Innovative Projects Realized

Applying software product line engineering for the creation of blockchain applications

Although blockchain is gaining momentum in the industry, practitioners still struggle with the technical aspects of implementing blockchain-based applications. This task requires deep knowledge of blockchain technology, a scarce skill due to its novelty. This project proposes an approach based on the combination of software product lines and blockchain technology to automatically generate on-the-shelf blockchain applications for a specific domain.

It will result in the construction of a tool based on this approach, constituted of two parts. First, a practitioner will be able to select its desired features in a configurator. This configurator will leverage a feature model, that is the graphical representation of all of the features that can be included in the final product. Then, a generator will ingest the user configuration to generate a working product.

Large Scan Area Nanometer Resolution AFM Imaging

Atomic Force Microscopes have gained wide acceptance as a robust tool for metrology of nanometer and atomic scale surfaces. Nonetheless, AFMs lack some key capabilities that would benefit the industries and the scientific community at large. In this project, the limited scan range (<10x10 um2) is addressed via the use of an off-the-shelf xyz positioner with relaxed requirements in conjunction a novel fully integrated mems afm array. this tool capable producing images order-of-magnitude improvement scan area (>1000×1000 um2), bringing the (sub-)nano resolution AFM images into the millimeter range. As the first of its kind, such a technology has immediate applications in silicon wafer inspection. The robustness of the proposed system has productization potential, giving the partner organization first-mover advantage in the competitive commercial landscape of AFM based tools.

Learning the Growth of Asian Multinational Corporations: Access to Early Adopters, Financing, and Talent

This project involves interning for the Cansbridge Fellowship in Canada. The primary focus of the work-term will be to study the methods that such business used to scale from inception to present day in Asia virtually while interning for the Cansbridge fellowship. The methods of growth will focus on three aspects: (i) access to early adopters, (ii) financing, and (iii) talent. The methods used by such businesses to reach current scale will be compared to the Canadian landscape to conclude similarities and differences of Canadian small to medium sized business (1-100 employees) currently operating in the consumer technology or business technology space.

Drug Delivery Systems based on Pullulan

Burn wounds are one of the most common types of severe injuries worldwide and providing a dress to accelerate the wound healing process is a vital need. Among the materials could be used for wound dressing, pullulan, a microbial natural polymer, can be a nice candidate as an alternative to petroleum-based polymers. However, pullulan’s affinity with drugs to be used in that application is still a challenge. Therefore, this project’s aim is to modify pullulan to be used efficiently as drug delivery systems. This project will be under the supervision of Professor Amilton Martins dos Santos from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. He is an expert in polymer chemistry and the modification of polymers. If successful, this might lead to a highly interesting application for pullulan, as well as a move toward a circular economy due to the use of natural polymers.

Follow the Money: Investigating Political Donations in Canada

We leverage a new, original dataset containing all recorded political donations made in all 14 Canadian jurisdictions since 1993 to map patterns in political donations and to measure the effects of donations laws. We ask: which types of individuals are more likely to make donations? What can the recipients and the timing of donations tell us about donors’ motivations? And do donation laws that regulate who can donate, how much they can donate, and at what threshold donations must be publicly disclosed, have their intended effects? This research program has two interrelated objectives: first, to generate new knowledge about the role of money in Canadian politics, and second, to disseminate that knowledge to citizens, and in doing so, to improve transparency, democratic accountability, and governance in Canada. This project is a partnership between academics at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, and the not-for-profit Investigative Journalism Foundation, which will benefit from this project in the form of increased readership.

Effets de combinaisons des fusariotoxines: la zéaralénone (ZEN), le déoxynivalénol (DON) et la fumonisine B1 (FB1) sur le fonctionnement cellulaire et les voies de signalisation : Étude préventive

Les conditions climatiques et géographiques et les particularités socio-économiques de la population ont fait du Canada un pays propice au développement d’une flore fongique sécrétrice de toxines naturelles, les mycotoxines. Ces mycotoxines s’avèrent de puissants contaminants de l’environnement et particulièrement de la chaîne alimentaire. A l’heure actuelle, la situation est davantage aggravée par la multi-contamination des denrées qui complique les effets toxiques par des effets additionnels ou synergiques. La présence simultanée de plusieurs mycotoxines peut produire certaines interactions. C’est dans ce cadre que nous nous intéressions à la combinaison de mycotoxines en raison de leur prévalence au Canada et de leur implication dans des pathologies sévères (troubles des fonctions immunitaires, reproductrices etc.). Ce projet répondra à des questions de mécanisme d’action d’une contamination multiple par des fusarotoxines telles que le DON, ZEN et FB1. Notre partenaire industriel est intéressé à collaborer dans ce projet afin de répondre à ces questions et de travailler ensemble à prévenir leurs effets en utilisant des anti-oxydants comme la sésamine et la vitamine E qui peuvent constituer un marché potentiel.

