This research focuses on the trade of Canadian wild foods, such as morel mushrooms, wild blueberries and fiddleheads. The major operational challenge in the sector is connecting remote, rural contexts of production with global, urban centres of consumption. A distributor’s competitive advantage rests on constant innovation of the informational, social and pricing techniques that motivate […]

Firefighting water additives are a mixture of chemicals that are mixed with water to more effectively extinguish fires (i.e., residential, industrial, forest fires). The use of these additives is likely to increase in fighting forest fires due to the projected increase in forest fire occurrence and intensity due to climate change. Ingredients of firefighting water […]

New studies have implicated the gut as the staging area for the start of Parkinson’s disease. Disruptions in the gut biota can promote the formation of toxic protein seeds that can move from the gut into the brain, spreading through the brain and causing progressive loss of neurons and problems with movement. It still needs […]

Legionnaires is a disease caused by the bacteria Legionella pneumophilia present mostly in aquatic environments. The first outbreak of this disease was recognized in 1976 in Philadelphia and the most recent one in July 2019 in Atlanta. Diagnosis of the disease isn’t early and thus need to be prevented by regular treatment. Treatment of water […]

Developing technology capable of onsite medical diagnostics is crucial for health-care delivery in clinical and emergency settings. To perform on-site diagnostics, health-care practitioners need compact, inexpensive, and user-friendly equipment. Alentic Microscience has developed a system that uses small volumes of blood for cell counting and serum tests, occurring at the site of blood extraction. This […]

In this Mitacs proposal, the Carbohydrate Chemistry and Utilization Program at the University of Saskatchewan (Usask) aims to collaborate with a leading producer of compostable molded fiber bowls ? SustainaPulp Canada Inc. ? to develop replacements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in their products. The alternatives will be prepared from maltodextrins, a common food […]

Mitochondria are critical producers of energy and are the platform for various metabolic reactions that support cellular health. Mitochondria suffer from a variety of damage as a consequence of housing these reactive pathways. In order for cells and organisms to survive this damage, dysfunctional mitochondria are removed from the cell in a process termed mitophagy. […]

Metal-based direct energy deposition processes, such as robotic welding and laser powder fed additive manufacturing, ideally require feedback sensing of the deposition quality using vision detectors. Image processing algorithms are challenging to develop due to changing process operating conditions. Despite challenges, implementing in-process image processing algorithms is beneficial for traceability and quality assurance, for calibrating […]

Among various types of graphitic nanomaterials, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have ignited tremendous interest in the past few years owing to their small lateral size, quantum confinement, and large perimeter per mass. GQDs are categorized based on their emitting colors (e.g. blue, green, yellow, red and white). Among various emitting colors, GQDs with blue and […]

Polyurethane is a class of polymers with the potential of foaming and with excellent mechanical and thermal properties. However, in order to use PU in advanced applications, its physical properties must be improved. Accordingly, in this research proposal, we plan to incorporate graphene oxide (GO), a derivative of graphene, into polyurethane foam to improve its […]

The scope of this research is to provide a comprehensive recipe for powder-fed laser additive manufacturing (PF-LAM) of H13 tool steel. The H13 components manufactured by PF-LAM can potentially show superior mechanical properties as compared to H13 steel manufactured by conventional methods; however, the process optimization is requisite to achieve the additively manufactured H13 tool […]

The Suncor/McMaster partnership is generating a pipeline of novel, green, agricultural chemicals to be applied as crop sprays. One of the challenges with treating plants by spraying leaves (foliar treatment) is targeting the transport of the active ingredients (AI) to specific parts of the plant. An example is preventing bacterial growth in the xylem, channels […]