Innovative Projects Realized

Evaluating and learning from a mind-body medicine course: An interview-based study

This project learns from the experience of participants in an eight-week Mind-Body Medicine program (MBM). Mind-Body Medicine (MBM) teaches people how to help themselves by uncovering and engaging their inner resources and building resilience, broadly understood. The eight-week MBM program will be delivered through the Iris Centre for Mindfulness, Peace and Healing in Fredericton. The research will involve the analysis of interviews with participants, including those who dropped out. The intern will identify the strengths and limitations of the program as well as learn about the experience of MBM in the lives of participants. This research will support program development at the Iris Centre and contribute to the development of similar programs provincially and nationally.

Decarbonization strategies for North Coal’s mining operation in British Columbia; a conceptual study

With growing urgency towards Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG), mining companies are trying to position themselves to take advantage of the massive demand for metals to come with the energy transition. To place their products in the marketplace and retain their social license to operate, miners are committing to net-zero carbon emission targets.
With a progressive approach North Coal is seeking technologies to position themselves as the most ESG-efficient producer of metallurgical coal and expand the company’s value proposition to cover the energy savings aspects and the carbon footprint reductions of its current and future mining operations.
The energy and carbon footprint impacts can vary significantly from mine to mine, depending on the power sources used and the processing circuit. Our objective is to develop a mine energy system digital model that can predict the impact of utilizing different technologies/equipment under a wide range of operating conditions.

Understanding the Value of Responsible Gambling Programming in Canada: An Industry Perspective

While most people gamble for fun, some people suffer harms from their gambling. To prevent people from experiencing gambling-related harm, the gambling industry has put in place responsible gambling programs and tools to help people gamble within their means. However, even with the different responsible gambling tools and information available to players, the use of these resources is low. In the current project, I will be working with the gambling industry to understand how responsible gambling programming can be more effective and appealing to players. I will interview responsible gambling representatives in the industry from all over Canada to learn about their thoughts on what is working and what can be improved in their responsible gambling strategies. The findings from these interviews will be used to develop recommendations and best practices to share with different gambling operators to help their players gamble positively and safely.

Intersectional Inequalities in Science

The goal of this project is to investigate the direct harms to science wrought by structural racism and the benefits derived by the inclusion of women and minoritized people of color in the scientific workforce. Specifically, this work seeks to (a) quantify the participation of marginalized individuals in the production of science, (b) elucidate the role of marginalized individuals in propelling intellectual innovations, and (c) understand how the distribution of labor and composition of scientific teams creates barriers and pathways to scientific success for minoritized groups. The project will develop empirical insights on the impact of diversity in science and identify mechanisms that can be used to improve the retention of minoritized individuals.

Conception d’une technologie de communication sur courant porteur

La compagnie RMDS est très présente dans le domaine de la communication par courant porteur. Cette technologie permet de communiquer sur les réseaux d’alimentation. Cela apporte différents défis de taille puisque ces réseaux ne sont pas conçus pour la communication, mais sont conçus par la transmission d’énergie à très basse fréquence. La technologie de RMDS doit être mise à jour. Plusieurs aspects de celle-ci seront améliorés notamment la vitesse de transmission, la robustesse du système face au bruit, les coûts de production du système ainsi que la puissance requise pour communiquer. La nouvelle technologie développée permettra à RMDS de mettre à jour ses produits et enrichir son expertise dans le domaine.

Analyse coûts-avantages des infrastructures vertes pour le contrôle à la source des eaux pluviales en milieu urbain

Les infrastructures vertes sont de plus en plus utilisées en milieu urbain pour gérer les eaux pluviales à la source, c’est-à-dire avant qu’elles ne rejoignent le réseau souterrain de conduites. Or, de nombreuses questions subsistent en ce qui concerne les bénéfices procurés par les infrastructures vertes de gestion des eaux pluviales par rapport à leurs coûts. L’objectif général du projet est de réaliser une analyse coûts-avantages de la mise en place d’infrastructures vertes pour le contrôle à la source des eaux pluviales dans les secteurs urbains drainés par des réseaux d’égout unitaires, avec un accent particulier sur l’évaluation des coûts et des avantages liés à l’entretien de ces infrastructures. Le projet se déroulera en deux étapes : effectuer une revue exhaustive de la littérature scientifique et des expériences scientifiques au sujet des coûts et des avantages liés aux infrastructures vertes de gestion des eaux pluviales et réaliser une étude de cas sur un secteur urbain réel.

