Projets novateurs réalisés

Enhancement and in-field deployment of spectroscopy-based nutrient sensor for potato plants using machine learning and IoT techniques

This is a project that aims to deploy a new sensing system that allows the estimate of nutrients in potato plants in near real-time by scanning their leaves in two different modes: fresh when still intact and dried. This sensing system would replace manual sampling and wet tissue chemical analysis to allow immediate response to nutrient deficiency that will optimize the use of fertilizers and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emission – in addition to the economic benefits of using fertilizers only as needed. In order to be deployed, the sensing system should be validated and tested which this project will help to achieve. This step is critical because the sensing system relies on machine learning whose performance improves as more data are used for training and evaluation. Hence, maximizing the amount of data is one of the objectives of this project. Also, the enhanced machine learning models will be plugged in a computational cloud around which wireless connectivity will be developed which is the other objective in this project.

Continuous hydrogen and carbon production and characterization from methane pyrolysis in molten media

In partnership with the University of British Columbia, the intern will work with VulcanX, a Canadian energy company, on a project to make hydrogen production cleaner and cheaper. They will help set up a reactor with the capability of producing hydrogen and solid carbon in a continuous process. This setup will be used to evaluate the impacts of operational parameters such as temperature, pressure, feedstock, and molten media composition on the products. The intern will work closely with VulcanX’s team, getting guidance and using their resources. VulcanX will share data and information throughout the project. The project aims to make low-emission hydrogen and solid carbon at scale, which is important for VulcanX’s technology commercialization. It will also benefit Canada to revitalize its natural gas resources and infrastructure towards a low-carbon economy and create jobs in the clean-tech sector.

Generating Reliable Estimates for the GHG Emissions Impacts of Existing and Future Cycling Infrastructure

This project focuses on identifying and developing methods of estimating the Green house Gas (GHG)- emissions related benefits of bicycle infrastructure (such as, painted bike lanes, protected bike lanes, multi-use trails). GHG-emissions estimation methods that consider both the “benefits” and “costs” related to active transportation infrastructure is extremely rare, and as a result, there is no clear and comprehensive guideline for Canadian municipalities to understand the environmental-sustainability related benefits of these planning efforts. The project has two goals. First, we will identify existing best practices in methods and municipal approaches to measuring GHG emissions-related benefits of active transportation and public transportation infrastructure. Second, we will develop a GHG-emissions modelling framework that can be easily implemented by the City of Toronto and other Canadian municipalities. A key goal will be to develop a proof-of-concept method that can be implemented by Canadian municipalities now, within the current limitations in terms of data availability.

Investigations into LCC-HVDC Converter connecting to weak ac systems using various compensator configurations

Line-commutated Converters (LCC) have been used for over half a century due to their robustness as well as high power capacity. However, they can face challenges from voltage and frequency disturbances in the case of terminating in a very weak ac network. Such systems use synchronous condensers (SCs) to provide voltage and frequency support at the receiving end. A promising new topology for connecting SCs into an ac network has been developed at TGS (the industry partner). In this approach, the SC is interfaced with the network through an asynchronous by-passable back-to-back VSC link. This removes the requirement for the SC to operate at network frequency, thereby allowing much larger energy transfer to the SC’s rotating mass during under/over frequency events. Closing the bypass circuit breaker during normal operation allows the SC to perform its usual voltage control function in parallel with two converters which work as two STATCOMS. This provides the system with much more reactive power during voltage disturbances. The project aims to investigate the applicability of this approach in LCC-HVDC converters considering the range of operating contingencies.

Ácara Climate : Mesurer les impacts financiers des changements climatiques en agriculture

Le projet consiste à développer et entraîner un modèle hybride (process-based model & computer simulation model) pour quantifier les impacts financiers des changements climatiques sur l’agriculture. Acara cherche à évoluer vers un modèle hybride intégrant des techniques de Machine Learning (ML). Cette transition marquera une étape importante avant le lancement de projets pilotes qui mettront en oeuvre ce nouveau modèle dans des conditions réelles.
Le projet de stage vise donc à résoudre ces problèmes spécifiques en exploitant l’apprentissage automatique pour améliorer le plus possible la précision des prévisions. Ainsi, Acara vise à tester et valider les résultats prédictifs du modèle hybride, afin d’établir une preuve de concept robuste qui fournira une validation scientifique
de notre approche.

Sheep shape: Investigating the influence of seasonal nutrition on Stone’s sheep body condition

Stone’s sheep are a genetically distinct subspecies of thinhorn sheep which exist almost entirely in British Columbia (BC), giving BC a global responsibility to manage this unique species. Ungulate nutrition has a direct influence on population dynamics and behaviour, and forage availability and quality in late summer and early fall are increasingly considered key to over-winter survival. However, late winter peaks in mortality consistently linked to poor body condition often led to habitat enhancement activities on seasonal winter ranges to improve survival. The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of nutrition on body condition in Stone’s sheep in the Finlay Russell ranges by providing information on forage quality and quantity on summer and winter ranges. This information, when paired with fine scale body condition data, will lead to an improved understanding of the role of nutrition and its limitations for Stone’s sheep. Our goal is to provide a greater depth of knowledge for implementing habitat enhancement actions in ranges where seasonal range quality or body condition is limiting. Providing meaningful habitat management recommendations in turn would increase the viability and conservation of this unique species.

