Innovative Projects Realized

Using machine learning to allocate stratified care in an electronic cognitive behavioural therapy program for depression

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, yet only one third of patients with depression receive care. This is because the traditional in-person format of mental health care delivery can be inaccessible, inefficient, and expensive. Electronic cognitive behavioural therapy (e-CBT) has been shown to be an effective solution to expand care access, efficiency, and affordability. Combining depression-based e-CBT with artificial intelligence, this study aims to develop an effective decision-making model that matches an individual’s needs with the right amount of care. Our goal at OPTT is to develop a platform that makes e-CBT more efficient and highly accessible to individuals facing mental health issues and this project will use artificial intelligence and tailored interventions to efficiently allocate mental health care resources. At a time when mental health challenges are on the rise due to the pandemic, this technique could scale up care capacity without sacrificing the quality of care.

Design and optimization of a solar-air heating system for window applications

The increased pressure of natural resource depletion and environmental issues have largely promoted the search of renewable energy sources such as solar energy. Solar energy can be converted to electric power through photovoltaics (PV), but this requires PV panels and the latter have efficiencies as low as 20%. An alternative way is solar heating systems that use air or fluid to transfer the heat energy from solar irradiation to the indoor environment with a much higher energy conversion efficiency (70%). However, current solar thermal applications have not yet targeted residential and commercial window applications -although these contribute to the largest portion of heat loss in buildings. Aiming at developing more energy-efficient solar-thermo products, Innovative North and University of Guelph are in partnership to develop a novel solar air heating system for window applications. In particular, the solar air heating system will be optimized regarding material selection, weight reduction, and manufacturability as well as integration with venting and control systems with maximized energy-efficiency and lower production cost. A systematic approach will be adopted for the design – that is, mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing aspects of the design will be addressed by the proposed partnership. The proposed project will directly address

Food System Planning in NWO: Building a strategy for comprehensive planning and assessment in Thunder Bay, ON

Food systems are integral to community health and well-being yet face overlapping challenges in Northwestern Ontario. This project begins the process of conducting a comprehensive food system assessment and planning process for the City of Thunder Bay and the surrounding communities through its local food policy council, the Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy (TBAFS). This project begins a food system assessment and planning process to guide and inform a more resilient food systems planning process. It will also enhance the TBAFS’s network infrastructure by developing clear strategies for a food system planning process and expanding the TBAFS’s existing network of food system stakeholders.

The Delphi Group-Digital Marketing and Web Specialist Intern-Kelvin

At Delphi, our team passionately believes that businesses can be both profitable and have a positive long-term impact on the environment and our society. In this climate of change, our group of organizations connects and supports companies to engage in a process of transition towards a clean and more equitable economy and provides tools to aid a sustainable acceleration of this process. This work has led to unexpected growth in the demand for our services. Through this project, we intend to raise the number of our audiences and diversify the levels of their engagement. We plan to expand our products and services among specific targeted audiences. We hope to be able to deliver, in a consistent manner, top-notch content and support via our digital platforms.?This project will oversee the development of our website, various changes, and the development of our landing page; the work will be completed in conjunction with a third-party provider and close collaboration with our Marketing Manager. The Digital Marketing intern will assess the project requirements, create content, and liaise with third-party digital, graphic, photography, public relations, video, and web providers. This project will also allow the intern to compile weekly analytics reports and use these

Extraction of rare earth elements from a leach liquor of waste NdFeB magnets

NeoCtech is a cleantech company producing critical rare earth metals from recycled waste magnets with an electrified, clean and green process. This project is about the development of an viable and sustainable process to separate rare earth elements with neutral CO2 production and significantly less consumption of environmentally detrimental chemicals.

Westland Insurance, Marketing Intern-Rochelle

This project will develop the brand and improve the ways we manage the community relationships at both regional and national levels. The internship will be assessing evolving new marketing strategies and looking at creating impactful content, including short videos for different media channels. The project involves revamping the Westland brand through collaboration with internal clients (in regards to various projects and marketing tactics) and through working with the teams that are currently supporting various active campaigns and other brand-growth related initiatives. In addition, this intern will join forces with the Marketing Director, who will serve as a coach and mentor. The Marketing Intern will get exposure to learning how to liaise with external suppliers and partners, following set communication channels or looking at other options and proposing new ideas. Additionally, the project intern will have an opportunity to gain expertise working extensively with specific software, such as Adobe Suite particularly Photoshop and InDesign, CANVA, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Outlook while having an option to work remotely.

