Innovative Projects Realized

Employing heterologous thioesterases and acyl transferases expression for the development of coconut-like canola seed-oil

Establishing canola seed oil with high medium chain saturated fatty acids for North American consumers remains demanding. Currently the entire oil that is rich with saturated fatty acids is imported from Asian and South American countries. Canola mostly harbors mono-unsaturated fatty acids with minimal polyunsaturated fatty acids. We are working towards making canola with maximum medium chain saturated fatty acids. We will introduce enzymes (thioesterases) from plants that are capable to produce high amount of medium chain fatty acids into the model plant (Arabidopsis) and canola. Our research involves three approaches to investigate for the best strategy to obtain optimal coconut-like seed oil in canola. In the first approach: we will be expressing these thioesterases in wild type Arabidopsis and canola, in the second approach: we will be expressing these thioesterases in Arabidopsis mutants that have minimal polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in the third approach, we will heterologously co-express, with these thioesterases, specific enzymes to ensure the supply of substrates for the synthesis, and the proper storage of the medium chain fatty acids in seeds.

Établir une méthodologie générale pour déterminer la stratégie optimale de gestion de l’énergie et le dimensionnement des composants d’un véhicule électrique à pile à combustible (FCEV).

Le projet consiste à écrire un programme d’ordinateur (code) afin de faire le calcul de l’énergie qu’un véhicule quelconque nécessite pour se déplacer une certaine distance. À partir des résultats obtenus, le programme calculera aussi la taille des composants du système énergétique à intégrer dans le véhicule. Ensuite on va développer une méthodologie pour gérer d’une façon optimale l’énergie que le véhicule utilise pour faire ses déplacements. À cette méthodologie on va l’appeler Stratégie de Gestion Énergétique ou SGÉ. Finalement, on va utiliser les livrables de ce projet dans un autre projet de l’entreprise Énergie ALTABEC Energy. Ce projet s’agit de faire la conversion complète d’un véhicule qui utilise des combustibles fossiles vers une propulsion électrique utilisant de l’hydrogène.

Improving early feed intake of newly hatched broiler chicks raised without antibiotics using light during incubation

Traditionally commercial poultry is incubated and hatched in the dark. There are indications that significant benefits could be realized from providing light to developing chicken embryos during incubation. These indications include chicks that eat and drink more upon arrival at the farm. This early feeding behavior should improve the health and survival of baby chicks and could be a valuable management practice especially now that the Canadian industry is transitioning away from the use of antibiotics to boost the health of chicks early in life. Understanding the impact of light on physiological changes that occur during embryo development will help the industry as they work to determine the optimum settings for providing light during incubation.

Research and Development of an Advanced Automation System for Human Capital Hiring and Retention

Canadian companies have been struggling and lacking a systematic way to locate the ideal candidate for job postings externally and internally. The application of advanced AI-based algorithms can potentially extract information from at least 20 thousand resumes to build an automatic system to match candidate skills to required job skills which is the primary focus of this proposed research. This will help identify skill gaps and will develop a systematic training path to improve efficiency in Human Capital performance and recruitment. By developing these new methods, Tilr corporation will be able to service organizations to improve their internal and external recruitment and training process. This will generate employment for the workforce of Canada. These methods will be adaptable across the world and thus provide the potential to expand internationally. This may bring substantial international trade to Canada.

Investigating process conditions and productquality in the recycling of used horse bedding

Typical horse bedding in BC consists of 90% woody materials and 10% hay and manure. Recycled bedding product has several advantages when compared to standard wood fibre bedding. Further densification into wood pellets with these recycled wood fibers is desired. This study is conducted to determine the efficiency of pathogen removal during the drying process of GreenScene Agritek Inc.’s pilot plant, and investigate the pelletization process. The process time-temperature conditions will be monitored and recorded. Final products will be sent to microbiological labs for testing the specific pathogens (bacteria, virus and mold spores) that could be harmful to horse and human health. These dried wood fibres will also be densified into wood pellets, whereby different process conditions will be studied. The results from this research will help GSA to better manage the drying process and make high-quality products that are safe to use and achieve economic benefits.

Le fonctionnement d’une firme de consultation en marketing : Le cas de Valence Co

Ce projet de recherche est réalisé en partenariat avec la firme de consultation marketing Valence Co. Il comporte une double contribution. Premièrement, sur le plan académique, il représente la première étude à explorer le fonctionnement des agences de consultation en marketing. Deuxièmement, sur le plan managérial, il permettra à Valence Co de réviser, grâce à un audit, son outil des « 12 Vs » (outil intégrateur offrant une vision holistique plus large que les « Ps » classiques associés aux stratégies marketing) et d’intégrer de manière systématique la dimension de la responsabilité sociale du marketing à son approche de consultation auprès de ses clients. Afin de réaliser ce mandat, un étudiant de M.Sc. en marketing d’HEC Montréal interviendra à titre de stagiaire chez Valence Co pour une période de 8 mois.

