducible and industrially relevant technologies to produce thermoplastic and elastomer-based composites, suitable for automotive and other structural applications; (b) high-value added products, such as sensors and supercapacitors; (c) thermoplastic composites suitable for additive manufacturing processes. This research will thus produce a portfolio of graphene-based products for high value-added products and applications. The knowledge generated by this research cluster has the potential to provide new value-added products at a substantially reduced cost to various Canadian industrial sectors, including the advanced materials, automotive, manufacturing and alternative energy sector.

Strategies to attack cancers

Pascal Biosciences Inc. is a company developing immuno-oncology therapeutics to fight cancer. It was initially founded on ideas and research that originated from Dr. Wilf Jefferies’ laboratory at the University of British Columbia. Since then, the company has continued to collaborate with Dr. Jefferies and his team to forward the research, through direct sponsorship and through collaborative research partnerships. Pascal has a mandate to discover and develop targeted agents that enable the body’s own immune system to recognize and attack cancers. To do so, the company is currently advancing three research programs:
1. Developing a therapeutic monoclonal antibody for treatment of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood leukemia;
2. Optimizing novel classes of molecules that restore immune recognition and killing of cancer cells;
3. Regulating activity of immune system calcium channels to combat cancers, infections, and autoimmune diseases.

Integration of microbiological and geochemical tools for de-risking oil and gas exploration along the Scotian Margin

This Mitacs project will enable two MSc students the opportunity to work with the Offshore Energy Research Association and their partners with the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to produce an ArcGIS product and seismic-based model of seep architecture for petroleum exploration of the offshore Nova Scotia margin. These projects will relate newly created genomic and lipidomic data that is expected to help de-risk offshore exploration efforts. The Interns will use these data to produce maps and 3D models of the seeps

Having a pulse for the group: An app-based approach to collecting multiple time-point longitudinal data

The goal of the project is to evaluate and refine an app-based questionnaire that provides a multi-faceted assessment of the social dynamics and culture of teams and organizations. This partnership and multi-phase project with VictoryLab involves (a) systematically examining and refining their questionnaire items to ensure their app-based assessment tool provides valid and reliable insights into the group dynamics of organizations and teams, and (b) conducting interviews with end-users of the app to understand ways to optimize the information shared with them through the app. A key goal will be to work in collaboration with VictoryLab to ensure the end-users of the application receive evidence-informed feedback about the current areas of strength within a team and opportunities for improvement. In addition to offering a novel opportunity for assess and track the social dynamics within teams across multiple time points, the development of a psychometrically sound app-based assessment tool will empower users with data-driven insights into how to manage team dynamics and, ultimately, enrich their individual group members’ experiences.

Optical characterization of freshwater and its distribution in the Hudson Bay

Hudson Bay is a typical freshwater dominated ecosystem owing to voluminous freshwater flux from the rivers and sea ice growth-decay cycle. Climate forcing and hydroelectric regulation of the river waters potentially modifies the freshwater distribution in Hudson Bay, with implications on the physical, biological and biogeochemical processes. To understand the implication of the modifications on these processes, it is necessary to study the spatio-temporal pattern of the freshwater distribution. Terrestrial waters are characterized by the presence of high loads of color dissolved organic matter. Therefore, light-matter interaction in the water body would serve as an effective proxy to study the river runoff distribution. This project will take the advantage of satellite remote sensing complemented by in-situ optical measurements to develop a methodology to detect the river runoff domain in Hudson Bay. Thus allowing for spatio-temporal study of river runoff distribution. This project will help in decision-making abilities for the future hydroelectric projects by Manitoba Hydro.

Development of transparent near-eye display using a sparse microlens array and lightfield principles

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) allow a convenient delivery of visualized data to the user. HMDs in the form of glasses and goggles (otherwise known as smart glasses and goggles), such as Vuzix Blade and Epson Moverio [1-3], have been introduced but the public acceptance of these devices have been rather lackluster. Part of the sluggish acceptance may be attributed to the still-high device costs (>$1000) and a large form-factor, owning largely to the fact that these devices utilize unique and sophisticated optics on dedicated and non-retrofittable platforms. In this research, we want to design a universal HMD optics that can be placed in the line of sight of the user and is thin and compact enough to be retroffitable on conventional eyewear, using microlens arrays (MLAs) and the lightfield principles.

Strong-field Physics in Solids

The study of high-intensity laser-matter interaction is very promising in terms of extracting rich fundamental physics involved behind various phenomenon happening at the atomic level. Such studies have been made possible only due to the development of very sophisticated laser systems capable of delivering optical powers comparable to the strong inter-nuclear attractions holding together the electrons inside atoms or molecules constituting a given media. Generation of laser-like ultraviolet and soft X-ray radiation by utilizing lasers operating at near-infrared or mid-infrared laser wavelength is one such phenomenon we focus to study in this project. Many fundamental aspects of this phenomenon happening inside gases or low-density plasmas are well understood. However, the true mechanism of the similar phenomenon recently demonstrated by researchers in solids is yet to be confirmed. Our expertise currently lies in the study of laser-matter interaction inside low-density plasmas. We plan to study the similar laser interactions happening in specially fabricated thin films (i.e. in solids phase) of similar materials used to produce that plasma. The correlation between our previous understanding of the laser-plasma interactions and the experimental results we will obtain in our proposed experiments will be useful in extending our understanding of the less understood mechanism… (TBC)

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy (Rio de Janeiro 2)

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy (Brasília 3)

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy (Beo Horizonte)

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy (Joao Pessoa)

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Genome Sequence Compression Algorithms Using Locally Consistent Parsing

The high throughput sequencing (HTS) platforms generate unprecedented amounts of data that introduce challenges in computational infrastructure. The requirement of large investments for this purpose almost signaled the end of the Sequence Read Archive hosted at the NCBI, which holds most of the sequence data generated worldwide.

Currently, most HTS data is compressed through general purpose algorithms such as gzip. These algorithms are not designed for compressing the data generated by the HTS platforms; for example they do not take advantage of the specific nature of the sequence data. Fast and efficient compression algorithms designed specifically for HTS data may be able to address some of the issues in data management, storage, and communication. Here we propose a “boosting” scheme based on Locally Consistent Parsing technique that reorganizes the reads in a way that results in a higher compression speed and compression rate, independent of the compression algorithm in use.