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

Entre mimésis et nature : le potentiel écologique de la théorie esthétique d’Adorno

Je compte m’intéresser dans le cadre de ce stage de recherche aux rapports que sont susceptibles d’entretenir l’esthétique et l’écologie dans le contexte des sociétés capitalistes avancées. Ma question directrice sera plus précisément la suivante : comment l’œuvre d’art peut-elle agir, d’une part, comme critique du comportement rationaliste de domination de la nature qui culmine dans ces sociétés et, d’autre part, comme normativité révélant la possibilité d’un comportement cognitif et pratique de réconciliation avec la nature ?
Pour ce faire, je me donne pour objectif de reconstruire l’articulation de deux concepts de la pensée de Theodor W. Adorno (Théorie Critique), à savoir ceux de « nature » et de « mimésis artistique ». Cette recherche transversale aura pour bénéfice d’examiner l’actualité de la pensée d’Adorno à l’aune de la crise climatique et de montrer les ressources normatives d’une philosophie qui a souvent été reçue comme trop pessimiste et n’ouvrant sur aucune espérance.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Iain Macdonald

Student:

Partner:

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastic: Direct synthesis of light paraffin (DSTP) for Steam Cracker

The project is designed to reduce the carbon intensity of ethylene production in Alberta. Ethylene is an important building block for the chemical industry to produce plastics, consumer goods, solvents, paints. Ethylene is predominantly produced by steam cracking releasing up to 2.7 kg CO2 eq./ kg of polyethylene produced. In Alberta, the production of ethylene and derivatives results in more than 4.5 million tonnes CO2 eq. / year; this is equivalent to more than 33% of non-energy sector CO2 emissions in Alberta. This project focuses on an advanced recycling process of waste plastic to ethylene (P2P). This will be achieved by using the Enerkem Gasification Technology Platform that allows all such waste (like waste plastic, municipal solid waste with significant amount of single-use-plastic as well as biomass that may include agricultural waste and forestry waste) to convert in to syngas.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Natalia Semagina

Student:

Partner:

Enerkem (Edmonton, AB)

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

Computational Design Research and Dissemination Methods: ACADIA 2013 Adaptive Architecture Conference

The goal of this project is to develop enhanced knowledge and gain applied experience through technical research, development and knowledge mobilization activities. The research topic is focused on adaptive architectures with a focus on computational design of environmentally responsive, intelligent, interactive, and reconfigurable structures. Working with Philip Beesley as academic chair of ACADIA 2013 and as principal of Philip Beesley Architect Inc. (PBAI), the interns will undertake practical research and knowledge mobilization activities contributing to ACADIA 2013 ADAPTIVE ARCHITECTURE, a major international conference to be hosted by the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture in October 2013. Philip Beesley Architect Inc. is the company responsible for developing the conference publications, graphics, and workshop programming of the conference. During this placement, the research interns will gain valuable knowledge equipping him with advanced research craft and knowledge of the state of the art, while the industrial partner will benefit from the significant gathering of international research and the opportunity to develop highly specialized technical and aesthetic systems.

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Faculty Supervisor:

John McMinn

Student:

Partner:

Philip Beesley Architect Inc (PBAI)

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Skier Demand and Snow Conditions in British Columbia

How do warming temperatures affect local ski resorts and what can be expected for the future of alpine skiing in British Columbia? This study aims to determine how important natural snow and weather conditions are for customers at ski resorts in British Columbia and what this means under future snow conditions. By analyzing natural conditions, information from rental apartments surrounding 4 ski resorts over the last 5 years and supplemental visitor counts, this project will determine how much variation in demand for skiing is caused by changing snow conditions. After studying the reactivity of skiers to natural conditions, future climate and snow conditions will be simulated for a mid- and late- 21st century scenario. The study will indicate changes in activity levels at ski resorts due to forecasted weather as well as long-term climate trends at the ski resort locations under several warming scenarios.

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Faculty Supervisor:

John Janmaat;Michael Pidwirny

Student:

Partner:

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association;Economic Trust of the Southern Interior

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services; Public administration

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Modelling and Analysis of Induced Seismicity Events in the Kiskatinaw Seismic Monitoring and Mitigation Area (KSMMA) to Advance Event Mitigation Strategies

Canada’s unconventional gas resources are an emerging low-cost, clean burning energy source, the export of which presents both a major economic opportunity for Canada. To unlock this gas from the low permeability rocks it is found in, hydraulic fracturing is used. This process involves pumping fluids under high pressure into the reservoir rock to generate fractures in order to increase its permeability. However, the injection of fluids into deep formations also serves to sometimes generate small earthquakes. These are referred to as induced seismicity. This research is directed at investigating the factors that influence whether induced seismicity may occur or not, its severity potential, and means to avoid or reduce this hazard through improved engineering design. Outcomes from this project will include new knowledge and improved understanding that will help contribute to the partner organization’s expertise in best practices and risk reduction strategies related to natural resource and energy extraction.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Erik Eberhardt

Student:

Partner:

Golder (Vancouver, BC)

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Natural Gas; Technology; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Speech Keyword Spotting for Unmanned Ground Vehicles

This project aims to design a keyword spotting system (KWS) using microphone arrays installed on an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). The project consists in 1) installing microphone arrays on the partner’s UGV, recording the ego-noise generated by the wheels and engine, and measuring the acoustic transfer function for each possible direction of arrival; 2) creating a speech commands dataset using a custom-made website for crowd sourced keyword collection; 3) performing data augmentation using the recorded noise and acoustic transfer functions; 4) designing and training a convolutional recurrent neural network using the augmented data to detect and localize keywords; 5) deploying the neural networks on embedded hardware; 6) validating the system on the UGV in real-life conditions. This project will provide the industrial partner with a unique voice interface to assist users in adversarial acoustic environments and will push forward the field of joint keyword spotting and localization using deep learning.