Complex network based data analysis for shared mobility

This project aims to build a new analysis toolkit for shared bikes, escooters, and cars. The method is based on a mathematical theory called complex network. Like internet and human brains, transportation system possesses network structure. To study its topological properties, we can calculate some indices that encode the information of the network. There are theoretical and empirical studies proposing and examining various models based on spatial networks structure of transportation, and especially shared mobility. This project is going to develop a toolkit applying spatial network analysis methods and adapting to the available dataset. This toolkit is meant to be an add-on to the partner company’s existing toolbox. It will give quantifiable results and support data visualization.

Synthesis of chelating Bis(NHC)-Phosphinidine ligands

The transformation of renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide, is closely linked to homogenous catalysis. In homogenous catalysis transition metal complexes, containing a metal center and a of ligands (modulating the reactivity of these complexes) are key to achieve challenging transformations. This project aims to synthesize unique phosphorus-containing molecules (ligands) that can bind to transition metal centers, similar to how metals are embedded in enzymes. We will tailor our phosphorus ligands to achieve unique reactivities. The ligands made in this project will help to stabilize metals such as nickel or rhodium, as metal complexes, in a way that these complexes then can activate and functionalize small molecules of industrial interest, such as carbon dioxide. To realize the proposed research experts in transition metal chemistry at the University of Calgary and experts in organophosphorus chemistry will join forces to make molecules that have the potential to change the way we use renewable resources.

New aptamer/SERS biosensors for antibiotics in water

The abuse of antibiotics has caused many drug-resistance problems due to the development of resistance in bacteria. Monitoring the concentration of antibiotics in water is important for managing the problem of drug-resistant bacteria. While analytical instrumentation based methods such as mass spectrometry are available, they are expensive with a long turnaround time. This project aims to develop highly sensitive and selective biosensors for the detection of the main antibiotics currently prescribed including tetracycline, ampicillin and chloramphenicol.

Homelessness Prevention in Youth and Families Across Six Canadian Cities

Each year in Canada, approximately 40,000 people under the age of 24 will experience homelessness. Youth experiencing homelessness are highly vulnerable to crime, violence and sexual assault. Once homeless, youth are at high risk for multiple episodes of homelessness or chronic homelessness into adulthood. Interventions must be youth-centered, low-barrier, strengths-based, and prioritize diversion and/or family and natural supports to prevent long-term homelessness and its deleterious effects. One approach to prevention is through shelter diversion. Shelter diversion aims to provide the necessary resources to help youth stabilize their housing situation, ideally with case management supports, to prevent them from entering the shelter system. Using a blended methodology including quantitative and qualitative measures grounded in human-centered design principles, this multi-site study is a three-year comparative case study to assess the effectiveness of shelter diversion programs currently being offered in six sites in Canada.

Modelling the nucleocytoplasmic transport cycle

In eukaryotic cells, genetic material is stored in a specialized compartment — the nucleus — while other cellular material is mostly found in the surrounding cytoplasm. The selective exchange of materials between the nucleus and cytoplasm, known as nucleocytoplasmic transport (NCT), is vital to many important cellular processes including gene regulation and protein synthesis. NCT occurs through conduits connecting the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and is regulated by reaction networks of molecular compounds which produce coupled nuclear import and export cycles. Understanding the NCT cycle has important applications for identifying potential treatments in diseases implicating NCT such as certain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, and for controlling artificial nano-scale filters and transporters inspired by the NPC. The goal of this project is to characterize the dynamics of the NCT cycle through combined theoretical and experimental approaches, which allow us to directly integrate model development with experimental validation. By advancing our ability to predict and control NCT, the outcomes of this project will enable future innovations in drug discovery and nanotechnology.

Designing data collection forms for unexpected data: The case of Suspicious Activity Reports for financial fraud detection

SARs (Suspicious Activities Reports) are the forms that financial institutions use to report any suspected activity. Literature shows that the user interface will affect the data provided by users, because of many psychological reasons like different biases and cognitive shortcuts. Data collected is typically analyzed with machine learning algorithms. Different user interfaces provide different levels of quality for this data, which will influence the outcome(s) of the machine learning techniques.

This research will help Verafin design better user interface(s) for their input form for reporting suspicious activities, which should then provide them with more complete data for analysis. For the purposes of this research, ‘more complete data’ is achieved by collected more diverse and granular data, achieved through the improved input forms. Diverse data refers broader diversity of information collected while granular data refers to the depth of a specific information set.