Innovative Projects Realized

Développement d’un logiciel de bilan carbone nouvelle génération pour entreprises

Ce projet propose de développer une application mobile pour permettre aux entreprises de calculer leurs émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) en réalisant le bilan carbone de leurs activités. La recherche et le développement de l’application seront réalisés en collaboration avec l’entreprise Irokko et l’Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS). En plus de réaliser le bilan carbone de la compagnie, l’application proposera aux compagnie des pratiques et opportunités pour réduire leur impact environnemental tout en conservant la rentabilité économique. Le logiciel de bilan carbone se distinguera par son niveau de précision, son automatisation, sa personnalisation selon la taille de l’organisation et le secteur d’activité. Il permettra la modélisation de solutions à faible émissions de GES et l’analyse de l’impact de la mise en oeuvre de ses solutions sur l’environnement et l’organisation. Le programme de plantation d’arbres d’Irokko déjà en place sera offert pour compenser les émissions qui n’auront pas été réduites.

Évaluation techno-économique des systèmes de stockage de chaleur sensible aux sels fondus adaptés au chauffage industriel

Le stockage de l’énergie renouvelable variable et le remplacement du gaz fossile pour le chauffage des procédés industriels sont deux des plus grands défis techniques de la transition énergétique. Un système économique de
stockage de chaleur à haute température pourra répondre simultanément à ces deux besoins. Ce projet vise à reprendre la technologie de stockage aux sels fondus déjà employés dans les immenses centrales solaires à concentration, et de l’adapter aux besoins des usines canadiennes. Des innovations seront étudiées aux niveaux des réservoirs, des matériaux de stockage, et des composants mécaniques, dans le but de définir un système capable de stocker la chaleur efficacement pour un coût initial inférieur à 50$/kWh.Leader dans l’implantation des projets transformationnels en infrastructure écoénergétique, Ecosystem Inc est toujours à la recherche des solutions innovantes qui livrent la valeur exceptionnelle pour leurs clients.

La phase de creation-demarrage : une lecture de l’accompagnement entrepreneurial autour du concept de Business Model

La phase de demarrage est toujours une periode de doute, charniere pour de jeunes entrepreneurs, qui doivent tenter de faire face a de nombreux enjeux dans un environnement du tout va tres vite. Le projet d’etude consiste a accompagner le developpement d’une entreprise specialisee dans la conception et I’operation d’une plateforme web et mobile de reaction et diffusion nommee Liveshout. L’objectif est double puisqu’il vise a travers une etude de type ethnographique de faciliterinourrir d’une part, la reflexion des fondateurs et de l’autre, de fournir les outils et connaissances necessaires pour la definition d’un business model par une mise en oouvre de la strategie retenue. Proposant un produit unique pour le segment de marche vise, l’entreprise pourrait devenir un leader dans son domaine, non seulement pour son produit, mais egalement pour la maniere dont elle developpera son modele d’affaire (8M).

Penrose Partners BSI Mitacs Internship

Penrose Partners is a blockchain startup firm that provides transactional, educational, and corporate consulting/material production services to businesses, institutional investors, and disruptive tech companies in the blockchain space. We are the trusted advisor that bridges the gap between businesses with great ideas, and blockchain adoption.

In June 2021, Penrose Partners launched the i3 Incubator program in Bermuda in partnership with Innofund. This program supports emerging and blockchain-based technology startups to establish business operations in Bermuda, develop international partnerships, meet local investors, and more. The inaugural cohort of businesses will finish the program in March 2022. In parallel with supporting currently participating companies, Penrose will be actively recruiting startups for the next round of the program.

Antifouling Performance of Graphene-based Coatings in Varying Flow Conditions

Marine biofouling, which is the growth of organisms on ocean infrastructure, is a widespread problem with
substantial economic and environmental costs. This project undertaken by the intern will develop dynamic tests
of a novel graphene-based antifouling coating designed by Graphite Innovation & Technologies (GIT). The
dynamic tests involve generating water flow over the coating surface, better mimicking real-life conditions for the
antifouling coating. The 3rd generation GIT coating is designed to be non-toxic, durable, and slippery, making it
difficult for biofouling organisms to attach. A series of field tests will be used to help in the research and
development process, refining the antifouling and durability characteristics of the coating. These real-world tests
will benefit GIT helping to refine their technology and generating valuable information for marketing purposes

Efficacy of mental well-being interventions provided by CheckingIn, a smart device application

Smart device applications show great promise as a means to improve the mental health and well-being
of users. CheckingIn is one such app. CheckingIn monitors self-reported daily mood states of users and
suggests exercises to improve user’s mental health and well-being. Although the app’s well-being programs are
scientifically informed, there is a general lack of research investigating how effective such apps are in improving
mental health. Therefore, CheckingIn requires more research to examine the effectiveness of their app’s mental
health programs. The goal of the present project is to evaluate changes in the mental health of application users
after completing CheckingIn’s 30-day well-being program. In doing so CheckingIn will be able to determine how
effective the program is. The results should ultimately improve the quality of well-being programs provided to
application users.

