Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

29670 Completed Projects

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801
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663
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825
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8841
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9197
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95
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568
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1088
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Projects by Category

Developing and Piloting a Comprehensive Evaluation of a Community Delivered Social Communication Training Program for Families of Autistic Pre-school Children

Increasing prevalence of autism worldwide intensifies the need to identify effective and accessible supports. Speech-language therapy is one of the most frequently accessed services for children diagnosed with autism. One intervention commonly used by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) is More Than Words®-The Hanen Program® for Parents of Children with Autism. Despite its widespread use, it lacks sufficient scientific support to understand for whom and how this program works best. Randomized control trials (RCT) in real-world settings are urgently needed. Before running costly RCTs, we need to develop and pilot test a strong plan for evaluating treatment outcomes. To do this, we will (1) collaborate with SLPs to develop a feasible and comprehensive evaluation plan, and (2) test the usability of our plan within a small study conducted in a real-word SLP program. Results will also inform future treatment program development and modifications of existing programs at The Hanen Centre.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Janis Oram Cardy;Patricia Tucker

Student:

Partner:

The Hanen Centre

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program:

Accelerate

Treeline advances in a changing climate: understanding how climate affects reproduction and early life stages in Black spruce

Northern high-latitude ecosystems experience disproportionate levels of climate change. This strongly affects the previously temperature-limited vegetation in the sub-arctic tundra. Treelines, the boundaries between forests and the tree-less tundra, are expected to shift northwards in response. However, only half of the examined treelines have advanced since 1900. Why warming is associated with treeline advances in some but not other populations remains unresolved. The availability of viable seeds, may explain lagged responses to climate change. Yet, we have a poor understanding of how seed production and seed viability vary in sub-arctic forests. In this project we will investigate how climate controls seed production and viability in black spruce. Moreover, the project will be used to establish a longer-term experiment to test our hypothesis that the capacity for black spruce treeline advance is determined by their ability to produce sufficient viable seeds. The project is expected to result in 2 publications.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Carissa Brown

Student:

Partner:

University of Liverpool

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health); Sustainability & the Environment; Forestry

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Comparative Data Analysis in Political Aesthetic Strategies: The Persuasive Propaganda of the Italian Populist Right on Facebook and Twitter

This research project informs an essential part of my broader doctoral research which investigates the aesthetic and rhetoric practices developed by today’s far-right populist movements for their propaganda and communication on social media. Working along with Professor Vijay Mago and DaTALab researchers I will generate, collect, and analyse a wide range of new and original data drawn from Facebook and Twitter. These data will inform and integrate my theories concerning the interpretation of the social, political, and cultural basis of the renewed consensus gained by today’s far-right organisations. They will also provide evidence to support my discussion around the persuasive potential of the aesthetic strategies implemented by far-right organisations online. The focus is on the Italian scenario, which is considered an interesting and under-researched example of the new rise of far-right populist movements in the last decade, from the margins to the mainstream. This project brings together research methodologies in the arts and humanities with social media theory and data analysis to develop an interdisciplinary approach for the investigation of today’s society issues and challenges from a multifaceted and innovative perspective.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Vijay Mago

Student:

Partner:

University of Bristol

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

New and Digital Media; Information and Communications Technology; Other

University:

Lakehead University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Choosing Coral Winners

The aim of this project is to analyse symbiont and microbial communities of F1 corals from different parental lineages (high/low heat tolerant) during a mild heat stress/natural bleaching event in order to identify communities/traits which are associated with heat tolerance.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Julia Baum

Student:

Partner:

Newcastle University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health); Environmental Science and Technology; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Investigation de la localisation cellulaire de l’effecteur 51690 de Melampsora larici-populina.

Melampsora larici-populina est un très petit champignon causant la maladie de la rouille du peuplier. Une fois qu’il s’est incrusté dans une de ces plantations, ce dernier cause d’énormes pertes financières. Pour y arriver, celui-ci injecte des petites protéines afin de déjouer ses défenses immunitaires et de s’approprier ses nutriments pour se développer. Pour arriver à mieux le comprendre, une de ses protéines spécialisées sera étudiée. Dans un premier temps, elle a été couplée à une molécule fluorescente verte et comparée à une protéine dont la localisation était connue et couplée à une molécule fluorescente rouge pour savoir ou elle se dirige précisément dans une cellule. Ainsi, le but de ce projet sera de confirmer avec précision l’interaction prédite par les tests préliminaires par deux méthodes et ce, avec un grand degré de précision. L’œil d’experts sur le sujet permettra d’obtenir des résultats sans équivoque et ultimement de mieux comprendre la maladie.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Hugo Germain

Student:

Partner:

Université de Lausanne

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Biotechnology; Environmental Science and Technology; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Translation of Scottish macrophage-associated IBD immunopathotypes in Canadian patient cohorts

Scotland and Canada are the two nations with the highest incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) world-wide and, therefore, have a big requirement for more in-depth research on its disease mechanisms to create more potent therapies. Macrophages are a type of immune cell that monitor our tissues for potential unwanted intruders and substantially contribute to tissue inflammation, making them a very common and useful target in anti-inflammatory therapies. Previous evidence based on computational analyses of a Scottish IBD cohort predicted that the nature of interaction between intestinal macrophages and the gut epithelium in IBD can identify patients that are more likely to respond to specific front-line treatments. During my placement at the University of British Columbia I will have the rare opportunity to learn a unique technique that isolates and grows both cell types from intestinal tissue which will allow me to study interaction in a biological model.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ted Steiner

