Innovative Projects Realized

Community Broadband Networks for Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities: Evaluating the Impacts of Training and Fibre-to-the-Home Deployment for First Nations Community Members

In Canada, residents of rural, remote and Northern communities face limitations in access to and availability of Internet connectivity and services. They also generally pay more for slower, less reliable, and more expensive telecommunications services compared to southern and urban residents. Over the last several decades, many public policy and community-led initiatives have attempted to develop telecommunications services in these regions. This has included the development of successful Indigenous community-based and non-profit Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This project will contribute to these efforts to connect underserved Indigenous communities on their own terms, through engaging residents in knowledge sharing, training, and the research and evaluation of activities related to the deployment of Community Networks. In particular, this project highlights the work of the Western James Bay Telecommunications Network, the first 100% Indigenous owned and operated, fibre-optic network backbone in Canada.

Paper mill biosolids reuse through integration into hydroseed mixtures

Sludge, a waste component of the paper making process, while typically placed in landfills, has the potential for a value-added end use in the capacity as a component in the hydroseeding process replacing the typical cellulosic shredded additive utilized to bind the hydroseed mixture and reduce movement once spread.
The case study industry, Port Hawkesbury Paper LP (PHP), produces over 7 tons/ hr of sludge at a wetness value of approximately 70% which currently augments Nova Scotia Power Point Tupper’s biomass burner with excess being landfilled. The goal is to remove the need for landfilling while concurrently creating a usable feedstock/ ingredient in a pre-existing process.
Trials will take place to determine the feasibility for sludge as both a tacking agent as well as the affects for growth on various plant types. Additionally, the need for pre-treatment to mitigate the presence and effects of trace contaminants will be investigated.

Hamlet of Pangnirtung Community Socio-Economic Framework Planning and Development

The Hamlet of Pangnirtung is exploring ways to improve the socio-economic development within the community. In preparation, and with the help of two Mitacs interns, the community would like to research various economic development models, the legal and social requirements for business development, existing local businesses, and explore other northern community socio-economic models, both in northern Canada and internationally. Furthermore, the community will review their current 2018 Community Economic Development Plan, which it did not include community voices or consider the northern context of the hamlet. Foundational to this work, is the incorporation of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) principles, which will inform both a development framework and future socio-economic development such that it reflects the local Inuit value systems and respects the arctic environment

Removing carbon-black pigment from ABS material recycled from end-of-life electronic devices for improved colourability and material performance

Plastic continues to be produced, as it’s an essential element in many industries such as medical, engineering, electronics, etc. As a result, there is an increase in plastic waste that is not being recycled and often ends up in our landfills and oceans instead. This is because recycling is a time-consuming and often expensive process that degrades plastic by changing its mechanical properties. Plastic waste also contains several different types of contaminants including food, additives, colorants, metal, etc. Optimization of plastic recycling is critical to using recycled plastic to produce our products and to restore our planet. This research project focuses on removing colorant contaminates to increase the recyclability of plastic waste and restore its properties. Furthermore, recycling facilities Lavergne, the partner organization for this research project, will benefit from this recycling approach since it will increase the value of their recycled ABS.

Additively Manufactured Fluoro-polymer Powder Patterns using Electro-photographic Printing Technology

Fluoro-polymer powder materials have been spotlighted for the use of robust outer surface morphology applications and artistic pattern creation for the outside window in global construction market. However, this anti-sticking art pattern generation on metallic plates like aluminum plates are very challenging compared with the printing on the glass window. So, it’s been a long unsolved challenge in the coating industry. We propose a novel additive manufacturing of robust surface modification for certain artistic design patterns on metallic plates. In this project, mechatronic engineers and material engineers collaborate to create a novel xerographic printing technology for the deposition of patterned fluoro-polymer powders with the support from a local windowglass industry leader in the construction, Starline Windows.

Novel tissue preservation media for tumor margin evaluation on intraoperative MRI

Amber is a novel preservation media for diagnostic tissue biopsies that enables superior histology, biomarker viability, and high RNA quantity. Amber is proposed to increase visualization of tumor margins on MRI. The current challenge of evaluating post-surgical specimen is the MRI technology is succumbed to surgically induced artefacts
from tissue-air interface. Tumor margin detection is vital to prevent local recurrence. If margins are not identified, the tumor may be leftover in the patient, which would lead to a second surgery and more complex therapy. Amber is designed to suspend the tissue, image the specimen with reduced artefacts and then transport the suspended
tissue in Amber to pathology for further histological evaluation. The current transport diagnostic media is Formalin, which is known to degrade nucleic acids and create strong crosslinks with tissue proteins, leading to decreased biomarker viability. Amber has proved to perform superior to Formalin, circumventing the current clinical challenges.

