Innovative Projects Realized

Significantly faster font compiler pipeline via serialization message-passing, parallelization, and a dedicated build system

The fontmake compiler is used across the type design industry to build fonts used on all kinds of computer devices for reading of all human languages. The proposed research improves fontmake to be significantly faster, which in turn will improve font designers’ workflows and efficiency significantly.

Evolution Wakeboard Park Development

A proposal for a collaboration where Sarah Johnson would work as an intern to Evolution Wake Park, providing the local small business with valuable expertise learned and sought from the Smith School of Business. This internship would work to improve the structure and behind the scenes business operations of the fun and exciting park, as it is situated within a dying sport industry. It would focus on diversifying the businesses revenue portfolios, improving their online presence, and building new relationships with other local small businesses.

Rural Development Network/U of A School of Public Health – Coordinated Access for Rural Homelessness

Homelessness is a social issue and is defined as a state of unstable, inappropriate, and inconsistent housing. It is linked to the social determinants of health and can result in negative personal and health-related outcomes. As such, the Rural Development Network’s (RDN) homelessness initiatives emerged due to a lack of recognition, data and understanding of homelessness in rural Canada. Homelessness is often more visible in urban spaces than rural communities, and there are often fewer resources and supports available to those experiencing homelessness in rural areas. Therefore, collaboration on a local and regional scale of relevant services can efficiently leverage resources, knowledge and skills to help clients who are experiencing rural homelessness. This is referred to as “coordinated access.” Drawing on both research and data from direct engagement with communities, this project seeks to explore how coordinated access may be implemented in rural Canada. This project will assess the strengths and challenges of implementing coordinated access in rural & remote communities through analysis of existing organizational data and relevant research.

Economic viability of virtual healthcare platforms in Canada

The intern will explore different models of virtual care in Canada and explore the financial viability of these businesses while providing information on the service quality experienced

Patient experience of facial plastic surgery

Facial plastic surgery is a multibillion dollar industry in North America. Most surgeries are performed for cosmetic reasons, driven by patient goals. 63% of facial plastic surgeons use software to help people visualize possible surgical results. Deep Surface AI is developing a novel visualization software to help surgeons and patients decide on surgical goals. Deep Surface AI is particularly interested in patient experiences of rhinoplasty and gender-affirming facial surgery. Rhinoplasty (nose re-shaping) is the most common procedure, performed by 99% of facial plastic surgeons. Patients typically want rhinoplasty for cosmetic reasons and outcomes are aesthetically driven. In contrast, gender-affirming facial surgery (GFS) is an emerging field that may help transgender patients to socially affirm their identity. Transgender persons face significant socioeconomic challenges and their reasons for surgery are drastically different than the rhinoplasty patient. GFS outcomes and goals are complex to visualize for both surgeons and patients. Deep Surface AI’s software product has the potential to improve the experience.
The proposed project will gather insights on patient journeys. Data will be collected through existing online websites and social media where patients have publicly shared their experiences.

Circular manufacturing development for production of customizable fashion footwear using 3D printing

Many problems in fashion originate from over consumerism and resulted in lower quality goods, poor working
conditions, and detrimental impact to the planet. The fashion industry has recently shifted toward better
environmental practices but focus has been on apparel because shoes are complex products. ARSHAE, located
in Montréal, proposes an end-to-end solution that accounts for the entire life cycle of shoes by building a closed
loop system that enables zero waste. ARSHAE focuses on using ecological materials in hyper-localized mini
factories powered by 3D printing.
3D printing is a highly interesting and disruptive solution presenting unlimited potential for the footwear industry.
Moreover, it has a potential to drastically reduce the time to market and deliver personalized shoes on demand
considering customer preferences and needs to unpreceded level. However, developments are still in its infancy
and a fully 3D printed shoe is challenging to achieve. Sofar, only few components of a shoe are 3D printed by
some by large global footwear companies.
Building on solid fashion design expertise and a comprehensive and solid review already performed by ARSHAE,
the company needs support on specific engineering expertise.

