Projets novateurs réalisés

MHRC-Mitacs-iA Workplace Mental Health Fellowship

Skilled trades workers could face many challenges like anxiety, stress, discrimination, long working hours and heavy workloads, which can harm their work performance and well-being. Despite the growing diversity in the Canadian skilled trades workforce, women remain underrepresented, particularly in electrical work, while the prevalence of disabilities among these workers is largely unknown. There’s limited research in Canada on the mental health of skilled trades workers with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds, including women and visible minorities. Very few research in Canada focusing on the mental health of electrical, plumbing and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) workers with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds, such as women and visible minorities. To fill this gap, this research will first use surveys to evaluate these workers’ mental health status, and then, will use interviews to learn more about their experiences and struggles. Research findings could inform policies to improve their work environment and culture and provide more support for diverse groups of workers. The applicant will work with the Ontario Electrical League (OEL) and the Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) to carry out this research. Research results could support the development of strategies to enhance the experiences and occupational health of skilled trades workers and offer evidence-based insights for addressing mental health crises among individuals from diverse backgrounds. Through this collaboration, I hope to encourage more workers to enter skilled trade positions. Moreover, it aims to provide tailored recommendations for improving mental health services specifically for skilled trades workers from minority groups.

GRH Retail Collective

In September of 2023 a group of Capstone/Enactus NAIT students started work on a plan to reimagine the Glenrose corner store. Based on successful prototyping using a popup proof of concept model, Enactus NAIT is proposing a joint venture with Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital (GRH) to pilot and refine the business model over an eight month period. This would see the store open five days a week starting in May of this year.

To move this project forward, a full-time manager and business strategist is required. This is a perfect role for a NAIT Bachelor of Business Administration Co-op student. This person will be responsible for scaling the project from popups to full operations and guiding it through the next pilot period to a permanent operation that meets the objectives outlined below. This student will be guided and supported by GRH leadership, Enactus NAIT, the Mawji Centre for Student Entrepreneurship, and faculty advisors.

Identification automatique des anomalies comportementales d’enfants ayant un trouble neurodéveloppemental et intégration à un coach-avatar

Le Groupe Neuro Solutions, acteur clé en santé numérique, se consacre au développement de solutions innovantes pour les troubles neurodéveloppementaux comme le TDAH et le TSA. Notre produit phare, Kairos, vise à enrichir la vie des enfants atteints de ces troubles et à optimiser leur prise en charge par les professionnels de santé. Intégrant des techniques de pointe comme la gamification et l’intelligence artificielle, Kairos propose une thérapie immersive et efficace, enrichie par des données clés pour personnaliser les traitements. Lancé au Canada en 2022, Kairos a rapidement gagné en reconnaissance, remportant un Pediatric Device Innovation Award au Texas. Actuellement, des pilotes sont menés avec le CHUS Sherbrooke et le CHU Ste-Justine. Notre ambition se porte maintenant vers l’Europe, où Kairos est en passe de devenir la première application DiGA Canadienne, prescrite pour les enfants de 6 à 12 ans.

L’objectif du stage est de développer un système intelligent capable de détecter les anomalies comportementales d’enfants atteints de trouble neurodéveloppemental et d’intégrer une réponse proactive adéquate du coach-avatar afin de fournir des ressources et des conseils aux parents.

Voices Data Analyst Intern

??The Data Science/Analytics team at Voices is looking for a Data Analyst Intern to join the team and support analytics initiatives from developing Tableau reports to provide an in-depth/holistic understanding of the platform, leveraging our datasets to provide insights/recommendations to decision makers, and produce predictive models on KPIs (i.e. improving website conversion, hire rate of jobs, and client retention) to surface prescriptions/improvement areas. Analytics is a critical function in the organization that departments tap into to measure performance, obtain insights/recommendations, as well as gain access to predictive models. The candidate will support with the increasing volume of analytical initiatives that are critical to Voices’ strategic and operations activities. The main focus will be on improving ways to increase client conversion once clients have posted a job using predictive model approach. This will greatly impact our organizations main KPI for this year.? ?Past interns have been immensely grateful by the experience and have either been retained to improve the Voices platform, an emerging Canadian company, or have translated their experience to support analytical initiatives in other organizations.?

Mariner Data, Analytics, and BI Implementation

Mariner has a team of over 350 people serving our clients across various lines of business. Our success is rooted in our ability to deliver innovative solutions with a strong emphasis on value to customers both in Canada and abroad. Mariner provides core IT and strategic advisory services, has globally commercialized six technologies, and invests in the development of enterprise product offerings leveraging the capabilities of emerging technologies like Big Data and Analytics, Internet of Things, Cloud, and Security.

Mariner operates in a highly competitive environment where our internal data serves as a cornerstone for driving corporate direction, optimizing processes, and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Data required for reporting exists across disparate data sources and hinders our ability to harness the full potential of our data assets. As a result, we face challenges such as inaccurate reporting, operational inefficiencies, and ineffective customer insights and analytics. The implementation of this project will provide Mariner with an innovative solution to improve Data quality, enhance decision-making, and streamline operations.

IR-transparent microfluidic cells

The University of Saskatchewan (academic supervisor Dr. S. Achenbach), the Canadian Light Source (partner organization science manager Dr. F. He, SyLMAND beamline responsible Dr. T. Morhart), and intern L. Newman engage in a project to innovate microfabrication processes for microfluidic platforms used in chemical and biological reaction chemistry. In such systems, detection and imaging are required to spatially resolve chemical sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of chemical distributions in the device. Vibrational spectroscopy using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has emerged as a technological approach that meets those requirements. Due to the strong absorption of IR radiation in aqueous media, which constitute a pre-eminent medium of interest, effective penetration lengths are limited to only a few micrometers. Vibrational spectroscopy in liquid media is therefore best implemented in shallow architectures, i.e. in microfluidics. Microfluidics for this application, however, are not readily available and require development and optimization of fabrication processes and innovative sample demonstrators. Through this project, both, microfabrication processes developed and demonstrators (products) produced will allow to expand analysis of chemically, biochemically, and generally scientifically relevant material in the liquid state. Successful project completion will substantially increase the CLS’ ability to offer vibrational spectroscopy in liquid media at the micron scale and services to, e.g., the scientific user community, i.e. to deliver on its mission and vision in this applications area, as well as for its commercial user base.

