Innovative Projects Realized

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

31620 Completed Projects

2978
AB
5221
BC
856
MB
696
NL
899
SK
9419
ON
9858
QC
98
PE
619
NB
1192
NS

Projects by Category

Hybrid Surfaces to Enhance Oil-Water Separation

Membrane-based separation technologies are increasingly finding broad industrial applications such as remediating natural water sources and industrial or municipal wastewater, and desalination. Compared to hitherto separation processes, they are relatively energy-efficient and cost-effective. However, dissolved and suspended solids in the feed stream can foul membranes which remains a major challenge and hinders industrial adoption. In this research, a hybrid membrane surface will be developed with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic zones that can be utilized to separate and desalinate an oil and saline water mixture. Cerium oxide, which can be rendered either hydrophilic or hydrophobic by tuning surface chemistry will be used to manipulate membrane wettability. The expected outcomes of this project are a robust and functional membrane with anti-fouling properties that can selectively and efficiently separate water and oil. Given the robust chemistry of the cerium oxide ceramic, the membrane is also expected to maintain integrity under temperatures exceeding 90°C.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sami Khan

Student:

Partner:

University of Kansas

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Clean Technology; Energy and Utilities; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Examining Demographic Patterns in First Year Engineering Students’ Career Readiness

This project will look at the career aspirations and confidence of engineering students in their first year of studies. The data to be analyzed comes from a survey of first year students collected as part of a co-op prepapration program. The data will be analysed to look for differences by gender, international and student status, and academic discipline. The results of this study will provide important information to inform co-op student preparation programs as well as the workplaces that are receiving students and will also provide a baseline for future studies that look at how aspirations and confidence change through student co-op experiences.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Emily Moore;Philip Asare

Student:

Partner:

Ontario Society of Professional Engineers

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services; Real estate and rental and leasing

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Cohabitation cyclistes-piétons sur les rues piétonnes : Projet-pilote sur l’avenue du Mont-Royal et la rue Wellington

Pour répondre aux besoins des citoyens (mobilité, loisirs, activités sociales) en respectant les impératifs de distanciation physique, la Ville de Montréal et ses arrondissements ont implanté à l’été 2021 des rues piétonnes sur des artères commerciales, donc deux ont proposé des projets-pilotes de cohabitation des piétons avec les cyclistes (Avenue du Mont-Royal et rue Wellington). L’objectif du présent projet est de documenter cette cohabitation et d’en évaluer la sécurité (pour les piétons et les cyclistes) et l’acceptabilité sociale. Les analyses qualitatives et quantitatives qui seront effectuées dans le cadre de ces stages permettront de mieux comprendre la cohabitation entre les piétons et les cyclistes dans ces nouveaux espaces qui leur sont dédiés et d’ainsi proposer des améliorations à appliquer dans les prochaines années, sur ces deux rues ou sur d’autres qui voudraient adopter la cohabitation.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Francesco Ciari;Marie-Soleil Cloutier;Nicolas Saunier

Student:

Partner:

Ville de Montréal (Arrondissement du Plateau Mont-Royal);Ville de Montréal (Arrondissement de Verdun)

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Public administration

University:

Polytechnique Montréal; Université du Québec : Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Program:

Accelerate

Intelligent physiological monitoring platform to safeguard the health of vulnerable adults during hot weather

COVID-19 is an unprecedented public health emergency affecting every industry. As we wait to develop treatments and vaccines to protect individuals from COVID-19, we must develop strategies to protect workers in Canada’s vital industries. In the absence of any adaptation strategy, risk of infection will continue to threaten the health and safety of workers. This will cause wealth inequalities for Canada’s industries due to labor loss and place a severe strain on Canada’s health care system. Our project will create a physiological monitoring platform that will equip industry with the tools need to improve decision-making and oversight related to the health readiness of a worker in context of COVID-19.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Glen Kenny

Student:

Partner:

SmartCone Technologies

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Ottawa

Program:

Accelerate

Assessing microplastics and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination in sea otters from Northeastern pacific (British Columbia, Canada): Implications for the conservation of threatened marine mammals

Marine mammals are some of the most contaminated animals in the world. Pollutants work their way up the food chain and cause a number of health issues in predator species like killer whales. This is because any pollution present in their food is passed on to them which continues to increase over their lifespan as they continue to eat contaminated food. Two contaminants that need to be further studied in order to protect aquatic wildlife are microplastics that result from plastic breaking down and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that result from oil spills. By comparing the contamination found in killer whales at the top of the food chain to other organisms we can better understand the true potential of both microplastics and PAHs to impact the ecosystem.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Andrew Trites;Juan Jose Alava

Student:

Partner:

Stephen Raverty Consulting Services Ltd.