Developing an educational module for multi-stakeholder facilitation linking nature-based climate solutions and IPCAs

Six million people in rural and Indigenous communities in Canada face water insecurity and associated risks to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity loss. Many of these communities could benefit from the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBCS). One challenge in the widespread implementation of these solutions is appropriate knowledge-sharing pathways, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities. This project will use the principles of reconciliation to develop strategies for knowledge dissemination in local communities. With the Isaak Olam Foundation, the intern will develop a module on the principles of ethical protocols to guide the interactions with and between community watershed stewardship groups, First Nation communities, government, and diverse interdisciplinary researchers. The goal of this research will be the development of an educational module for use by IOF and by the NBCS community toolkit proje

Geoinformatics in remote places: using sensor-augmented vehicles to support situational awareness, and environmental data generation

This project will explore the potential of agile geographic sensing technologies to support remote terrestrial platforms that are able to access unpaved wilderness environments. Laser scanning and photogrammetric survey systems will be tested to assess their capability to support real-time terrain navigation, spatial situational awareness,

Development of innovative tools for marine ecological assessment and intertidal habitat restoration.

The current innovative research project has three objectives to address current deficiencies in contaminated sites assessment and remediation: (1) To develop a rating system that defines the stages of recovery/impact at marine sites based on intertidal community structure and pollution tolerance/sensitivity/intolerance of resident species. (2) To develop methodology for the assessment of environmental stress levels at marine sites that prevent natural recolonization of the area. (3) To identify keystone species that facilitate the re-colonization of additional species assemblages and are associated with rapid increases in species richness toward more advanced stages of recovery. (4) To investigate the effectiveness of providing additional rocky substrate and transplanted species assemblages as intertidal habitat restoration strategies to accelerate rates of recovery.

Methodology.

Howe Sound is selected as the experimental field system to undertake this work due to the availability of historic intertidal diversity data along pollution gradients from Woodfibre (active 1920-2006) and Port Mellon (active 1990- present) pulp mills and the Britannia mine (active 1905-1974, reclamation 2001-08). Permanent intertidal quadrat study sites at 8 beaches along pollution gradients in Howe Sound and completed biodiversity surveys during 1990-93 and 2004 have been established (Bard, 1998; Bard et aI., 2004).

Conception et fabrication d’un système de communication sans-fils in vivo appliqué à une prothèse d’épaule

Malgré la croissance technologique du domaine médical, les prothèses d’épaule n’ont connu que peu d’amélioration. Toutefois, installer une prothèse est complexe puisque l’ajustement de celle-ci aura un impact direct sur la mobilité et la douleur que le patient ressentira. Afin de maximiser le résultat, Stratera propose de concevoir une prothèse instrumentée permettant ainsi de mesurer et quantifier la stabilité durant et après l’opération. Le sujet de cette recherche sera d’établir une communication sans fil entre la prothèse in vivo et un module externe.

Qualification and application of a novel in-situ punch shear test cell for polymer material testing under severe environmental conditions

A novel high temperature and high pressure materials test system, a so-called in-situ punch shear test cell, has been developed to qualify materials for reliable service in harsh environments representative of those typically encountered in oil and gas operations. Conventionally, materials are first exposed in harsh environments, then removed from the aging fluids for mechanical testing. This practice can lead to generating unrealistic (often optimistic) mechanical properties. In this project the intern will deploy the novel test cell and conduct series of tests, first to qualify the device and validate test processes and measurements, and second, to conduct a series of tests with polymer materials under test conditions that are of high relevance to the industrial partner. University researchers and partner engineers will collaborate with Innotech Alberta, where testing will be completed using facilities apt for safely handling potentially hazardous materials. The project will conclude with compiling documentation from the experimental study that will be used for an industry collaborative development of a standard in ASTM International.

Sea and Coastal Ice Characterization Using Multi-Source/Multi-Temporal Earth Observations and Artificial Intelligence

In Canada and around the world, climate change and pollution are affecting the integrity of coastal and marine environments. These effects include the deterioration and loss of ecosystems, accelerated coastal erosion, reduced water quality, and the depletion of marine biodiversity. To reduce risks and mitigate impacts on ecosystems, stakeholders need a continually updated knowledge of coastal conditions and a detailed understanding of their vulnerability to human activity and natural disasters. This project will combine artificial intelligence with multisource and multitemporal satellite Earth observations to provide accurate and near real-time information on ecosystems features impacted by climate change. This analytical platform will help characterize sea ice and obtain relevant information, i.e., ice type, roughness, and texture, using hyperspectral sensors embedded on the drone, aircraft, and satellite and aims to improve the quality of information. Different departments in several sectors such as natural resources, fisheries, municipalities, etc will then use all this information.