Innovative Projects Realized

Développement d’un cadre d’accompagnement à la stratégie et mesure d’impact social et environnemental

Depuis plus de 7 ans, Rhizome accompagne des projets entrepreneuriaux, à travers 3 accélérateurs partenaires stratégiques (l’Esplanade, la Piscine et La Vague). Un des enjeux majeurs des organisations accompagnées est de pouvoir mieux définir quelle est leur stratégie de développement afin de maximiser leur potentiel d’impact social, environnemental et économique sur leur communauté et territoire.
Le projet de recherche proposé vise à développer une méthodologie d’accompagnement structurante pour jeunes organisations innovantes pour les aider à maximiser leur potentiel d’impact social et environnemental à travers la définition d’une stratégie d’impact et une méthodologie de mesure et évaluation d’impact. Ce projet se penchera sur deux secteurs en particulier : les systèmes alimentaires et la santé communautaire. Le but est de pouvoir proposer une méthodologie qui soit assez standardisée pour pouvoir augmenter les capacités d’accompagnement mais assez flexibles pour s’adapter aux besoins sectoriels et individuels de chaque organisation.

Optimal Placement of Fault Circuit Indicator to Improve the Reliability of Distribution Systems using CYME Reliability Module

Within the past decades, there has been a significant growth in the electric power systems that have resulted in a large increase in the development of transmission and distribution lines. Distribution system is the final connection between the utility provider and the customers and constitutes a major component of the power system. However, since most distribution lines are overhead and spread over a wide area, they are susceptible to unexpected events such as short circuit fault or an open circuit fault. These unexpected events which manifest themselves as interruptions in the customer side lower the reliability of quality of service, and consequently decrease the power quality. In order to quantify the reliability in large scale distribution systems, system engineers invoke reliability indices for analysis and design. To improve and enhance the capabilities of these reliability indices, utilities are installing fault indicators (FIs) on their distribution systems. The objective of this project is to design, develop, and implement a new analysis capable of determining the optimal location of the FIs that improves and enhances the utility of the reliability indices.

Penrose Partners BSI Mitacs Internship Summer 2022

The primary focus of the internship program will be assisting Penrose Partners in the development, programming, and execution of education launchpad and perform research into the DeFi industry. The educational launchpad is similar conceptually to other launchpads except entrepreneurs who choose to enroll into the rigorous educational program will have the opportunity to receive funding for their ideas related to the educated protocols. The intern will support the creation of the launchpad and the educational materials. Also, the intern will perform research applicable to the DeFi industry which will complement the educational materials required for the launchpad.

Predictive phenotyping of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease from multifactor biomarker and neuroimaging data

Individuals diagnosed with either Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Parkinson’s disease (PD) typically exhibit a distinctive profile of progressive impairments. AD primarily affects cognitive functions (e.g., dementia), whereas PD affects motor functions (e.g., tremor). However, in many cases, this symptomatic distinction is not apparent, because some AD and PD patients experience a mixture of cognitive and motor functions of varying severities. These observations have called into question our current definitions of AD and PD as being two separate diseases. An alternative framework proposes that AD and PD may represent extreme phenotypes of a continuum where mixed AD/PD subtypes lie in the middle. To test this, we will obtain longitudinal neuroimaging, protein pathology and clinical test data of AD and PD patients from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), respectively. Then, we will use a novel data integration technique called similarity network fusion to combine all of the different data types, producing networks of patients who share common patterns in their data. We expect to see unique clusters of patients corresponding to the distinct disease subtypes.

Stryker Boats-Social Media Manager Internship-Alexis

Since 2004, Stryker Inflatable Boats has been building the toughest, safest, most well equipped, and most versatile boat model in the industry. Our customers include Fire & Police departments, Search & Rescue, Military, Industry Professionals, Fishermen, Hunters, and Nature Guides. Through this project, we will be able to deliver our message to the young generation and engage them through social media and other digital marketing tactics. We plan to improve our content on all different channels (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok) and start using our experiences on the water to create short edited reels for our brand promotion. This project will allow us to have on-site support, conduct a specific market research, develop new products, and improve our filming abilities. This will be a great learning experience for the intern as they will learn about the benefits & impacts of the marketing strategy they have implemented.

