Innovative Projects Realized

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

29670 Completed Projects

2811
AB
4990
BC
801
MB
663
NL
825
SK
8841
ON
9197
QC
95
PE
568
NB
1088
NS

Projects by Category

Data-driven food recommendations for reducing physiological dysregulation

Personalized nutrition and dietary recommendation products claiming to improve health are moving faster than the underlying science. Existing tools for communicating healthy foods are available, but they are designed for public (not individual) health, can not incorporate diet history, and can not adapt to the user’s preferred health outcomes. We propose to implement and fine-tune our previously developed system for creating personalized food recommendations to increase health using cross-sectional dietary recall and blood biomarker data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The partner organization and the academic institution will provide ease-of-access to and previous experience with these data, and the intern will be performing the analyses. The partner organization will benefit by being able to include these data driven food recommendations on their health platform.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Félix Camirand Lemyre

Student:

Partner:

Oken Health

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université de Sherbrooke

Program:

Accelerate

Product Innovation Marketing Specialist

Enginuity’s Product Innovation division assists and partners with entrepreneurs and organizations launching new products to bring ideas to market. Atlantic Canada has a strong network of Funders, Crown Corporations, Federal agencies, NGO’s and associations; collectively the ‘Innovation Ecosystem’. Enginuity’s Product Innovation Program seeks to strengthen the connection between startups, academia, and technical expertise to drive innovation by solving technologically challenging problems. Understanding the role, suitability, and ‘playbook’ of the ecosystem for individual start-ups is key to driving innovation in Atlantic Canada. By amplifying interactions between these key actors, Enginuity is fostering innovation by supporting the four stages of the innovation life cycle: ideation, project selection, product development, and commercialization. The project will enable Enginuity to identify and pursue new opportunities for marketing innovation to enhance the partner organization’s visibility throughout and beyond Canada. This will be done by identifying and establishing long-term relationships with ecosystem partners, coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs, creating new opportunities for fostering innovation, and connecting stakeholders to essential resources, all while building upon internal experience to ensure a higher chance of success. Not only will this project seek to expand the company’s scope it will aim to secure Enginuity’s position as Atlantic Canada’s Engine for Innovation, but also to lay the groundwork for expansion to the rest of the continent.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Ellen Farrell

Student:

Partner:

Enginuity Inc.

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Saint Mary's University

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Deep Reinforcement Learning in the Search for New Antibacterials

Discovery and development of new antibiotics is becoming increasingly challenging, and in fact declining in the private sector because antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections are constantly evolving. One way to increase the antibiotic discovery rate is by taking advantage of the strides in Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based deep learning models to find new antibiotics that kill bacteria, as well as being stable and non-toxic to humans. We postulate that growth inhibition of Escherichia coli, and a wide spectrum of pathogens can be achieved with the identification of AI-derived compounds. To examine this, we will use cross-pillar methods to: (1) Discover new antibacterial compounds and test for growth inhibition in E. coli and drug-resistant pathogens, as well as (2) Identify essential bacterial gene targets and combinations of synergistic growth-inhibiting AI-derived molecules. Together, the AI driven approach will uncover new compounds with broad-spectrum activity against pathogens, and reveal their essential target pathways for drug development and/or multi-target therapies.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Mohan Babu

Student:

Partner:

99andBeyond Inc.

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Regina

Program:

Accelerate

Marketing Internship at OPA Technologies Introducing new sustainable ways of project management through a Clean AI Technology solution

This BSI project would consist of working alongside OPA Technologies, a Canadian based clean technology company that offer a sustsainable innovative solution to help cities better plan, coordinate and communicate road closures and traffic detours. As the Canadian company is looking to become more sustainable and expand it market share, I will be working with them to put into place a marketing strategy that will help them with their expansion into the North American Industry and stay up to date with trend such as the sustainability one. this will benefit the company as it will help with their growth and will help them rebrand themselves as a green solution that offers many sustainability benefits.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Sharlene He

Student:

Partner:

OPA Technologies

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Delphi – Drone Pilot UX

Delphi Technology has a goal of allowing for the safe piloting of up to five drones in BVLOS applications in order to increase the efficiency of transportation and logistics for clients. Additionally, the UI needs to be expanded in order to accommodate multiple drones, and to provide a simulated 3D environment for better training and control.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Ralph Dueck

Student:

Partner:

Illumia Labs INC.

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and Communications Technology

University:

Red River College Polytechnic

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Critical minerals in the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) recently developed a list of critical minerals that includes 31 minerals (chemical elements) deemed critical for Canada’s transition to greener energy. Critical elements are commodities that are geopolitically controlled, in low supply, or difficult to separate from other elements. Secure supplies of critical elements are essential for renewable energy and clean technology applications (e.g., batteries, permanent magnets, solar panels, and wind turbines). Of the 31 critical elements listed by Natural Resources Canada, magmatic rock-forming processes can concentrate many of them (e.g., Nb, Ta, Ti, Zn, rare earth elements or REE). Plutonic rocks in the West Barneys River area, Nova Scotia have high REE concentrations. Despite this recognition, the metal source(s) have not been the focus of an academic research. The objectives are to investigate the mineralogy, age, origin, and economic potential of the plutonic rocks to develop a genetic model for REE formation.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Donnelly Archibald

Student:

Partner:

Solterra Georesources

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining

University:

St. Francis Xavier University

Program:

Accelerate

Improvement of PECOD sensor manufacturing process to increase sensor slides’ lifetime and reliability

