Innovative Projects Realized

Development of a Rapid Point of Care test for Food & Water Safety

The project involves the development of a rapid detection test kit that will enable food processors to measure the absence or presence of potentially harmful pathogenic organisms prior to shipment to the general trade. The interns’ main objectives will be to dramatically reduce the assessment time for the tester- currently ranging from 4 to 5 days- to an elapsed time of minutes. The kit will benefit the food processor to reduce microbial risk and potential cost from a recall, while the consumer will have safer foods. On the other hand, the industrial partner will possess this unique technology, which completes the entire process of safe foods production, that being pre-operative sanitation, in process food safety interventions and lastly the validation of food security through the test kit protocols.

Evaluation of the OISEAU Application

The project is a program evaluation of the mobile application OISEAU: Agents of Nature, designed by the non-profit organization Morning Star Enterprises. Morning Star has developed individual OISEAU applications for three Calgary Parks locations and the launch is the summer 2013.The application is designed to increase children’s exposure and connection with nature, as well as improve their content knowledge and physical activity. Research consistently shows that children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and moral development are enhanced by experiences with nature and that interactions with nature aid the development of self-concept, personal identity, and environmental protection. The research will be conducted by Ph.D. student Maxine Crawford, and supervised by Dr. Mark Holder, both of UBC Kelowna.

Modeling Microwave Heating of Food

Small food pieces, typically less than one centimeter, have different properties when absorbing microwave energy. This affects the design of antennas used to heat the food. The project will measure dielectric properties of different food types and sizes and then do computer modeling to determine the optimum design of antennas which will deliver the microwaves to the food. The rate of heating and the temperature distribution throughout the piece of food will be determined. With larger pieces, the food conducts the heat throughout averaging out the hot and cold temperatures. The challenge is to achieve even heating in a group of pieces. The research will investigate limiting the amount of energy applied at any location as well as moving of the pieces such that an average temperature is achieved in small pieces without overheating. The project will enable energy efficiencies for NuWave by optimizing the absorption of the microwaves.

Variables that affect quality of lime slurry produced in lime slaking reaction

Lime is an inorganic compound also known as Calcium Oxide. It is used as a coagulant (charged solid that helps remove smaller particles from water). It is also used as an acid neutralizer. The purpose of this research project is to quantify the use of lime for lime slurries and lime slaking applications. A lab test for lime slurry reactivity will be developed as a part of this project. Compounds affecting the slaking reaction and rate will also be examined and quantified. The main objective is to determine if slaking temperature can improve the chemical properties and reactivity of lime. The expectation is that the required amount will be less than what is currently used. Being able to communicate with industrial users the quantity of lime required will allow users to reduce their consumption of lime which will save money. Indirectly, industrial users will also reduce their carbon footprint because less lime will need to be transported.

Improved inhibitors of HIV infection

ViroCarb has identified a new class of HIV inhibitors against a new therapeutic target on the HIV envelope protein gp120, present in all HIV, including drug resistant strains. The objective of this internship is to conduct screening studies of libraries, designed based on this new chemical class for optimal efficacy and drug-like properties, using methods previously developed and optimized by the intern. He will also determine the level of anti-HIV activity of leading compounds identified against different HIV strains, including multi-drug resistant strains, and of inhibition of binding of the gp120 protein to the new target. The Result of these studies will be the identification of a lead compound for the development of a drug candidate.

Evaluating water temperature forecasting models used to predict salmon migration mortality

I will be working as an intern with Vynx Design Inc. generating temperature forecasts that will aid decision making for salmon fisheries managers. My research will focus on improving the accuracy and effectiveness of short-term temperature forecasts as well as enhancing the understanding of the relationship between river conditions and mortality. I will use both deterministic and statistical models to generate 10-day river temperature forecasts that will be used by Fraser River sockeye salmon in-season management for predicting in-river loss. I will then evaluate the performance of these models post-season by comparing river temperature estimates to actual observed conditions and the costs associated with each. In addition, I will generate historic river temperature forecasts for multiple sites along major tributaries in the Fraser River to better our understanding of trends in escapement discrepancies and river temperature.