Student:

Partner:

University of Glasgow

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Microstructure Engineering of Aluminum Extrusions for the Automotive Sector

The use of aluminum alloys in automotive applications is increasing since the weight of the vehicle can be decreased. This is beneficial for both internal combustion and battery powered vehicles, to increase fuel economy and increase vehicle range, respectively. However, in general, aluminum alloys are more difficult to form and their performance during a vehicle crash may be challenging. Thus, it is necessary to understand the linkages between the production of the components and their performance. In many cases, components can be made by extrusion followed by heat treatment. The cooling conditions after extrusion and before heat treatment are important. Here, better mechanical properties are found with high cooling rates but higher cooling rates can lead to distortion of component shape which is not acceptable. The goal of this work is to develop models to predict performance based on processing conditions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Warren Poole

Student:

Partner:

Rio Tinto Alcan (Jonquière, QC)

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Mining; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Extraction de vocabulaire structuré pour l’établissement d’une politique de rétention et de contrôle de courriels 2

Le prajet consiste a extraire, a partir d’un tres grand volume de courriels, un vocabulaire structure qui pourra etre mis a profit pour l’elaboration d’une politique de retention et de controle. Plus precisement, des methodes seront developpees pour l’extraction d’un ensemble de termes pertinents puis, dans un deuxieme temps, l’ensemble des relations pertinentes dans lesquelles ces termes sont impliques. Les informations extraites serant mises en correspondance avec les concepts contenus dans une base de connaissances existante, permettant un enrichissement du vocabulaire extrait avec toutes les possibilitesd’inferences qui y sont associees.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Michel Gagnon

Student:

Partner:

Netmail Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

TRACER 3D cultures to unravel the role of myoepithelial cells in breast cancer progression

Cancer cells can be expanded and studied alone outside of the body in two-dimensional plastic dishes. These simplistic conditions lack the genetic variation and complex signals found in human tumours that tell cancer cells to grow uncontrollably and spread throughout the body. To effectively identify the signals that fuel breast cancer spread and develop clinical therapies to stop them, scientists require new ways of growing cancer cells outside of the body. The student will receive world-class training in Canada to build innovative three-dimensional ‘mini tumour models’ that better mimic the native environment of cancer cells. By combining different cell types, they will investigate how cancer cells communicate and corrupt non-cancerous cells including neighbouring immune cells, to fuel their own growth. Using newly gained expertise, the student will establish this unique method of fabricating and analysing ‘mini-tumours’ back in the UK to sustain and develop new long-term collaborations in Canada.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Alison McGuigan

Student:

Partner:

Queen Mary, University of London

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health); Biotechnology; Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award

From Rumour to Riot: Assessing the effects of verbal prejudice on desires and perceptions of intergroup contact between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Prejudice against Muslims has risen in the U.K. and Canada, threatening harmonious intergroup relations and the wellbeing of Muslims. Some politicians endorse and encourage interactions among people from diverse backgrounds, whereas others discourage this. It is currently unclear what effects this has on the desires of non-Muslims to interact with Muslims. Using Canadian politicians’ twitter statements from the 2019 election period, themes related to politicians’ statements about Muslims
will be explored. Then positive and negative messaging about Muslims from this data will inform experimental manipulations to understand their impact on people’s desires for intergroup contact. We will also examine emotion variables such as intergroup anxiety and trust. The findings will inform how politician messaging can impact intergroup relations, and the particular psychological mechanisms that account for these effects.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Becky Choma

Student:

Partner:

Queen’s University Belfast

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Toronto Metropolitan University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Investigating the neuroprotective potential of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) after soman exposure

Organophosphorus compounds (organophosphates) cause numerous deaths globally due to pesticide poisoning or due to their alternative use as chemical weapons. Potent organophosphates, such as soman, are highly toxic inducing paralysis, seizures, respiratory failure and death. Exposure to sub-lethal soman doses results in immediate convulsive seizures, leading to decreased blood flow in the brain and the death of brain cells. Increases in interleukin1 (IL-1), a protein that causes inflammation, are seen in the brain after soman exposure, which may contribute to cell death. Previous studies that used rodents genetically modified to stop IL1 from working show reduced death of brain cells after soman exposure, while enhancing the effects of IL-1 worsened the cell death. IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a drug that blocks the effects of IL-1 and this project will investigate changes in cell death and blood flow in the brain after IL-1Ra treatment post soman exposure in rodents. The postulated outcome is the use
of IL-1Ra in situations of organophosphate poisoning, which could benefit farmers, soldiers and civilians.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jeffrey Dunn

Student:

Partner:

University of Manchester

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Public Engagement in Nuclear: Medicine, Mining, Meeting Climate Change Commitments

This project explores methods of engagement and communication that bridge the science, public and policy gap in respect of the nuclear ecology: medicine, mining, and meeting climate change commitments (through nuclear energy small modular reactors (SMRs)). Saskatchewan, the home of uranium mining and where scientists helped develop the world’s first cobalt-60 nuclear medicine scanning machines, is an ideal location for this inter and transdisciplinary exploration. United by complex issues (climate change, cancer/disease, nuclear science) and the geography of uranium mining, this study explores people’s attitudes, affects, perceptions and learning surrounding the nuclear ecology.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Margot Hurlbert

Student:

Partner:

Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation Inc

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Regina

Program:

Accelerate