Zn-Air Pack Vehicle Range Extender with a Cell Change-Out With Overall Vehicle Durability Cost

Although Li-ion batteries are currently the dominant energy storage solution in electric vehicles, they currently do not possess enough energy density required for long driving ranges at a reasonable cost. One solution is to utilize Zn-air batteries since they have both a high theoretical energy density and contain abundant raw materials allowing for low production costs. However, before they can become a commercially viable solution to meet the energy storage demands of today’s electric vehicles, additional research is required in a number of different areas. The short-term objectives for this research collaboration are:
1. Improve the durability of zinc-air batteries by designing new air electrodes and optimizing the electrode thicknesses.
2. Develop new powertrains that can accurately incorporate a zinc-air battery and determine the energy management strategy for optimal performance.
3. Determine the feasibility of cell replacement in a hybrid zinc-air/li-ion electric vehicle.

Exploring Methods of Expanding the Canadian Technology Startup Ecosystem Through the Influence of Asian Markets

Hyper-Successful tech startups have been created by Canadians, however, many of them are headquartered in the United States and do not contribute to the Canadian job market. The creation of valuable Canadian startups is necessary to provide jobs for our fast-growing population. We want to keep our talent in Canada to grow our economy. To tackle this issue, we must introduce Asian markets to entrepreneurs giving them the freedom to operate and prosper in Canada.

Relative to the United States, Canada has 40% fewer founders per capita who have created ‘unicorn’ startups (valued at over $1 billion) (1). Additionally, and despite 16% of Canada’s population having Asian roots (2) compared to a mere 6% in the United States, the amount of trade with the Asian markets relative to national GDP is roughly 18% higher in the United States compared to Canada. These statistics tell us two things: 1. Canada has the potential to increase its number of hyper-successful startups, and 2. Canada should take advantage of its strong multinationalism to increase trade opportunities in the Asian markets.

The intern in this project will explore methods of introducing Asian market players to Canadian startups to expand their reachable markets beyond the borders while keeping the company in Canada.

Sources:
(1) Strebulaev, Ilya. (01/2022). Venture Capital Initiative. Stanford Graduate School of Business
(2) Asian Heritage Month…by the numbers. Statistics Canada. (05, 2021)
(3) Budiman, Abby; G. Ruiz, Niel. Key Facts about Asian Americans, a Diverse and Growing Population. Pew Research Center. (04,2021)

Development of a Hyper Fast Battery Charger for Electric Vehicles

Power system policies are broadly on track to escalate the use of Electric Vehicles (EV) in automotive industry. The increasing interest in use of EVs not only intensifies the demand in electric power but also introduces further challenges such as efficient and timely power distribution to EVs. Existing challenges in EV power charging relies on how fast and efficient EV chargers can provide power to EV power storage units, i.e batteries. In this regard, EV charging is the area that is significant and being improved daily as the number of EVs increases. The purpose of this research is to innovate a high-power hyper-fast power-electronics based EV charging system (HFCS) that allows for charging in significantly shorter time than current industry standards. The goal is to achieve 80% of full capacity of EVs in as short as 5 mins.

Delta Chamber of Commerce-Business Support Associate-Tiffany

This project, located at the Delta Chamber of Commerce, will involve business-related initiatives that are meant to support the economic resilience and recovery of the small businesses in the federal electoral district of Delta, which includes both the City of Delta and Tsawwassen First Nations. The Business Support Associate intern’s work will include connecting directly with local businesses with the scope of addressing one of our organization’s top three priority issues for 2022: the assessment and redevelopment of our organizational membership model. The results of this project are meant to improve communication channels and deliver a better support for the Chamber’s current and future members. The intern leading this project will report to and be mentored by the Executive Director. The project will focus on creating a new membership model and the work will be reviewed by our Board of Directors; these results will be ready for marketing and communications by the fourth quarter of 2022. The intern will learn about the current membership structure, will identify gaps, make innovative suggestions and focus on better meeting the needs of our local business community.

Machine learning for EEG analysis for the early diagnosis for epilepsy

Experimental investigation of microwave-assisted combustion processes

TimeSerStats

The project aims to help standardize the analysis of time series data by creating an analysis and reporting framework by which time series data regardless of its size, frequency, and/or source can be normalized, analyzed, and reported.