Development of Load Case Model for the Design of Butt & Top Grapples

The sponsor company, Tigercat specializes in the design and manufacturing of premium quality forestry equipment and specialized off-road industrial equipment. This four months internship project will provide the company a set of load cases validated on a new design, optimized detail 3D and 2D models, selected material lists, and FEA simulation results of a tracked material handling machine attachment called a "Butt and Top Grapple". These deliverables will help the company reduce costs, increase product performance, and be competitive in the forestry equipment industry. This project will develop a load case model that can be used to evaluate stresses on key components on any grapple design to determine possible design changes to improve the grapple's durability and performance by reducing its weight and incorporating a stop mechanism into the grapple design. In order to achieve these goals, computer-aided design and finite element analysis methodologies and software will be used.

Education as a Mechanism to Foster Economic Development of Local Mining Communities

This SEF/MITACS proposal seeks to develop a curriculum about mining and local economic development. The content of the curriculum is divided into two main parts: a) mining life cycle and its phases and b) the opportunities that mining activities can create to local communities. The ultimate goal in developing this curriculum is to create a workshop series that can be delivered to local community members, local leaders, aboriginal people, government representatives, etc., with the intention of building community capacity to identify and take advantage of the economic opportunities that a mining project can create. The development of this proposed mining education curriculum for communities in addition to fill a gap not fulfilled by the mining industry nor governments also becomes a business opportunity to SEF that can eventually provide its consulting services to the industry and / or communities.

Lean and Green: Developing Environmental Management Processes for Industry

The intern will be engaged in developing a Lean and Green road map that establishes the current environmental performance of the study facility, identifies opportunities for improvement, and provides a systematic process in order to achieve sustainability goals. By engaging in the development of Current and Future Value Stream maps, applying relevant process management tools, and studying the impacts of soft skills on implementing and maintaining an environmental management system, the intern will identify operational management improvements at the study facility. This process will allow for identification of best practices in implementing Lean and Green processes across various industries.

Bioinformatic Identification of Optimal Targets & Therapeutic Antibody Development

The somatic mutational processes that occur within human cancers generate novel, non-self proteins that have the potential to be detected by antibodies and therefore exploited therapeutically. Such antibodies can be generated through the stimulation of the immune system or through the synthetic generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The nascent ability to determine the complete transcriptomes and genomes of tumours provides an unprecedented ability to detect other possible antigenic proteins and determine their potential applicability across a large number of tumour types and sub-types, both rare and common. Our goal is to develop a computational approach to identify potential therapeutic opportunities, examining protein coding changes across a large number of tumours sequenced within the Genome Sciences Centre and generated by other groups and consortia. This project will be a unique partnership with the Centre for Drug Research and Development in Vancouver, whereby targets identified in this project will be submitted for monoclonal antibody generation and pre-clinical evaluation.

Investigation of immunological mechanisms of peptide immunotherapy

Although early clinical trials have been positive, peptide vaccine mechanism of action (how tolerance is induced) is unknown. The primary objective of these studies is to identify changes in gene expression and cytokine expression that are correlated with vaccine treatment. These changes could provide insight to mechanisms of action and may reveal potential genetic biomarkers that could then be validated for use in clinical development of peptide vaccines, and also the treatment of allergic disease. If this study can identify the key genes can cellular pathways that respond to treatment with a peptide vaccine to cat allergy, it will represent a great advance in the understanding of the mechanisms of immunotolerance. Such knowledge may then be applied to the design of dosing regimens, clinical trial design, and the development of other peptide based immunotherapeutics.

Economic benefits of local purchasing

This research project will investigate local economic impacts resulting from municipal government procurement through locally-owned suppliers in comparison to procurement through national or multinational suppliers with local operations. The objective of the project is to determine a BC analysis to quanitify the economic impact of local purchasing decisions. Using the LM3 method, this research will involve the collection and analysis of records from a locally owned business (Mills Basics) and public documents from a national chain (Office Max) and multinational chains (Office Depot and Staples) in the same sector (Office Supplies).

The specific measuring process will look at the: 1. source of income (total income into the office supply retailers) and will then look at how it is 2. Circulated back into the local economy in the forms of wages and benefits, locally retained profit, local procurement of goods and services and local charitable, and 3. How this is re-spent within a defined BC. Together these measurements will allow us to determine the local multiplier and economic impact for office retailers in BC.