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Simulation temps réel de véhicules intelligents en conduite collaborative

Le développement rapide des technologies de l’information et des capteurs au cours des dernières années a eu un essor de plus en plus important dans le secteur automobile afin de rendre la conduite plus sécuritaire. Les systèmes de sécurité active en milieu automobile visent à éviter les collisions plutôt que de mitiger leur impact sur les passagers. Afin d’évaluer la performance d’algorithmes de traitement et de prise de décision dans des scénarios multi-véhiculaires intelligents de conduite automatisée, nous devons avoir recours à un ensemble d’outils de simulation qui puissent opérer conjointement en temps réel et de la façon la plus proche possible de la réalité. Un des principaux objectifs de cette proposition est donc de développer un simulateur temps réel de véhicules intelligents en conduite collaborative automatisée afin de déterminer comment nous pouvons améliorer ces aspects de fiabilité et de robustesse des systèmes embarqués et des capteurs qui sont de plus en plus omniprésent, nombreux et complexes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Denis Gingras

Student:

Partner:

OPAL-RT Technologies Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Automotive; Information and Communications Technology; Transportation (excluding aerospace)

University:

Université de Sherbrooke

Program:

Accelerate

FFUN – Scorecards

Take steps to address worker shortage by improving recruitment and retention rates. Focus on alignment of the competencies required for a role and those the employee/applicant possesses resulting in greater employee performance, satisfaction and overall retention. Work closely with operations to understand positions and develop scorecards.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Trevor Maber

Student:

Partner:

FFUN Motor Group

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Retail trade

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Digital workflows for Factory-In-A-Box (FIAB) Timber Robotic Fabrication on green retrofits

Retrofitting the existing building stock is a key field of action for architecture to move towards a sustainable future. This research proposal focuses on developing data collection digital workflows and communication protocols between different design and machine software for timber fabrication in an onsite / near-site condition enabled by a Factory in a Box (FIAB). This research proposal is the second stage of a three-year project on developing and fabricating high-performance facade panels that address the existing building stock for retrofitting. The fabrication machines inside the FIAB are designed and specifically configured to fabricate the façade panels. They include robot arms, a range of robot end effectors, milling and other shop tools. However, the FIAB is based on the idea of allowing maximum reconfigurability and adaptability as opposed to the maximum efficiency sought by a fixed production line. As a result of the second stage, the FIAB will be equipped with data collection tools in addition to the digital fabrication tools for timber-based façade panels from the first stage. Additionally, communication protocols will be designed and enabled to ease file transfer between the different design and fabrication platforms.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Alicia Nahmad Vazquez

Student:

Partner:

DIALOG

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Advanced Manufacturing; Manufacturing and Construction; Construction

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

COVID-19, Mental Health, and Racialized Women in the Workforce

This project explores the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on racialized women in the workforce in Ontario. As groups overrepresented in poverty rates, unemployment rates, and low-waged and precarious work prior to the pandemic, racialized women are more likely to experience poor or negative mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic. Despite being one of the most vulnerable groups in Canada during a worldwide mental health crisis, racialized women have yet to be the focus of any serious study related to mental health in the pandemic. Our research provides a critical examination of the mental health experiences of these women and seeks to understand what coping mechanisms and services should be encouraged both immediately and in the long-term future. Islamic Relief Canada will also benefit from these findings as they will inform our programs and be compiled within a report that will be distributed to our donors and community members, many of whom are racialized women in the workforce themselves.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Brenda Spotton Visano

Student:

Partner:

Islamic Relief Canada

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

York University

Program:

Accelerate

Developing a new workflow for occupancy estimation using Wi-Fi sensing for building energy simulation

The current study aims to develop a new workflow for occupancy schedules estimation using WiFi sensing technology and utilizing different machine learning and deep learning algorithms. Aerial will provide preprocessed CSI data, occupied and non-occupied time series, and activity level time series to be used by intern for extracting occupancy presence pattern, the number of people estimation and pattern extraction, and human activity estimation. Pattern extraction and analysis of the three mentioned datasets will provide a basis for estimating four occupancy presence, occupancy activity, lighting, and electrical equipment usage schedules. The estimated occupancy schedules will be fed as an input of EnergyPlus (a building energy simulation software) along with other energy-related data to calculate the building heating and cooling demand. In the end, a short report will be provided to occupants as feedback of their behavior by analyzing the energy demand and occupancy behavior.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ursula Eicker;Nizar Bouguila

Student:

Partner:

Aerial Technologies Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Accelerate

Environmental forensic source identification for complex contaminant mixtures using advanced computational fingerprinting

Environmental forensic investigations endeavour to identify connections between environmental pollution and polluters. There assessments are integral to legal cases spanning pollution from accidental spills to illegal disposal of chemical waste. A common challenge is the investigation of complex contaminant mixtures that may have multiple polluters or where only part of the complex contaminant mixture are indicative of the polluter.
Computational fingerprinting methods are promising tools to untangle the relevant source or polluter-specific “fingerprints” out of complex contaminant profiles.
For the proposed research, we aim to develop automated statistical fingerprinting applications based on machine learning and multivariate statistical analyses to help identify
1) The specific ignitable liquids used in different arson cases
2) Different plastic product categories based on their additive patterns
The established methods will enable the investigation of main plastic product types that contribute to local microplastic pollution and help identify individual polluters.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Roxana Suehring

Student:

Partner:

Chemistry Matters

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Toronto Metropolitan University

Program:

Accelerate

BSI – Fatima Yousafzai

This project aims to tackle the challenge of finding different ways Viva could optimize its existing work processes to generate maximum results, as well as innovating in the marketing domain. This requires the intern to observe technical insights such as user interaction and behaviour, as well as traffic across various virtual platforms. This understanding would aid in the development of new marketing strategies Viva could implement, and work towards improving current methods of customer engagement as well.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Norah McRae

Student:

Partner:

Exec Viva Inc

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Education; Social Innovation; Technology

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

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Mitacs — Return on Innovation

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.