Chinook salmon exhibit diverse migration strategies, both among and with populations. In the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Chinook salmon exhibit two distinct migration strategies. Some individuals (called migrants) migrate away to the outer coast of British Columbia, Washington and Alaska, while others (called residents) remain near their home rivers […]

Oats and faba beans, often wasted in current processing methods, can be transformed into valuable food products. This can increase their economic potential and lessen environmental impact. Our proposal breaks down crop residues into sugars and lignin. Sugars are fermented into single-cell protein, while lignin is converted into vanillin. This vanillin, combined with sugars, produces […]

The intern will be working towards the design of an ankle orthotic that can regulate the weight and walking pattern of patients suffering from a major ankle injury. The device intends to allow the amount of weight taken on by the patient at the ankle to be adjustable. In turn, the patient may partake in, […]

Whales can be sensitive to underwater noise produced from vessels and are at risk of harm through ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Commercial shipping and fishing activity is increasing in the Arctic as the receding sea ice opens new areas to human activities. However, we don’t know how whales in the Arctic will […]

Brain disorders affect 10% of Canadians, however few treatment options exist for these devastating diseases. We have extensive understanding of what causes many of them, but current medical technology has yet to translate this knowledge into effective treatments. For example, many natural proteins have been identified to hold significant therapeutic promise, but getting these proteins […]

Finding new resources of critical metals will be critical to enable a transition to a low-carbon electrical energy economy. Carbonate rocks such as limestones and dolomites may contain rich deposits of critical and precious metals including copper, zinc, silver, gold and a range of critical metals which occur mainly as byproducts of other metals such […]

Climate change is increasing the spread of bacterial infectious diseases worldwide. Infection causes up to 3 million deaths in newborns in their first month of life every year, a critical period of development.1 External stressors such as malnutrition during pregnancy can impact development of the newborns immune system and their susceptibility to infection for their […]

This project aims to genetically engineer moss to make the molecule strictosidine. Strictosidine is a building block molecule upon which many important medicines are made, including cancer drugs, sedatives, and heart medications; together, these compounds are classified as monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIA). Current methods of making MIAs rely on extraction from plants such as Madagascar […]

We develop a real-time salmon monitoring system and web application that includes automated counting using computer vision technologies, lowering our partner’s technician resources in performing manual counting. We will deploy the monitoring system in at least nine river locations with small computer hardware capable of deep learning acceleration to run the automated counting system in […]

Extruded pet foods are produced using steam, water, and shear that gelatinize starches in the formula. The type of starch and extrusion parameters influence the texture, palatability, and expansion of the kibble. Different types of starch may be less accessible to digestive enzymes. Resistant starch, an indigestible starch that is fermented by bacteria in the […]

A security company needs a method to dispatch patrol vehicles and plan vehicle routes to reduce costs, maximize revenue, and deliver to customers the best value. Vehicle dispatching and routing planning are two well-known combinatorial optimization problems (COPs) that find wide applications in transportation (e.g., truck routing and luggage handling), logistics (e.g., warehouse planning and […]

A large amount of plastic waste poses a threat to the environment. In recent years, there has been a movement to develop biodegradable composites. UBCO’s Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory (NPNL) aims to develop biocomposites filaments with appropriate physical properties for 3D printing in collaboration with Advanced BioCarbon 3D (ABC3D). We intend to use poly(lactide […]