Innovative Projects Realized

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

31915 Completed Projects

3006
AB
5256
BC
878
MB
703
NL
913
SK
9488
ON
9950
QC
98
PE
629
NB
1215
NS

Projects by Category

Centre for Operations Excellence Summer Internship Cluster 2013

The COE Summer Internship Cluster consists of seven sub-projects sponsored by six different industry partners. Each sub-project represents an important challenge for its sponsor. These subprojects include understanding predictors of service variation and of return-to-work outcomes within the Physiotherapy program at WorkSafeBC; scheduling at Tree Island Industries; optimization of work flow for a set of activities for Telus; developing a technique for calculating and visualizing flight delay risk based on an analysis of data on past flight disruptions for AeroInfo; scheduling home care nurses and allied health professionals for Fraser Health; developing a simulation model of portering operations at a Fraser Health hospital to test the consequences on service delivery associated with centralizing or decentralizing; and analysing passenger movement through YVR airport in order to identify problem areas where passenger processing time can be reduced.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Derek Atkins

Student:

Partner:

Boeing Vancouver (Richmond, BC);WorkSafeBC (Vancouver, BC);Fraser Health Authority;Vancouver International Airport;Tree Island;TELUS (Scarborough, ON)

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Information and cultural industries; Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services; Transportation and warehousing

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Smart Brush for Cattle

Cattle in commercial farming systems are highly motivated to use brushes to perform grooming and improve coat cleanliness. A change in brushing behavior may also serve as an early indicator of health and welfare problems. Farmers often provide rotating motorized brushes for cows but the currently available devices do not collect any data on which animal is using them and for how long, limiting the use of brushing behavior to inform management decisions. This project aims to develop and validate a smart brush that gives information on individual- and group-level brush use and can be used on commercial farms to integrate brushing behavior with other on-farm data to improve animal welfare.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Weary;Marina von Keyserlingk

Student:

Partner:

Artex

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Greenland shark bycatch mortality and mitigation in Canadian Arctic fisheries

Accidental fisheries catch ? or bycatch ? is a critical issue for conservation and fisheries management. Greenland sharks are a common bycatch in northern fisheries and are of concern because they are long-lived and may be vulnerable to overfishing. The proposed research addresses current data gaps related to Greenland shark bycatch through the following objectives: 1) Measure how many sharks survive encounters with fishing gear to estimate fisheries mortality rates; 2) Explore seasonal movements of Greenland shark throughout the region; and 3) Analyze fisheries data to identify patterns in shark bycatch rates over time. We will use electronic tags to measure shark bycatch survival and monitor seasonal habitat use. Fisheries catch data will be analyzed to examine when/where sharks are most often caught. Results from these objectives will help discover the impact of fisheries on Greenland sharks and identify ways to reduce fishing gear encounters with this vulnerable Arctic predator.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Nigel Hussey

Student:

Partner:

Nunavut Fisheries Association

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Accelerate

Navigating the unseen: developing robotic “Bee” vision

Support the deployment of a custom UV camera for field operation on a drone. The UV camera is specific to our research project and was already used for crop monitoring in a fixed setup. The drone to deploy the camera is designed and manufactured by a partner organization, which will provide all the required design files to integrate the new device. The integration requires both hardware work and software work. The drone enclosure must be adapted to fit the camera sensors and cables. A ROS (Robotic Operating System) node for the camera image capture and process will be implemented based on project’s previous works (segmentation from thresholding and machine learning algorithm). The intern will learn Python scripting in ROS for the project and refine mechanical design based on feedback. Student will observe drone testing and data collection to further refine mechanical and script design. Expected outcomes include data analysis in field, data collection from field flight, a design document, brief presentation to Montreal team, and a final report.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David St-Onge

Student:

Partner:

Rochester Institute of Technology

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Technology; Aerospace

University:

École de technologie supérieure

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Automatisation et validation du consentement dans un système de gestion des autorisations

