Projets novateurs réalisés

Colchester Food Network Evaluation

The Colchester Food Network (CFN) is a well-established community organization working to improve access to healthy food and build food skills across Colchester County. In 2024, CFN became one of Nova Scotia’s designated Collaborative Food Networks (CFNs), strengthening its commitment to dignity-based food access, inclusive community partnerships, and holistic, culturally responsive programming. With support from the provincial CFN program, CFN delivers a broad range of food-related activities—including a Client Choice Market, youth and adult cooking programs, meal kit distribution, community-led food pantries, and collaborative initiatives with schools, Indigenous communities, and local service organizations. Signature programs such as Kids’ Kitchen Adventures, Cooking on a Shoestring Budget, and Cooking with G-Ma and Friends reflect CFN’s values of accessibility, respect, and inclusion.
To ensure these programs are meeting local needs and to support learning and accountability, CFN will carry out a structured evaluation of its 2025–2026 programming. This evaluation will assess the reach, effectiveness, and community impact of CFN activities delivered between April 2025 and March 2026, while also fulfilling provincial requirements for annual reporting.
A research intern will be placed with CFN to support the design and implementation of a practical monitoring and evaluation system. This will include the development of tools such as participant tracking templates, post-program feedback forms, and interview or focus group guides for gathering community insights. The intern will help collect both quantitative data (e.g., number of participants, food distributed, pantry usage) and qualitative stories that capture the lived experience of program users, volunteers, and partners.
The evaluation will pay special attention to equity and inclusion, exploring how CFN’s programming reaches and supports groups facing higher food insecurity. Insights will be used to identify what’s working well, where improvements can be made, and how CFN can continue to respond to community priorities.

L2M – Novel Cryo-Microfluidic Device for Cell Cryopreservation

Developing a novel cryo-microfluidic device for ultra-rapid, cryoprotectant-free cell preservation. The project advances prototype design, testing, and market validation to improve biotechnology and regenerative medicine applications in Canada.

L2M-Digitalizing On-Demand Inventory with AddManuChain Platform: An Innovative Bridge between AI and Additive Manufacturing for Sustainable Industrial Operations

The project aims to prove and commercialize AddManuChain, a computerized inventory system that will deploy on-site 3D printing to print certified parts on location at the remote industrial sites, including offshore oil platforms, mining operations, and also in the maritime facility to eliminate the expensive effect of long downtimes incurred during part replacement. The project will build a strong business case to replace traditional rush-freight logistics with localized production capabilities that meet high standards in the industry by specific measures such as developing prototype workflows that reflect on certification requirements, conducting thorough stakeholder interviews, and undertaking intensive economic modelling. The new innovation is based on the established Canadian leadership in high-order manufacturing, thus making the country a leader in terms of the digital transformation of the industrial supply chains. The established research and development base, manufacturing experience, and continuous emphasis on innovation are the attributes of Canada that are the best foot forward in this innovation. With an advantage in the additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies, the project will also strengthen the reputation of Canada as a world manufacturing leader. The expected results are the increased resilience in the Canadian resource base, increased domestic advanced manufacturing capacity, significant benefits to the environment through less logistics emissions as well as competitive edge that Canada would get in the international market through innovative next-generation smart manufacturing solutions. As a result, this study has placed Canada at the forefront of trans formative design, production, and distribution of essential elements, thus creating new prospects to the Canadian business on both fronts, as well as mitigating viable challenges faced by remote processes of industrial activities.

L2M – VirtualSLP

VirtualSLP is an AI-powered platform transforming care for patients with neurologic speech disorders. Conditions such as ALS often cause bulbar impairments—loss of speech, swallowing, and facial expression—that devastate quality of life. Yet clinicians, particularly speech-language pathologists (SLPs), face overwhelming barriers: caseloads as high as 600 patients per year, only 15–20 minutes per visit, and no standardized, easy-to-use tools. As a result, care is inconsistent, delayed, and less effective than it could be.

The need for better solutions is clear. Our team, led by Dr. Yana Yunusova, has decades of experience at the intersection of research and clinical practice. Communities of Practice uniting 200+ SLPs in Canada and the U.S. further highlight the urgency and scale of the problem.

VirtualSLP addresses this gap with a web-based platform that integrates remote multimodal assessments and AI-driven insights. Patients complete validated assessments online, while the platform extracts 200+ acoustic and movement features to detect early signs of bulbar disease and classify severity. Upcoming modules will predict disease progression within a six-month window and deliver GenAI-powered, evidence-based recommendations, enabling personalized, efficient, and scalable care.

Backed by $3M in research funding, VirtualSLP is clinically validated and built with direct input from both patients and providers. With a $400M obtainable market and 70% of SLPs projected to adopt telehealth by 2030, it is positioned to become a game-changing solution that improves patient outcomes, streamlines clinician workflows, and scales across healthcare systems.

VirtualSLP: where AI meets patient-first neurological care.

L2M – Visum Neurotechnologies

The project aims to develop a non-invasive, dual-modality tool combining eye-tracking (ET) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure cognitive capacity and enable early detection of cognitive impairments in older adults. Using short-term memory tasks, it captures objective biomarkers (e.g., pupil size and prefrontal neural activity) to outperform the conventional tests in sensitivity and cultural neutrality.