A new additive manufacturing technology for biobased polyurethane composites

Evoco Ltd. is a Toronto based company specialized in manufacturing bio-based and environmentally friendly polyurethane (PU) materials that have a wide range of applications, including but not limited to footwear, apparel, sports equipment and pet products. The company is interested in incorporating advanced manufacturing and 3D printing technologies into their PU material fabrication procedures. The Toronto Smart Materials and Structures (TSmart) Lab at the University of Toronto has the expertise, experience and capability to conduct research and developing new fabrication procedures for Evoco’s needs. Two different polymers: thermoplastic and thermoset PU, will be studied simultaneously. For each individual stream, the research will be focused on the optimization of materials properties (through modification of formulation or chemistry) as well as the development of appropriate 3D printing systems which are capable of handling the corresponding materials. The goal is to design appropriate 3D printing platforms to be used to produce complex geometries.

Identifying the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of the visible minority essential workers and their coping strategies

Canada has made an extensive effort to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all effort, however, some populations were hit harder by the COVID-19. Visible minorities, who often include immigrants and refugees have been disproportionately exposed to and affected by the COVID-19. Especially, the visible minority essential workers who are crucial for the country’s infrastructure including healthcare, law enforcement sector, retail food, transportation, and others were affected the most. They have been reported being more anxious, depressed, and sadder than their non-minority counterparts. Analysing Mental Health Research Canada polls and a series of interviews, we intend to identify the mental health problems the visible minority essential workers are facing due to the pandemic, factors affecting those, and their coping mechanism. The findings of the study will help develop appropriate support strategies for affected and at-risk visible minority essential workers.

The development and rollout of a randomized control trial evaluating the impact of a 12-week mind-body wellness intervention in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC)

Persons with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) experience significantly higher rates of fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, and impaired health related quality of life (HRQOL) as compared to the general population. Online wellness programming ranging from physical activity to mindfulness interventions has been shown to be effective in decreasing fatigue and improving mental wellness in a variety of chronic disease populations. To date, no large-scale studies have been conducted to discern whether programming of this nature impacts measures of wellbeing in PBC, and it remains unclear how much support persons with PBC need to optimize their adherence to programming. Building upon a 12-week, online, mind-body wellness program that our team previously co-developed with the Canadian PBC Society and launched as a feasibility and acceptability trial to a group of 30 individuals with PBC, Makayla Watt’s project for the second year of her Masters will be to carry out a 3-arm randomized controlled trial with two intervention arms at varying levels of personnel support as compared to a control arm. At the end of the Makayla’s project, the PBC Society members will have access to the online resource (at no cost).

Preclinical development of neur-04, a novel anticonvulsant

Neuractas Therapeutics is a Canadian pharmaceutical company that is developing novel agents for neurological indications. Neuractas has developed neur-04 for epilepsy, this agent is a reformulation of an existing drug that has demonstrated strong clinical anticonvulsant activity in the most difficult-to-treat cases of epilepsy. Often people with epilepsy have to try several different medications before they find one that works. This study will test neur-04 on brain cells in a laboratory setting to determine which types of epilepsy may benefit most from neur-04 so patients can be properly selected to use it. Neur-04 will also be combined with other existing anticonvulsant drugs to find drugs that it can be paired with to have the best effect.

Investigating transformer-based natural language processing (NLP) techniques and advanced machine learning approaches to improve virtual assistant operations

Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, also known as Virtual Assistants (VAs), combine the power of machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to understand the intent of a user’s utterance, and to formulate a useful, human-like response. Operating a Virtual Assistant brings many complex challenges; this project strives to address these challenges through undertaking an analytical and empirical assessment of state-of-the-art NLP and deep learning (DL) techniques, with the ultimate goal of enhancing VA-human interactivity to assess a state of wellbeing, overcoming a major hurdle in tailoring wellness management. Interns will develop in-demand skills and expertise in NLP, as well as advanced ML and DL techniques. Through Wysdom, interns will receive access to real-world data and proof-of-concept use cases to test and validate AI product suites. Wysdom will benefit from rigorous research into novel approaches that address the challenges associated with VA operations, leading to improved core business processes.

Piège ionique à la pression atmosphérique

Le projet de doctorat consiste à faire l’essai d’un certain type de lentilles électroniques spécialisées, appelées lentilles à focalisation forte, que sont les lentilles quadripolaires électrostatiques. Ces lentilles sont généralement utilisées dans des appareils analytiques comme les microscopes électroniques et les spectromètres de masse, entre autres., qui opèrent tous à de très basses pressions. L’élément particulier de ce projet est celui d’utiliser ces lentilles à la pression atmosphérique et de les faire fonctionner en mode piège pour les ions que produisent certaines sources ioniques qui elles aussi opèrent à la pression atmosphérique, dont la source LDTD, dans le but de séparer les ions et d’éliminer les indésirables par mobilité ionique. Pour transformer ces lentilles en piège ionique l’utilisation de configurations successives en doublet ou triplet où des champs électriques de haute fréquence (RF) seront générés entre chaque lentille dans la direction des mouvements ioniques pour ainsi les piéger. Le mouvement de va et vient engendré par les champs RF créera une dispersion due à la mobilité ionique des différentes molécules analysées.