Process mapping and documentation at Eclipse Automation: Balancing standardization and flexibility in an engineer order-to-order operation

The research will document process knowledge that is currently held by individual employees. The main objective is that this personal knowledge about processes can be shared and used to create standardized documents which, as a result, can improve coordination and collaboration. The documentation work will include reviewing existing organization’s documents, engaging personnel in series of interviews, identifying the relationships between processes and performing analyses on the findings. As an output to this research, Eclipse will have a detailed map of selected processes and a document describing each process step by step and its interactions with other steps, and a software implementation of the process map.

Caractérisation et accompagnement de la mise en œuvre d’un laboratoire managérial au sein du CHU Sainte-Justine

Le CHU Sainte-Justine (CHUSJ), centre hospitalier universitaire à vocation pédiatrique, est un acteur clé du système de santé québécois. Principal hôpital mère-enfant au Canada, deuxième plus grand centre de recherche pédiatrique et premier centre de recherche clinique en pédiatrie, le CHUSJ cherche aujourd’hui à se positionner à l’avant-garde des pratiques de gestion. Le contexte actuel post-Covid, couplé aux enjeux de pénurie de main d’œuvre et de pression à l’efficacité des établissements hospitaliers font émerger en effet des défis nouveaux pour les gestionnaires du CHUSJ. Dans le cadre d’un programme de recherche en gestion et en leadership, le CHUSJ entend devenir leader dans la gestion et le leadership au sein du réseau santé et des services québécois.

A cet effet, un des projets institués par l’Ecole de Gestion du CHUSJ concerne la conception et le déploiement d’un laboratoire d’expérimentation en management. Le laboratoire implique actuellement sur la base du volontariat neuf gestionnaires de divers secteurs du CHUSJ. Par le biais d’une action collective en innovation managériale, les participants soumettent un ou plusieurs enjeux de gestion – par exemple comment apprendre à mieux déléguer, comment développer son rôle de gestion tactique et stratégique.

Development of high yielding, Eastern Canadian hard and soft red winter wheat cultivars and germplasm with increased resistance to Fusarium head blight and leaf diseases

Development of high yielding winter wheat cultivars, resistant or tolerant to different stresses, with good agronomic and quality characteristics, is important to wheat growers and industry. Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a serious wheat disease caused by a fungus Fusarium graminearum. FHB epidemics in Ontario were reported in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2015. Grain farmers, millers, and consumers benefit directly from improvements in FHB resistance in new wheat cultivars. The SeCan members, and wheat growers in general, will increase on farm profits by planting high yielding, Eastern Canadian hard and soft red winter wheat cultivars and germplasm, with increased resistance to FHB and leaf diseases. By partnering with University of Guelph’s wheat breeding program, SeCan will provide new and improved wheat genetics to SeCan partners, with increase yield and grain production.

Who Polarizes Whom? How Issue Type Defines Mass-Elite Linkage

Do voters become polarized because parties are polarized (top-down polarization) or do parties become polarized because voters are polarized (bottom-up polarization)? This project proposes that issue type determines whether ideological polarization follows a top-down or bottom-up trajectory. Voters adjust their positions to better match their party (top-down) on pragmatic issues such as economy because they will trust their party to adjust their policies to the changing economic reality. Conversely, polarization occurs in a bottom-up fashion (parties will become more polarized if voters are polarized) on principled issues such as environment, immigration, gay rights because these are value-laden deeply rooted attitudes. First, this project, focusing on European multiparty democracies, describes the evolution of party and mass polarization on social and economic issues in time. Second, it tests the theory across countries. Third, using panel data, it tests the theoretical argument on the British case, where the Labour Party suddenly shifted its position to further left under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. The results of this project will have implications for the democratic theory by analyzing the relation between masses and elites and the direction of influence between them.

Generation of 3D geometries and graphs aided by efficient spectral methods

The project aims to facilitate the research and development of new drugs by employing machine learning methods to generate new molecules. This includes understanding various properties about known molecules by training deep learning models for the purpose of molecular generation. The gained understanding of molecules will be used to improve existing models and generate novel molecules with high likelihood of satisfying given properties. Valence Discovery will benefit from the better molecular generation models since they can help reduce the cost and time involved with new drug-discovery or drug optimization objectives. Meaning that they can improve the quality of the drugs, reduce the cost of development and the side effects. This research will utilize expertise from graph representation learning, 3D geometries, spectral learning, generative modeling, and computational drug discovery.

Continued population assessment of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus oxyrhynchus) in the Restigouche River estuary, New Brunswick

There are Atlantic sturgeon in the Restigouche River estuary. This species is millions of years old and it is still found in our waters today. Fishers have reported their sightings every year in the last decade. Unfortunately, this species is now considered to be a species at risk of extinction. Because their numbers are so low, we do not see them that often in the area and therefore do not know a lot about them. Our project aims to answer community members’ questions about these fish in the area, such as “what can we do to help them?”.