Multi-Year Study of the Early Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Canada

The NACO 2015 Early Stage Company Report will report on early-stage companies from the lense of the company, taking into account support from incubators, accelerators, and VCs. NACO will publish a final report that analyzes the extent to which different combinations of capital and strategic partnerships help entrepreneurial firms grow. The report will also aim […]

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3-D UAV Magnetometry for Improved Target Characterization in Mineral Exploration

Geophysical exploration is one of the primary forms of preliminary site investigation used to characterize ore potential and the economic viability of newly discovered mineral deposits. The current platforms for collecting magnetic data include dense coverage but low resolution airborne surveys and high resolution but low coverage terrestrial surveys. The recent proliferation of Unmanned Aerial […]

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Resilience of modern skyscrapers subject to natural hazards – Year two

The structural performance of skyscrapers subjected to natural hazards such as strong winds and earthquakes has significant effects on the resilience of a city because of the recent boom in the construction of skyscrapers around the world. However, resilience is currently not explicitly considered in the design of tall buildings. Studies show that modern tall […]

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CryoDrive: The effects that implementation of cryogenic engines would have on underground mining processes

Cryogenic engines, such as the Dearman engine, produce work and substantial cooling with zero emissions at the point of use, due to their liquid nitrogen ?fuel? supply. Background work has shown that technically, (power, turn down ratio, responsiveness, torque), there are few identifiable factors that would prevent this type of engine from being very effective […]

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Mushroom Harvesting System

Automatic harvesting of mushroom produce is a promising opportunity for mushroom growers to increase their revenues. This increased revenue will be obtained through savings in human labour as well as the expected increase in yield and quality due to the consistency of automated solutions compared to manual ones. Automated harvesting solutions do already exist for […]

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Adapting methods for assessing the impacts of innovation support programs for application to Canada’s clean energy innovation ecosystem

This research project is being undertaken in partnership with The Evidence Network Inc. It will extend the company’s scientifically-based method of assessing the impact of innovation support programs to the clean energy innovation sector. To keep this kind of assessment method scientifically sound requires customization for each particular industry. The established methods have been widely […]

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Building Capacity in Health Care Providers to Effectively CommunicateHealth Risk Information related to HIV with Clients and Patients. Phase 1.

The aim of The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) is to help combat the spread of HIV by supporting, conducting, and sharing the best research possible. This project will involve a novel analysis incorporating focus groups with front-line service providers and key informants to help determine the factors that most influence the perception of HIV […]

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Credit Union Marketplace Lending Business Models

Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have developed at an exponential rate and have been used to develop a variety of artistic, commercial and social ventures. Alongside this marketplace lending has provided retail-level people the opportunity to lend money to each other using platforms such as Lending Club and Prosper. In 2014, in the […]

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Innovative Financing for Energy Access – The Role of Finance and Energy Service Companies in Promoting Energy Development

The proposed postdoctoral research focuses on addressing the challenges associated with energy access in developing countries as well as promoting energy-independent communities in Canada in a bid to promote sustainable development. The study would investigate a consortium-like financing model for small and medium scale renewable energy projects in which energy service companies are financed by […]

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Development of new on-site sampling, high-throughput and high sensitive analysis for determination of small molecules in saliva

Saliva is a promising alternative specimen since it is easy and non-invasive to collect, and available at any time. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has been recently introduced as a green, simple, fast and sensitive sample preparation technique for high-throughput and in vivo analysis of drugs in various biological fluids, including saliva. The proposed research aims at […]

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Drinking Water Treatment Infrastructure: Responding to Climate Change and Increasingly Variable Source Water Quality – Year two

As a result of climate change and other pressures that result in “extreme events” like wildfire and flooding, many drinking water utilities are at risk of potentially catastrophic failure and need treatment adaptation strategies to prepare for increasingly variable and potentially rapid deterioration in source water quality. Currently there are no recognized tools for evaluating […]

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