SF6 Innovation Internship

Over 4 months we will work to scope and structure global innovation efforts in one, and potentially more, key areas to tackle large sustainability challenges. The areas are SF6, plastics (with a focus on bio plastics) and agricultural innovation (including soil carbon measurement).
A large focus will be on innovation to tackle the challenge of SF6. SF6 is the worst greenhouse gas, approximately 23,500 worse than CO2 on a molecule-to-molecule basis. It is used in the distribution of power around the world and even the small amounts that leak to the atmosphere have a huge impact. The objective of the SF6 stream is to become a world leader in understanding SF6 from a business perspective with the intent of establishing a B-Corporation to drive innovation to solve the problem.
The intern will work with Eric Beynon (Founder of Sustainable Growth Company) directly with exposure to other innovation partners, including partners in U.S. The project will require a host of business skills, including strategic thinking, analytics and communications.

Lively Web of Things (LWoT)

The term Web of Things (WoT) refers to the concept of integrating resources and interactions involving devices, data, and people on the web. WoT features interactions as first class entities above and beyond traditional web resources and, thus, enabling applications with substantial context awareness, personalization, and automation. Lively is a new open source approach to web programming developed by our industrial partner. It provides a complete platform for web applications, including dynamic graphics, network access, and development tools. The aim of the Lively WoT project is to develop a series of dashboards for different application domains using Lively. Using the Lively Kernel as a code base we will use a model driven engineering approach to generate personalized and self-adaptive dashboards for diverse domains, including cloud computing, big data analytics, and interactive shared video streaming.

Découverte d’anticorps améliorés ciblant LILRB1 pour le traitement de tumeurs solides

Malgré les nombreuses avancées dans le traitement du cancer, cette maladie reste la première cause de mortalité au Canada. Une voie prometteuse de traitement est l’immmunothérapie dont le but est de moduler le système immunitaire afin de renforcer sa capacité à identifier et détruire les cellules tumorales. Dans ce contexte, il est possible d’utiliser des anticorps afin de bloquer des points de contrôles immunitaires, protéines réduisant l’efficacité du système immunitaire. En clinique, des anticorps ciblant les points de contrôles immunitaires ont eu beaucoup de succès, toutefois, plusieurs patients ne répondent pas à ces traitements. Il est donc primordial de développer des anticorps afin de bloquer d’autres points de contrôles immunitaires. Dans cette optique, le point de contrôle LILRB1 est une cible intéressante pour le traitement du cancer. LILRB1 se retrouve sur plusieurs cellules immunitaires et exerce une régulation inhibitrice différente du système immunitaire par rapport aux points de contrôles actuellement ciblés en clinique. Le but de ce projet est donc d’obtenir des anticorps ciblant LILRB1 pour améliorer le traitement des tumeurs solides en monothérapie ou en combinaison avec les traitements de pratique médicale courante. Pour se faire, nous allons modifier intelligemment des anticorps liant LILRB1 précédemment obtenus par Immune Biosolutions afin d’obtenir les meilleurs anticorps ciblant cette protéine. Ensuite, une sélection des meilleurs candidats sera faite grâce à une technique impliquant des levures que nous allons développer et améliorer. Ce projet permettra donc le développement d’anticorps améliorés ciblant LILRB1 et l’élaboration d’une version novatrice de sélection des anticorps sur levures.

JH Sports – Improving health section including training and health programming and implementation of marketing strategies for business growth

JH Sports is Fredericton’s first indoor golf and athlete performance center. It has four full hitting bays with full course simulation, athletic performance center and also offers golf coaching. It offers a full on course simulation software where one can play and practice on over 200 courses worldwide. Presently they are lacking a specialized expertise in the field of training and health programming for which they are looking for an intern, preferably having a background in Kinesiology, who will bring specialized skills and knowledge to enhance the health section of the company, including training and health programming. Also, there is a need for developing new programs and strategies to grow the business and meet the evolving needs of clients for which they are looking for another intern who will be responsible to implement effective marketing strategies for the expansion of the business.

Bioreactor system development for 3D printed vascularized tissue

Our project focuses on developing a state-of-the-art bioreactor system specifically designed for the cultivation of 3D bioprinted vascular tissues. The current limitation in regenerative medicine is the inability to efficiently and precisely cultivate complex vascular constructs. Our proposed bioreactor addresses this critical gap, harnessing advanced sensor technology, individual flow control, automated rotation, and remote operation capabilities.

The significance of this research lies in its potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine. By enabling more effective cultivation of vascular tissues, our bioreactor system could pave the way for significant advancements in tissue engineering, organ transplantation, and drug testing, ultimately contributing to improved health outcomes and quality of life.

New Market Entry Go-to-Market Innovation

Centro Commerce builds first-of-its-kind AI for supply chain. We aim to enter a new market with new technology that we have developed. The new market we intend to enter comprises of ecommerce and omnichannel businesses generating $25M+ in revenue in North America. This initiative requires innovating the marketing strategy and execution to ensure success in this new target market. With the BSI internship, we aim to improve the conversion rate in in this new market as well as increase the total pipeline that is captured by our new technologyl