Projets novateurs réalisés

Magnetic Compression and Stability of Spheromaks

The objective of a fusion device is to confine a plasma and heat it to a temperative high enough for its ions to gain sufficient energy to overcome their mutually repulsive force and fuse. Fusion neutrons will provide a heat souce that’s used to generate electricity in a steam cycle. Fusion power is environmentally friendly and the fuel source is abundant. A spheromak is a toroidal plasma configuration that has internal currents to maintain the magnetic field that keeps it together. Several methods are used to compress spheromaks at General Fusion. Sufficient compression can cause the conditions to vary, instabilities that cause the spheromak to lose confimenent may develop. The magnetic compression experiment at General Fusion had the aim of producing spheromaks and then compressing them with an external pulsed magnetic field. During compression, the properties of plasma must be monitored to gain insights to mechanisms that can be implemented to optimize the compression process while maintaining the stability of the spheromak. The project will contribute to and advance existing spheromak technology at General Fusion.

Canada Trade Promo Optimization (TPO) Transformation: Modernizing the End-to-End Pipeline

(1)
The main activities of the partner
Unilever Canada is a global leader in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, focusing on innovation and sustainability across its five business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition, and Ice Cream. The company integrates AI and data-driven approaches to optimize supply chain processes, improve consumer insights, and enhance business operations. A key focus is Trade Promotion Optimization (TPO), where Unilever applies machine learning techniques to enhance promotional efficiency. In this project, Unilever will provide industry expertise, access to proprietary datasets, and business insights to ensure the research aligns with real-world applications.
(2)
The challenges the partner aims to solve through this project
Unilever faces challenges in scaling AI-driven trade promotion strategies across its diverse portfolio of 400+ products. Traditional trade promotion planning is inefficient, requiring extensive manual effort and struggling to balance multiple business goals, such as maximizing ROI, increasing market share, and reducing trade spend. Existing machine learning models also suffer from computational inefficiencies, limiting scalability. Additionally, integrating multi-objective optimization algorithms with real-time data analytics remains a complex challenge. This project aims to refine Unilever’s predictive models and streamline the end-to-end ML pipeline to enhance decision-making efficiency.
(3)
The anticipated social or economic benefits of the project for the partner organization(s)
For Unilever, this research will lead to the development of an AI-powered TPO system, enhancing decision-making, reducing operational inefficiencies, and improving promotional effectiveness. Automating trade promotion planning will result in cost savings, higher profitability, and better allocation of marketing budgets. More broadly, society benefits from optimized trade promotions that improve product availability, create cost savings for consumers, and contribute to a more sustainable and efficient retail supply chain. Furthermore, advancements in AI-driven decision-making from this project could set a benchmark for other industries seeking to improve operational efficiency through machine learning.

Artificial Empathy in Fundraising

Many nonprofit organizations struggle to create compelling stories that inspire people to donate. This project aims to develop an AI-powered assistant that helps nonprofits improve their fundraising campaigns by using more empathetic and emotionally engaging language. Since people are more likely to donate when they feel a personal connection to a cause, this tool will suggest ways to make campaign messages more impactful.

The AI assistant will analyze and enhance fundraising messages, making them more effective in engaging potential donors. By testing different approaches across causes like environmental conservation, health, education, and community development, the tool will learn which types of messaging work best. Nonprofits will be able to use this AI-powered support to create more persuasive campaigns, build stronger connections with donors, and ultimately increase funding for their important work.

Development of qPCR tests for the assessment of water quality

Despite many recent advances in biotechnology, the methods for monitoring water quality remain largely unchanged for the past century. We will use next-generation DNA sequencing technology to guide the design of novel DNA-based tests to improve sensitivity and specificity of water quality testing. There are two challenges which will be addressed by the intern: DNA from the environment has variable quality and we will work with Coastal Genomics, a BC company, to improve the quality of the DNA for analysis; and once we design the rapid DNA-based tests, we will work closely with the BC Public Health Microbiology and Reference Laboratory, which performs a high volume of water testing in BC, to transition these tests from the research laboratory to a environmental testing laboratory. The findings of this research will lead to the development of new and improved tools to monitor water quality in British Columbia and across Canada.

L2M – Alaagi

Alaagi Inc. is developing an innovative seaweed-based bioplastic to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution caused by single-use petroleum-based plastics. This project focuses on refining the bioplastic prototype to improve its durability, flexibility, and biodegradability while ensuring it is cost-effective and scalable for mass production. Additionally, it aims to assess market readiness by engaging with industry stakeholders, conducting pilot tests, and gathering insights to align the product with customer needs. By the end of the project, Alaagi Inc. will have a refined, market-ready bioplastic and a clear commercialization strategy. The project benefits the partner organization by accelerating product development, validating its market potential, and supporting its goal of introducing a sustainable alternative to traditional plastics. This aligns with broader environmental and economic goals by reducing plastic waste and fostering innovation in the packaging industry.

