Projets novateurs réalisés

Integration and Further Development of the StarSpec InspireSAT Attitude Determination and Control System

New rocket share technology has made putting things in space (particularly in low orbits around the Earth) cheaper than ever before. In this project the student intern will help to prepare a new type of small satellite, the InspireSAT from StarSpec Technologies Inc., which will have a first launch in late June or July 2026. InspireSAT is specially designed so that it can point at different locations or on Earth very precisely, which makes it an excellent platform for Earth monitoring or space telescopes. The student will also work on improving the methods used to build and test new InspireSATs, and will investigate ways to operate InspireSAT for different types of satellites (for example communication, or tracking space debris).

Phytoextraction of metals in leachate through crop irrigation

This project aims to explore the uptake of metals in leachate water by Tallwheatgrass phytoextraction. Leachate water is costly to treat and often requires off-site transportation. In addition to being cost intensive, this is also a high energy consuming process. By utilizing phytoremediation, we can provide a sustainable, affordable, and environmentally friendly alternative to shipping leachate and treating through chemical processes. To sustainably explore this treatment strategy, we need scientific expertise, analysis, and observation. This project involves the engineering of automated systems (pumps, irrigation sprinklers, moisture monitors, weather stations, etc.), plant science, soil science, and agronomy, as well as scientific environmental monitoring. By partnering with MITACS our intern will help provide this scientific observation and analysis at an advanced academic level, focusing specifically on metal uptake and mass balance.

Using an Aneuploid Mouse Embryo Model to Uncover miRNA Indicators of Human Embryo Developmental Potential

The proposed research project aims to improve IVF (in vitro fertilization) by making it safer, more accurate, and less stressful for patients. It achieves this by developing a new, non-invasive method to determine whether early-stage embryos have the correct number of chromosomes. Instead of the current method, which involves taking a small sample from the embryo, our study will test for specific molecules called microRNAs that embryos naturally release into their surrounding fluid. By comparing microRNA patterns from healthy and abnormal embryos, first in mice and then in samples from patients at a fertility clinic, this research seeks to reliably identify embryos with the highest chances of leading to a successful pregnancy without harming the embryo. This project could increase IVF success rates, lower costs, lessen the emotional burden on families, and help keep the fertility clinic at the London Health Sciences Centre at the forefront of fertility care and technology in Canada.

Quantum-Enhanced Double DQN for Real-Time Bus Scheduling: A Comparative Study

Efficient real-time scheduling of bus operations remains a critical challenge in urban transit systems, particularly under uncertain traffic conditions and high passenger demand variability. Our existing Double Deep Q-Network (Double DQN) implementation has demonstrated promising results in learning optimal holding and stop-skipping policies for bus operations. However, as urban networks grow in complexity and require increasingly stringent performance standards, classical deep reinforcement learning (DRL) architectures face fundamental limitations in scalability, convergence speed, and sample efficiency.
Quantum computing offers a transformative paradigm that leverages quantum mechanical phenomena—superposition, entanglement, and interference—to process information in fundamentally novel ways. Quantum neural networks (QNNs) and variational quantum circuits (VQCs) demonstrate potential for exponential representational capacity and accelerated convergence in specific learning tasks. This research proposes to develop and evaluate a Quantum-Enhanced Double DQN (QE-DDQN) that integrates quantum computing components with our existing classical framework.

Building Green Futures: A Business Development Toolkit for Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Circular Economy

The project will create a practical toolkit to support immigrant entrepreneurs in developing environmentally focused, community-based businesses. It advances climate action and economic inclusion through circular economy strategies in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Motor-powered pediatric prosthetic knee joint

Prosthetic knees are essential for transfemoral amputees, enabling more natural movement, reduced energy use, and increased independence. Active prosthetic knees (APKs), which use motor-powered actuation to mimic muscle function, further improve gait efficiency, balance, and weight distribution—benefits especially crucial for children. However, current APKs are designed for adults and are too heavy and bulky for paediatric users, creating a gap in the market. Bionic Power Inc.’s Agilik device, a lightweight smart orthosis for children, shows promise for adaptation into a powered prosthetic knee. This project will evaluate the actuator’s performance for torque and battery life in a prosthetic context and aims to create the first pediatric APK, aligning with Bionic Power’s mission to enhance children’s mobility.

Développement d’une solution d’inspection de quais portuaires par drone sous-marin, photogrammétrie et intelligence artificielle

Le Port de Sept-Îles, premier port minéralier en Amérique du Nord, célèbre 25 ans d’indépendance. Depuis 1999, il mise sur l’innovation, le développement durable et des partenariats solides pour soutenir la communauté. Avec une capacité annuelle de 100 millions de tonnes, il joue un rôle central dans le développement régional et international. Dans ce contexte, le PSÎ ne cesse de promouvoir l’innovation pour par exemple améliorer ses procédés d’opération. C’Est ainsi que le PSÎ souhaite disposer d’une solution d’inspection de ses quais portuaires par drone sous-marin pour remplacer la solution traditionnelle qui consiste à employer des plongeurs qui sous l’eau prennent des images de ce qu’il considère comme des défauts : il en résulte une imprécision sur la localisation des défauts, une qualité parfois médiocre des images complexifiant donc l’évaluation de la criticité des défauts et une dangerosité pour les plongeurs. La solution d’inspection par drone sous-marin, photogrammétrie et entraînement de modèle IA permettra in fine, de générer un rapport d’inspection géolocalisant les défauts avec leur niveau de criticité permettant ainsi de planifier les opérations de maintenances de ces quais portuaires.

