Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

13270 Completed Projects

1072
AB
2795
BC
430
MB
106
NF
348
SK
4184
ON
2671
QC
43
PE
209
NB
474
NS

Projects by Category

10%
Computer science
9%
Engineering
1%
Engineering - biomedical
4%
Engineering - chemical / biological

Advanced Earth Observation Technologies

UrtheCast is developing advanced cameras and sensors flying on a constellation of 16 satellites orbiting the earth in tandem pairs. The unprecedented data set requires innovation in advanced earth observation algorithms and applications, which will require novel techniques for analysis, simulations and advanced “big data” processing. The objective of this project is to put this data to good use. Never before has the world been viewed with such detail and precision. The opportunity to accurately study forest biomass, species mix, agriculture productivity, plant yield and water resource management is now a possibility, if we can innovate with new algorithms and infrastructure to process this data effectively.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Olaf Niemann

Student:

Lukas Schreiber

Partner:

UrtheCast

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Accelerate

Quantifying the effects of the Green Energy Act and the determinants of resistance to wind turbine development in Ontario

In 2009 the Government of Ontario enacted the Green Energy Act (GEA) to promote the development of renewable energy projects. Subsequently, the importance of wind generation both for electricity generation and in public debate has grown dramatically in Ontario. While the GEA simplified the regulatory process for developing renewable energy projects, wing turbine siting has become increasingly contentious in many Ontario communities. This project will undertake analysis of a newly constructed database following Ontario wind turbine projects through the regulatory process, construction, and operation, including media coverage and legal proceedings, in order to identify the determinants of local community resistance to wind development. During the course of the project, the interns will match the turbine development and media data with detailed geographic, socio-demographic and economic data to enable statistical analysis of the factors contributing to stakeholder resistance and the effects of Ontario’s renewable energy policies on wind generation development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Margaret Loudermilk

Student:

Vittal Kartik Rao

Partner:

Suncor Energy Inc.

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Management of companies and enterprises

University:

Western University

Program:

Accelerate

The Science of Body Sugaring – Part 2

Sugarbush Spa is a London-based company that specializes in the removal of unwanted body hair by a method known as sugaring. The method, used for centuries in the Middle East, has several notable advantages over traditional waxing. Commercially available sugaring pastes suffer from inconsistency in production and unsatisfactory performance. At its core, the creation of sugaring paste is a synthetic organic chemical reaction, hydrolyzing the disaccharide sucrose to the two monosaccharides glucose and fructose. The goal of this internship is to develop a superior sugaring paste using scientifically-informed methods. The intern will use an iterative process, keeping a strict log of conditions and a record of observations and results. Product samples will be examined using NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and evaluated by expert staff at Sugarbush Spa for is physical properties. Ultimately, a standard operating procedure will be developed for Sugarbush Spa to create a consistent, high-quality sugaring paste.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Kerr

Student:

Joanne Curiel Tejeda

Partner:

Sugar and Company Inc

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Advanced manufacturing

University:

Western University

Program:

Accelerate

Investigating the use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for Digital Content Creation with freehand 3D Sketching

The project involves conducting a study to evaluate human performance in executing simple drawing tasks like drawing curves and lines from various directions. The study will help ascertain the accuracy and ergonomic aspects of 3D drawing. We will then use the results of the study to design a 3D sketching system combining augmented reality glasses with traditional drawing tablets. The tablet can provide a physical constraint to aid drawing tasks while also reducing the amount of fatigue the artist faces. Autodesk will gain invaluable insight into 3D drawing and users’ response to content creation tools in an immersive environment, which will help Autodesk’s R&D and engineering teams develop products for users wishing to draw, paint, create, or animate using this evolving technology.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Karan Singh

Student:

Rahul Arora

Partner:

Autodesk Canada Co

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Hydrogen Storage in Two-Dimensional Layered Nanomaterials: Characterization – Year Two

In this project, we will develop solid-state hydrogen storage materials for the potential applications of fuel cell electric vehicles. Based on the most cutting-edge achievements in related fields, two categories of two-dimensional layered nanomaterials are proposed. Their hydrogen storage capabilities will be elaborated by in-depth characterization of material structure and hydrogen storage properties. Moreover, we will employ various modification methods, such as defect engineering, catalytic element decoration and surface area expansion, to optimize storage properties in terms of capacity, storage temperature and pressure. The mechanism for the property improvement will also be interpreted fundamentally. Knowledge about the characteristics of 2-D layered hydrogen storage nanomaterials will be systematically established at our SFU based hydrogen technology laboratory. To the interest of our industry partner, several promising hydrogen storage materials with large capacity at ambient temperature and low pressure will be developed and verified for commercial applications.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Erik Kjeang

Student:

Pei Pei

Partner:

Hydrogen in Motion

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Chemicals

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Elevate

Atmospheric Acid Emissions, Climate Change, and Coastal Salmon Stream Ecosystems in British Columbia – Year Two

Atmospheric acid emissions are increasing in north coastal British Columbia from increased metallurgical smelting, marine fossil fuel transport, and development of liquefied natural gas. Acid deposition can cause episodic acidification of streams when acidic compounds are flushed into streams after snowmelt and precipitation events over hours to weeks. Many salmon-bearing coastal streams are likely sensitive to episodic acidification, but these events are poorly quantified in western Canada. Furthermore, drought and warming due to climate change can exacerbate episodic acidification of streams. Our study would determine the effects of acid emissions from Rio Tinto Alcan?s metallurgical smelting facilities on streams near Kitimat, BC. We would use remotely deployed water chemistry sensors to measure high-frequency variations in stream hydrology and chemistry. Statistical models would then be used to determine how acid emissions from multiple industrial sources may increase episodic acidification of streams and interact with the effects of climate change.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jonathan Moore