L2M – Pliantech

Spinal disorders are the largest cause of years lived with disability globally. Artificial disc replacement (ADR) is a common surgical approach to address dis degeneration, but reoperation rates can remain as high as 20%. Mechanical analysis of on-market designs and discussions with spine surgeons suggest this is linked to the mechanical design of the implants leading to adjacent segment disease (ASD) by placing higher loads above and below the spinal level of operation. The goal of this project is to characterize and develop a novel implant design for ADR to see how varying different properties in structure of flexures in the implant affect its mechanical performance. Designs will be 3D-printed in titanium and tested with a mechanical loading 6 degree-of-freedom joint simulator, as well as simulated response with a finite element analysis software. The designs will be simulated in compression (Fz), torsion (Mz), lateral bending (My), and flexion extension (Mx) loading. For mechanical testing, the flexures were printed between custom-designed endplates to attach to the AMTI VIVO joint motion simulator. Designs are set to be tested under the same loading conditions as the simulation, with the primitive flexure response captured using a 3D digital image correlation system. These results will provide new understanding of the mechanical behaviour of additively manufactured primitive flexures for the implant design. This will help with the validation work on the potential health care application of this project. For the partner organization, this project supports the development of a Canadian enterprise and increases the likelihood of translating academic research from the lab to a commercial application. The end benefit for users is a potentially improved disc replacement design with more natural biomechanical properties.

SEDV 2025 Capstone Project

The goal of this project is to develop and pilot a sustainability materiality assessment framework for the Calgary Stampede. It is essential to understand stakeholder group’s values and motivations to make the best strategic decisions possible for organizations and the Calgary Stampede is no exception. By piloting the framework, it will be possible to test its effectiveness before utilizing the framework for future stakeholder engagement.

A Study of Pre-Modern Japanese Yogacara through the Lens of Memory

The purpose of this project is to contribute to our understanding of the development of Yogacara (Jp. Hosso) thought in pre-modern Japan between Heian and Kamakura periods (794-1333). To do so, it examines the writings of the Hosso monk-scholar Jokei (1155-1213), a neglected yet important reformer who lived in an era marked by political instability and religious creativity. Concretely, the project will provide an English translation of the “Hossoshu shoshin ryakuyo” and its appendix, a primer in Hosso doctrine that reflects Jokei’s understanding and reformulation of Buddhist teachings. This would be the first ever complete English translation of any doctrinal work written by Jokei. Then, through the lens of collective memory studies, it will engage with the Hosso doctrinal concepts mentioned therein, advocating for the possibility of building a theoretically framework that bridges concepts from both traditions without distorting them.

Design and Evaluation of a Lightweight Persistent Data Store for High-Frequent Concurrent Read and Write Accesses

This research project will systematically compare different design alternatives for a data store module that is tuned for concurrent accesses by multiple independent threads in a program. The particular access pattern is modelled after the specifics of automated securities trading programs implemented in Java. Based on a systematic evaluation, a prototype implementation will be developed that will allow X3 Trading to dramatically improve the efficiency of business application development.

Mesh Heating Tech for Snow Removal from PV Panels

Net Zero Atlantic is a non-profit organization, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that is seeking to advance a sustainable and inclusive transition to a carbon-neutral Atlantic Canada through the provision of credible and objective data and support services. In service of this objective, Net Zero Atlantic leads applied research projects designed to help inform Atlantic Canada’s transition to net zero emissions. There are still significant knowledge and technology gaps that must be identified and addressed, and the Emerging Concepts and Technologies (ECT) Research Program will make R&D investments to foster early-stage genesis of novel technologies in the region, and to evaluate the suitability of technologies emerging from other jurisdictions for application in the region. The economic potential for current emerging technologies in Canada is significant. By the 2060s, the market for net-zero solutions for the steel, cement, and chemicals sectors, for example, could reach almost $100 billion USD per year. Net Zero Atlantic is the umbrella holder for this project. In addition to the project activities and resources listed above in 2.5, NZA will track deliverables and scope changes, review interim and final submissions, attend presentations, disburse and track funding and report Program outcomes and expenditures to funders and NZA’s Board of Directors. The outcomes of the project with be leveraged by NZA ECT program to support Nova Scotia’s net zero emissions goals.

Developing Technetium radiochemistry to assess bisphosphonate-antibiotic conjugate biodistribution

The effective antimicrobial treatment of bone infections / osteomyelitis are often hampered by the secretion of beta-lactamase enzymes that inactivate the beta-lactam ring of otherwise effective penicillins and related antibiotics. To neutralize enzyme activity, beta-lactam antibiotics will often be co-administered with beta-lactamase inhibitors, such as Tazobactam. However, the systemic introduction of beta-lactamase inhibitors may not always lead to optimal bone tissue bioavailability – the desired site of action for treating bone infections such as osteomyelitis. Herein, we target the beta-lactamase inhibitor Tazobactam directly to bone by conjugation to a bisphosphonate (BP) carrier.
The graduate student will now travel for a 3 month internship in a collaborator’s lab in Japan, and will be trained in radiolabeling chemistry capable of measuring the biodistribution of the drug after injection into lab rats. Our research outcomes will provide the evidence necessary for indication of these novel platform of bone-seeking antimicrobial compounds in the treatment of bone infections such as osteomyelitis associated with arthroplasty revision surgery. Uptake by knowledge users (orthopaedic surgeons, infectious disease pharmacists) will significantly improve effective antimicrobial therapy and help reduce kidney and liver toxicity in the antimicrobial treatment these patients.

Risk Estimation of Deterioration for patients in the cardiac ICU

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiative at SickKids, supporting the future of individualized paediatric care at SickKids and beyond. We are developing a unique paediatric methodology for the integration of AI and data science into clinical care. Critically ill children in pediatric and cardiac intensive care units are at a significant risk of clinical deterioration, which can lead to devastating outcomes, including death, long-term disability, and substantial healthcare costs. Current interventions often fail to provide timely and targeted care, as the early identification of at-risk patients remains a persistent challenge due to the complexity of high-resolution physiological data and the frequent occurrence of missing data in clinical monitoring systems. This internship is the first step to the development of an advanced tool that can estimate the risk of clinical deterioration in real time, enabling healthcare providers to deliver proactive and personalized care.