Projets novateurs réalisés

Development of Neurotherapeutics from Lead Candidates

There is a critical need to develop new therapeutics for the treatment of chronic pain. In this partnership between Zymedyne Therapeutics and the Derksen Research lab at the University of Calgary, we will work to develop lead hit compounds to leads that can be put forward as clinical candidates. As many existing pain therapeutics, such as opioids, have serious side effects over extended use, this program aims to target Cav3.2 receptors with novel inhibitors. Although an established target for pain therapeutics, no inhibitors of these calcium channels have yet been approved for clinical use. This research partnership is based on advancing hit compounds and understanding their function so that they can be moved closer to the clinic. This work includes the development of scalable synthetic routes to drug candidates using modern organic chemistry methods, and the completion of structure-activity relationship studies to fully understand how the lead molecules work after they are administered.

Greenhouse gas emissions monitoring and remediation approaches during wastewater treatment using partial denitrification anammox process

Wastewater treatment plants contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through the release of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), which are produced during various treatment processes. During biological nutrient removal in wastewater treatment, processes such as activated sludge can generate N2O (a potent greenhouse gas) during total nitrogen removal processes. Further energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants, including electricity for aeration and pumping, also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. The use of fossil fuels for energy generation further intensifies these emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment plants underscore the importance of adopting energy-efficient technologies, optimizing treatment processes, and implementing remedial strategies. The proposed project will evaluate greenhouse gas emissions in a BioCord pilot using an advanced total nitrogen removal process called partial denitrification anammox and demonstrate remediation approaches under different conditions in the biological nutrient removal process. The pilot project will demonstrate the contribution of BioCord to climate change mitigation by lowering emission generation through the metabolic activities of the microorganisms within the biofilm, as well as energy and carbon footprint minimization. Moreover, biofilms have demonstrated resilience to various environmental stressors, including temperature fluctuations and changes in nutrient availability. By reducing emissions and promoting sustainable practices, wastewater treatment plants can contribute to Ontario’s efforts to mitigate climate change and achieve environmental sustainability.

Rural Food Production with Passive Solar Greenhouses

This project will explore how a rural community’s focus on a local/regional food system can augment their economy and outline the feasibility for a passive solar greenhouse for food production in the northern, rural town of Athabasca, Alberta. Using a community economic development model, the project will incorporate resident input in determining design elements as well as business planning options, and working with Athabasca University’s Centre for Architecture, share a viable prototype for a sustainable social enterprise.

NutraForge Product development Acceleration

The proposed project focuses on developing advanced AI technologies to enhance the partner organization’s platform. The intern will work on integrating and optimizing AI-driven solutions, such as personalized nutrition analysis and professional-client data sharing, using tools like OpenAI’s models and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). By strengthening the AI workflows, including speech recognition and data processing, the project will enable more accurate and scalable analysis. This development will benefit the organization by improving the platform’s ability to deliver personalized recommendations and insights, making it a more powerful tool for both users and professionals.

Develop a Reverse Recipe System using Sensory Data inputs and Machine Llearning to Create Gut-friendly Versions of Traditional Beverages

Kulture Rebellion a Canadian-based company is at the forefront of innovative fermentation technology, specializing in developing gut-friendly beverages. The main activities of Kulture Rebellion include researching and developing new fermentation techniques, producing gut-friendly beverages, and experimenting continuously to enhance the sensory profiles of their products. The primary innovation challenge Kulture Rebellion faces is developing a highly accurate and efficient reverse recipe system. This system needs to utilize sensory data inputs from traditional fermentation processes to create gut-friendly beverages that replicate the sensory experiences of traditional drinks (Yu Haukun et al., 2022). This challenge is complex because it involves continuously processing and analyzing vast amounts of sensory data and refining the algorithm for improved accuracy and adaptability.
In order to address this challenge the company wants to develop and refine a reverse recipe system using sensory data inputs and machine learning to create gut-friendly versions of traditional beverages. This system aims to accurately replicate the sensory profiles of traditional drinks while using pre-specified gut-friendly ingredients. The approach involves several phases to ensure the project’s success. Initially, the project will focus on scoping, legal paperwork, project planning, budgeting, intellectual property assignment, and obtaining stakeholder sign-off.

In the development phase, the WIMTACH-CEDA team will create a web portal to input measured fermentation parameters and collect data. The team will then integrate OpenAI to convert the AI model’s output data into human-readable sensory outputs. Additionally, the AI model, developed in a previous phase, will be optimized and deployed using the fermented data to predict sensory data. The portal will facilitate the collection data from fermentation trials conducted by Kulture Rebellion and used the data from the fermentation to optimize the AI model for the higher accuracy.

Enhancing atomic quantum memory through collective atomic behaviours

Quantum memories are key components in the development of a quantum network. Among their many uses, these memories will facilitate the synchronization of quantum signals at repeater nodes, which are a crucial technology for extending the long-distance reach of quantum communications. Quantum memories facilitate the transfer of quantum information from electromagnetic signals into matter-based quantum states through careful engineering and control of the light-matter interaction. This project will explore the preservation of true quantum information in an atomic quantum memory, beyond established proof-of-concept demonstrations with attenuated classical signals, by relying on expertise from both the home and host institutions in quantum optics and atomic physics. The project will develop the tools for an experimental demonstration proving the preservation of quantum correlations and entanglement in an Autler-Townes splitting atomic quantum memory. Additionally, the project will include theory work exploring how the atomic medium can be enhanced through many-body and multi-atom effects to improve the storage time and the preservation of quantum information.

