Projets novateurs réalisés

Social Inclusion and the Settlement Sector; A Cross-National Comparison between Germany and Canada

This study will examine Germany and Canada through a comparative, cross-national case study. An in-depth literature review and policy analysis will contextualize the differences and similarities of Canadian and German settlement sectors, allowing for a better understanding of the link between non-profit settlement services and social inclusion in each country. In particular, this study will focus on the ways in which the governance and funding of immigrant-serving agencies strengthens or challenges their ability to serve newcomer clients.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argues that “diversity is our strength”, both in terms of national economic growth and social diversity. However, in Canada, our multicultural and inclusive rhetoric is not always reflected in settlement outcomes, and newcomers are often excluded both in our labour market more broadly in society. Canadian immigrant-serving agencies are challenged by a system of federal and provincial governance that is often underfunded and uncoordinated. While Germany has federally coordinated settlement services to a greater extent, immigrant-serving agencies face difficulties in service provision due in part to unprecedented levels of immigration since 2014. Both in Germany and Canada, while smaller immigrant-run service agencies provide linguistically compatible and culturally sensitive services they are are particularly challenged to make ends meet […]

Evaluating the Societal Effects of Participatory Processes

Over the past 5 years, Suncor Energy has invested in the Energy Futures Lab, the Engineering Change Lab, the Getting to Maybe social innovation program, the Suncor Energy Foundation Gathering, and most recently, the Turtle Island Institute. All of these initiatives are designed to transform whole systems in rapidly changing environments in partnership with diverse groups of partners, particularly Indigenous communities. As Suncor is itself deeply embedded in the changing energy environment, these investments hold the potential to transform the funding organization alongside the system. How can we assess if, and how, this transformation is taking place? How can we aggregate the impact of multiple parallel projects?
The goal of this study is to answer these questions by capturing the effects of Suncor’s social innovation investments across a range of partners. TO BE CONT’D

Practical Modeling of Hydraulic fracturing

The majority of hydrocarbon in Canada is produced from the unconventional reservoirs characterized by ultra-low matrix permeability. Hydraulic fracturing is a common stimulation technique used in oil and gas industry to release hydrocarbon trapped in the rock making the hydrocarbon recovery economical. The ability to model this process may lead to the efficient hydraulic fracturing design and mitigation of the potential environmental impacts, such as underground aquifers contamination and injection induced earthquakes. In the proposed Mitacs research project, we will focus on developing a realistic hydraulic fracturing models which, to extent, can describe the behaviour of the process.

Linking research to its uses: Making sense of howdecisions are informed by research

The proposed research acknowledges the recommendations in the

literature for a more constructivist/interpretivist approach to understanding the use

of research (Nutley, Walter and Davies 2007). Conceptualizing research use as a

complex social process (McDaniel and Driebe 2005) may provide a potential

alternative to making sense of the nature of research use and impacts in a more

realistic framing. The complex nature of research use and impacts has been

widely acknowledged in the literature (Best & Holmes 2010; Wilkinson 2010;

Scott et al 2008; Martin and Tang 2007; Nutley, Walter, and Davies 2007; Ekboir

2003; Geiger and Sá 2009; Weiss 1979; Shove and Rip 2000).

The proposed study will adopt a naturalistic inquiry approach (Patton

2005) where research use can be observed in the ‘real world’ in ‘real time’.

Ethnographic techniques will be used in a study designed to observe the use of

research to inform policy, practice and service delivery decisions in public health

(Scott et al 2008). Ethnography is a widely…

eQuiet – Étude et développement d’un bouchon d’oreille intelligent pour chevaux

Ce projet vise à étudier et développer une preuve de concept d’un bouchon d’oreille pour chevaux. Les bouchons d’oreille sont utilisés pour réduire le niveau sonore des chevaux afin de réduire les distractions et d’améliorer leur concentration. Toutefois, le niveau d’atténuation des bouchons disponible sur le marché est limité. De plus, on dénote un intérêt grandissant pour le monitorage des signes vitaux des chevaux. Ceci permet d’assurer la santé des chevaux dans plusieurs domaines tel que le dressage, les courses et les calèches. L’objectif du projet est donc d’étudier et de concevoir une preuve de concept pour un bouchon intelligent capable de monitorer les signes vitaux d’un cheval. Ce premier prototype devra fonctionner sans fil pendant quelques heures, pouvoir capter les signes vitaux du cheval et transmettre les données sans fil.

Using Machine Learning to Classify and Access an Audio Database

Voices.com, the largest online marketplace of voice talent, have identified Machine Learning as an enabler for future growth. In particular, incorporating Natural Language Processing (NLP) into structured queries and automatic classification of sample recordings. The first phase of this research will use machine learning to identify and train an NLP learnable parser. The second phase will be to automatically classify sound samples, which has been historically difficult due to low levels of accuracy. The approach will start with attributes for which accurate algorithms exist and new attributes will be added when usable levels of accuracy are achieved. Note that self-reported attributes are also not very accurate, so it is possible that automatic classification would beat user-reported attributes. The classification problem cannot be completely solved within the first year, but these classifications could speed up human processing or be used in the absence of human classification.

