Respiratory viruses exploit the biological activity of human proteins present at the surface of airway cells to allow viruses to penetrate that physical barrier and subsequently replicate in infected cells. It has been established that a family of human proteins, the type 2 transmembrane serine proteases, are directly responsible for this viral entry, but they […]

Experiencing and accessing nature has been shown to promote individual and communal physical and mental well-being. However, these benefits are not universally enjoyed due to social inequities. There are limited tools and strategies to ensure that greenspace programs and policies have positive social and health equity impacts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the confluence […]

Norethindrone, the first oral contraceptive, is noted as one of the most pivotal molecules to be introduced into society. When introduced in 1960, norethindrone caused a societal paradigm shift by allowing for family planning and providing women with more agency over their reproductive system. Unsurprisingly, the women’s liberation movement, rise of feminism, and the increased […]

Augmented reality (AR) is poised to transform human interactions. This project aims to explore the use of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for the development of compact and high-performance image projectors, also called “light engines”, for AR glasses. PICs are a type of integrated circuit that uses light instead of electricity to perform various functions, such […]

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, with long-term hand function impairments being the most common symptom among stroke survivors. As hand function plays a vital role in performing everyday activities, individuals with stroke face a significant impact in their quality of life including their ability to maintain independence, employment, and socially connectedness. To […]

Students learning within challenging contexts often feel disempowered and may not see the relevance of their learning. The proposed research project will assess the extent to which an educational experience that enhances coding skills while also exercising students’ core “skills of success” increases their feelings of empowerment. This assessment will take place within a number […]

Recent years have witnessed a boom in the construction of modern high-rise buildings in megacities around the world. Since many of these megacities are also located in seismically active regions, it is important to design a high-rise building that can effectively withstand both wind and earthquake loads. Nonetheless, in current practice, the design of high-rise […]

Self-driving laboratories are becoming more feasible thanks to the advances in the robotics and machine learning fields. Development of these laboratories to deal with scientific challenges are promising as they can operate faster while being cost and labor efficient. Despite harvesting of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power is becoming cheaper and […]

Most mammals require care from older individuals during early life. Mothers tend to be the primary caregivers during this time, but in some mammals, notably social carnivores, rodents, and primates, care can be provided by conspecifics. In most primate species, allomothers tend to be female, making infant care by males a rare behaviour. Recently, we […]

Certain classes of stars in the universe emit flares – dramatic bursts of energy that appear across the electromagnetic spectrum. Flare activity for these stars is highly variable across time, and predicting this behaviour is an interesting problem both from an astronomical and from a statistical viewpoint. Within the field of astrostatistics, “changepoint detection” models […]

A universal sample introduction system will be developed in this project for direct analysis of solid and liquid samples with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). There are many applications in which on-site analysis of samples in their original form is of great interest. Examples include the inspection of soil for possible contamination in the […]

Tailings dams are used to store water and waste that come as by-products from the mining process. They can be huge in size, as big as lakes, and reach 300 meters high. Tailings storage facilities can pose a threat to local wildlife and ecosystem, especially in the case of failure. In Canada, the Mount Polley […]