Establishing the Validity and Reliability of a Novel Wearable Physical Activity Monitoring System for Older Adults

Wearable physical activity monitors have become increasingly commonplace as commercial fitness products. However, current devices can be expensive and cannot accurately measure activity for older adults. Xerus, Inc. has recently built an affordable activity tracking system able to measure physical activity levels in older adults. However, the accuracy of Xerus activity tracking monitor has not […]

Read More
Nanostructured functional materials from the bottom up

In this series of collaborative projects, we propose a combination of computational and experimental investigations of the preparation and dielectric properties of new, mixed inorganic materials. We will optimize the fabrication process of standard oxide dielectrics and semiconductors, and mixed derivative materials for efficiency and costs, and study the effects of making small modifications to […]

Read More
Interactive Mesh-based Volumetric Visualization

Our industrial partner, LlamaZOO Interactive Inc, publishes the first-of-its-kind digital anatomy study and reference app, EasyAnatomy. For this app, dissecting an animal model and see its internals are important facets of the learning experience. Through our research, we will enhance this experience by designing an interactive 3D visualization of an arbitrarily dissected model, and accelerate […]

Read More
The Beaver Hills Biosphere Project: Conserving coarse and fine filter biodiversity within a network of protected areas

Conserving Canada’s biodiversity is important to help mitigate the impacts of future climate change. Protecting multiple areas within a landscape is one possible way to conserve biodiversity, however, we still are not sure what aspects of a landscape are best to protect and for which species. Here, we study mammals within the Beaver Hills Biosphere […]

Read More
STEAM Robotics for Teachers: How Educators Learn

Teachers are being challenged to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) across the curriculum more frequently and effectively. Many teachers are challenged with these aspects for several reasons. In particular, subject areas are still isolated in British Columbia (BC), and only a few schools truly have STEM/STEAM programs. Secondly, STEM is more often […]

Read More
Faecal sludge desiccation rates for optimal design of passive ventilation sanitation systems

VIP latrines and the Aerosan emergency toilet demonstrate tremendous potential for achieving in situ faecal sludge treatment objectives in volume reduction, odour control, etc. In order to determine the potential to scale, lab-based studies and field validation are required to optimize the design. This project seeks to optimize faecal sludge desiccation by simple enhanced passive […]

Read More
Energy and Seismic Retrofit of Buildings

In Canada, being one of the coldest countries in the world, buildings consume about 40% of national energy demand and in the western part of the country, particularly on Vancouver Island, many buildings do not meet current seismic code requirements. Hence, simultaneous building energy and seismic retrofit options can produce significant savings for building occupants […]

Read More
Exploring the lived experience of survivors: The link between intimate partner violence (IPV) and traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Past research has established that a high percentage of women in violent relationships experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI), with one article estimating approximately 23 million women in the US living with a TBI from intimate partner violence (IPV) (Ivany & Schminkey, 2016). While previous research has focused on establishing the link between IPV and […]

Read More
Remote Indigenous renewable energy projects: Establishing partnerships and fair power purchase agreements

Nearly all remote Indigenous communities in Canada rely on diesel power plants for electricity. In a few cases, renewable energy projects have already offset diesel power but developing such projects in northern Canada is difficult. Not only do remoteness and harsh winter conditions make development expensive but various policies regarding the cost of electricity create […]

Read More
Full-body Modeling and Tracking for Embodiment in VR Dark Rides

Real-time full-body tracking based on single or multiple commodity depth sensors are an integral part of many applications such as motion transfer in 3D games, 3D virtual and augmented reality, and human computer interaction. The proposed project directly derives from practical needs expressed by the partner organization, DreamCraft Attractions (Victoria) in developing fully immersive VR […]

Read More
Understanding and Improving Knowledge Flow in Software Organizations

Software teams and organizations use various tools — either by design or appropriation — to manage and share knowledge. Software engineering practitioners recognize that good documentation and effective knowledge sharing are critical to the success of a project and also to developer productivity. Yet, writing and maintaining documentation is often an afterthought for software engineering […]

Read More
Understanding and Improving Knowledge Flow in Software Organizations – Year two

Software engineering practitioners recognize that good documentation and effective knowledge sharing are critical to the success of a project and also to developer productivity. Yet, writing and maintaining documentation is often an afterthought for software engineering teams. What is more, managing knowledge or spending time to share information with others is typically not part of […]

Read More