Innovative Projects Realized

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

31133 Completed Projects

2940
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5159
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837
MB
685
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882
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9292
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9695
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97
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601
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1161
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Projects by Category

How do textbooks promote reconciliation?

How do textbooks promote reconciliation? Over the past decade, new history textbooks have been published in Canada and in Central Europe. In Ontario and Quebec, the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report provided a stimulus for reform. In Europe, historians from Germany and Poland wrote a textbook – approved in both countries – which seeks to overcome the historical animosity between the two nations. In what ways are these new textbooks different from the old ones? How is reconciliation understood in different cultural contexts? The student and the supervisor will co-author a blog entry about textbook reforms in Europe and Canada and, in the long run, publish a journal article. The student will also create a British-Canadian Network of Textbook Experts – a community of education researchers and practitioners – with the intention of fostering new transatlantic research and consultancy partnerships. The members will meet at a virtual networking event in November 2022. Collectively, the placement explores how Europeans and Canadians can benefit from each other’s experience with curricula and textbook development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kate Korycki

Student:

Partner:

University of Cambridge

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Extreme star formation in the ultraviolet: The CASTOR revolution

CASTOR is a proposed wide-field, ultraviolet and optical space telescope that is under development by the Canadian Space Agency. Ultraviolet light is the best tracer of star formation in galaxies, and CASTOR’s unique combination of sensitivity and excellent image quality will be transformational for this field of study. In this project we will assess how CASTOR imaging could be used to measure the physical properties (including stellar masses, star formation rates and chemical properties) for large samples of starburst galaxies in the nearby Universe. The project will involve end-to-end simulations of ultraviolet and optical imaging from CASTOR, plus infrared imaging from the European Space Agency’s soon-to-be-launched Euclid telescope. Some of the tools and techniques to be developed during this project will be integrated into a suite of software packages that is being developed by the consortium to help astronomers in Canada and UK plan future CASTOR science programmes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Patrick Côté

Student:

Partner:

University of Edinburgh

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Alluvial landscape evolution in response to deglaciation. A case study from the Thompson River, south-central British Columbia.

The amount of water and sediment entering a river control the nature of its flow. In
landscapes vulnerable to climate change, e.g., changes in precipitation, hydrology, or the
disappearance of glaciers, this could result in significant changes in water and sediment
inputs to rivers. The consequence of this may be down-stream flooding with negative
impacts to industry and society. Models mathematically relate amounts of sediment and
water input to expected changes in the properties of rivers, such as the steepness of
channels. However, there are few studies of how rivers adjust to changing conditions in
reality to test these models and determine their utility. This project seeks to study the
sediments preserved in the Thompson River valley, south-central British Columbia, to
understand how the river evolved in response to pronounced climate changes following the
melting of Ice Age glaciers in the region. Expected outcomes are a new dataset of river
deposits with quantitative ages for which past water and sediment inputs into the river have
been calculated, as well as past aspects of the river’s geometry, such as gradient.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Mitch D'Arcy

Student:

Partner:

University of Oxford

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology; Water

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Recycled aerospace grade Ti-6Al-4V, for structural applications in offshore renewable energy systems.

The UK and Canada have officially declared a climate emergency; clean energy production is vital in combating climate change. Offshore wind proves a viable method of green energy production for the UK and Canada. Titanium alloys offer longer lasting structural materials than steels, but titanium is expensive. Recycling titanium from aerospace waste offers a cost effective and green source of high-performance materials. A novel recycling process called field assisted sintering technology, can easily recycle titanium. The combination of crashing waves and corrosive environment, damages offshore renewable-energy structures. In this project we investigate the effects that the marine environment has on the growth of cracks in the currently used steels and recycled titanium by bending the titanium and steel within a marine environment and measuring crack growth using innovative non-contact techniques like digital image correlation. We expect that the crack growth will be faster in the currently used steel than recycled titanium. This would mean that a wind turbine made from titanium would have a longer lifetime and produce more green energy, which could make it cost and energy effective.

