Ontario is investing $100 Million over 10 years in the process of updating the Provincial Forest Resource Inventory (FRI), which involves the province-wide acquisition of new digital ADS40 aerial imagery to serve as a consistent platform for the photo-interpretation and mapping of forest attributes. Because it is coupled with advanced geographic positioning data, ADS40 imagery […]

This project explored the effectiveness of an educational technology called peerScholar, which is an online peer-assessment tool used to enhance student learning. To date, all of the findings on peerScholar have focused on the development of critical thinking skills at the University level. However, given that learning begins earlier, the proposed research will examine the […]

The proposal research concerns the creation of innovative tools to improve the quality and effectiveness of modeling in software development.  Specifically, the research will focus on three areas: how to express the relationships between models to make sure that models are properly synchronized with each other; how to express different variations within the model so […]

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are poised to have increasingly larger roles in health care systems globally and one possible scenario is that Ontario emerges as a leader in providing eHealth innovation and service delivery.  Although ICT-based methods of service delivery are well established in particular areas of health care, the potential benefits for hearing […]

The proposed research will explore how diverse recent immigrant populations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) use the transportation system to meet their daily-life needs.  The objectives are to explore how these groups make use of surrounding urban environments, provide a description of the processes used to secure transportation and the barriers faced, and examine […]

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 15% of all cancer cases in Ontario, affecting 8,700 women in 2009.  Thus, there is a great need for the development of new anti-cancer agents and the identification of patients who are best suited for tailored treatment.  The drug metformin has emerged as a potential therapy for BC.  Metformin is […]

Individuals with speech problems face difficulties such as anxiety, poor socialization and poor literacy. Key to effective intervention and therapy is a better understanding of the brain activity associated with speech. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a new brain-imaging technology that, for the first time, allows researchers to monitor the fast-changing brain activity involved with speech. The […]

The goal of this project is to develop a prototype microfluidic device to rapidly determine whether a target protein is present in a sample. Applications of this device include genomic and proteomic research, pharmaceutical testing, and quality control for various industries, including food preparation. The prototype will make use of electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) actuation, […]

In recent years 3D sketching has received considerable attention and a number of powerful tools (such as ILoveSketch) have been developed which can interpret strokes of a design artist as three-dimensional curves. Using these tools, the artist can create, in roughly the same time it takes him/her to draw a single 2D sketch, a loose […]

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), which combine electronics with miniature-size mechanical devices, are essential components of the modern technology. In order to provide accurate, controlled, and stable locomotion for such microdevices, researchers have proposed a variety of models, based upon thermal, biological, or electrostatic forces. There are many industries and manufacturers in Ontario […]

We have developed a technology platform that allows us to obtain quantitative information regarding biomarkers much faster than currently possible, without the need to use expensive antibodies for detection. Our platform allows for simultaneous detection of many biomarkers at once. This reduces the time and the cost associated with biodiagnosis, and will directly contribute to […]

Quantitative steroid hormone measurements are a mainstay in the field of clinical endocrinology, due to their effects in myriad processes from maturation to hormone-sensitive cancers. Conventional steroid hormone testing protocols require a venopunture blood draw (~5 mL) followed by a time consuming immunoassay (~2 hr) each time a single  hormone is tested. In response to […]