Innovative Projects Realized

Video Wall Controller

AEI&D is a small Ontario company seeking to supply computer-based controllers for video-wall displays. AEI&D is aware of a growing trend to deploy video walls in a variety of sectors including the retail, educational and entertainment sectors. Requirements of a suitable display include brightness, contrast and resolution similar to existing LCD displays, but in a much larger size range of 100 to 300 inches diagonal. Such video walls require suitable controllers which enable user-dependent interface for convenient uploading of video content as well as high quality stationary images.

Entrepreneurial Functions by Women Entrepreneurs: Does Incubation create a level playing field for Innovation?

This project aims to explore how women entrepreneurs perform their entrepreneurial functions within business incubators. Women
entrepreneurs are known to suffer from impoverished social networks that precludes them from performing their entrepreneurial
functions like opportunity recognition, resource mobilization and innovation. Policy makers seek to support and enable women
entrepreneurs in various ways. Incubation is one such instrument that governments encourage to boost entrepreneurship among
women. Incubation is known to impact opportunity recognition of entrepreneurs by placing them in information rich networks and
grooming them to remain alert of new opportunities. Incubation also boosts resource mobilization by signaling legitimacy of
entrepreneurs to resource and information holders. It is, therefore, expected to positively enhance innovation by providing for novel combinations of the resources, information and ideas. However, incubation has traditionally been a male bastion where the “old boys’ network” thrives and perpetuates gender inequalities. So, it is not immediately apparent if incubation holds the same benefits for women entrepreneurs as it does for male entrepreneurs. We seek to address this in this project.

Improving the Quality and Experience of HyFlex Teaching and Learning

Over the last few years, Nureva has experienced an increasing trend with their audio products being purchased for HyFlex (hybrid-flexible) classrooms across North America, particularly in higher education. Research shows that this is something many institutions are investing in and will continue to invest in beyond the COVID-19
pandemic. However, not a lot of research has been done to-date to clearly identify the benefits and challenges associated with this growing method of course delivery, particularly when considering the experiences of students, instructors, and administrators. As such, this project sets out to address this knowledge gap through user research and design with the end-goal of identifying emerging opportunities for the development of new innovations that will improve the quality and experience of HyFlex teaching and learning.

Farmworkers’ perception on risks and interventions of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and heat-related illness

This project is a part of the preliminary phase of the research program aiming to design assistive device to prevent WMSDs and HRI in farmworkers. The intern will gather qualitative data by administering questionnaires and conducting an interview with workers on their perceptions of risks and interventions. Fifty workers over 18 years old, stratified samples of all sex and age groups, will be recruited from local agricultural producers. Participants will be asked to complete a demographic survey and questionnaires for the frequency of musculoskeletal symptoms, the intensity of their perceived discomfort at local body parts and full body exertion, and their previous heat exhaustion and dehydration symptoms. Participants will be also interviewed individually in a one-to-one format on their perception of risk and their ideas for interventions. The aggregated level of the results will be used by stakeholders to find appropriate interventions for WMSDs and HRI, and by the designers of assistive device to consider usability of the technology.

Extending Assessments of Cognitive Decline into Virtual Reality

Early detection of dementia among seniors has been an ongoing struggle, leading to underdiagnosis, late diagnosis, and delayed intervention. Using virtual reality powered hardware and proprietary motion tracking software provided by Innerva Virtual Inc., this project intends to create a dual-task assessment to measure mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among older adults, a leading symptom of dementia. We will measure the effectiveness of using standardized virtual environments to facilitate gait assessments and measure MCI. Virtual distractors created within the assessment can provide advanced data to the field of gait analysis and unlock new methods for the detection of MCI without adding physical risk to the participant or environment.

Vers une approche intermédiale du jeu d’acteur contemporain canadien et flamand

Au sein des études théâtrales, il est encore la norme d’analyser le jeu d’acteur en fonction du média dans lequel il est performé, ce qui entraîne une séparation entre le jeu d’acteur cinématographique et le jeu d’acteur scénique. Cette division semble inadéquate, voire dépassée, étant donné que les créations théâtrales contemporaines font de plus en plus appel à la vidéo scénique. Ainsi, l’acteur se retrouve fréquemment dans des contextes de performance où il doit à la fois jouer pour la scène et pour une caméra.
Ma recherche vise à définir comment l’acteur détient une place clef dans des dynamiques de création intermédiales grâce à une analyse des conditions de production théâtrales contemporaines, notamment au Canada et en Belgique flamande.