Development of Metallurgical Testing Methodologies to Assess Sensor Based Sorting

Sensor Based Sorting is a relatively new technology for the mining industry. The ability to use sensor to classify particles or bulk materials ahead of expensive downstream grinding and separation has many benefits including reduced energy and water usage, reduced operating costs and improved metal recoveries. Testing to assess sorting for a mineral deposit is normally conducted by the technology companies and there are no standard approaches to conducting such studies. The proposed study builds off of more than 20 years of research
experience to advance sensor based sorting. The goal is to develop and validate testing methodologies that can be conducted by third party independent metallurgical companies. The ability to conduct such studies will better inform mining companies of the potential benefits to their operation as well as indicating the best sensor based sorting system for a mine.

Assess the impacts of pedagogical narration on teachers practice and curriculum making

The goal of this research is to assess the impacts of a teaching methodology known as pedagogical narration on teachers’ practices. The research study aims to introduce teachers to the Early Learning Framework and to mentor teachers in using pedagogical narration. Capilano University student interns will be deployed to iGen Education Group to support the use of pedagogical narration as a teaching methodology at iGen Education Group.
The research question is: What are the impacts of pedagogical narration on teachers’ pedagogical practice and curriculum design?
iGen education provides STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education for children 3 to 8 years old. Interns will collaborate with iGen educators to cultivate conditions for responsive, thoughtful, place-based, situated, and inclusive pedagogical practices and to use pedagogical narration in designing curriculum. The purpose of the research is to contribute knowledge to scholarly literature related to merits and possible shortcomings of pedagogical narration.

Realization of high-power, single-frequency, solid-state lasers using nanostructured laser mirrors

Achieving autonomous vehicles depends on the development of reliable optical sensors to replace human vision. The lidar is the top candidate to achieve real-time mapping of the scene. The most promising lidar design uses a chirped single-frequency laser to achieve fast distance and speed mapping. However, the delivered power is small, which limits the range, the speed and measurement accuracy. Recently, we introduced single-frequency lasers using parity-time-symmetric polarization eigenstates. Such concept requires optically anisotropic laser mirrors, which can be achieved with periodically corrugated surfaces. Since the anisotropy is integral to the laser mirrors, no other element is needed and a very short laser device is possible. A thin disk of rare-earth-doped material will be placed between these two mirrors and end-pumped with a laser diode. Our preliminary results indicate that the emission should be single mode when the two mirrors are properly adjusted. This laser design will improve on existing compact single-frequency emitters used in lidar applications by achieving higher brightness than the current semiconductor laser technologies. Our idea will help speed up the development of lidars for autonomous driving applications as well as in other areas requiring miniature sources of light with high brightness.

Photovoltaic devices for short-wave infrared (SWIR) range

In this collaborative project between L. Goncharova’s group (Western) and Sciencetech (London, ON), silicon, germanium, and tin heterostructure will be grown by thin-film deposition techniques. By precisely controlling the amount of each element in the films, these heterostructures can overcome the poor light adsorption and emission properties of silicon, and will be explored for light detection in short wave infra-red spectral range. Precise control of these parameters can be achieved via ion implantation or during a growth process called molecular beam epitaxy, followed by ion implantation. Photovoltaic characteristics of these novel materials will be explored at Western and Sciencetech. Ultimately, these structures can be used as short-wave infrared detectors, with applications in spectroscopy and other optical domains.

Conception et optimisation d’un réacteur à vis à l’échelle laboratoire pour le procédé de pyrolyse rapide de la biomasse

La determination de la meilleure conception de reacteur a vis, !’identification des parametres optimaux du precede et de la meilleure technologie de recuperation s’imposent comme une necessite pour l’entreprise. Pour ce faire, l’entreprise veut construire une unite laboratoire, afin d’appliquer les ameliorations et de corriger les defauts et les faiblesses releves lors de !’operation sur l’unite de demonstration. Malgre la disponibilite d’une litterature scientifique abondante, ii n’existe pas de directives standards pour la conception d’un reacteur a vis. Par consequent, la compagnie a sollicite le centre d’etudes des procedes chimiques du Quebec (CEPROCQ) pour la conception et l’optimisation d’un reacteur a vis a l’echelle laboratoire pour le precede de pyrolyse rapide.

Development of polymer-based CMUT array design for Ultrasound Computer Tomography

An emerging imaging modality for breast cancer screeing is Ultrasound Computer Tomography (USCT). The thereby used image reconstruction techniques result in special requirements for the ultrasound transducers. At the University of British Colombia, a novel fabrication technology was recently presented. This technology allows the realization of polymer-based Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer (CMUT), whose properties match very well the requirements coming from USCT.

The main goal of the project is to develop a transducer array design that will allow the evaluation of the polymer-based CMUT technology for its use in USCT. This design must consider requirements coming from the image reconstruction, the system integration, the fabrication technology and medical device regulations. Subsequent projects should then focus on the fabrication and characterization of this design. Overall, the project establishes a first promising interface between a novel transducer fabrication process and a possible application in a clinical ultrasound system.