Projets novateurs réalisés

Virtual and Travelling Exhibitions on the History of Technology and Disability: Interdisciplinary Lessons of the Past for the Future

This project seeks to explore the historical relationship between disability, technology and society, with a focus on Canada, but with global applicability. Through rigorous secondary, primary, oral and archival research, the team will investigate historical instances of innovation, technological use and activism by and for people with disabilities, building relationships and conducting oral interviews with key actors in the development of a more accessible and inclusive society. This project will expand upon IEEE’s longstanding interests in humanitarian goals and oral histories, while at the same time provide IEEE student members with additional training and collaborative opportunities to communicate this knowledge to a broader public through developing virtual and travelling exhibits, collaborative educational workshops.

SSI efficacy in treating infectious colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease with unknown etiology that is characterized by uncontrolled intestinal inflammation and microbial dysbiosis. Qu Biologics’ Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSI) are a platform technology shown to improve the status of people living with IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), with most of those patients showing clinical improvement also going into clinical remission. SSI are a complex biologic designed to reconstitute normal innate immune function through multiple parallel mechanisms. To better understand how SSI protect against IBD, we will test the efficacy of SSI in models of infectious colitis in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Vallance at the University of British Columbia.

Expérimentation et évaluation d’un dispositif de récolte des laminaires de culture et élaboration d’un programme de travail intégré sur la mécanisation de l’algoculture.

De nos jours, les algues de cultures attirent de plus en plus l’intérêt des consommateurs et des industries québécoises. En effet, elles regorgent d’éléments nutritifs et comportent des propriétés intéressantes tant pour l’alimentation que pour l’industrie pharmaceutique. Cependant, les pêcheurs québécois font face à plusieurs défis techniques et économiques pour répondre à une demande croissante. Pour remédier à cette situation, la mécanisation des opérations et l’amélioration des techniques de culture vont permettre de réaliser des gains substantiels en termes de temps, de coûts d’exploitation et de productivité. Le projet proposé permet de développer un système de récolte des algues pouvant être intégré dans le site de culture et de mesurer ses performances techniques. La première phase du projet est de raffiner la conception du système en tenant compte des contraintes et des données réelles recueillies sur le terrain. La seconde phase sera consacrée à la réalisation du système, à l’assemblage et aux tests en laboratoire. La troisième phase évoque l’installation du système développé et la validation de ses performances. Finalement, la dernière phase touchera les améliorations à apporter au système et à l’élaboration de procédures de mise en route afin d’optimiser les opérations de culture.

Fostering Corporate Productivity through Creativity and Intuition

Research shows that many business employees are disengaged with their work, leading to numerous negative outcomes such as reduced productivity and burnout. The use of creativity and intuition have been suggested as two potential avenues for resolving these issues. However, there is a lack of direction for how these concepts can be practically applied in business contexts. As such, the current project aims to generate research papers and training workshops designed to help organizations increase productivity through creativity and intuition. Results will help leaders and their organizations become more effective and allow the greater Canadian society to foster a sustainable and prosperous economy.

Contrôle de l’incertitude par une approche géostatistique en temps réel des sites contaminés

La réhabilitation des sites contaminés est l’un des défis stratégiques en vue d’une urbanisation durable. Toutefois, plusieurs obstacles freinent leur réaménagement, tout particulièrement l’incertitude liée à leur réhabilitation. Bien que le contrôle de cette incertitude représente un facteur clé facilitant le réaménagement des sites contaminés, il est pourtant peu étudié et maîtrisé, voire inexistant dans la pratique. L’objectif du projet proposé est donc de développer une approche géostatistique qui permettra le contrôle de cette incertitude en temps réel et applicable au contexte des sites contaminés. L’approche développée permettra une intégration en temps réel de l’ensemble des données recueillies sur une site, non seulement celles liées à la nature des sols, aux observations visuelles notées lors de l’échantillonnage et aux résultats analytiques obtenus en laboratoire conventionnel mais également pour diverses techniques de mesures et d’auscultation in situ, telles que des mesures d’analyse in situ des contaminants et des levés géophysiques.

A community capacity-building approach to educate mothers about toddlers’ & children’s oral health: An impact evaluation study.

This qualitative study will explore the social impacts provoked by the toddler & children-targeted health promotion program “Happy Smile” in small urban areas (state of São Paulo- Brazil). Mothers experiences within the program will be collected by the MITACS student , who will conduct interviews, informal conversations, and discussion groups to explore their understanding of the program, engagement facilitators and barriers, and adoption of new health practices. Changes on mother’s perceptions with regards to preventative oral daily practices, constituting as responsible healthy behaviors is the target sought social impact. The fieldwork will also include encounters with health promoters. The expected main outcome will be identification of hindering factors that would inform the refinement of program strategies and mass-education initiative. Moreover, this study may inform future similar Canadian initiatives, due to restrictive preventative oral care access for the same population.