The Maskinonge Lake Fault in the Michipicoten Greenstone Belt, Ontario: Kinematics, Timing and Controls on Gold Mineralization

The Island Gold mine, owned by Alamos Gold Inc., operates on one of the highest-grade gold deposits in Canada. Many gold deposits, including the Island Gold mine, follow east-west-trending structures, but the northwest-trending Maskinonge Lake Fault, located east of the mine, is uniquely enriched with gold and therefore contradicts this model. The objective of this research is to characterize this fault, and to determine whether it is a longstanding structure that is related to the primary Island Gold mineralization event, or if it developed later and received gold endowment through other means. By determining the influence this fault had on gold mineralization in the region, the results can be integrated into Alamos Gold’s existing geologic framework to guide exploration around similar structures and contribute to understanding the role of large-scale fault systems in gold districts across Canada.

Du concept théorique à la démonstration de technologies et pratiques de gestion novatrices de l’Industrie 4.0 dans une usine-laboratoire

Le projet s’intéresse à l’adaptation de certaines technologies et pratiques de gestion issues de l’Industrie 4.0 avec pour objectif de rendre leur implantation et utilisation possible et profitable pour les PME manufacturières. Plus particulièrement, cinq sous-projets seront étudiés : 1) la gestion intégrée intelligente des opérations, 2) le magasin automatisé, 3) le jumeau numérique, 4) les tableaux de bord de gestion connectés et 5) la plateforme virtuelle de modélisation et de formation sur les enjeux de la transformation numérique des manufacturiers. Les travaux de recherche viseront à étudier l’adaptation de ces technologies au contexte des PME manufacturière, d’abord par des revues de littératures, suivi du développement, du déploiement et du test d’un prototype dans une usine-laboratoire représentant une PME manufacturière de taille réelle.

The role of SMEs in supporting migrant integration

Skilled migrants are integral to the Canadian labour market. Yet, existing research provides little guidance on integration beyond the entry point into organizations. This research project aims to gain new insights into organizational integration dynamics for skilled migrants. HR professionals and Line managers in small to medium-sized organizations within the Health, Manufacturing and IT/Services sectors will be interviewed. This project will unpack how these organizations understand, manage, and leverage skilled migrants’ capabilities and explore employers’ opinions on best practices and barriers. ACCES Employment works with large employers and SMEs to determine best practices for recruiting, onboarding and integrating skilled immigrants; thus, our contributions will be valuable. Deliverables will include an Executive report to relevant audiences, targeted Work Integration Workshops, presentations, and a Research/Policy brief tailored to employers, service agencies, and migrants. Our findings will also assist businesses by providing advice on integrating migrants in the local workplace more effectively.

Marketing Analyst

InvestorCOM is well known in Canada and are capitalizing on the opportunity to expand into the US market. My project will assist InvestorCOM in expanding their compliance solutions into the US market by creating market awareness of InvestorCOM through social media channels, analyzing data to help inform and adjust the marketing strategy, creating marketing materials and content to capture market interest, and reaching out to journalists and influencers for press collaborations.

Skilled Migrants’ Involuntary Career Change: The role of Alternative Careers in Migrants’ Integration

While Canada welcomes many skilled migrants into our economy, some newcomers experience labour market challenges, and are pushed towards alternative career options. Thus, they decide to change their desired occupations or pursue new career paths in Canada. As a result, the purpose of this research is to gather information and learn more about skilled migrants’ lived experiences of an involuntary career change in Canada and its impact on newcomer integration. We plan to investigate a group of skilled migrants who were forced to change their original careers permanently due to local career barriers in Canada and are currently employed in an alternative career path. We explore their experiences of this transition, often accompanied by working in a lower-status position. The findings of this study will assist migrants coping with alternative careers and life-changing transitions, employers seeking to hire into alternative careers, and organizations assisting migrants in choosing new careers.

Création de projets guidés en Data Science

Uluumy est une plateforme de formation et de coaching qui aide les professionnel.le.s à améliorer leurs compétences et à se perfectionner à l’ère de l’Intelligence Artificielle (IA) et des transformations numériques.

Nous souhaitons proposer un ensemble de projets guidés qui montrent les applications de la science des données dans différents domaines comme la finance, la santé et la logistique et dans différentes fonctions comme le marketing et les ressources humaines.

Le projet aidera la plateforme Uluumy à réaliser sa mission de soutenir les professionnels et les organisations à l’échelle du Canada à amorcer le virage numérique et à publiciser l’expertise de l’équipe.