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Faculty Supervisor:

James Hogan

Student:

Partner:

University of Manchester

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Investigating Sex Differences in Beta Cell Calcium Handling

Diabetes is a disease affecting around 10% of the population which is caused by an inability to regulate blood glucose levels. Sex differences exist in diabetes; men have increased
incidence of type 2 diabetes compared to pre- menopausal women. Blood glucose levels are normally tightly controlled by insulin release from beta cells in the pancreas, a process which involves calcium signaling. Dysregulated calcium signaling in these cells disrupts insulin release and has been associated with diabetes. Considering the sex differences in diabetes and findings that other tissues show sex differences in calcium handling, we want to investigate whether sex differences exist in calcium handling in beta cells. To do this, we plan to investigate calcium signaling in two of the main calcium storage compartments in beta cells isolated from non-diabetic and diabetic male and female mice using calcium imaging
technology.

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Faculty Supervisor:

James Johnson

Student:

Partner:

King's College London

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Exploring sedentary behaviour and physical activity amongst prostate cancer survivors: An ecological momentary assessment study

This project will explore sedentary behaviour (the time a person spends sitting or reclining) and physical activity in prostate cancer survivors. More sedentary time and less physical activity have been linked with negative health outcomes for cancer survivors. However, research into sedentary behaviour has become an emerging priority. This project will utilize a novel method of intensively gathering survey data of participants five times a day over the course of a week while simultaneously gathering activity data. Gathering data in this way will allow us to assess trends in sedentary behaviour and physical activity and look at their
associations with contextual factors (activity, place, person) as well as treatment-related side effects such as stress and fatigue.
This project will provide us with a greater understanding of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in prostate cancer survivors and provide us with a basis for developing tailored interventions for this group.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Linda Trinh

Student:

Partner:

University of Leeds

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award

SLAM with Reinforcement Learning to aid mapping in highly dynamic scenes

This project aims to develop a reinforcement learning agent with access to depth cameras to aid map building for SLAM. Research has shown dynamic environments, where the majority of frame is taken up by dynamic objects, along with low fidelity and lighting can lead to low robustness in practical application. We hope to use reinforcement learning as a motion planner to explore the environment to better enable static landmark detection and dynamic landmark filtering. This work will first validate the hypothesis through simulation. More specifically using the Unreal Engine with AirSim and a pre-modeled physical quadrotor and flight controller. This simulation will explore how reinforcement learning can be used to navigate through a prior unknown environment to aid dynamic-SLAM to detect static landmarks. Then a real-world experiment will be setup within the drone arena along with dynamic objects to evaluate the robustness in the real world. We will be building upon previous work that has been done within simulation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL5iKaSM2VQ) along with using a quadrotor that has already been built within the lab (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmtHIAjggP8).

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sajad Saeedi

Student:

Partner:

University of Bath

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Artificial Intelligence; Technology; Transportation (excluding aerospace)

University:

Toronto Metropolitan University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Nanomaterial interactions with soil microbial communities and soil fauna

Conventional agriculture needs large inputs of nutrients, through the addition of fertiliser, in order to produce the amount of food needed globally to sustain the population. Typical fertilisers are hugely wasteful, polluting the atmosphere and waterways, and affecting human health, wildlife, and ecosystem stability. Nanomaterials are very small particles that have potential to be used as fertilisers in order to improve nutrient use efficiency and reduce waste. This project will look at the interactions between a pre-selected range of nanomaterials and soil microbes, specifically looking at how polluting gases released from soils differ, how microbial activity changes, and how nutrients are stored in the soil differently. The project will also look at the effects of the nanomaterials on earthworms in order to look at any potentially toxic effects the nanomaterials may have. The research project will develop collaboration between McGill and Birmingham and hopefully lead to joint publications.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Cynthia Kallenbach

Student:

Partner:

University of Birmingham

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Environmental Science and Technology; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

McGill University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Neural and behavioural patterns of avoidance; an fMRI analysis and online study approach.

