Innovative Projects Realized

The Canadian Paralympic Committee – Embedding Data Analytics into the business operations

Big data and analytics are pervasive within society and the ability to collect and interpret data sets has changed the operations and management of organizations impacting areas such as consumer purchasing decisions and transforming the methods and measurements used by managers. This is no different in sport where data analytics was first used for on-field decisions as made famous by Moneyball but now has shifted to how the industry manages the business side of sport. The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) is a non-profit organization with the vision is to be the world’s leading Paralympic nation and focuses on its mission to lead the development of a sustainable Paralympic sport system in Canada. Central to the CPC’s pursuit of becoming the world’s leading Paralympic nation, is the ability to continually evolve the organization to take advantage of data insights to inform business strategy. Therefore, this application will support CPC’s next step in their business strategy innovation using data and data analytics to inform their decision making and strategic direction. While there is growing interest in using data analytics in the non-profit sport business side, there is limited uptake to date due to resource constraints and knowledge gaps.

Designing and characterizing peptide inhibitors for bacterial tyrosinase using yeast surface display

Tyrosinase is an enzyme involved in the production of melanin, the polymeric molecule that gives us the color of our skin, hair, and eyes. The inhibition of tyrosinase’s activity is a great interest in treating diseases and conditions associated with hyperpigmentation. Tyrosinase also exists in fruits and vegetables, where it is involved in unwanted enzymatic browning. In this project, we wish to find new peptide inhibitors for bacterial tyrosinase using a yeast surface display system. The approach of exploring peptides as inhibitors arises from structural peptide motifs found in tyrosinases from different organisms that seem to occupy the enzyme’s active site, thus perhaps inhibiting its activity. The yeast surface display system allows fast screening of randomized peptide sequences, which will subsequently be characterized using advanced sequencing techniques and bioinformatic tools. That will allow us to understand better the relationship between the inhibitor’s sequence to their inhibition mechanism. Hopefully, those insights will advance our understanding of designing inhibiting peptides against tyrosinases.

Développement et analyse d’algorithmes efficaces pour le Building Information Modeling 4D et applications à la recherche de chemins

Depuis quelques années, la nécessité d’avoir des plans numériques afin de gérer efficacement les espaces est devenue un enjeu de taille. La modélisation des données du bâtiment (Building Information Modeling ou BIM) permet non seulement d’obtenir des plans 3D de grande précision, mais aussi des données supplémentaires liées au bâtiment telles que l’évolution de l’espace dans le temps ou la géolocalisation des éléments. Ce projet de recherche propose de développer des algorithmes afin d’automatiser la conversion de plans 2D en plans multidimensionnels respectant la norme BIM (3D) et d’élaborer une structure de données permettant de représenter leur évolution au fil du temps (4D). Les résultats obtenus seront ensuite utilisés afin de développer des algorithmes de recherche de chemin (wayfinding) entre différentes composantes au sein d’un complexe de plusieurs bâtiments liés entre eux. Ce projet permettra ainsi à l’entreprise partenaire, Archidata, de consolider sa position de leader dans la gestion numérique de portefeuilles immobiliers.

Système de portes automatiques avec marche-pied déployable pour les trains à grandes vitesses.

Les portes constituent une interface primaire entre les passagers et les trains. Les passagers naviguent de diverses manières pour entrer, sortir et circuler. Ces systèmes fonctionnent généralement comme prévu, mais des dysfonctionnements surviennent et peuvent entraîner des blessures mineures ou catastrophiques. Dans les applications de transport en commun, comme les métros ou les trains légers sur rail, les portes coulissantes latérales sont généralement utilisées pour fournir un accès direct au compartiment passagers. Cette disposition permet la sortie et l’entrée rapides requises pour les grands flux de passagers aux horaires serrés, mais crée également une condition très dynamique avec les risques associés. Même après l’entrée des passagers dans le train, les défauts de fonctionnement peuvent exposer les passagers à des risques supplémentaires. L’ouverture involontaire d’une porte expose les passagers à une situation dangereuse, que le train soit en mouvement ou non.
DOORSpec conçoit et fabrique des systèmes de portes automatiques pour les trains, les métros et les monorails. L’entreprise fabrique différents systèmes de portes selon les types de véhicules qui doivent être adaptés aux besoins spécifiques des différents marchés.

Stephenville Theatre Festival – Production Management Internship

The Stephenville Theatre Festival produces a season of professional theatre each summer. A strong technical and production team is required to produce our work and innovate the theatrical experience for our audience. There is currently a skill/talent gap in the province of NL in the area of theatre production expertise. The selected Intern, and her academic supervisor have experience in this field and can help us overcome this. The production management intern will be able to assess our current production model and offer organizational expertise to the production team. We believe this project would provide an excellent opportunity for the intern to get lived in experience of this essential production role, and for our organization to benefit from the expertise that the intern has through her academic program l. This project will enable STF to innovate with a strategy to deliver an enhanced theatrical experience at our festival as well as an enhanced production design looking forward.

