Innovative Projects Realized

Challenges of Scaling Social Enterprise in Canada

Social enterprises are businesses whose primary purpose is to create social and/or environmental impact. This study will seek to understand how to grow these businesses to create more social or environmental impact while being financially sustainable. This study will interview social enterprises to understand how they work, how they are trying to grow and what challenges they encounter while doing so. From the findings of this research, we hope to better understand how to strengthen the social enterprise sector in Canada.

Comment apprivoiser et vivre la transition vers un vieillissement actif et épanoui pour les personnes atteintes de spina-bifida, d’hydrocéphalie et de leurs proches aidants : co-développement d’une boîte à outils

Les personnes vivant avec un spina-bifida et/ou l’hydrocéphalie (SBH) font face aux enjeux du vieillissement pouvant
complexifier les défis de participation sociale. Or, les besoins associés à ces transitions demeurent méconnus et peu de
ressources existent. L’Association de spina-bifida et d’hydrocéphalie du Québec (ASBHQ) souhaite accompagner ses
membres, leurs proches et les intervenants pour promouvoir un vieillissement actif et épanoui. Cette recherche-action
permettra : 1) d’explorer les expériences du vieillissement sous l’angle de la participation sociale des personnes vivant avec
le SBH ; 2) d’identifier les besoins prioritaires et des stratégies porteuses gage d’un vieillissement actif et épanoui en vue de;
3) de co-développer – avec des personnes atteintes, leurs proches et des intervenants – une boîte à outils regroupant ces
stratégies.

The Interplay of Remote Sensing Research and Technology with the Archaeological Record

Archaeology is important in understanding our past cultural heritage. Traditionally, this is accomplished through the excavation of, and the analysis of artifacts discovered at archaeological sites. Excavation, however, is an inherently destructive process, as once a site is excavated, the original state is lost. This has negative impacts on both the cultural significance of the site and the ability to conduct future. It is beneficial to look for additional ways to study sites that are less destructive, and to preserve the archaeological site when possible. Using drones, archaeological survey can be used to gain information about archaeological sites with minimal disturbance to it. Images that are taken from the drone can be studied to gain valuable information about the archaeological site and add to the growing knowledge of Alberta’s rich cultural past.

Momentum – Data Ecosystem

Momentum believes that the data available from wearable technology in today’s market can be harnessed for effective athletic programming. This data can be used to baseline athletes, deliver valuable holistic feedback, and train models that will reduce the amount of time coaches spend programming.

Momentum needs help validating critical hypotheses and assumptions to this belief. Those assumptions are that third-party data from popular wearable devices can:
1. Be ingested, shaped, stored, integrated, and analyzed
2. Be used to train models for athletic programming recommendations

Small Hydro and Pumped Energy Storage – IRRICAN Power

There is a network of reservoirs and canals that are used to irrigate farmland in Southern Alberta. They are already used for some hydropower generation and my research will estimate the run-of-river power generation potential at three newly identified sites in the vicinity of the Chin Reservoir in Southern Alberta. Furthermore, two of these sites also have the potential for pumped energy storage, and the energy storage capacity for this operating mode will also be determined. Next, the environmental impact of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) displaced through the added hydropower generation and energy storage will be calculated, along with any applicable renewable energy credits. Finally, power generation, energy storage modeling, and renewable energy credits will be used to determine the economic feasibility of the project. This multi-disciplinary research will include energy, environmental, and economic analysis of the prospective projects.

ELITE Program Innovation in Digital Technologies and Advanced Manufacturing

The Experiential Learning in Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (ELITE) Program for Black Youth is a unique program designed to create opportunities for Black Youth to access hands-on learning and work-integrated training in STEM fields, business, and entrepreneurship. The ELITE Program focuses on Black youth between the ages of 15 and 22, who are attending high school or a post-secondary education institution. The learning and training occur through paid internships in an innovation ecosystem. Interns are involved in projects with university researchers, for-profit industry stakeholders, such as Enbridge Canada, and government agencies. All interns participate in our Entrepreneurship Design Series and Wellness and Coaching Series. The ELITE Program includes entrepreneurial, leadership, and well-being components that are integrally woven into the internship experience. This holistic and comprehensive approach ensures that all participants develop technical and leadership skills, experience an inclusive environment that values their unique perspectives, transition to post-secondary studies, develop resiliency, and build a professional network for future employment. Through this MITACS Business Strategy Internship (BSI), we will focus on providing work-integrated training to develop innovative technology- and software-based platforms for human resources operations in a for-profit enterprise.

ML-based link prediction algorithm for RWA

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are key technologies in the development of a new recommendation framework that is able to identify the association between users and items with greater accuracy. This link prediction algorithm can be used in economics, marketing, networking, and social media. It would decrease the rate of mispredictions and would allow businesses to target their customers properly and increase their profit margin. The aim of this project is to develop a ML-based link prediction algorithm for the Refresh Wellness App (RWA) to discover the associations in its mental health resources system and provide the best resource recommendations for users. The performance of the recommender system will be evaluated in terms of accuracy. Moreover, the reliability of the developed model will be validated with case studies.

