Innovative Projects Realized

Indigenous Energy Financing Solutions

Energy poverty is an issue that impacts many First Nations communities in British Columbia. Despite significant appetite from communities to develop clean energy solutions, many do not benefit from the available financing programs. This research seeks to understand what barriers exist for First Nations communities in accessing energy financing, as well as to identify some best practices from other jurisdictions. The project will use this information to propose innovative community energy financing options that could be applied in the B.C. context.

Using behavioral biometrics to continuously authenticate an individual

The Nymi band is a unique wearable that authenticates the wearer using biometric data to provide continuous authenticated presence in smart environments. Nymi enables wireless user proximity & presence solutions, removing the need for physical interaction with IoT, mobile and computer applications for identification, non-repudiation, personalization and intent for any transactions. Similar to a lot of the current technology, the Nymi band only authenticates at the start, when the band is first worn. This can be undesirable, since non-authorized personnel could get access to information they should not be allowed to.

In order to make the band more secure and robust, the band needs to continuously authenticate the wearer. This will increase the likelihood of catching incorrect authentication as there will be more checks throughout the day to ensure the correct user is wearing the band. To achieve continuous authentication, this project will apply a set of machine learning algorithms to recognize patterns in the various biometric data analyzed.

Representing and understanding 3D Objects

Understanding the 3D world around us is a key goal in computer science. If we are endowed with 3D understanding, we can solve problems in several areas in computer science such as robotics, fast 3D modelling and physical reasoning. However, it is not clear how 3D objects can be represented because of the high dimensionality as well as different sources of getting 3D information. Furthermore, in a commercial setting, there are many stages of the graphics pipeline which are very tedious and automating certain parts can significantly simplify the process. The goal of the research is to investigate different methods to represent the shape and structure of 3D objects using deep learning techniques. This knowledge can then be used to create algorithms which can easily do 3D object classification, segmentation and generation. This research will hopefully lead us to have a better understanding of 3D representation which has countless research and commercial applications.

A Mental Model Approach to Avalanche Risk Communication: Examining Avalanche Bulletin Use and Comprehension

The Avalanche Research Program at Simon Fraser University and Avalanche Canada are conducting a study to examine how winter backcountry recreationists, including backcountry skiers and snowboarders, mountain snowmobile riders and snow shoers, seek and use avalanche safety information. Avalanche Canada and Park Canada publish avalanche bulletins daily to provide backcountry users with information on avalanche hazard. The goal of the research is to examine whether recreationists use Avalanche Canada’s information products as they are intended to be used. The project will conduct semi-structured interviews to better understand how people use the existing products. The study will also include a large-scale survey that will test and evaluate alternate communication designs. The results of this study will provide important information for improving avalanche safety information products in Canada.

Acceptance Testing Framework for Robotic Software Solutions

Modern robots depend on numerous hardware devices and human interaction in order to perform their task. These dependencies, in addition to the distributed nature of these systems, make automated full-system testing difficult. Current testing practices are insufficient as they only test a single component of the system or require costly manual labor. Many companies have also adopted continuous integration in order to speed up their pace of development and increase software reliability. However, since full-system testing cannot be easily automated, these kinds of tests cannot be added to continuous integration. Therefore, there is a clear need for automated full-system testing of robotic software, specifically acceptance testing, despite its difficulties. The focus of this research will be to develop an acceptance testing framework for robotic software that can be run with or without physical hardware and human interaction. This will be accomplished through the examination and implementation of research in the area of simulating hardware devices and human interaction for robotic systems.

Innovation and characterization of plant-based ingredients for the emerging protein markets

Research within this project will focus on the innovation and characterization of plant-based ingredients arising from pulses and cereals for the protein ingredient market. The global protein ingredient market was valued at $31.8 billion in 2016 and is expected to rise to $46.4 billion by 2022 with the greatest growth occurring in the plant protein ingredient sector. Consumers are looking towards alternative proteins, other than from animals (e.g., whey/casein from milk; ovalalbumin from eggs) and soy, because of allergen concerns and the rising costs of dairy proteins. Pulse and cereal proteins fill this gap; however, there is no comprehensive technical report for industry (or clients of the Food Centre) to point to during product development or re-formulations by companies. TO BE CONT’D