L2M Novel Hybrid Scanless Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy System

Our project introduces a novel hybrid fluorescence microscopy system that merges the strengths of light-sheet and confocal microscopy while eliminating their key limitations. The system is fully scanless, removing the need for any motorized scanning devices—resulting in faster, simpler, and more reliable imaging. It also integrates a signal intensifier to detect weak fluorescence and a microfluidic channel for automated, high-throughput sample handling.

From an academic perspective, this technology enables rapid, high-resolution, and low-phototoxic imaging, ideal for studying cancer cells, microorganisms, and developing tissues. The combination of scanless confocality and light-sheet illumination allows continuous, non-invasive observation of cell behavior, division, and drug response in real time, even in samples with weak fluorescence signals.

From a business perspective, the platform offers a compact, affordable, and user-friendly alternative to existing expensive and complex microscopes. By combining speed, resolution, and automation in one system, it reduces costs, training time, and maintenance—providing strong return on investment for research and clinical users. With the global fluorescence imaging market expected to grow from USD 11 B to 20 B by 2030, this hybrid scanless microscopy system stands as both a scientific innovation and a high-potential commercial product for research, diagnostics, and drug discovery.

L2M Highly Efficient DC-DC Converters for Small Offshore Oil Rigs

Offshore oil rigs play a critical role in Canada’s energy industry, but they rely heavily on diesel generators that are expensive, polluting, and difficult to maintain in remote marine environments. This project explores the development of highly efficient DC–DC converters—advanced electronic devices that improve the way electricity is managed on offshore platforms. These converters make it possible to integrate renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, with existing systems, helping to reduce fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The goal of this project is to design, test, and evaluate a converter prototype optimized for small offshore oil rigs. By focusing on efficiency, compact size, and durability in harsh marine conditions, the project will provide a practical solution to improve energy reliability and sustainability. The outcomes will benefit Canada by supporting cleaner energy use in offshore operations, reducing environmental impact, and advancing technologies that can also be applied to other remote and marine industries.

L2M: AI-assisted marine ecosystem monitoring

This project aims to turn raw underwater video into decision-ready science. Our software automatically detects, classifies, and counts marine species, then delivers results in a simple web dashboard with linked video clips, maps, and exportable reports. Instead of annotating from scratch, ecologists just review and correct AI suggestions—cutting review time by more than half. Built for real-world conditions, it flags unknown species, handles uncertain IDs with genus- or family-level counts, and works across different cameras, habitats, and seasons. Backed by peer-reviewed methods and expert-annotated Atlantic datasets, and led by my PhD research in partnership with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, this solution combines scientific rigor with deployable AI. Whether regulators, operators, or researchers, our users can ask: “How many cod were at Site 12 in June?” and get traceable, audit-ready answers in minutes instead of months.

L2M – Contactless InfraRed Sleep System

For this proposed project we aim to collaborate with the University of Toronto, Mitacs, and the partnered organization to further develop, refine, and bring to market our novel Contactless Infrared Sleep System (CIRSS). Our novel invention uses advanced specialized infrared imaging to measure key psychophysiological signals including heart rate, heart rate variability, stress, breathing rate, emotion, and more. To date, sleep, sleep health, and sleep pathology remain a growing area of research and public health with over 30% of adults reporting sleep problems. Our innovation addresses significant challenges current clinical monitoring system pose (e.g., accessibility, disruptive to natural sleep, often limited to clinical settings). Through this internship, I aim to improve our current prototype models based on stakeholder and expert feedback, apply for patents, commence large scale studies, and establish a startup company centred around our novel invention. Through this internship, we aim to establish a collaborative relationship with our partnered organization(s) to advance this novel, ground breaking, evidence based invention which has immense commercial and public potential.

L2M-A Triboelectric Nanogenerator-Based Strategy to Minimize Battery Dependence in Ocean Sensing

We are developing a self-powered ocean-energy system that reduces reliance on conventional batteries by using triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to harvest energy from ocean waves, currents, and wind. Unlike many existing technologies that struggle with low-frequency and unpredictable motion, TENGs are lightweight, low-cost, and highly efficient at capturing irregular, low-frequency energy. With nearly 70 % of Earth’s surface covered by oceans, this vast and underused resource can power marine sensors, weather buoys, and environmental monitoring equipment where frequent battery replacement is costly and logistically difficult.

Self-Efficacy for Creative Innovators in Canada

The research project involves studying how incubator programs help artists become successful entrepreneurs in the music industry. Incubators are places where artists get training, support, and resources to build their careers. The interns will collect and analyze data to understand how these programs impact artists’ growth, creativity, and business skills. By examining these effects, the interns will learn about the music industry and gain hands-on experience in research. The expected benefit for the partner organization is to better understand what makes these incubator programs effective. This can lead to improved support for artists and help shape future programs to ensure they meet artists’ needs. Ultimately, the research aims to boost artists’ success and foster a more vibrant and inclusive music industry.

L2M – AI-Driven Cybersecurity for Ocean Critical Infrastructure

This project will develop an AI-powered cybersecurity system to help protect important ocean infrastructure, starting with offshore energy systems such as oil and gas, wind and tidal farms. These facilities are becoming a key part of Canada’s clean energy future but are also vulnerable to cyberattacks that could cause costly shutdowns or disruptions. The project will create tools that can detect unusual activity, test different attack scenarios in a safe digital environment, and suggest quick responses to keep systems running securely. For the partner organization, this work will provide a clear business model, a prototype system, and direct input from industry stakeholders, helping them move closer to offering a unique product that improves the safety, reliability, and trust in Canada’s offshore energy and ocean infrastructure.