Resources Module Strategy

Research is currently underway to develop evidence-based resources that will populate the resource section. In the meantime, a robust infrastructure must be established within the app to adequately support an extensive selection of resources for a variety of users and environments. Because not all of the resources will be relevant to all users, a dynamic solution is needed so that only relevant resources are stored on users’ devices. Therefore, this project aims to establish a strategy for this dynamic feature delivery system. In order to test the implementation, this project also includes the development of a resource called the “break timer”, in which employees are invited by their workplace to take breaks at specified times. By the end, the RWA platform will include a dynamic resource delivery system, as well as a “break timer” to demonstrate the new capabilities.

RWA Market Launch and Brand Strategy

While the Refresh Wellness App (RWA) is in the research and development phase, Refresh has begun to build a marketing strategy that will aid in the launch and distribution of the app to ensure a positive impact on society as a whole. While the RWA will eventually be available to the public, Refresh plans to first launch the platform in a workplace setting. While workplace stress isn’t a new concept, workplace burnout is on the rise since 2020 – driving a major resignation rate as a result. “More than two-thirds (70%) of employees said they would leave their current job for a different one that offered comprehensive resources, benefits, support or policies intended to reduce burnout.” [8] Because of this goal, a dynamic solution is needed so that relevant users can be targeted in a way that is both meaningful to them and aligns with the values and mission of the RWA.

This project aims to develop a marketing strategy based on a fulsome understanding of a) the key target demographics throughout the different phases of the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, b) the ideal marketing platforms that will align with the mental wellness landscape and RWA’s dedication to ethical data practices, and c) key messaging factors related to different geographic and cultural target markets and their views on the mental health and wellness landscape.

Demand Forecasting Analytics Prototype

The partner organization, Granularity LTD, helps businesses use demand forecasting to capitalize on market trends. At the start of the pandemic, half of all grocery stores in the U.S. were out of toilet paper despite manufacturing being operational. The inconsistencies of demand in the COVID-19 pandemic awoke business leaders to the realization that their demand forecasting capabilities can’t keep up. After speaking to subject matter experts in the space in over two dozen market interviews, including demand planning executives for large retailers and manufacturers, there is a clear gap in understanding end customer behaviour and how it impacts demand. This is a burning need that we are aiming to solve. We want to build a solution that specializes in conveying end-customer behaviour and insights to businesses. The key to understanding this behaviour is data. Our proposed project will infuse demand forecasting with machine learning and big data; incorporating social media sentiment, google search trends and other datasets to enhance demand prediction. Now, a grocery store using our solution would have the demand forecasting capability to pre-emptively see the increased demand for toilet paper — allowing the business to drive millions in potential revenue.

Correlation of Coronary and Myocardial Strain Profiles for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Year Two

Throughout my Doctoral Studies I have used various approaches to evaluate and/or predict the behaviour of cardiovascular structures in the setting of acquired disease. These have been focussed on two key methodologies: insilico testing aimed at predicting functional responses to therapeutic intervention, such as mechano-electric Finite Element Method (FEM) modelling of the left atrium strains and stresses in response to hypertension, and fluiddynamic FEM modelling of abdominal aortic aneurysms. This has allowed me to gain knowledge about selection of appropriate medically relevant approaches to simulation with respect to different biological structures, and about proper boundary condition setting in order to accurately set the correct environment within which organ-level simulations are run. Finally, I have learnt how to optimize such computational approaches in order to be able to run strain and stress mathematical modeling within clinically acceptable turnover times. Through such education, we can obtain proper prediction of organ response to different pharmaceutical, electrical or mechanical surgical therapeutic approaches, considering the different physics involved by the problem (fluid-dynamics, mechanical tissue behaviour and electrophysiology).

Assessing the geohazards of Mount Meager, BC, Canada: Insights to advance green energy production on volcanoes

Climate change is leading to the retreat of glaciers and more extreme weather events that greatly increase landslide hazards on Canadian mountains as seen by the recent catastrophic events and fatalities in British Columbia. BC also hosts dormant volcanoes which are important areas for development of geothermal energy yet are vulnerable as they consist of hydrothermally altered and weakened rock. By integrating satellite remote sensing with ground-based monitoring, and geological and geotechnical information, this project aims to help the Meager Creek Development Corporation better assess and effectively mitigate the slope stability risk within their leasehold. Importantly, we aim to develop a framework for semi-automated landslide monitoring of potentially unstable slopes around their geothermal energy and green hydrogen production facility on Mount Meager. The hope is that the results of this research can be applied more broadly on volcanoes and alpine regions throughout Western Canada.