Student:

Paul Weidman

Partner:

Rio Tinto Alcan

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Elevate

Identification of copy number variation biomarkers in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Copy number variations (CNVs) are an important type of structural variation affecting pathogenesis of complex diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Accurate detection of genomic regions with CNVs is crucial for understanding the etiology of IBD, as these regions contain likely drivers of disease development. Microarray technology provides single-nucleotide resolution genomic data and is considered one of the best measurement technologies to detect CNVs. This project will identify and characterize CNV in 340 IBD patients in Manitoba. It is expected that the novel CNV risk loci identified from the genome-wide analysis can explain a significant part of heritability in IBD, which can be translated into clinical applications for diagnostics in Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Pingzhao Hu

Student:

Svetlana Frenkel

Partner:

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Generating Insight for Continuing Care through Exploration of RAI-MDS Data with Data Analytics and Computational Mode

The Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS) is used by health authorities for collecting information about individuals in continuing care facilities. Collected quarterly, RAI-MDS records contain more than 500 data elements, including cognition, psychosocial well-being, health conditions, communication, physical function, and activity patterns. Because of this it has great potential for providing an incomparable quantitative view on the lives of the oldest and most vulnerable Canadians. This research will focus on applying Big Data methods and modelling to RAI-MDS data, using visual analytics to enable exploration of the data. This will include IBM’s Watson, a group of powerful computing systems capable of searching vast amounts of information and performing multiple forms of data analysis. The methodology and tools resulting from this research will allow health authorities, residential care facilities, and other stakeholders to ask powerful questions about critical topics, such as how to allocate resources in order to best help residents.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Arthur Ted Kirkpatrick

Student:

Piper Jackson

Partner:

IBM Canada

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

Improving optics and illumination for smartphone-attached magnifier

The objective of this project is to design and build a new prototype device attachable to a smartphone camera employing a novel method of illumination to enable acquiring high quality images of the skin without surface contact. By replacing the precise optical and lighting components currently used in the company’s existing product MoleScope, this design will allow manufacturing a new device at considerably lower cost. The new device also requires a universal attachment system for several different smartphones, as the camera is located in different positions on every model. The intern will employ knowledge of optics and engineering to build a working prototype, and the partner organization will benefit from the prototype product and be able to conduct manufacturing based on the intern’s work.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Lorne Whitehead

Student:

Sepideh Khosravi Simchi

Partner:

MetaOptima Technology Inc.

Discipline:

Physics / Astronomy

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Efficient Security Provisioning in the Cloud Based on Network Security Defense Patterns Using Service Chaining

In modern large data centers hundreds of thousands of VMs run simultaneously on thousands of physical computing nodes and networking nodes with different security policies. A centralized security architecture based on managing all their security policies in a few large security appliances would cause major security policy complexities and choke points in the cloud infrastructure. We will investigate to propose a network security pattern based approach for cloud infrastructure and its optimal placement in the cloud. We believe our approach breaks away from the traditional centralized network security approach, i.e. concentrating more and more security functionality in the same appliance in order to have more efficient implementation. From this perspective, we assemble a set of security functions, deploy them optimally and dynamically and connect them through SDN, all on the basis of the security needs captured through our proposed defense patterns. These security modules thereafter can be composed/decomposed inside larger security nodes to achieve a more efficient implementation. Ericsson will benefit from our security solution by providing an optimal placement for finer granularity security functions distributed among less loaded nodes results in a system more resilient to attacks, such as DDoS attacks.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Mohamed Cheriet

Student:

Alireza Shameli Sendi

Partner:

Ericsson Canada

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Assessing the impacts of permafrost thaw driven changes to water resources in Canada’s sub-Arctic using remote sensing and hydrological modelling

Unprecedented climate warming and human disturbance in the border region of the Northwest Territories and northeastern British Columbia (NEBC) has led to widespread permafrost thaw and land cover change that has disrupted the hydrological cycle and the industrial activities that depend upon it. To address this concern, Wilfrid Laurier University in collaboration with Nexen Energy will work toward the development of the Consortium for Permafrost Ecosystems in Transition (CPET) for the purpose of reducing the uncertainty regarding the future availability of surface water resources in the economically and environmentally important NWT-NEBC border region. The Mitacs programme will bring together researchers, aboriginal communities, government agencies and an industrial partner (Nexen) for the purpose of developing and sharing new knowledge and techniques, increasing predictive capacity so that water management strategies can be improved and implemented with greater confidence, and building a community focussed on responsibly managing its shared water resource.

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Faculty Supervisor:

William Quinton

Student:

Justin Adams

Partner:

Nexen Inc.

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

Wilfrid Laurier University

Program:

Accelerate

Multi-dimensional and long-term reactive transport analysis of the geochemical stability of sedimentary basins

Sedimentary rock formations are currently under consideration for the placement and long-term storage of used nuclear fuel originating from nuclear power generation. A thorough understanding of the long-term geochemical stability in these rock formations is important to prove that future interactions of the waste material with aquifers as well as flora and fauna at the land surface can be ruled out for time periods exceeding 10,000 years. Constrained by observational data, a series of process-based computer simulations will be conducted to reproduce past geochemical changes of sedimentary basins. This research will result in improved capabilities for prediction of sedimentary basin evolution under present-day conditions and affected by climate change including glaciation and subsequent deglaciation events.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ulrich Mayer

Student:

Danyang Su

Partner:

Nuclear Waste Management Organization

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

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