Regeneration of bryophytes in disturbed peatlands

The regeneration of the moss layer after a disturbance has been studied in different ecosystems, for example in harvested and burned forests, in borrow pits for road construction, on mine tailings and in peatlands. Bryophytes play a key role in the soil formation, particularly in terms of the considerable amount of terrestrial biomass they represent and their influence on the carbon and nutrient cycle. Better knowledge about bryophytes regeneration mechanisms are necessary to develop management and restoration methods for disturbed ecosystems. The objectives of this project are to evaluate the regeneration of bryophytes in disturbed peatlands that have never been studied before and to determine the influence of different biotic and abiotic factors on the regeneration mechanisms. This fellowship will allow me to validate and analyze my results with Dr. Hang specialized research team and to advance the writing of my thesis and article manuscripts for publication.

Converting glycerol to hydrogen using MECs

Glycerol, a byproduct from biodiesel production, is a low value chemical because of excessive supplies on the global market. Current market prices in the European Union is estimated at $300 US/tonne. Glycerol can be converted into higher value chemicals using chemical, thermal and biological processes. Chemical and thermal processes are disadvantaged because they normally operate at high temperatures and pressures. In comparison, biological processes operate at low temperatures and pressures and hence, are more economically attractive. In the proposed work, a ‘microbial battery’ will be developed to produced hydrogen, a higher value chemicals, from glycerol. Our intention is to develop the technology utilizing naturally occurring microorganisms. The ‘microbial battery’ or microbial fuel cell (MFC) will consist of an anode and cathode with microorganisms growing in the cathode compartment. In this particular case, the technology is designated as a microbial electrochemical cell (MEC). By applying a small voltage, glycerol is converted into hydrogen plus other carbon byproducts.

Mechanisms and physiological significance of iron overload induced adiponectin resistance in skeletal muscle

To investigate whether IO alters skeletal muscle adiponectin sensitivity and the mechanisms involved. 1. We will use L6 skeletal muscle cells treated with iron to determine if excess iron leads to adiponectin resistance. 2. We will examine temporal regulation of i) NLRP3 inflammasome and ii) oxidative stress by IO and using gain or loss of function approaches we will examine their significance in mediating effects of IO on adiponectin resistance. 2. Using a mouse model of IO we will examine changes in skeletal muscle adiponectin sensitivity as well as mechanisms involved as in i-ii above.

Life Cycle Analysis of Kakwa Derived LNG for Power Generation and DistrictHeating in China

Natural gas is one of the cleanest fuels for heat and power generation. But in China, coal is still the dominant fuel
but burning coal has caused severe and damaging air pollutions. The partner organization of this project, Seven
Generations Energy Ltd., is a significant Canadian producer of natural gas. This project will comprehensively
assess the overall environmental performance of natural gas production (by Seven Generations) and exporting it
to China to replace coal. The expected results include an environmental dataset of the natural gas from its
extraction to end use and quantifying the benefit of replacing coal for district heating in China. The identified intern
is a current Master’s student working on similar analysis for biofuels. His skills and interest match well with this
project. And this project is initiated by the partner organization therefore they will get the study results to answer
the research questions they set.

Investigating Distributed Ledgers for IoT and Connected Vehicles

With the fast-moving pace of the auto industry moving to more and more computing units, connected infotainment, pairing of on-board equipment to mobile devices, cloud connectivity, V2V, V2X, and autonomous functions, architects and developers need all the help they can get to address security and safety concerns in the systems. This internship will look at existing software protection technologies and their application to a trusted distributed environment. Taking layered robustness approaches like runtime application self-protection and integrity verification we will apply these to a distributed network to establishing trust in its components.

Neurophysiological risk factors in Adolescent Sexual Offending

Sexual offending is a major public health concern in our society, with 21% of those

charged with sexual offenses being adolescents between 12 and 19 years. Characteristics

of these youth include antisocial attitudes, and problems with self-regulation and

intimacy, problems that interfere with learning, social maturation, and appreciating the

rights of others. To date, theories of sexual offending have focused primarily on social

influences and have largely neglected biological mechanisms, providing incomplete

explanations of the phenomena. Partnering with Pathstone Mental Health, the Niagara

regional treatment centre for child and adolescent mental health, the aim of this study is

to integrate neuroscience measures with clinical research to identify individual

variability in adolescent sex offenders that is not measurable at the behavioral level.

Results from this study will inform developmental theories of sexual offending, provide

greater insight into risk and resilience for committing further offenses, and inform

treatment strategies.