Innovative Projects Realized

Production of cellulose esters in ionic liquid

Cellulose is the most common natural polymer available. The project aims to produce esters from cellulose fibers employing green solvents, such as ionic liquids. Ionic liquids’ properties are tunable by changing the anion and the cation to dissolve simultaneously the cellulose and the esterification agent. The esterification agent is a free fatty acid which can be bio-derived. We will vary: the source of cellulose (microcrystalline and nanocellulose), the free fatty acid (fatty chain length from 12 to 18), the ionic liquid (methyl and ethyl-imidazolium acetate salts), the ratio of free fatty acid/cellulose.

We will analyze the samples collected during the reaction by chemical structure (chromatography and NMR), rheological and mechanical properties. We anticipate being able to produce cellulose esters with applications as thermoplastics, which carry hydrophobic properties and can be shaped in films.

Evaluating augmented reality technologies for the inspection of pre-fabricated concrete panels

The components to be embedded within a precaset concrete panel must be inspected prior to concete placement. To the untrained eye, this inspection appears to be the process of comparing an actual 3D tangle of mesh, rebar, and other metal components with neat 2D design drawings on paper. Even for highly trained and experienced inspectors, it is time consuming and challenging to identify and count components, as well as verify their sizes and locations with centimeter accuracy. The proposed research will test and evaluate the use of augmented reality (projected and holographic) technologies which allow inspectors to view 3D designs juxtaposed on the actual 3D embedded components in the casting bed. Participants will use the augmented reality technologies to identify discrepancies between the design and actual assembly in this laboratory/field experiment and thereby gain insight into the relative advantages and disadvantages prior to adoption of these technologies.

Digital Twin for Civil Engineering Design Workflow

McElhanney provides Engineering and Surveying services across Canada. They want to leverage the AI feature extraction work conducted in 2021 – 22 (Mitacs Accelerate IT23104) whereby the University of Alberta interns helped to extract physical municipal assets (fire hydrants, street lights, manholes, curbs, etc.) from detailed terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data, i.e., LiDAR point-clouds. This work led McElhanney to be able to run Machine Learning based algorithms on LiDAR captured point-cloud scenes to identify and extract asset features for use in civil engineering design workflows. While this work achieved substantial progress with publications, we want to go beyond the labour-intensive feature extraction and begin to associate engineering attributes to those features so that they can be accurately represented in a digital twin, which will be used for a more efficient object annotation framework for professional surveying purposes. To achieve this attribution, we propose to deploy the use of AR/VR technology on the premise that the immersive experience can expedite and enhance attribute annotations and scene understanding.

Efficient, cost-effective purification of soybean peroxidase for industrial applications

Pharmaceutical contamination of water systems poses direct threats to human health and the environment. Unfortunately, wastewater treatment plants are not always capable of sufficiently removing pharmaceutical contamination, particularly where drugs are disposed of in high concentrations – such as pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. When some residual drugs are released into the environment they can persist and disrupt important functions in humans and wildlife.
Soybean hulls are generally considered waste products in soy production; however, they contain an important compound which could be used to efficiently and effectively destroy numerous pharmaceuticals in wastewater. Using a cheap, efficient purification method of this compound (“soybean peroxidase”), we will test its ability to remove several key drugs that have been found to contaminate the environment. As new and stricter regulations require drug manufacturers to improve their water decontamination processes, this cheap and effective way of treating wastewater using soybean peroxidase may be viewed favorably by many pharmaceutical industries. Agricultural companies may also be interested in using this technology in decontaminating residual pesticides which are an increasing problem, particularly when considering agricultural runoff.

Autonomic, cardiovascular, respiratory, muscle oxygenation regulation during postural transitions and acute exercise in females and males living with frailty

This research aims to: (1) determine how the brain, heart, vessels, lungs, and muscle oxygenation regulation in female and male frail older adults. In study #1, participants will perform three postural transitions: (a) sit-to-stand, (b) lie-to-stand, and (c) lie-to-sit, and three identical constant workload walking tests. The autonomic (brain, e.g., sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), cardiovascular (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output), respiratory (e.g., oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide output, ventilation) and muscle oxygenation (near-infrared spectroscopy) will be assessed in females and males with different frailty statuses. Homeostatic dysregulation compromises rapid adjustments in the autonomic, cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscle oxygenation regulatory mechanisms affecting maintenance of homeostasis, especially in vulnerable populations (e.g., older adults). The dysregulation exposes them to higher risks of frailty, chronic diseases, and falls. Frailty is characterized by the degradation of biological and functional reserves to tolerate stressors resulting in high vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. People living with frailty are under-recognized, under-served, under-appreciated, and poorly understood. This research proposal is critical because it will inform the future development of more robust early frailty risk detection assessments, frailty preventative, and rehabilitative treatment/intervention strategies considering sex differences.

The manufacture of mycelium-based bio-foams using upcycling waste materials and the study of the Canadian market potential for small-size products

This project will produce mycelium-based bio-foams (MBFs) using waste materials and edible mushroom strains. MBFs are a type of eco-friendly material, which has the potential to replace EPS in terms of foam packaging properties. The manufacturing of the product is a self-assembling process, without mining natural resources and generating wastes. It can also be crushed easily and thrown into the backyard as fertilizer at the end of its life cycle. Therefore, using MBFs as packaging materials will reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and solid wastes sent to landfills. Commodities using MBFs as packaging may be more popular because customers are more inclined towards greener products with the increasing awareness of environmental protection. Companies using MBFS instead of EPS show more social responsibility and may get greenhouse gas offset credit.