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Faculty Supervisor:

François Grondin

Student:

Partner:

Rheinmetall Canada Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Université de Sherbrooke

Program:

Accelerate

Apprentissage par transfert pour les modèles spatio-temporels de prédiction de la pollution

Le programme de recherche vise à développer des méthodes de transfert d’apprentissage (“transfer learning”) d’un espace spatio-temporel à un autre avec pour finalité la conception d’une nouvelle génération de modèles de machine learning capables de prédire des phénomènes de pollution hyper locale même en l’absence de données d’entrainement à forte granularité.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Luc Adjengue

Student:

Partner:

Comfiz Inc

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

A Co-operative Incubator in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Feasibility Study

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is currently experiencing a financial crisis. Along with other initiatives to help grow and strengthen the economy, the province has three business incubators to help young companies grow and be successful. However, the incubators are not specifically focused on business co-operatives. Globally, co-operatives have been very powerful economic drivers of a region, while creating enormous social impact and equity, especially in economically challenged areas. Research shows that incubators and their strategies need to be tailored to local conditions for success. In Newfoundland and Labrador, a customized co-operative incubator could be one prong in a multi-prong approach to strengthening the economy of the province. Therefore, the purpose of the proposed research is to conduct a feasibility study for the development of a co-operative incubator in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Faculty Supervisor:

John Schouten

Student:

Partner:

Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Effects of Probiotics on Anxiety and Depression

Dr. Potter has recently begun exploring the impact that probiotics (beneficial bacteria found in some food sources such as probiotic yogurt and kefir) have on anxiety and depression. Other researchers have shown that probiotic bacteria exert a significant effect on anxiety and depression-like behaviours in animals. A few studies have extended these findings to humans. Lallemand Health Solutions is an innovative company that produces probiotics for human consumption, and has recently developed a technique to microencapsulate or coat the probiotic bacteria to help them survive stomach acids. Dr. Potter and Acadia graduate student, Amber McConnell, plan to study the effectiveness of these probiotics for alleviating the symptoms of anxiety and depression in humans. While it is known that probiotics are helpful for persons who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, less is known about their other beneficial effects. Given that a sizable proportion of the population suffers from anxiety and depression at some point in their life, research demonstrating that probiotics are an effective treatment for alleviating these problems has the potential to help numerous people who either do not wish to take pharmaceutical medications or cannot due to adverse side-effects.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Susan Potter

Student:

Partner:

Lallemand Bio Ingredients;Lallemand Health Solutions Inc (Montreal, QC)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Acadia University

Program:

Accelerate

Development of eco-restoration practices through a coproduction process on Indigenous traditional territories in boreal Saskatchewan

Restoration practitioners and Indigenous communities have a vested interest in understanding how to promote healthy
resilience ecosystems following anthropogenic disturbance. Working together our goal is to develop effective eco-restoration
practices on Indigenous territories through a co-production process. Reconciliation requires new ways of conducting natural
science and the rigorous application of both Indigenous knowledge and Western science is needed to support decision
making. Through knowledge co-production we aim to address knowledge gaps and improve restoration practices.
Specifically, we propose to develop site-specific restoration techniques through furthering our understanding of the recovery
early-stage soil nutrient inputs in disturbed upland boreal forests. Our partners will also benefit from the development of
effective and culturally acceptable restoration techniques, long-term economic opportunities and capacity enhancement,
culturally relevant scientific education, and improved industry-community relations.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Katherine Stewart;Maureen Reed

Student:

Partner:

Denison Mines Inc.;North West Communities Environmental Services

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

Understanding together, healing together: Mi’kmaq language revitalization as a tool for community mental health and well-being.

The intention of this study is to construct linguistic teaching tools in the community through community engaged research. The objective will be to work with the Sipekne’katik community health centre parental programs and community partnerships to foster conversations around community-based healing and well-being practices. The audience will be with parents, guardians, and families with infants, toddlers, and pre-primary aged children. The expected benefit to the partner organization in the community of Sipekne’katik will be to have intellectual rights to evidence-based research on language resurgence, revitalization, reclamation, and maintenance in relation to mental and physical health and well-being. The grassroots benefits include parents, guardians, and families
accessing Mikmaq language to communicate with their children and families. This is the first step to creating language nests, and promoting healthy families, and community language speakers

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jennifer Tinkham

Student:

Partner:

Mental Health Research Canada

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

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

University:

Acadia University

Program:

Accelerate

Braiding Sweetgrass: Supporting Indigenous Staff in Non-Indigenous Organizations

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Calls to Action stipulates a call for all levels of government to increase the number and retention of Indigenous people working in health care (TRC, 2015). Many organizations grapple with the retention of and encounter challenges with the retention of Indigenous staff. Indigenous staff face high rates of stress, burnout, dual accountability, face multiple roles, and lack culturally supportive work environments. This project aims to understand how non-Indigenous organizations can best support Indigenous liaison workers. Outcomes of this research will contribute to changes in organizational policies and/or procedures for non-Indigenous organizations that support Indigenous staff retention and to contribute to more supportive work environments for Indigenous staff with the associated benefit of greater retention.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Karlee Fellner

Student:

Partner:

Mental Health Research Canada;Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

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

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate