Innovative Projects Realized

Establishing nutritional attributes for plant-based meats and alternatives: Development of literature review and validation plan

Plant-based meat alternatives are made using plant sources and which mimic meat in their appearance and texture. Vegan and vegetarian consumers prefer these products to meat, but many more Canadians stand to benefit from them as they transition towards diets relying more heavily on plant-based foods for ethical, environmentally sustainability, and health reasons. Consequently, the plant-based foods market is expanding rapidly. Plant-based alternatives have fewer calories, less total fat and saturated fat, and more dietary fiber than meat which may help to combat diet-related chronic diseases. However, they also have lower protein quality, can lack important nutrients, be ultra-processed, and high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar. There is no scientific basis to verify that plant-based meat alternatives are nutritionally superior. Companies, including The Very Good Butchers (TVGB), need support from the scientific community to clearly distinguish whether and how their products can be considered nutritionally superior. This project aims to determine the nutrition-related aspects of plant-based meat products and establish key criteria that can be used to deem them nutritionally superior and marketed accordingly. TVGB’s products will be examined and a plan developed to improve their nutritional profiles to meet these criteria. This project will be undertaken by a graduate student and academic supervisor from the Department of Human Health & Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph. The collaboration will help TVGB develop and market more nutritious products in comparison to other plant-based meat products and original meat products available in the Canadian market.

quantum simulations* – Développement technologique et logiciel d’un jeux serieux/simulations

Quantum Simulations (QS) a ses locaux au 4200 Bvd Saint-Laurent, suite 685.

QS est une jeune entreprise avec 3 employés et qui officie dans l’industrie de la technologie et de l’éducation, communément appelée EdTech. son objet est la création de jeux sérieux, ou simulations, afin de faciliter les apprentissages. Ces jeux reposent sur un moteur de jeu auquel ont accès les joueurs depuis leur navigateur préféré. En 2022, QS a un double objectif: technologique et marketing. Pour l’objectif technologique, QS a pour objectif de mettre à jour son moteur de jeu afin d’offrir un jeu en ligne en mode exclusif pour un professeur et sa classe, ainsi qu’un mode de jeu en ligne perpétuel qui est disponible 24 heures sur 24 et 7 jours sur 7. Cet objectif technologique s’accompagne en conséquence, de l’objectif marketing. En effet, cette nouvelle approche technologique va ouvrir de nouvelles possibilités en terme marketing. De nouveaux marchés seront accessibles.

Research and Implementation of Accounting Processes and Technology

CV Chartered Professional Accountant is not your traditional accounting firm. We provide a variety of services on a monthly subscription style (flat fee) basis. The services are branded as Fractional CFO services but can include any one or combination of the following: full cycle accounting, payroll, financial reporting, management accounting, strategy, ideation, and HR support. By utilizing cloud based programs and integrations, we can offer prospective clients innovation, efficiency, and customized monthly support at a fraction of the cost of an accounting department. Our success is directly tied to the success of our clients. Our unique value proposition is our ability to bring that innovation to the client regardless of the industry. In order to continue to deliver on that notion of innovation and change management across an array of clients and therefore various industries, it is imperative that we invest in integrating personnel that offer a fresh set of eyes, ears, and ideas. The biggest challenge we face is being able to research and keep up with all the trends in process and technology along with implementation, training, and ongoing financial support. This project will provide us with the resources that we need to continue to make this possible for both our existing clients as well as new clients. Most importantly this project will provide both interns the opportunity to showcase what they have learned at NAIT in a real business setting.

Sites and Sights of Oil: Archival Regimes of Extraction in Iran

The archival fieldwork I will be conducting at the British Petroleum Archives will contribute to a larger doctoral dissertation, titled “Sites and Sights of oil: Archival Regimes of Extraction in Iran,” investigating the relationship between colonial archival practices of documenting the extraction of oil and the media and cultural infrastructures enabling this process. My research-creation project investigates an overlooked visual analysis of the role of photography as an embodied technology of petrocultural visuality and eradication which worked in tandem with the larger extractive industry in Iran and the larger Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. By conducting a visual ethnography of oil, and with a particular focus on the historical ethnographic photographic archives produced by the British Petroleum during its early operations in Iran, I examine the visual representational regimes of oil through the nexus between colonial modernity, social history of oil, and media infrastructure. Since my doctoral stream is researchcreation, this research is also accompanied by a practice-based artistic component which is conceived as a documentary essayfilm and multimedia installation that seek to re-imagine these contested archives to creatively configure counter-narratives of petromodernity and to problematize their colonial imaginaries.

Development of high protein canola using MAD7 gene editing

This project targets the improvement of seed protein content in Canola seed using genome editing. The development of high protein content in canola seeds has potential to be utilized in the production of plant protein ingredients and as a source of high protein feed in the dairy and aquaculture industry. AgGene, the partner organization is an Alberta-based startup company and will benefit from MITACS support to hire a high quality intern to facilitate the development of high protein canola by leading the transformation and identification of gene edited canola plants. The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in the business strategy and planning for commercialization activities of a high protein canola variety.