Depression is a mood disorder that is often resistant to treatment – in part because there are distinct subtypes of depression. For more effective treatment, we need to better understand patterns of behaviour that characterize subtypes as well as underlying patterns of brain activity and chemistry. One pattern of behaviour that has been under-investigated in depression, but is well-characterized neurobiologically, is avoidance. Studies in rats have demonstrated distinct brain circuits underlying specific types of avoidance behaviours. These circuits act in distinct ways in avoidance relative to reward-seeking behaviours. This research suggests that humans showing different patterns of avoidance would show different patterns of brain activity, and may therefore benefit from different types of treatment. The overarching aim of this project is to analyse brain imaging data (fMRI) that has been recorded from several human participants whilst they completed a newly developed experimental task that measures subtypes of avoidance and reward seeking. Additionally, an online study will be conducted to understand whether someone’s mood at the time of completing this novel experimental task affects their performance. It is anticipated that these results will help clarify the role avoidance plays in depression, and ultimately help guide treatment selection in the future.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Rebecca Todd

Student:

Partner:

University of Bristol

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award

An Investigation into Coupling a Stochastic Approximation with an Exotic Sampler

Algorithms that learn and sample from probability distributions form an important part of machine learning, AI, and the natural sciences. One needn’t look far to find such algorithms at the bleeding edge of methodology, and in everyday scientific pursuit.
The Wang-Landau algorithm is an example. It combines a sampling step with a learning step, to learn a probability distribution about which our knowledge is limited. The probability distribution may be over physical states, so an efficiently running algorithm would allow the simulation of the dynamics of protein folding, for instance. The learning step incorporates information gained from the sampling step, forming a more complete picture of the distribution. The particular form of the learning step is foundational in many neural networks and is called stochastic approximation. Due to our incomplete knowledge of the distribution, we cannot apply standard sampling methods. We therefore need to employ a more exotic sampler.
Coupling exotic samplers alongside stochastic approximation is underexplored, and potentially fruitful. We will try to assess the theoretical behaviour of such a coupling, an assessment not yet existing in the literature.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Florian Maire

Student:

Partner:

University College London

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program:

Globalink Research Award

The Impact of Intervention on Struggling Adolescents’ Understanding of Self-in-Relationships

This project will be completed in partnership with Pine River Institute, a residential and wilderness treatment centre in Ontario for youths aged 13 – 19. I plan to investigate if/how Pine River Institute is able to help substance-addicted youth achieve the core developmental tasks of adolescence, including developing a healthy sense of self and healthy relationships with others. I am interested in the mechanism of change; that is, what is it about the program that helps accelerate development in the key areas of self and relationships. I hypothesis that each youth’s relationships with staff and peers at Pine River may help them develop their sense of self and learn skills for healthy relationships that can be applied to relationships at home. To complete this study, I will be interviewing a total of ten youth from different stages of the program. These interviews will be transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using Thematic Analysis. This work will be presented to the staff at Pine River as well as through conferences and publications to add to the growing understanding of how residential and wilderness therapy may contribute to adolescent development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Debra Pepler

Student:

Partner:

Pine River Institute

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education; Public Service, Policy, and Governance

University:

York University

Program:

Accelerate

New Phosphorus- and Boron-Containing Allene Analogues for Small Molecule Activation and Catalysis

This project will develop new abundant-element systems for catalytically relevant chemistry. It will establish phosphorus/boron containing alternatives of a key class of compounds called allenes. The development of abundant-element chemistry, capable of the powerful synthetic transformations, traditionally enabled by precious metals, is key to reducing environmental damage and meeting the global economy requirements. This placement aims to overcome a central disadvantage of main-group element containing systems compared to precious metal ones: their limited coordination sites for chemical activation. This will be achieved by the synthesis of phosphorus/boron containing allenes which will be used for the chemical activation of small molecules such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This will provide fundamental knowledge required for further advances in metal-free catalysis and establish a new collaboration between two of the top main-group chemistry researchers leading the Stephan group at the University of Toronto and the Cowley group at the University of Edinburgh.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Douglas Stephan

Student:

Partner:

University of Edinburgh

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award

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Mitacs — Return on Innovation

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.