Airmarket-iART Safety Assessment

Transport Canada is the regulatory agency in Canada that oversees the certification of RPAS (Remotely piloted aircraft systems) and has presented a roadmap for RPAS manufacturers to demonstrate the evidence that a given platform can meet safety objectives. The project will be completed by the iART alliance and aims to develop the technical evidence required to produce this declaration, which is required to demonstrate compliance with the regulatory requirements set by Transport Canada. This will be done through an in-depth analysis to ensure system safety and reliability to produce the declaration to be submitted to Transport Canada by the manufacturer, Censys Technologies. Airmarket specializes in air traffic management for drones, ensuring that crewed and uncrewed aircraft can operate safely in shared airspace for BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) operations. BVLOS capability can improve Canadian lives, and applications of BVLOS operations include infrastructure monitoring, wildfire suppression, wildfire mapping, forest health assessments, and much more. This initiative will go beyond routine business operations by establishing a scalable framework that enhances safety and accelerates adoption for manufacturers. Given all the benefits of BVLOS operations, such operations are still high-risk and can result in serious complications if not conducted safely. This project will lay the foundation for successful BVLOS operations across Canada and will allow Airmarket to assess the safety and demonstrate the applicability of Saentaro aircraft in the applications mentioned above.

Emergency Department (ED) Wait Times at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) – ED Challenge

Despite numerous system interventions, emergency department (ED) wait times at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) remain a critical challenge. As part of an Innovation Partnership Procurement by Co-Design initiative led jointly with the University of Waterloo under the CareNext Coalition, WRHN is now engaging vendors and internal stakeholders to co-develop novel interventions that improve patient flow and care experience.
This project seeks to embed a PhD-level intern with advanced expertise in health systems, policy analysis, and clinical evaluation to assess the impact of pilot innovations. The intern will work closely with WRHN’s Innovation and ED teams to evaluate outcomes from both a clinical efficiency and user experience lens, while also identifying enabling or obstructive policy frameworks. The intern will be instrumental in informing procurement decisions and policy recommendations for scale-up.

Project Evaluation and Data Collection Support-Island FOod Network

The Island Food Network (IFN), based in Victoria County, Cape Breton, is one of the community partners delivering the province-wide Collaborative Food Network (CFN) program. Launched in April 2025, the CFN initiative supports community-led responses to food insecurity by promoting human dignity, choice, nutrition, adaptability, and efficiency in local food programs.

This project will evaluate IFN’s CFN programming during its first full year of implementation (April 2025 – March 2026). It will explore how IFN’s activities—such as food access initiatives, community meals, and outreach efforts—are helping to reduce food insecurity and build stronger social connections within the community. The project will collect both numbers and stories: how many people participated, how the programs were experienced, and whether they made participants feel included, respected, and supported.

A student intern will work closely with IFN staff and two academic supervisors from Cape Breton University to design and carry out the evaluation. This includes developing simple tools to document ongoing program activities, collecting feedback from participants, and analyzing the impact of the programming. The goal is to help IFN learn from its work, improve future programming, and meet provincial requirements for annual evaluation.

This is the first time the Island Food Network is participating in a formal evaluation of its CFN programming, but it builds on lessons learned from similar evaluations previously conducted in other Nova Scotia communities, including Glace Bay and Eskasoni.

Multimodal Sensing and Analytics for Remote Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring

This project develops a unified multimodal sensory analytics framework to monitor remote aquatic ecosystems using video, sonar, and environmental sensors. By combining these complementary data sources, the system can operate continuously across a range of challenging conditions such as low visibility, night-time, or remote locations with limited infrastructure. The project is a collaboration between Simon Fraser University and the University of Hong Kong, advancing research in artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), edge computing, and environmental analytics. It supports student training, international knowledge exchange, and contributes to the development of scalable tools for fish monitoring, ecosystem assessment, and long-term environmental stewardship.

Strengthening Rigour in Mixed Methods Research

Mixed methods research—combining quantitative and qualitative approaches—has become increasingly important in psychology and the social sciences for addressing complex, real-world questions. However, there is no shared standard for defining and evaluating rigor across mixed methods studies. This project tackles that gap by conducting a Delphi study, an iterative method of gathering expert feedback to build consensus on best practices for rigor in psychological mixed methods research. Experts will evaluate proposed strategies, suggest new ones, and refine recommendations across multiple survey rounds, aiming to produce a coherent, community-informed framework.

Preliminary findings from a recent systematic review highlight why this work is urgently needed: although many researchers refer to concepts like “triangulation” or “reflexivity,” these are rarely defined or consistently applied, leading to methodological variability. The resulting framework from this project will offer researchers, educators, and policymakers practical, openly shared guidance for designing and evaluating rigorous mixed methods studies. By improving methodological clarity and transparency, this work will enhance the quality and credibility of mixed methods research, supporting evidence-based decision-making in areas like health, education, and social policy—both in Canada and globally.