Detection and Investigation of Email Exfiltration Events in Sun Life Cybersecurity Data

The overall goal of this work is to use interactive machine learning to enhance current methods for detecting data exfiltration. This includes more efficient and scalable approaches for detecting and screening potentially malicious activities.
The proposal work will proceed in two stages, first focusing on the work of the corporate data analysis team in screening for suspicious activities, and then working with the corporate investigative team to make identification of actual data exfiltration activity more efficient.
In addition to strengthening Sun Life cybersecurity capability, the research should also lead to scientific publications on how to implement interactive machine learning in the context of defending against data exfiltration threats.

Indoor Object Detection for Blind People

Since 2003, Humanware develops a GPS-based dedicated device that helps blind people to orient themselves and guides them to their destination. In this project, we want to enhance the user experience by providing a better understanding of the environment and interacting with the device in a more natural way. This project specifically addresses how the device can become a personal assistant in an indoor world.

Self-Sovereign Identity Based on Blockchain – Implementation in IoT

Over the past years, Internet of Things (IoT) has been gradually making up essential parts of our life whether as autonomous vehicles, smart homes or other forms. The main job of IoT devices is data collection. Data collection can be considered as the building block of IoT. In the current IoT architecture, the data collected is processed by a cloud-based IoT platform. However, in several cases, the data collected may contain personal information and insights. This leads to the growing concern around privacy and security in IoT. The purpose of this project is to provide comprehensive analysis of designing an owner-based IoT system. This can be achieved through the emerging concept of Self-Sovereign Identity, along with blockchain.

Clayoquot Sound Chinook and Sockeye Acoustic Smolt Monitoring & Zooplankton Assessment – Ha‘uukmin (Kennedy) Watershed

Suu?aa (Chinook salmon) and mi?aat (sockeye salmon) populations have been in decline due to climate change and other human-caused impacts. However, managing these populations and associated fishing activities is often complicated by a lack of information. This purpose of this project is to gather more information on suu?aa and mi?aat populations in the Ha’uukmin (Kennedy) Watershed, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, the project includes monitoring the number of smolts (juvenile salmon) and assessing the availability of their food: zooplankton. The Ha’oom Fisheries Society and the Five Nations they represent (Ahousaht, Ehattesaht, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Hesquiaht, and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations) benefit from this project as the information it will provide can help make management and conservation decisions for these culturally important populations.

Detailed Engineering Design Study for New to Be Build Devulcanization Plant

Due to the growing number of scrap tires, its related environmental impact of improper scrap tires’ management, and the circular economy concept, devulcanization plants are growing all over the world to reproduce high-quality rubber that can be reused in high-quality tire manufacturing. Therefore, growing concerns are the effective & efficient facility layout, environmental policy for the devulcanization plant, air treatment systems to minimize the environmental impact as well as the other sustainable development concept to achieve carbon net-zero due to the devulcanization. The main objective of this project work is to provide engineering research on these growing concerns; regenerative energy source & carbon net-zero policy and automation & robotics roadmap towards the advanced manufacturing direction. For establishing a new devulcanized plant, this project will provide an end-to-end solution from raw material storage to finished goods storage and sustainable manufacturing concept to reach carbon net-zero.

Esdilagh Development Corporation Business Action Plan Research and Development

Esdilagh Development Corporation(EDC) business Interns to perform business development research to inform the composition of business plans, ensuring we have professional business guidance tools to assist EDC in engaging in business sectors as identified in the Esdilagh Economic Development Plan and Investment Profile completed in 2011. Project goals are to produce professional quality Business Plans for:
1. Aggregate Business,Business Plan
2. Gas Station and Convenience Store Business Plan
3. Agriculture Business Plan
4. Forestry Business Plan
5. EDC Business Plan
6. Mineral Resource Company and Oil and Gas Company Business Plan Esdilagh Devleopment Corporation is owned by a ?Esdilagh First Nation who have land holdings and significant opportuniies to engage in the natural resource sectors as well as manufacturing and services sectors.
The research problem is, “How do First Nation’s unlock business potential on their lands for the best interest of their citizens, partners and Canada?” It is in the interests of the student interns and the EMBA program at the Beedie School to have permission to use as much of the material produced in the proposed research as possible. We recognize, however, that there may be sensitives, either culturally based, or based on commercial interests, in maintaining confidentiality with regard to some of the shared information