Visuality in Nuclear Engineering

I research how film and media participate in juridical regimes stemming from the ocean space. In my doctoral thesis I analyze how the ongoing aestheticizing of the representation of the underwater nuclear weapon explosions not only invisibilizes the Indigenous experiences, but also how such visual regime is at odds with the urgencies of paradigmatic shifts needed in the attempts to work towards a different planetary juridical system. I engage with discussions on role of visuality in relation to urgencies of transition from Environmental Law to Ecological Law. I trace genealogies of conceptualizing post-World War II world order in relation to ontological structure of imaginaries that emerged together with practices of nuclear so-called tests.

Deconstructing the Borromean Trinity of Free/Libre and Open Source Software Development: A Case Study at Savoir-Faire Linux

Savoir Faire Linux (SFL), a leading open source software solutions provider, operates within the free, libre and open source software (FLOSS) community. SFL has been successful because it has been able to effectively adapt code developed with the contributions of the FLOSS community to the needs of its clients. At the same time, however, control over such code can considerably limit SFL’s ability to continue to provide solutions for its clients. SFL’s top management portrays the unique interdependence of SFL, its clients and the FLOSS community in terms of a Borromean Trinity – a sharing arrangement in which each of the three constituents are essential to keep SFL’s business model viable. This research aims to validate the conceptualization of the Borromean Trinity and the effect of public policies on the sustainability of SFL’s open source business model.

Community Based Mental Health Supports for Men from Ethnoculturally Diverse Communities

This community project will train men from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds and support them in leading well-being groups with men from their communities. Evaluations from past projects have underscored the importance of engaging men in conversations of well-being, healthy relationships, and violence-prevention. This includes the need for further outreach to support men in accessing services and address intersectional and system barriers as part of an overall strategy for mens’ well-being and violence prevention. Together, our proposed study will generate knowledge on the process of creating culturally relevant community-based supports by investigating: What are the perspectives and recommendations of Latino, Pashtun, Iranian, Jewish, and Ethiopian men in developing a culturally appropriate and relevant Training Curriculum for well-being groups for men in their respective communities?

Creating a digital cultural asset platform for rural community knowledge and entrepreneurship

This project will explore cultural asset mapping on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, a region with rich cultural heritage but which also faces challenges with supporting entrepreneurship and promoting new economic opportunities. The project will explore options for the creation of a cultural asset mapping tool on the GNP through a community engagement process that will involve both traditional knowledge-holders and cultural entrepreneurs. The intern will work with the partner organization to identify a sub-region, compile existing cultural asset data, conduct interviews with local stakeholders, and work with a web designer to create a prototype online platform for displaying cultural assets in these communities. Intended as the first phase in a larger collaboration, the project’s outcomes will include a preliminary online cultural map co-designed with partner communities, an inventory of cultural entrepreneurship opportunities, and recommendations for developing supports for current and aspiring cultural entrepreneurs in the region.

Study of the permeability of dendrimers as vectors of active ingredients intended for topical applications

Three decades ago, science saw a major revolution in the nanomedicine field. The invention changed the dynamics of drug delivery and ever since, numerous studies have been done to help in delivering drugs with the aid of nanomedicines. Dendrimers are new generation of vectors used in skin drug delivery mostly because of their small size, molecular symmetry, and highly functional surface that could be modified. Dendrimers can modify drug release by enhancing drug dissolution, stability, drug release, targeting and pharmacokinetics of various drugs and could be tailored to penetrate the skin.
This project would be divided in 2 parts:
1- Synthesis and characterization of fluorescent dendrimers: realization of chemical coupling; manipulation of characterization by NMR, DSC, SEC, fluorometry; analysis and interpretation of results.
2- In vitro study of the permeability and biocompatibility of fluorescent vectors.

Cooperative Model Predictive Control in the Coastal Incident Management System (CIMS)

Marine oil spills without rapid and effective response may cause a series of severe hazards such as destroying the ocean ecological environments or even impacting human welfares. Conventional responders lack the in-time response capability for these time-sensitive incidents. To this end, SHIFT Environmental Technologies Ltd., are developing a promising solution called the Coastal Incident Management System (CIMS). This solution relies on the intelligence development of an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), where the USV is controlled to the incident regions and the UAV plays a role of the Eye of the USV in the Sky for an enhanced perception capability. A unified cooperative model predictive control framework will be designed, which comprehensively involves the objectives (path planning for the two agents, the total energy consumption, etc.), the constraints (the connection between the two agents, the fixed/mobile obstacles, etc.), the uncertainties (the wind, wave, current, illumination conditions, and the modeling errors, etc.) together, to allow for coordinated optimal actions at each control period. The above functionalities will be integrated and embedded into the system software.

Evaluating novel hearing aid technologies for communication in noise: establishing benchmarks and benefit

This project has two main themes:
The first involves measuring the benefit BiCROS hearing aid users gain from their hearing aids in challenging listening environments. Then, a statistically based qualitative process will be followed to investigate user attitudes towards their hearing aids and what contributes to their successful use. This information will be used to create a questionnaire aimed at measuring user satisfaction towards their hearing aids.
The second theme is focused on ActiveVentTM, a technology used to automatically open and close the venting of a hearing aid, providing access to the benefits of both. We intend to conduct testing on the hearing aids fitted with this technology to evaluate their performance using a multitude of measures across different test laboratory scenarios. We will then collect behavioral outcome measures to assess actual user benefit from ActiveVentTM.