Mechanisms underlying stability and accuracy of electrocardiogram textile electrodes and breathing strain sensors

Electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes are used for cardiovascular health monitoring with applications in health and wellness. When integrated in textiles, these electrodes can detect ECG over longer periods of time and provide more comfort for applications in sports and health monitoring. In collaboration with Vitali Wear, a leading company in the area of smart bras for monitoring of stress and quality of meditation, this project focuses on investigation of the underlying mechanisms related to stability issues of ECG textile electrodes for application in smart bras for detection of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) and textile strain sensors for breathing rate. The UBC team will investigate the response of knitted electrodes within textile to frequent mechanical flexing, washing and temperature cycling. The interplay between the type of yarn, conductive materials as well as protection films on the quality and stability of signals will be investigated.

News Driven Risk

This project centers on the effect of firm-level news on equity volatility. While there has been a strong emphasis on macroeconomic announcements, we all know that the news about the failure of a single bank marked the beginning of the sub-prime crisis. Thus, I study the effect of news on a firm-specific basis. The first part of the project focuses on decomposing firm news’ overall impact into the beta, market, and idiosyncratic volatility channels. Preliminary results suggest that there exist fifty eights news categories related to price jumps. I examine how market processes firm-specific news during different states of the economy and determine the types of firms and news that move the market. TO BE CONT’D

Effect of prepartum dietary starch content on gut function, metabolism, and production of dairy cows in early lactation

Previous studies in dairy cow nutritional management during the calving transition mainly focused on how to improve milk production after calving, yet gut function and health during this critical period is largely unknown. Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), a 33-amino acid peptide secreted by enteroendocrine L-cells of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), has been reported to increase small intestinal mucosal growth and blood flow and reduce gut permeability and mucosal injury. Although most studies investigated the biological effects of GLP-2 used non-ruminants as animal model, recent research in calves demonstrated that GLP-2 has the similar physiological effects as it does in non-ruminant. However, the effect of GLP-2 on gut function of dairy cows and how this related to production remains unknown. Therefore, this study will evaluate the effects of prepartum diets on gut peptide, metabolism, and production of dairy cows in early lactation. TO BE CONT’D

Les effets de la participation à un programme d’éducation musicale sur le développement de la relation parent-enfant et sur le développement du jeune enfant

Depuis quelques années, la communauté scientifique s’intéresse aux effets de la pratique de la musique sur le développement de l’enfant. À ce jour, nous savons que la pratique de la musique soutien le développement cognitif et langagier de l’enfant. Elle encourage aussi l’adoption de comportements prosociaux, tels quel l’entraide et la coopération. Néanmoins, à notre connaissance, peu d’information ne semble disponible quant à l’impact de la pratique d’activités musicales en dyades parents-enfants. Ainsi, ce projet cherchera à mesurer les effets de la participation à un programme d’éducation musicale sur la relation parent-enfant et sur le développement du jeune enfant (24 à 42 mois). En parallèle, le partenariat proposé permettra de favoriser le développement des compétences professionnelles des éducateurs et éducatrices à la petite enfance.

Mapping blood brain barrier permeability- towards a novel biomarker for psychiatric disorders

Research into brain diseases has until recently focused on neurons, but in the last several decades, blood vessels have taken a new spotlight. When blood vessels are damaged, substances can leak from the blood into the brain. Such leak can affect memory and mental health, but surprisingly, its impact on psychiatric disorders has yet to be studied in detail, largely due to lack of technology to map leaky blood vessels in living patients. Recent advances in MRI technology and computer processing power offer new avenues for solving this issue, allowing us to track blood flow and identify affected brain regions and their role in brain disorders.
In this project, we are developing novel computational methods to automatically analyze brain scans and produce detailed mapping of the regions affected by blood leakage. We are also creating algorithms to see whether leakage corresponds to abnormal patterns of brain activity. TO BE CONT’D

Analysis and optimisation of a sensor network for the remote detection of physiological parameters

Measurement of physiological parameters is the cornerstone of medical diagnosis. The rising costs of healthcare and the aging of the population are factors that influence researches in the medical industry, mainly for the development of assisted living and smart home. Several technologies have been proposed in the literature for monitoring people and health care. Recently, radar technology for monitoring the vital functions of a patient has attracted a lot of attention. With the bio-radar, it is also possible to send a rapid emergency alarm in the case of falls of people, sleep apnea syndromes or the sudden death in newborns, and rescue of survivors after an earthquake. The combination of communication standards and the reconfiguration of architectures have led to an evolution of radar architectures and the development of new technological concepts which can alleviate these important health problems. TO BE CONT’D