Multi-Fidelity Design Optimization of Hydro

From an energy production perspective, the mobile component of the turbine, the runner, plays a key role in the operation of a water turbine. In the present competitive situation of deregulated energy markets, there is a great demand for more efficient runners which can withstand severe operating conditions. Traditional trialand- error runner design methods largely depend on the designers’ experience, and always need long design cycles. In this project, a new design optimization methodology has been developed, which uses a combination of highly accurate evaluations and inexpensive moderately accurate evaluations in a proper design cycle, to integrate their advantages and alleviate their weaknesses, with respect to important industrial design limitations such as time and cost. This robust methodology is able to consider several different design objectives and constraints to obtain high-performance runners. Since the majority of Canada’s power stations work with water turbines, even by a few percentage points improvement of runner efficiency and durability, extra millions of dollars can be gained each year.

PandoPartner Implementation Automation & Asset Library Project

Jessie will help us manage a project we will be executing with MMAI students as part of their Capstone project. She will help us manage their efforts to develop this tool to ensure we’re meeting our deadlines, while also preparing data for the MMAI students to use in AI models.

She will also help us tinker with our process of managing and updating our sponsorship asset library and will help us set it up for our clients to use.

Strategic Arc Flash Risk Management

Strategic Arc Flash Risk Management project aimed at enhancing electrical safety in industrial settings. Arc flash incidents pose a significant threat, and our project seeks to develop a robust framework for preventing, mitigating, and managing such risks.

Novel product and prototype development for soft tissue regeneration

Laetech is developing novel technology for the treatment and reconstruction of soft tissue. Specifically, Laetech is harnessing the regenerative capacity of cells found in a patients own fat tissue. Due to the abundance of fat and relative confidence of harvesting it, fat derived cells have become a large area of interest for researchers and commercialization efforts. Laetech’s technology is enabling surgeons to add cells from a patient’s fat tissue to biomaterials to improve patient outcomes. We are currently exploring two main different products: 1. A functional biodegradable material that is to be used in conjunction with harvested and processed fat tissue (Adipograft). 2. The second product is a similar material formulation as the first product described but in the form of a thicker and more porous hydrogel material for the application as an alternative to fat grafting. The intern will be working towards the completion of three main objectives: Objective 1. To scale the material manufacturing to meet the requirements for a large animal model study. Objective 2. To develop a crosslinking strategy and methodology for the gingival tissue material product, while making regulatory considerations. Objective 3. To develop a functionalized version of Laetech’s material using antibody conjugation methodology or other methods that allow for a specific cell type (endothelial cells) to adhere to the material.

Upgraded Automation Internship

A leading platform faces challenges in producing such content quickly and affordably through traditional methods. To address this, it plans to develop an AI system for automating content generation, aiming to enhance personalization, reduce costs, and streamline production.

Objectives
Automate Content Creation: Implement AI to generate targeted sales and marketing content, reducing dependence on manual processes.
Increase Personalization: Use AI to craft content that resonates with individual preferences, boosting engagement and conversions.
Efficiency & Cost Reduction: Cut production time and costs, enabling faster and more economical content deployment.
Content Evaluation Innovation: Develop new methods for assessing content effectiveness and engagement, incorporating analytics and feedback.
Methodology
The project will use advanced neural language models trained on successful campaigns and customer data. The AI will adapt its output for different customer segments and marketing channels, informed by real-time behavior and trend analysis.

Evaluation
Evaluation will involve automated analytics to measure engagement and conversion, alongside customer feedback to ensure content meets expectations. An adaptive improvement process will refine the AI’s algorithms based on performance data, ensuring continuous optimization.

Impact
This initiative aims to revolutionize the platform’s content strategy, making it more agile and impactful. By leveraging AI for content creation, the platform can better serve its diverse customer base, setting a new industry standard for efficiency and personalization in sales and marketing efforts.

Skagit Headwaters Indigenous-led Conservation

UNDRIP and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets have increased consideration of Indigenous Rights and Title and the role of Indigenous Governance in land protection and conservation.

The Skagit Headwaters is an area of overlapping significance to many First Nations and Tribes in Canada and the United States. This region presents a unique opportunity to consider the creation of a culturally informed, cross-jurisdictional Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). Given the diversity of stakeholders and rights-holders with interests in the region, there is a need for a collaborative approach to respect the various beliefs systems, while understanding what jurisdictional options exist to potentially establish an international IPCA of this complex nature.

The objective of this research is to identify various governance mechanisms that can be used to create an IPCA in the Skagit Headwaters. The broader project is led by the Stó:lo Research and Resource Management Center (SRRMC) which is supporting operations of the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance (STSA), and in conjunction with the Province of British Columbia. This research directly contributes to the broader project by providing the foundations to create a framework for the Skagit Headwaters IPCA, tribal park or other Indigenous-led conservation mechanism.

Applying methods established through the Collaborative Stewardship Forum’s S’ólh Téméxw Integrity Analysis ensures that the project is Indigenous-led and representative of Stó:lo principles. By doing so, this project works to take a holistic, interconnected, intergenerational and cumulative approach to relationships, that operates on a watershed-based scope, representative of the Stó:lo worldview.