Innovative Projects Realized

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

31914 Completed Projects

3006
AB
5256
BC
878
MB
703
NL
913
SK
9488
ON
9949
QC
98
PE
629
NB
1215
NS

Projects by Category

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.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Hani Naguib

Student:

Partner:

Evoco Ltd

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

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.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Turin Tanvir Chowdhury

Student:

Partner:

Mental Health Research Canada;Alberta International Medical Graduates Association

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

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).

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Faculty Supervisor:

Puneeta Tandon

Student:

Partner:

Canadian PBC Society

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

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.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Peter Carlen

Student:

Partner:

Neuractas Therapeutics

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University Health Network; University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

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.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Stephen Thomas;Xiaodan Zhu;Ceren Kolsarici

Student:

Partner:

Wysdom AI

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Accelerate

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.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Simon Rainville

Student:

Partner:

Phytronix Technologies Inc

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Technology

University:

Université Laval

Program:

Accelerate

Post-Consumer Plastics Recycling

International legislation and growing environmental issues have imposed a lot of pressure on companies and
manufacturers to maximize the recycling systems. Such demands have had significant consequences for the
plastic industries to use recycled plastics from the disposed plastic wastes. Therefore, this study is an initiative
taken by the Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory (NPNL) at the University of British Columbia
and Recycling Alternative Inc. in Vancouver, BC, to obtain a comprehensive understanding of plastic recycling
and its market. Therefore, recycled plastics can be introduced as a cost-effective alternative source of plastics for
a great range of applications.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Mohammad Arjmand

Student:

Partner:

Recycling Alternative

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Advancing Gender Equality for Women in Venture Capital

Women are vastly underrepresented in venture capital (VC) firms. There is also a lack of women entering the field of venture capital due to systemic barriers and a lack of momentum to shift existing barriers for women to enter the venture capital world. This research aims to understand the current status of women in VC firms, identify structural barriers facing them, and promote gender parity in VC firms and the investing community. The methods include a literature review, in-depth interviews with VC capitalists or senior leaders from VC firms, as well as the creation of an action plan for the partner organizations to drive changes in the investing community.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Wendy Cukier

Student:

Partner:

Ethical Digital

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other

University:

Toronto Metropolitan University

Program:

Accelerate

The state of social entrepreneurship in Canada with a focus on the social entrepreneurs’ personas and their challenges.

Currently, social entrepreneurs in Canada do not have a comprehensive and integrated ecosystem of support. As a marketing agency, B4brand is committed to helping clients achieve both purpose and profit. B4brand is particularly keen to create a support ecosystem for social entrepreneurs considering the transformational social impact their enterprises can have in Canada. This research project will help in designing and creating ‘Global Impact Hub’ – a one-stop learning hub and platform which will provide community support and marketing tools and resources to social entrepreneurs. As part of the research and development process for this platform, B4brand would need knowledge of social entrepreneurs’ personas and their challenges, especially in terms of accessing marketing knowledge, tools and resources, to ensure that the content and features of the platform are closely aligned with their specific needs. The research project will also involve a macro analysis of the state of social entrepreneurship in Canada since there is no such existing research available for Canadian context.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Eric Morse

Student:

Partner:

B4Brand Consulting Group Inc.

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of Western Ontario

Program:

Business Strategy Internship

Sports Bra Fit on Respiratory Function and the Work of Breathing during Exercise

Women use sports bras to reduce the breast movement and discomfort during exercise. In order to provide support, sports bras have a tight fit, adding pressure to rib cage. Pressure applied to the rib cage via a sports bra, can provide resistance during inspiration, and increasing the effort and work required to breath. The purpose of this study is to measure how the tightness of a sports bra affects how women breath at rest and during exercise. The study is expected to be a benefit to the partner organization, as it will provide evidence as to how bra fit and design can affect breathing during exercise.

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Faculty Supervisor:

A. William (Bill) Sheel

Student:

Partner:

Lululemon

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing; Retail trade

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Understanding how waistband height and tightness changes respiratory function

Our abdomen can contract in order to help us breath. Restricting our abdomen has previously shown to reduce the function of our lungs at rest, and change the way we breath during exercise. Women’s athletic apparel has trended towards high-waisted, lower body garments. A high-waisted band, although not as severe as abdominal strapping, can apply pressure to our abdomen, which can potentially increase our abdominal tone. The purpose of this project is to measure how the height and fit of a waist-band can affect breathing during rest and static exercise. To do this, we will measure esophageal and gastric pressure using catheters inserted through the nose. In measuring pressure, we can determine how waist-bands affect the work required to breath, behaviour of breathing, and the activation of the abdomen when breathing.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

A. William (Bill) Sheel

Student:

Partner:

Lululemon

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing; Retail trade

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Routing Cycling Trips on a Level of Traffic Stress Network within the Transportation GeoXchange

This research project supports the development of cycling planning tools within an online transportation planning platform called the Transportation GeoXchange (TGX). Research focusses on the development and integration of Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) network analysis in case studies using the TGX. LTS networks are routable graphs with impedance functions that characterize the subjective level of stress associated with traversing each street segment and intersection. They are particularly useful in examining cycling travel times and accessibility levels according to varying levels of potential cycling competence or stress tolerance, and are therefore desirable in a range of cycling network planning and research activities. Leveraging the TGX’s real-time data processing capabilities, the proposed case-studies will centre on Toronto’s public bikeshare system. The primary objective will be to conduct research into the LTS along paths connecting bikeshare stations and activity destinations. This will be achieved via the generation and comparison of feasible paths using varying levels of acceptable traffic stress along the routes. Network analysis tools within the Esri suite will be used to generate shortest paths. Origin-destination pairs will be scored with a series of detour factors measuring the extra travel distance required to cycle along low LTS routes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shoshanna Saxe;Timothy Chan

Student:

Partner:

Esri Canada Ltd

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

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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.