Fire retardant fabrics for active workwear applications

Besides sport activities, active wear has found its way into people’s routine life because of its fashionable appearance and comfort. Active workwear is also preferred for some jobs with strenuous activities, like operators working in factories or construction fields. Each of these environments has its own list of hazards, such as fire, chemical spills, or […]

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Development of a portfolio of graphite and graphene based processes and products

The interns involved in this MITACS cluster will work in close collaboration with the industrial partner, Grafoid, a Canadian company based in Kingston, Ontario, to develop a portfolio of graphene-based products, including autonomous sensors, energy storage, fuel cells and electrically conductive devices. The ultimate objective is to develop proof of concept products including automotive parts, […]

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Having a pulse for the group: An app-based approach to collecting multiple time-point longitudinal data

The goal of the project is to evaluate and refine an app-based questionnaire that provides a multi-faceted assessment of the social dynamics and culture of teams and organizations. This partnership and multi-phase project with VictoryLab involves (a) systematically examining and refining their questionnaire items to ensure their app-based assessment tool provides valid and reliable insights […]

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Assessment of processes controlling naturally elevated uranium and arsenic concentrations in groundwater and surface water in the Dawson Range, Yukon, Canada

Northern Canada faces great changes from growing resource extraction and global warming, which make a timely understanding of baseline environmental conditions critical. In the Dawson Range, Yukon, naturally elevated concentrations of uranium and arsenic have recently been discovered in groundwater at levels that are susceptible to cause toxic effects in humans and wildlife. This region […]

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Materials Selection & Design Strategies for Impact Resistance in Hand Protection

The needs for protective equipment are many, and range from use at home to many industrial sectors, such as: construction, mechanics, forestry, oil and gas, health, and manufacturing. There are many reasons to wear protective equipment: to provide improved grip and resistance to chemical exposure, pathogens, heat, cold, abrasion, punctures, cuts, crushing, and impact. In […]

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Diversity and Inclusion: Case studies of skilled migrants in Hamilton Canada

This project involves in depth interviews of HR/line managers as well as skilled migrant employees in 3 organizations. Our focus is on understanding current issues and challenges related to inclusion and integration of skilled migrants locally. Our goal is offer actionable practical suggestions in terms of how identified challenges may be addressed in the future. […]

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Communication Aid for Non-English Speaking Newcomers

The project will examine the use of pictograms – like the simplified pictures that appear on information signage – and other visual symbols in an audio-visual strategy to facilitate and enhance the use and learning of English as an additional language for Arabic-speaking Syrian refugees. The software for the project is PictoPages, whose development was […]

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Hey Neighbour! Evaluation and Understanding Social Connections and Engagement

The Hey Neighbour! pilot program evaluation intends to draw conclusions about the potential of social policy interventions into urban neighbourhoods. First, we will review the multidisciplinary research trends and approaches related to the question of improving social quality in urban neighbourhoods and communities. This will include review of the terminology, definitions of related terminology, overlapping […]

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Evaluating the impacts of landscape development on carnivore activity patterns and species interactions

Understanding the impacts of human-driven disturbance on carnivore communities is an important step for prioritizing conservation decisions and managing land-use policies. Disturbances such as landscape development may influence how species structure their activity periods over the 24-hour cycle and potentially compromise the capacity for competitors to avoid costly encounters with each other. Few studies to […]

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Chitosan-derivatives as a platform for drug and protein delivery

Triozan™ is a safe, biodegradable and biocompatible hydrophilic and highly quaternized biopolymer with advantageous physicochemical properties that enables an efficient encapsulation and protection of drug molecules against degradation while simultaneously maintaining therapeutic integrity. We propose to encapsulate three drug candidates into nanogels formed from Triozan to enhance their therapeutic application and overcome multiple barriers such […]

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Urban bat ecology in the Metro Vancouver region

Bats often use urban areas, but ecologists lack understanding of where they roost and forage. Bats are important predators on insect pests, including mosquitoes, so understanding their requirements is important. This need is made more critical by the likely imminent spread of an exotic fungal pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome, which is often lethal to […]

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