Application of bacteriophage encapsulation in biodegradable polymers for the prevention of prosthetic joint infections

In 2014-2015, there were over 100,000 hip and knee replacement operations in Canada. Among these, more than 8,500 of these procedures had to be repeated. The main cause of failure was due to bacterial infections at the surface of the implants. Furthermore, this problem is likely to get worse over time due to antibiotic resistance phenomena in bacteria. We propose the development of a surface modification of the implants using bacteriophages, a class of viruses that only targets bacteria. These phages are omnipresent in the environment and our bodies, and therefore safe, and are not subject to antibiotic resistance. This polymeric surface treatment of orthopedic implants thus has the potential to greatly reduce the number of surgical revision procedures and save significant costs in both surgery time and materials.
Phagelux Canada had developed expertise in the use of bacteriophages in many fields including agriculture and animal health. TO BE CONT’D

Improving Primary Care in Older Patients: a Focus on Safe and Appropriate Medications

Seniors take many medications during their lifetime. As seniors age, some of these medications may become unnecessary or even harmful. The process of stopping a medication that has the potential to cause more harm than benefit is called deprescribing. Physicians are more in the habit of prescribing than deprescribing, even though patients like the idea of getting off some of their pills if they can. The goal of this project is to use technology to support physicians in the deprescribing process. We intend to create a new program in the Omnimed electronic medical record system that will remind physicians to deprescribe, will provide them with tools and education on deprescribing, and that will automatically send patients educational material on drug safety. We will evaluate the utility of the software by tracking how many patients end up discontinuing unnecessary medication. TO BE CONT’D

The land should lead us: Acknowledging community viability to practice Indigenous health sovereignty in northern Manitoba

In Canada while health disparities in Indigenous communities are getting much attention and Indigenous peoples are determining the path to healing using land based knowledge, the approach to health is still holding the reductionist and paternalistic global health philanthropy with the idea of the poor, traditional societies in need of charity and technology for better health. This contrasts with the growing realization that Indigenous health problems have strong sociocultural, political, and economic determinants that demand comprehensive approaches. This research intends to take a strength based approach using community viability framework to: a) link food and health; b) address the need for an Indigenous Health Sovereignty paradigm modelled on Indigenous food sovereignty. Using Indigenous research methodology, the study will take place in O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation and Opaskwayak Cree Nation where communities will lead a strong youth and women focused land-based knowledge and health education intervention plan with their respective health authorities.

Study of thermal energy storage solutions for a long-term, eco-friendly and cost-effective adiabatic compressed air energy storage system

It is vital to reduce today’s consumption of fossil fuels by using renewable energies like wind energy, solar or photovoltaic. However, majority of renewable energies are intermittent and not in phase with human electricity consumption cycle. It is therefore essential to develop energy storage systems to capture renewable energies when they are available and distribute them when needed.
Adiabatic compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) is a very promising technology. These systems are one of the few storage technologies capable of delivering several hours of high power. However, they need a device where a large amount of thermal energy can be stored. Also, this energy must be stored at a very high temperature in order to reach a good system efficiency. TO BE CONT’D

Predation on Chinook Salmon Smolts by Great Blue Herons

Predation on smolts as they out-migrate down natal rivers may significantly contribute to the decline and lack of recovery of Chinook salmon in British Columbia. A prior study of mortality of Chinook smolts released by the Cowichan Hatchery suggests only a small portion of the fish reached the ocean due to predation by raccoons, river otters, mergansers and trout. The goal of this study is to analyze the data collected from Chinook smolts equipped with PIT-tags in 2016 and 2017 to estimate mortality rates (from antennae arrays that recorded movements of marked fish, and scans of predator latrines for PIT-tags), and determine sources of predation (from camera-traps and antennae arrays where animals passed; as well as from tags recovered in scats). These data are needed to confirm the apparent high rates of mortality, and provide better information about who the predators are and where and when predation is occurring.

Mining Technologies: Optimal Mine Design and Strategies for Increased Productivity and Energy Savings

The purpose of this study is to investigate the interactions and effects of automated and electric mining equipment on mine processes, identify necessary modifications to optimize mine design and account for the cost and environmental drivers in the comparison. Ultimately determining the justification for an economic decision to operate automated and electric-powered machinery on mine sites with ore bodies at large depths.