Indigenous Foodlands Conservation Areas

The Indigenous Foodlands Conservation Areas Project will conduct participatory action research with Elders, Indigenous knowledge holders and Indigenous law/governance experts to support the BC Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty and the IISAK OLAM Foundation in the process of mapping out and advocating for Indigenous Foodland Conservation Areas in Neskonlith Secwepemc territory.

In the Neskonlith Secwepemc territory, the project will appreciate and inquire into the integrative strategies and conservation methods of traditional harvesters (Indigenous hunters, fishers, farmers and gatherers) in relation to some of the last remaining fragments of biodiversity and cultural heritage in Interior Salish territories. The project team will also develop and deliver training and infrastructure for a network of Secwepemc hunters to conduct environmental monitoring of the migration corridors of Elk, wild salmon, and other culturally important animals. The project is based on a decolonizing food system framework that will outline a matrix of key conditions necessary for having the rights of Indigenous hunters, fishers, farmers and gatherers recognized in decision making matters impacting the hunting, fishing and gathering corridors that transcend political boundaries and privatized plots of agricultural land.

Development of Adaptive Fault and Anomaly Detection for Industrial Processes and the Application of Reinforcement Learning (RL) for Automatic Fault Recovery

The Operational Excellence (OpEx) team at Spartan Controls is actively involved in several initiatives for developing advanced process control (APC) solutions to the oil sands industry. The OpEx team collaborates with Professor Biao Huang’s research group through the NSERC Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in the Control of Oil Sands Processes program for solutions that require extensive research and development. This proposed project will complement the on-going joint research efforts with the development of new data analysis techniques to address the APC problems. Due to increasing number of sensors in industries, a large amount of process and alarm data are collected that has a useful information about the process. To detect, isolate, and identify any kinds of potential abnormalities and possible faults, the real time process monitoring and fault diagnosis algorithm should be applied. Also, to detect possible faults and anomalies which were not in the historical data, the adaptive framework is applied to capture any possible future faults and anomalies. Moreover, to make the task of taking actions to deal with the faults more automated, a RL-based techniques are going to be used.

Selecting Mycelium Producing Strains for Packaging Bio-Foam Production and Canadian Market Potential for Big-Size Commodities

Manufacture companies use foam materials made of polystyrene to protect the goods during storage and shipping. However, polystyrene is plastic-based and made using crude oil, which is terrible for the environment. Used polystyrene foams are challenging to eliminate and occupy space in landfills for a very long period. This study investigates the manufacture of bio-composite foam packaging materials, having the same protecting properties as polystyrene, with the advantage of being naturally produced by growing particular mushroom mycelium in a molded container filled with a waste material (substrate) such as hemp or sawdust. The product is lightweight, biodegradable, and eco-friendly. It can be used as a foam packaging material in Canada to protect items such as electronics and electrical equipment, cosmetics products, glass, and pharmaceutical equipment. After being used, they can be composted, creating a circular economy.

Monitoring the mental health of Canadians

MHRC is conducting ongoing polling of Canadians to assess the short- and long-term effect of COVID-19 on mental health. We require additional support to expand our capacity to analyze the datasets we are creating. Our poll is extensive including a number of markers of mental health along with an array of demographic controls. While we will release top-line data, this internship will involve a deeper dive into these dataset to parse out new findings. The candidate will stay informed on the newest research pertaining to effective means of weighting, and understanding how the various demographics we poll respond to mental health questions, and then will advise on suggestions to improve data collection and reporting. The results of this work will help inform policy makers so that they can develop appropriate responses to help mitigate short and long-term COVID-19 mental health impact.

Understanding shifts in angler effort and steelhead abundance in British Columbia’s recreational fishery

British Columbia (BC) supports world-renowned recreational fisheries for steelhead, which are prized by national and international anglers. In recent decades, the prosperity of these fisheries has been challenged by widespread declines in many of the stocks in southern BC, many of which are of conservation concern. While there is no commercial fishery for this species, data collected annually from anglers provides important information about steelhead status. However, it is unclear whether this recreational data accurately reflects trends in wild populations. Using over 60 years of recreational catch and effort data, we aim to investigate the relationship between the number of wild steelhead, and patterns of reported steelhead catch. Understanding how accurately this recreational dataset represents trends in wild steelhead is a key component of the effective management of this imperiled species.

Developing innovative techniques for identifying critical habitat and mitigating threats to endangered salamanders

Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) and co-occuring occurring unisexual Ambystomids (Ambystoma laterale – (2) jeffersonianum) are endangered species in Canada. Many populations in Canada are experiencing going threats and pressures from habitat loss and fragmentation due to surrounding land uses which include residential areas, agricultural fields, and road networks. This project will focus on locating and characterizing critical habitats for these species which will fill in significant information gaps on the species natural history. It will also involve the first comprehensive, multi-season study of salamander movements and road mortality. As a consulting firm, often tasked with providing mitigation measures for road projects, this study has the potential to position NRSI as a leader road ecology studies.