Innovative Projects Realized

Forecasting tool exchange times in the Muratec MW200 Lathe using Machine Learning

This project will focus on the design, creation and validation of a model to forecast replacement requirements within the Muratec MW200 lathes.

The overall project objective is to produce a model defining the relationship between machine state and upcoming maintenance needs. The primary focus is a turning machine (automated lathe) that has a selection of cutting tools mounted on a turret turntable. Different tools are used for different cutting tasks, and each tool has a specific durability and life span.

Sequent AI: Origination & Technology Strategy

Sequent AI is a consolidation focused on acquiring technology companies in both the operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) spaces. Through this approach Sequent AI aims to provide solutions that bridge the gap between OT and IT technologies. This project will go hand in hand with Sequent’s mandate as it will assess opportunity for innovation in the OT and IT spaces. Many industrial environments today have established extensive physical security systems, however, are lacking majorly when it comes to cybersecurity. This is where the main focus of the project will be with the intern being expected to perform both financial and strategic analysis in this area. The intern will also be involved in day-to-day operations at Sequent AI including financing of live transactions and management teams at each of the operating companies.

Decoloniality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D-DEI) at SeeChange Initiative

This project extends my internship with the organization that began in May (another 4 month internship). My internship mandate from the start has been to support SeeChange in developing a DEI strategy based on the “best” practices in the literature. However, I have learned that there is mounting evidence proving that many DEI initiatives being implemented by organizations are falling short. After having familiarized myself with SeeChange and their CommunityFirst methodology over the first couple of weeks of my internship, I had a revelation. I wondered whether the reason DEI initiatives were falling short was that they were not being led by the underrepresented groups they seek to serve, that is, they were not being done in a CommunityFirst way. Perhaps, contemporary DEI initiatives may be masking the deeper issue at their core, and in actuality upholding the power dynamics they seek to dissolve. The concept of “decoloniality” has been introduced in a number of fields, including global health, as a way to tackle this issue and dismantle the unequal power dynamics that resulted from colonization by the European and British empires. I asked myself whether this concept could be brought into the DEI field.

Salt Water Bath Bombs Small Business Expansion Project

This project will help Salt Water Bath Bombs expand by implementing a new revenue stream within the business that targets larger supply chains who support female owned small businesses such as Costco and Sobeys.

Virtual Healthcare Intervention System

Robin’s Nest Technology aims to develop innovative healthcare software solutions to make healthcare accessible by enabling convenient, secure, user-friendly, and reliable mental health support for diverse populations. Our interdisciplinary team from nursing and software engineering has developed a secured and fully integrated web-based platform and mobile applications to deliver virtual mental health support programs to those in need.
Robin’s Nest Technology is seeking to leverage AI (Artificial Intelligence) to offer mental health solutions in an efficient and cost-effective manner. One of the main applications of AI pursued by Robins Nest Technology is around early childhood development. The interaction between parents and their children is the foundation for the child’s future social skills, and the child’s mental health and emotional well-being are directly linked to their caregiver’s abilities. Among measures of scaling this quality, the Parent-Child Teaching Interaction Scale (PCITS) is an effective and well-established assessment tool that measures the parent-child interaction quality. The PCITS identifies problematic areas within parent-child interactions and is used in a variety of interventional research projects. However, it is time-consuming and costly, and, as such, is not readily implemented within clinicians’ practice.

Mobile medical imaging device – Substantial technical improvement leading to new market opportunities

Canada Technology Connection Inc. (CTC) is a biomedical engineering company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that focuses on innovative health technologies in the field of 3D human body imaging. We invest in innovation, research and clinical science in complex 3D human modelling, imaging, and modern computer vision. Our goal is to research, test, validate and commercialize this innovative health solution. Our vision is to use innovative science and 3D imaging technology to address some of society’s most challenging healthcare issues.

CTC aims to bring a significant technical improvement to our mobile medical imaging device for infectious diseases and enable new market opportunities in deep vein thrombosis and inflammatory-diseases. The project will require a technical comparison between the current imaging technology and prospective technologies, performance analysis comparing technologies, and a clear plan for implementing the technical improvement with minimal impact to our current technology stack. This project will allow CTC to open new markets and help increase the quality of life for Canadian and International citizens.

