Innovative Projects Realized

Low carbon footprint carbon nanofiber admixture for cementitious materials applications

To reduce carbon footprints, the development of new materials with enhanced properties is of great importance. The construction industry, with a record of 9.95 Gt of CO2 production in 2019, is the 3rd largest sector contributing to climate change31. One way of reducing the amount of carbon in their manufacturing process is by adding materials in their concrete that can replace traditional commodities and are produced sustainably. Carbon NanoFibers (CNF), as produced through a patented Carbonova process, offer the opportunity to substitute such materials and reduce the carbon footprint of many processes, while at the same time, imparting the innovative material with properties that could enhance usability and open the doors for new applications, such as concretes with sensing capabilities.

Assurer la cyber résilience dans l’industrie 4.0

L’industrie 4.0 désigne l’automatisation continue des pratiques de fabrication et industrielles traditionnelles, en utilisant une technologie intelligente moderne. La communication machine à machine à grande échelle (M2M) et l’Internet des objets (IoT) sont intégrés pour une automatisation accrue, une communication et une auto surveillance améliorées, et la production de machines intelligentes capables d’analyser et de diagnostiquer les problèmes sans intervention humaine. La cyber-résilience est la mesure de la capacité d’une entreprise à continuer à fonctionner normalement pendant qu’elle tente de prévenir, détecter, contrôler et récupérer des menaces contre ses données et son infrastructure informatique.
Dans ce projet, nous allons proposer un modèle de cyber-résilience pour l’industrie 4.0 pour garantir la disponibilité et la continuité de production en dépend des menaces de sécurité. Les résultats proposés peuvent être organisés en trois étapes pour aider les entreprises à prendre des décisions sur les pratiques qui assurent la cyber-résilience de leurs procédés industriels. La première étape considère l’assurance de la cyber-résilience des appareils connectés, la deuxième étape considère la sécurité de la communication et la coopération d’entités autonomes et connectées. La troisième étape considère l’intégrité, la confidentialité, et la disponibilité des données.

Treatment Outcomes: Conditioning on Electronic/Personal Health Records for congestive heart failure

We will build a prototype system that can be used to predict the outcome of treatments for congestive heart failure given a patient’s personal health record or electronic medical record. This will be based on building a relational probabilistic model that is based on standard medical ontologies, initially on expert knowledge, and can make predictions from electronic/personal health records. The system will be evaluated against clinical practice guidelines. This will be used as the basis for a future system, that can learn the models from data, and so provide auditable best-practices recommendations.

Improvements to Mobile Control App for Autonomous Service Robots

Tasks involving lifting, pushing, and carrying (e.g., lifting laundry, cleaning the floor) are often challenging, especially for seniors and people with limited mobility. On stairs, performing these tasks becomes dangerous, potentially leading to serious injury (falls, back strain, etc.).

Quantum Robotic Systems Inc. (QRS) addresses this problem by making unique mobile service robots. QRS has developed and patented a novel stair-climbing technology that the company has incorporated into its Robotic Stairclimbing Assistant (“ROSA”). ROSA’s sister product is “QBii”, a smaller non-stairclimbing robot.

QRS has developed a prototype version of a Control App, allowing a user to specify rudimentary paths for its robots. However, the existing App lacks the functionality to make it truly useful.

The primary goal for this innovation project is to improve upon the existing Control App to enhance its capabilities and its ease-of-use. The App will run on commonly used mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) to enhance convenience. The improved Control App will be intuitive enough to allow any user (e.g., older homeowners with no programming or robotics experience) to command a QRS robot to drive to a destination (e.g., “Kitchen”, “Bedroom”). The robot will then autonomously follow a path between its current location and the destination. Along the way, the robot can perform a useful task (e.g., carry a box, pull a cart, sweep the floor, etc.), freeing the user to do something else.

Achieving this goal will significantly increase market acceptance of QRS’s service robots.

Nanotess Business Development

The project will be to strategize and develop business development market access activities that will result in future commercialization opportunities to overcome barriers to market entry for our nanotechnology solutions.

