Innovative Projects Realized

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

31133 Completed Projects

2940
AB
5159
BC
837
MB
685
NL
882
SK
9292
ON
9695
QC
97
PE
601
NB
1161
NS

Projects by Category

Scheduling optimization in multi-priority, multi-class rehab settings

As the leader in the delivery of pediatric rehabilitation services for the Region of Waterloo and County of Wellington, KidsAbility serves 11,000 children annually with a variety of developmental, physical and communication needs. For the past 30 years, demand for KidsAbility’s services has grown at twice the rate of growth in revenue. The disparity between demand for care and the supply of treatment has grown so large that many families wait longer than desired before accessing treatment.
There are many dimensions to access issues in healthcare. One area of access KidsAbility has direct control over is their scheduling systems. It is an operational area within the organization that holds the potential to greatly improve access to care. The goal of this project is to identify and implement ways to optimize KidsAbility’s scheduling systems through the application of known algorithms, optimization models, and other knowledge from the field of scheduling sciences.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Hossein Abouee Mehrizi

Student:

Partner:

KidsAbility

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Art of Creation

Your risk of getting diseases like diabetes changes for many reasons. You probably know some of them: your genetics, what you eat, and how much you exercise. But you might not know that your parents’ health, including the health of their sperm and eggs, changes how you grow and develop as a baby in the womb, and impact on your long-term health. Your risk of getting diseases changes because of how your body interacts with your environment during conception, pregnancy and, the period after birth – your first 1000 days of life. The biology that explains this is complex and difficult to digest. Since art can be used as a tool to help with conversations about complicated topics, we want to use art to explain the biology of this first 1000 days. This is an exciting opportunity for scientists and artists to collaborate in science, health education, and research. This project includes a new, exciting partnership between McMaster University and the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH), where we will capitalize on the strengths of each institution.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Deborah Sloboda;Tina Moffat

Student:

Partner:

Art Gallery of Hamilton

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Arts, entertainment and recreation

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Modélisation de l’enveloppe du bâtiment en bois avec des matériaux à changement de phase biosourcés

Ce projet vise principalement l’application de matériaux à changement de phase dans l’enveloppe des bâtiments. L’objectif global de ce projet est de réduire la consommation d’énergie et d’améliorer le confort thermique de vie des Québécois. Ensuite, l’objectif principal de ce projet est d’utiliser de nouveaux MCP biosourcés ; permettant ainsi la haute performance des bâtiments bois dans un environnement durable, fonctionnel et sain sur une longue période. La méthode consiste à simuler la propriété thermique des matériaux biosourcés en tant que composants de l’enveloppe du bâtiment. Le résultat attendu est de trouver les meilleures conditions pour l’utilisation de matériaux à changement de phase dans la simulation numérique pour réaliser des économies d’énergie et réduire les émissions des maisons en bois.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Xiaodong Wang

Student:

Partner:

Lulea University of Technology

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

Université Laval

Program:

Globalink Research Award

New Marketing Strategic Plan for Royal Autogroup

Royal Auto Group in Yorkton is developing new and innovative marketing solutions to reach new more diverse demographics in the east-central Saskatchewan region. This project will develop, cost and implement novel and innovative approaches to marketing sales and services to non-traditional markets in a region that has seen significant demographic shifts over the last five years.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gwen Machnee

Student:

Partner:

Royal Auto Group

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Automotive; New and Digital Media

University:

Parkland College

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Development of Innovative Anaerobic Digestion Technologies for Enhanced Energy Recovery from Cattle Manure

This project explores the use of new anaerobic digestion technologies such as the vacuum-assisted anaerobic digestion as well as innovative pretreatment technologies including the high-shear thermo-alkaline Lystek process and other mechanical, thermal, and chemical pretreatments to enhance the solubilization of the lignocellulose in cattle manure. Enhanced solubilization will result in higher biomethane yields and faster kinetics, resulting in smaller and more efficient farm digesters. The project will develop a new steady-state design model for farm digesters treating lignocelluosic wastes with and without pretreatment. A techno-economic evaluation of the various technologies will be undertaken both to benchmark the process economics as well as identify niche market opportunities for various farm sizes. The partner organization as a leading municipal biosolids treatment engineering consultant in North America, will be able to expand in the emerging agricultural renewable energy market.

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Faculty Supervisor:

George Nakhla

Student:

Partner:

Brown and Caldwell

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program:

Accelerate

Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities (EIWFSC)’s Platform for Land Based, Indigenous Tourism Opportunities

Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities (EIWFSC) is a province-wide collaborative of Indigenous women with representation from the four Indigenous groups in the province. Throughout the duration of the project, 45 Indigenous women were trained as Peer Facilitators and have been leading culturally based workshops in their respective communities with a goal to impact positive mental health and end gender-based violence. In November, 2021, EIWFSC became incorporated and has created a social enterprise called Dragonfly Moons. All of the revenue generated through the sales of products and services will go back into community programming to ultimately fulfill the mission of EIWFSC. Our social enterprise has four lines of business – a quarterly subscription box, land based experience packages, workshops & training, & branded e-commerce merchandise. We aspire to educate people on the Indigenous ways of knowing and doing and to tell the authentic story of the Indigenous people of the province in the true spirit of truth and reconciliation.
This project is important to our growth as it aims to create a completely new, innovative platform for Indigenous artists in the province to tell their story and create meaningful connections.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ashley Nguyen

Student:

Partner:

Empowering Indigenous Women for Stronger Communities

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

College of the North Atlantic

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Technology Development of a 1200W Bi-Directional Inverter with Unlimited Current Sharing Capability for Portable Power Station Application

Battery powered Portable Power Station (PPS) becomes popular in recent years because of its multiple benefits to consumers, such as portable, environmentally friendly, no noise, no need for gas. However, the existing PPS suffers from two fundamental limitations: (1) longer re-charging time, such as 5 to 7 hours; and (2) limited power capability. This project will develop a bi-directional inverter that will generate the required AC voltage from Battery. When it operates at rectifier mode, it can charge the battery from 0 to 80% in one hour. Another unique feature is that several PPS units can be connected in parallel to provide multiple times the total output power. It is expected that when the project is finished, a bi-directional 1,200W inverter will be designed and three experienced power electronics designers will be trained. It will significantly improve the competitive advantages of DigiQ Power and allow it to hire more engineers in Ontario.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Yan-Fei Liu

Student:

Partner:

DigiQ Power Limited

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Accelerate

Development of innovative tools for marine ecological assessment and intertidal habitat restoration Year Two

Contaminated sites assessment and remediation is an area of specialized services provided by Keystone Environmental. The technical challenge facing Keystone Environmental is to develop an innovative approach to provide effective contaminated sites services at rocky intertidal beaches in British Columbia. The rocky beaches of Howe Sound, impacted by effluents from pulp mills and mine acid rock drainage, have been studied and a significant body of historical data has been accumulated. Re-establishment of biodiversity after decrease of the contaminant input was very slow or minimal. The present MITACS Elevate proposal addresses this problem through the development of new tools for (1) interpretation of ecological assessment data, (2) provision of cost-effective methodology for “environmental quality” assessment and (3) providing effective rocky intertidal habitat restoration services. A collaboration between Dr. Christopher. J. Kennedy (SFU) and Keystone Environmental will develop and apply tools for intertidal ecological assessments and habitat restoration to enhance environmental effects monitoring services.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Chris Kennedy

Student:

Partner:

Keystone Environmental

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Elevate

Initiation of the UBC Precast Design Studio through experimental testing of precast concrete shear walls

This Mitacs Accelerate represents the first year of the UBC Precast Design Studio, which is a multi-year partnership between the Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI) and the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Studio will provide students with a hands-on learning experience for the seismic design, construction, and seismic response of precast shear walls. This Mitacs Accelerate will fund the training of four students in the experimental testing of precast concrete walls. Specifically, students will design and test both conventional and ductile precast concrete shear walls and generate novel data on the cyclic response of these walls. It is anticipated that this Mitacs Accelerate project will both advance scientific knowledge and the results can be used directly to set up the Precast Design Studio.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Lisa Tobber

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Enhancing physical properties of rubber compounds using reclaimed rubber

Over 250 million scrap tires are generated in North America every year. More than 2% of municipal solid waste is composed of scrap tires or approximately one scrap tire per person in this area. Additionally, approximately three billion tires are stockpiled in landfills, collection sites, and illegal dumps, posing environmental hazards and possible health risks. The material is not only being wasted but is also posing a very dangerous threat throughout the world. It may have been difficult to recycle and reclaim tires due to the difficulty of the process on its own. As such, this research project is an initiative taken by the Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory (NPNL) at the University of British Columbia and Circular Rubber Technologies (CRT) in BC to design a processing and formulation to improve the physical properties of reclaimed rubber (obtained from scrap tire) so it can be reused as the rubber materials.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Mohammad Arjmand

Student:

Partner:

Circular Rubber Technologies Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Student-centered interactive calculus readiness tool: Leveraging university course data through learning analytics

Increased stress, anxiety, and educational disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the reality that many students are entering university-level Calculus with insufficient mathematical preparation and negative attitudes towards learning math. Researchers have also shown that students from traditionally underrepresented groups are at a particularly high-risk of STEM attrition related to these factors. To address the need for proactive, student-centered learning support, this project will use data science to assess the roles of attitude and preparation in student performance; leveraging these results to develop an individualized early intervention. We begin by assessing mathematical preparation and attitudes using the Crowdmark platform, which is also used to collect course data. This will produce a rich dataset ready for analysis, supported by machine learning. The results will then be used to develop a tool to provide each student with an individualized action plan, and give educators detailed feedback about their students.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Caroline Junkins;Lindsey Daniels

Student:

Partner:

Crowdmark

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

Assessing detection limits for x-ray absorption spectroscopic analyses

This internship conducted in partnership with the Canadian Light Source (CLS) BioXAS Main Spectroscopy beamline (Saskatoon, SK) is a research project to develop and test a procedure to determine the detection limits (lowest analyzable concentrations) for chemical analyses of samples containing three elements of interest (copper, cobalt, and uranium) over a wide range of concentrations. The intern will also optimize sample preparation and analytical procedures to improve data quality and help beamline users to optimize their sample analyses. The project will provide the BioXAS spectroscopy beamline with standard operating procedures to support efforts to assess analytical improvements on the beamline, improve user experiences, and contribute to efforts to benchmark performance capabilities at other synchrotron facilities. It will also further development of improved analytical facilities at CLS, which is Canada’s only national synchrotron facility, and further efforts to enhance its reputation as a destination for conducting reliable and high-quality analyses globally.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Joyce McBeth

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Light Source

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining; Sustainability & the Environment; Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

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Mitacs — Return on Innovation

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.