Non-thermal Removal of Moisture for Laundry Drying Applications

SunBrine Inc. (www.sunbrine.com) was established to develop and market technologies to de-carbonize commercial and industrial processes that utilize hydrocarbon fuels. SunBrine’s primary technology entails the use of a process cycle in which concentrated salt brine solutions, via their hygroscopic nature, absorb water vapour. Through this mechanism, water is removed from the commercial or industrial process applications, such as the drying of hotel laundry. The resultant dilute salt brine solution is pumped to a regeneration component which releases moisture using heat, thereby concentrating the salt brine solution for the next cycle. However, unlike conventional laundry drying processes, low temperature heat can be utilized for this purpose. Solar thermal energy would satisfy the energy needs for solution regeneration and provide the benefit of no greenhouse gas emissions from the laundry drying process. A partnership between SunBrine Inc. and St. Lawrence College has been formed to help define the properties of brine solutions as they relate to the moisture removal process. At present there is little data associated with the use of brine solutions in drying applications and this study aims to characterize these properties.

A Novel Radiofrequency Treatment for Emphysema in Pig Model

A common condition that contributes to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is emphysema, which involves damage to the walls of air sacs in the lung. There are very limited safe and non-invasive options available, therefore IKOMED Technologies Inc. has been developing an application using radiofrequency wave technology that has shown the potential to non-surgically improve disease burden. The initial study was performed in the rodent model of emphysema with Dr. Don Sin, and study in larger animals is important for translation to clinical use. The intern will work within a multi-disciplinary team to develop a model of emphysema in pigs, and then evaluate the safety of exposure to energy from radiofrequency waves, and its effectiveness in the treatment of emphysema. IKOMED Technologies Inc. is the sponsor of this work and will be acknowledged in potential publications. The data collected may be used for future patenting of this new treatment technology.

Econochef – Implementing MLOps for Small Businesses

This project will look into the tools available to implement machine learning in production and find the best ones to use in a small business environment. The goal is to find a set of tools that can be used by developers with little or no experience with machine learning that is still performant enough to add value to a software product. We will implement our solution in Econochef’s mobile app that will recommend recipes to users by training a model according to a user’s culinary preferences. This feature will allow Econochef to set itself apart from the competition.

Social Enterprise and the Pursuit of Net Zero in Newfoundland and Labrador

Memorial University’s Centre for Social Enterprise presents this type of organization in the following light:

“Social enterprise challenges the predominant understanding of business as pursuing wealth at the expense of people and the planet. A traditional view of business measures a healthy economy by wealth gained through the trade of goods and services. Social enterprises, however, produce goods and services for trade but direct their surpluses towards social goals. They offer inspired, tangible solutions that elevate vulnerable populations, mitigate environmental impact and connect individuals with communities. Social enterprises view community prosperity that balances economic and social development as the most important indicator of a society’s success. They understand that communities are strongest when their individual members are too, when social and financial barriers are lifted and opportunities are generated for all. This economy of care values performance indicators like social well-being, environmental health and cultural diversity to measure quality of life.”

Livestock Monitoring and Analysis: A Deep Learning Approach on Edge Devices

Livestock monitoring is a topic of great interest for livestock farming since it would help identify the most appropriate feed cycle, improve and predict animal health, thus reducing investment cost, and providing other important knowledge to improve the breeding process. This research project proposes the development of a non-invasive monitoring system for livestock using video sequences of groups of pigs as experimental subjects. The system will be able to identify the different pigs, classify the different activities that they perform, and analyze different wounds on the skin to locate the most probable cause of them. The proposed system will be based on artificial vision through the use of a camera with deep learning architectures and machine learning techniques, which will be located in strategic places to monitor the behavior of the animals and their environment.

Developing approaches for the production and processing of single-cell protein

The development of a cheap, environmentally sustainable, protein-rich animal feed is of key interest to the growing livestock and aquaculture sectors. Cvictus is in the process of commercializing an integrated low-carbon footprint production platform that can convert coal to methanol, which can then be used to grow a single-cell protein (SCP) animal feed that would address the major concerns of meat and dairy producers. This project will focus on examining the impacts of changing various process conditions to establish approaches for SCP production and processing that result in the highest yields and/or nutritional quality. These studies will generate invaluable data that will help direct the build of Cvictus’ integrated production platform and consequently facilitate sustainable utilization of Alberta’s vast coal resources.

SEE Mitacs Internship

Through research and iterative testing, an intern will develop resources that will guide Social Entrepreneurs through a process of building branding and communications strategies for their ventures. The student will research industry best practices and then apply their gatherings by creating a curriculum that entrepreneurs can work through at their own pace. The student will then refine their materials by guiding one or two of SEE’s entrepreneurs through their curriculum and adjusting the materials based on entrepreneur feedback. The project deliverables will be a set of resources that represent a repeatable process for development of communication strategy for social entrepreneurs that SEE can provide to all their entrepreneurs in the future.