Lin zhang- administrative and communication intern

Cyclic Materials is helping the world transition to a more environmentally responsible future by recovering rare earth elements and other valuable materials from the difficult-to-recycle products of the modern world. Cycilc Material help businesses recycle, provide the market with a secure and regional supply of critical metals, and do so in an ethical, economic, and sustainable way. This intern position aim to help the partner organization with manangement and communication and planning for the partner organization to perform their business objective efficiently. This position aim to increase the daily activities of the partner organization.

Funding/financing streams for family medicine clinic expansion

Internship to look into grant and funding for a family medicine clinic in an area with low access to healthcare, low socioeconomic means and large refugee community.

Recently, and with much difficulty, the clinic has been able to attract 3 new family physicians, doubling the number of physicians for the community. Between this and process optimization goals made possible by scale, it is projected that the clinic would be able to quadruple the number of patients it provides care for in the next year and a half. These new physicians will need equipment, and funding received could help provide this equipment for them at the clinic.
The clinic believes it is an appropriate time to expand their service offering to wider demographic due to the shortage of physicians, rising patient demand and the opportunity to be a excellent care provider in the region. We have enlisted the assistance of a Telfer School of Management (TSOM) MBA student to help clarify the feasibility of funding from various grants, and to assist in creating a market plan to roster increased non-resident patients.

Characterization of ionomer properties of the catalys tlayers of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs)

The state-of-the-art polymer electrolyte fuel cells have catalyst layers (CLs) made of platinum catalyst on carbon support (Pt/C) bound together by proton conducting polymer or ionomer. To overcome the challenges of high cost of Platinum catalyst and corrosion of carbon support, alternative materials for catalyst and catalyst support are being considered. The interaction of ionomer with catalyst and itsa support materials controls two factors that profoundly affects the CL Performance: the micro-scale structure of the CL and ionomer propoerties in the catalyst layer. The proposed research aims to carry out a systematic study of -characterizing the propoerties of ultra-thin films of different ionomers on various substrates.This work fills in the gap in knowledge of how different ionomer types interact with different catalyst/catalyst support and ultimately affect the catalyst layer structure, property, and performance. The fundamental knowledge generated will be used to fabricate CLs layer with desirable characteristics of high catalyst utilization and enhanced electrochemical performance.

Patent and Trademark Support for Growing Canadian Companies

OWN Innovation advises clients on legal and business strategies for high-growth Canadian technology companies. OWN is experiencing a significant challenge in dealing with the rapidly changing IP position of a client in the financial technology sector. From May-August 2022, the intern will assist OWN Innovation in building and/or implementing an IP strategy for this growing client. In doing so, the intern will learn to assess, strategize, and implement a strategy to protect and commercialize this client’s foreign and domestic IP portfolio and position in the Canadian space. This will include patent landscape research, drafting and reviewing IP portions of contractual arrangements, and filing or prosecuting patents. The intern’s work on this file will help address the client’s rapid development and allow the client to become an anchor point for Canadian financial technology and inspire other Canadian companies to pursue innovation in the hope of achieving similar success.

University of Alberta and City of Edmonton Grand Challenge Collaboration

The City of Edmonton (CoE) and the Governors of the University of Alberta (UofA) realize the shared interests and vision of our institutions through the ‘City of Edmonton and Post-Secondary Senior Advisory Committee (PS-SAC)’ engagement program. As such, the UofA and the CoE have prioritized leveraging each other’s strengths and interests to advance social and community innovation initiatives that address jointly identified societal ‘grand challenges’ in Edmonton. For the collaboration to be successful, a shared community innovation platform needs to be developed and operationalized. The project of interest will seek to identify current municipal-post-secondary collaboration models and initiatives to determine best practices. The project will seek to identify the range of resources and funding opportunities that could be leveraged. The partners will aim to conduct projects through the newly developed collaboration model.

Commercialization of Language Technology for Automated Consumer Research

This internship will involve the commercialization of a market research technology (ResTech) platform, powered by language technology. The intern will work with Nexxt Intelligence’s existing platform, inca, to explore and improve the text analytic capabilities and to commercialize them through applying their skills in market research and digital marketing to help polish the platform as a do-it-yourself solution for market researchers to use at scale. The intern will benefit from opportunities to engage with innovative and experimental approaches to market research.