Mantech of Guelph and Nano and Micro Systems Lab at University of Waterloo have forged a valuable partnership to develop versatile water sensors to monitor drinking water quality and detect contamination level in waste waters of local and national sewerage networks. This project has trained many highly qualified personnel for Canadian health and high tech industries, and developed ground breaking nano-bio technologies that have made Canada and Mantech ahead of its world competitors.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Mustafa Yavuz

Student:

Partner:

Mantech

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Investigating Cannflavins A and B as Inhibitors of TrkB Signaling for Treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme

Glioblastoma is the most common type of adult brain cancer. Glioblastoma tumors are very aggressive because these cells can rapidly invade deep into healthy tissue, which makes them particularly difficult to attack with current treatment options including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Therefore, better pharmaceutical strategies to neutralize glioblastoma cells without damaging surrounding healthy cells is critically needed needed.
Cells communicate with one another using biochemical signaling pathways, through which they exchange information that stimulate cellular changes like proliferation and migration. This project focuses on a growth factor receptor called TrkB that promotes the activity of signals important for cell survival, proliferation, and migration. Importantly, defect in the activity of TrkB has been connected with glioblastoma, and blocking this signal is considered a possible solution to limit these cancer cells. While screening for new modulators of TrkB in neurons, we found that cannflavins—a class of non-cannabinoid molecules that accumulates specifically in the cannabis plant—could prevent TrkB activation. The objective of this Mitacs Accelerate application by the Lalonde lab and Canurta is to complete a systematic preclinical characterization of cannflavins as candidate therapeutic agents against GBM cells.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Jasmin Lalonde

Student:

Partner:

Canurta Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Guelph

Program:

Accelerate

Optimisation de la rentabilité économique des échangeurs de chaleur géothermiques

En 2011, les professeurs Bernier, Kummert, Marcotte et Pasquier de l’École Polytechnique de Montréal ont entrepris le développement d’un logiciel de simulation en géothermie (GHE_Sim). Ce logiciel utilise une approche spectrale afin d’accélérer le calcul de la superposition temporelle et une technique novatrice pour tenir compte adéquatement de l’interaction thermique entre les puits d’un même champ géothermique. L’objectif général de ce stage est valider les résultats du couplage du logiciel GHE_Sim avec un nouvel algorithme d’optimisation et de collecter des bases de données financières de l’ensembles des équipements qui seront nécessaire au fonctionnement de l’algorithme d’optimisation. Ce nouveau logiciel se basera sur des données financières afin d’optimiser les systèmes géothermiques. Ce stage en entreprise permettra de mieux définir les paramètres financiers des systèmes géothermiques fournissant ainsi aux utilisateurs du logiciel d’optimsation des coûts reflétant les coûts actuels du marché. Géo-Énergie inc. souhaite utiliser à moyen terme l’outil développé par le stagiaire afin d’améliorer la qualité des services offerts à ses clients. La participation de Géo-Énergie inc. à ce projet permettra à cette dernière d’enrichir le développement d’un outil de calcul novateur.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Philippe PASQUIER

Student:

Partner:

Geo-energie inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Energy and Utilities; Information and Communications Technology

University:

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

Otolith microchemistry-based identification of migration life history variation in Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in the Salish Sea.

The proposed work aims to use the chemical composition of otoliths (ear bones) to differentiate adult migratory and resident Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in the Canadian Salish Sea. The ability to tell the difference between residents and migrants will allow us to investigate what controls resident summer herring abundance in the Strait of Georgia and to measure and manage the impacts of fisheries on resident herring. Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) diet data from 2017-2020 suggests resident herring are a very important food source and that their abundance may influence growth and survival of Chinook Salmon and their predators, southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), whose population is currently in decline. The benefit to the partner organization is a broader understanding of how resident herring dynamics may influence the salmon survival in the Salish Sea.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Francis Juanes

Student:

Partner:

Pacific Salmon Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Accelerate

Development of innovative precast concrete node for wood construction

Rapid of urban population and limited raw material and energy resources increase the demand for more sustainable structures. An initiative was taken by many governments, including Canada, to introduce more timber structures to the public buildings. This initiative can save a considerable amount of energy required to produce common construction materials such as concrete and structural steel. Connections between the different timber members (e.g., beams and columns) are critical parts of the timber structure. Although recently developed steel connections proved their structural efficiency and ease of assembly, they lack fire resistance are not rigid enough for all uses. To address this issue, Fast + Epp engineering firm introduced the concept of precast concrete nodal joints instead of conventional steel ones. This type of connection is expected to provide adequate fire resistance and to provide some rigidity and deformation capacity. However, before such connections can be used in industry the structural behaviour needs to be extensively studied using experimental and numerical investigations. For this purpose, an intern from UBC will collaborate with Fast + Epp to perform the required experimental and numerical studies to verify the proposed concrete nodes’ adequacy and introduce detailed design provisions for such connections.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Lisa Tobber

Student:

Partner:

Fast + Epp Structural Engineers Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Reusable carboxylic acid solvents

The proposal focuses on using safe, non-toxic fatty acids as bio-derived and recyclable solvents for extraction of biomass polymers/waste plastics (e.g. wood chips, woody or agricultural biomass, algae, oil bottles). We will employ a new approach using fatty acids that are responsive to pH changes such that their properties can be switched from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. We will also test fatty acids as switchable solvents for making lignin particles dispersed in water and also for improving the dispersibility of cellulose nanocrystals in organic solvents. This approach could provide numerous potential applications,
including coatings, adhesives, fillers, binders, etc. BC Research Inc., our partner organization, has a keen interest in discovering and exploiting greener processes to that eliminate the use of flammable solvents and are less energy intensive.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Cunningham

Student:

Partner:

BC Research Inc.

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology; Clean Technology; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Accelerate