Ground operations in the aviation industry

This research project aims to solve the problem of fragmented data in the aviation industry by developing a system that integrates and analyzes various data sources. The goal is to create dynamic dashboards that provide real-time insights into safety, compliance, and operational status for different users, such as airlines and ground service providers. The focus will be on ground handling operations, including fueling, de-icing, and passenger handling. By aggregating data, developing analytical systems with machine learning, and creating user-friendly dashboards, this project will help stakeholders make informed decisions, enhance operational efficiency, and uphold safety standards in the aviation industry.

The relationship between dark matter and peculiar velocities: Newtechniques and tests with numerical simulations

During this research I will contribute to our growing understanding of dark matter and dark energy by applying and extending the theoretical framework of simulation and modeling of how dark matter couples via gravity to induce measureable peculiar velocities. As a result of this work Dr. Lavaux and I hope to produce a large set of randomly generated universe simulations which can be used to confirm how peculiar velocities and the systematic and random errors associated with measuring them can depend upon the cosmology of the simulation. In working with both Dr. Lavaux, Dr. Jens Jasche, and I will also contribute to constructing a constrained simulation matching the 2M++ catalogue. I will also work with Dr. Lavaux in developing an alternative to maximum likelihood and minimum variance velocity reconstruction measures for cosmology surveys. These works will help understand gravity and constrain the formation history and composition of the universe.

An Exact Method for the Quadratic Knapsack Problem Through Binary Decision Diagram

This Mitacs Globalink project, part of a PhD thesis titled “Exact and Heuristic Methods for the Quadratic Knapsack Problem (QKP),” aims to develop new optimization techniques for solving the QKP, a problem with significant applications in industries like logistics, finance, and electronics. Building on prior successes, including a dynamic programming heuristic and an algorithm using Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs), the project will focus on creating a branch-and-cut algorithm specifically for the QKP. This collaboration between experts from Université Laval, Université de Québec à Montréal, and Carnegie Mellon University integrates advanced BDD techniques with QKP models. The research outcomes are expected to contribute significantly to combinatorial optimization, with broad applications across various industries, enhancing global advancements in solving complex optimization challenges.

Experimental investigations on metabolic and transcriptomic profiling of Rhodococcus opacus cultivated on lignin stream

In recent years, lignin valorization has gained increasing attention in both academic and industrial sectors, hoping to achieve salient breakthroughs in lignin metabolism. Many studies have pointed to a promising approach using microorganisms particularly bacteria for lignin valorization through a bio-funneling approach, converting it into products of biotechnological interests. Thus, this project aims to contribute to advancements in the bioconversion of lignin stream (upstream and downstream), a highly abundant industrial by-product in both Canada and Brazil, which is currently burnt for heat and electricity production in the paper mills, posing significant environmental risks. This project will essentially focus on understanding the genetic and metabolic mechanisms involved in converting phenolics and lignin by Rhodococcus opacus, a bacteria capable of consuming aromatic compounds and producing lipids from this substrate.

We’re Only Human: Enhancing a Cultural Sensitivity Training Virtual Reality Prototype in Early-Stage Development

Objective: Draw on Researcher Expertise to Assist the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) in their Development of a Virtual Reality (VR) Cultural Sensitivity Training System

Background: Through informal testing with eight CCIS employees, a design concept introduced in the “Preconceptions” application that is a VR cultural sensitivity training program. It creates a digitally immersive environment that tracks people’s eye movements to reveal implicit biases (e.g. show how one looks longer at a visible minority in a retail store). Patterns are presented to reveal implicit attentional bias.

Current Inniative: CCIS needs support systematically gathering and interpreting high-quality information for the purpose of continued innovation, development, and deployment. As such, CCIS is partnering with a social scientist that has a strong research background in community-based research. Since the social scientist is an expert in qualitative and quantitative data, he will be able to support an intern in developing high-quality information gathering strategies that includes sampling a diverse group from various demographics. The partnership will provide maximally effective information for improving an innovative cultural sensitivity training product.
An intern will learn to facilitate the use of the application: preparing the VR setup to ensure all technical aspects are functioning correctly, guiding participants through the eye-tracking activities, and analyzing data to identify patterns ensure participants understand how to interpret their data and reflect on their biases. The supervised internal will design questionnaires and focus groups for collecting feedback focusing on the effectiveness of the application in achieving learning objectives.

Outputs: (1) High-quality experience in a community-university partnership that provides transferable skills for a student-intern. (2) High-quality information-gathering tools such as effective surveys and focus group guides that enable further development and refinement of the VR system. (3) Improved efficacy of an innovative application from participant feedback and technical observations distilled into recommendations.

Advancing Reconciliation Through Education, Language, and Theatre

Virginia Robertson is partnering with Shawnigan Lake School to teach Hul’qumi’num classes to secondary students. Recognizing that the student body is primarily settler and international students, the curriculum design will create space and time for students to learn Canadian colonial history, to engage with active Hul’q’umi’num’ language speakers, create their own theatrical vignettes based on Hul’qumi’num linguistic expression, and reflect on their own individual linguistic heritage.

The secondary student participants will document their project experience through personal learning journals, develop individual learner profiles that includes their linguistic origins and environments, noting their attitudes to the current health system, to cultivate awareness of the role that these factors played throughout the program and research process by writing their own stories in their own words.

The benefit to Shawnigan Lake School is the introduction and implementation of the school’s first immersive, Indigenous language programme that addresses the foundational concepts of Indigenous knowledge and first people’s principles of learning. Shawnigan Lake School is launching a Reconciliation Action Plan in October 2024 and the Hul’qumi’num language program is a foundational pillar of this. Shawnigan currently has 18 students who self-identify as Indigenous, and yet may never have had the opportunity to engage with their cultural and socio-linguistic identity.