Semantic Classification of Short Texts

This project consist in researching and implementing a set of algorithms to do semantic classification of short texts in social networks. The classification task consists in identifying relevant posts from social network in a specific context .Calculating the relevance of a posts is a difficult task that can be solved using semantic analysis. The goal of this project is to solve this problem with a high accuracy and precision. The resulting system will be used by nGauge to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their services.

Assessing the needs of residents within the City of Brantford regarding recreation, physical activity, and sport.

The City of Brantford is interested in understanding its community better with respect to how recreation centres, pools, parks and trails, neighbourhood associations are utilized by members. Surveys will be distributed across the community at events in the late summer and early fall. Part of the proposed work will be to engage directly with those members of the community who may be less inclined to complete such a survey. These include, but are not limited to, equity-deserving groups, older adults, and families with children with a disability. Follow-up focus groups and/or interviews will be conducted with a sample of the population to explore these issues in more detail. Following data collection, a report will be created for the City outlining the key findings. The report will also be helpful for Laurier’s Sun Life Centre for Healthy Communities as it broadens its outreach to the Brantford area.

Dynamic study of the power network system for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer supplied from renewable energy sources

In order to accelerate the energy transition to a carbon-free economy, hydrogen is becoming increasingly important as an energy carrier. One way of producing green hydrogen is via water electrolysis using renewable energy. Strong governmental policies are being deployed around the world to support the implementation of the hydrogen infrastructure. However, the intermittent and fluctuating nature of the renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, can lead to perturbations and the power network will be more sensitive to the load changes. This project aims to investigate the power quality and power flow management issues from renewable power sources connected to large-scale electrolyzers under dynamic operation conditions to understand the impact between the power network and the electrolyzer’s performance over time.

Comprendre les conséquences locales et géopolitiques du recyclage des métaux : modèle multirégional et analyse stratégique de l’émergence du recyclage des métaux échangés

La transition énergétique et le développement de nouvelles politiques en faveur du recyclage des matériaux dans les pays du Nord impliquent de nouveaux modèles de commerce des matériaux. En particulier, les régions qui importent des matériaux vierges pourraient passer au recyclage local, réduisant ainsi leurs importations. Ce remodelage initial des échanges de matériaux pourrait inciter les pays exportateurs à développer le recyclage pour devenir des leaders de l’exportation de matériaux vierges et recyclés. Par conséquent, nous construirons un modèle d’échange théorique multi-période basé sur la disponibilité des matériaux vierges et recyclés et les coûts de production (extraction et recyclage) et de transport. Le modèle tiendra compte de la politique spécifique du pays en matière de taux de recyclage des matériaux et des accords commerciaux. Grâce à ce modèle, l’article analysera le développement futur possible du recyclage et du commerce des matériaux. Des conseils politiques seront tirés des résultats du modèle afin d’aider les gouvernements à mettre en place une transition mondiale juste, impliquant à la fois les pays du Nord et du Sud, vers le recyclage des matériaux.

Microplastics within two estuarine environments and risks presented to the associated food webs

Building on research initiated by CERCA and Project Watershed on microplastic presence in the Cowichan and
Comox estuary respectively the scope of the proposed project has been substantially expanded by including live
samples of crustaceans, fish, and algae apart from sediment and water samples from the estuaries and their
tributaries. The research will be conducted by a postdoc fellowship candidate, supported by MSc interns using the
research data for their graduate projects. The research findings are expected to shed light on the impacts of
microplastics on estuarine life and how it affects the food chain. The study results will be used by both NGOs to
raise public awareness on microplastic contamination in general and hopefully assist in source identification and
polluter education leading to a reduction of contaminants in both estuaries.

Demand Forecasting for Store Labour Scheduling at Major Canadian Retailer

The SportChek / Atmosphere banners of Canadian Tire Corp. have over 200 corporately operated retail stores across Canada that vary in size and market demographics selling an assortment of footwear, athletic apparel, and sporting goods. The inherent complexity of the business on top of variation of customer demand year to year makes store labour planning a challenging problem that is well suited to machine learning.
Quality scheduling is an important element of a good employee experience and provides a stable foundation for a retail business to drive sales and operate efficiently. The objective of this research is to explore advanced forecasting and optimization techniques that could improve the quality of sales forecasts and integrate into the weekly scheduling processes for every store.