I3 Incubator Project Final

The primary focus of the internship program will be assisting Penrose Partners in the development, programming, and execution of our I3 Innofund Incubator program. Currently in its first iteration, the Innofund Incubator is the premier destination for blockchain and digital asset startups looking to accelerate their growth and expand to international markets. In partnership with Ryerson University’s premier DMZ incubator, as well as the Government of Bermuda, the incubator provides the resources, guidance, and partnerships necessary for exponential growth. The intern staffing this project will touch all aspects of the incubator program, including but not limited to: client management, market research, content production, social media & marketing strategy, operations & logistics, and more.

Good Local – E-Commerce Integration

Goodlocal’s online multi-vendor marketplace provides local retailers with an easy to use platform for managing and selling their products and services, and provides local buyers with a one-stop shop for all their needs. Goodlocal has experienced tremendous growth in less than a calendar year. They have on boarded more than 250 vendors, 7000 products, fulfilled more than 5000 orders and generated more than $500 000 in revenue. Goodlocal’s body of work and successes clearly confirm that an online marketplace with our model can largely benefit both local business owners and the local economy.

FLYHT AFIRS Edge Product Commercialization

The Cartelle Group Ltd has been retained by FLYHT Aerospace Solutions LTD to act as their internal marketing department. The business challenge for the Mitacs project is it to commercialize an innovative avionics device and supporting SaaS solutions within domestic and international markets using innovative marketing practises. This is a critical step to achieve footholds into new markets and accounts to scale revenues. The company wishes to grown revenues fourfold within the next five years. Such growth would grow the Calgary workforce dramatically adding well paid technical jobs to an economy that needs it.

Digital Product Sales Intern (SyntecX)

SyntecX is working on an initiative to provide a unique in-kind service across Canada, it contains mixed of enterprise applications and consulting/professional services to small and mid-size enterprises. These applications help businesses to smooth their operation however without consulting they cannot achieve full optimization. Hence our consulting provides our clients End to End service through implementing a best-fit App for their business and automate their bookkeeping and accounting until tax filing.
We are a one-stop-shop for businesses. We provide a unique proposition where they get all solutions and operations in form of consulting. We want to create an attractive sales pitch and strategy to make this proposition understandable to businesses. Also, we want to engage interns who can create and test sales strategies. The main goal of sales strategy is to generate leads and successful transformation into sales.

Mobile Market Program

The Farmers’ Truck is a social enterprise offering products and services that empower organizations to address the lack of fresh food access in their communities.
The Farmers’ Truck is developing a program which will be addressing these three challenges that NGOs face in our innovative program. The intern will map out the process of adoption and will document a pilot effort.

Residual white spruce (Picea glauca) growth responses following partial cutting treatments in boreal mixedwoods

The boreal mixedwood forests of the Abitibi region of Quebec are often characterized by a canopy of trembling aspen with shade tolerant species such as white spruce and balsam fir in the subcanopy. In many cases, harvesting has converted complex mixedwoods into simpler, even aged forests. Due to the differences in regeneration and tree growth, the white spruce is often of small merchantable size classes when the trembling aspen is ready for harvesting. Partial cutting is a harvesting method where only some canopy trees are removed while others are retained in various proportions as residual trees. This remaining forest cover can maintain vital ecosystem services and meet silvicultural objectives such as increased timber production. It is thought that by removing some overstorey competition via partial cutting, the residual trees will experience an increase in growth rate. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the growth responses of residual white spruce trees in mixedwood stands where four different proportions of trembling aspen were removed by partial cutting ten years ago. Few studies have evaluated longer term growth responses of residual trees in trembling aspen-white spruce mixedwood stands.

Optimization of oat beverage process for sustainability and high nutrient recovery

Plant-based beverages, originally introduced as cow milk alternatives, have attracted great attention from consumers in recent years due to their sustainability and health benefits. Oat beverages has become one of the most successful commercial products in the Canadian market due to the large oat production, high protein and dietary fiber contents and excellent sensory property. As one of the biggest oat beverage producers in Canada, Earth’s Own devotes significant effort to produce high quality oat beverages with less energy and water. Regarding to this vision, research and renovation are needed to solve some technical challenges. This proposed study will systematically investigate the impact of process temperature, water quality, filtration and protease on the process efficiency and product quality. The knowledge gained from this study will allow the industry to minimize the energy and water input, maximize nutrient recovery and generate less solid waste.