Ce projet s’intéresse au développement d’une application de gestion d’une identité numérique pouvant faire des signatures numériques et applicable sur un formulaire de consentement électronique à des fins médicales. L’objectif principal consiste à définir et mettre en œuvre un cadre de gestion des identités numériques à multiples facettes. Ceci permettra d’éliminer le besoin de présence physique dans des cadres de recherche médicale sans toutefois compromettre l’intégrité et la non-répudiation des processus d’identification, d’authentification et d’autorisation. Une emphase est placée sur le contrôle de l’identité par son utilisateur sans restreindre la flexibilité, interconnectivité et les applications de cette identité au sein d’un système. Une méthodologie scientifique est proposée, composée d’une étude d’état de l’art est proposée, suivi d’une proposition, implémentation, intégration, expérimentation, analyse et recommandation.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Nora Cuppens-Boullahia;Frédéric Cuppens

Student:

Partner:

Kelvin Zero

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

Improving Effective Collaboration Between Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs), Constituent Groups (CGs) and Co-Sponsors in Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program (PSR)

The proposed research seeks to learn more about the ways Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs), collaborate with Constituent Groups (CGs) and Co-sponsors to sponsor refugees to resettle in Canada. For this project, the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), will be used as a case study. Given the limited capacity and resources that SAHs have available to them to do this humanitarian work, building effective systems of collaboration between all sponsors is important. The research findings will assist the CUC and other SAHs across Canada to improve effective collaboration among sponsors, and in doing so, maximize limited resources.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Luisa Schwartzman

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Unitarian Council

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Public administration

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Parallel multibody solver coupling algorithms

This project concerns the efficient simulation of constrained-multi body systems with applications in training simulations. For instance, a crane on a construction site can be modeled and simulated as a collection of rigid bodies connected by rotational joints. Simulation of contact and friction is similar but a challenge because the force is bounded (i.e., forces are not allowed to act like glue and can only push objects apart). When there are large numbers of bodies in a simulation, with many frictional contacts, these systems can be challenging to
solve. In this work, we allow the systems to be partitioned, solved in parallel, and then coupled with a solve of the interface forces. This work specifically aims to improve the efficiency of this interface solve, with the main benefit being that much larger training systems can be solved both accurately, and at speeds that are useful for interactive training simulations.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Paul Kry;Sheldon Andrews

Student:

Partner:

CMLabs

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McGill University

Program:

Accelerate

Breath monitoring using optical microresonators

Optical sensors are revolutionizing the physiological measurements important for diagnostic purposes. For instance, we can now use optical methods to measure heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and even blood pressure. Optical technology, in the form of optical microresonators that can trap light at a microscopic scale, can also be used to measure very small changes in the concentration of analytes. Our project proposes to use optical microresonator technology to monitor the oxygen levels in the breath of a person to do a direct measurement of their cardiorespiratory fitness in the setting of a family doctor’s office or as a wearable device. The availability of those measurements would result in earlier detection of cardiovascular risks and improve the overall health condition of patients.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Pablo Bianucci

Student:

Partner:

TandemLaunch Inc

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Technology; Biotechnology

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Accelerate

Modelling cavitation erosion risk in a hydraulic turbine

Hydro power generates a large proportion of Canada’s electricity, and is by far the largest source of renewable energy. Modern hydraulic turbines are highly optimized with respect to size (cost), power output and efficiency. One of the main factors limiting further efficiency increase is cavitation. Cavitation occurs where the local static pressure drops below vapor pressure causing the appearance of vapor bubbles much like the bubbles that appear in water when it is brought to boil. The presence of cavitation can easily be predicted with computational methods. However, not all types of cavitation cause damage. Recently, a new cavitation erosion prediction method has been published, promising the prediction of damage from the cavitation. This method will be implemented and tested for its effectiveness through the comparison of its predictions to known cavitation damage on existing hydraulic turbines.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Susan Gaskin

Student:

Partner:

ANDRITZ Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Energy and Utilities

University:

McGill University

Program:

Accelerate

Développement d’une politique de développement social chez Centraide Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean selon une approche participative : coconstruire aujourd’hui pour mieux intervenir demain

Ce projet de recherche vise à accompagner Centraide Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean dans la réalisation d’une politique de développement social qui lui permettra d’affiner sa stratégie d’investissement social. En cohérence avec les principes du développement social, nous mobiliserons les principaux acteurs du développement social de la région pour co-construire cette politique. À terme, ce projet de recherche action permettra à mieux jouer le rôle qui lui est dévolu, soit de soutenir les organismes communautaires du territoire du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean dans leur mission de lutte à la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sabrina Tremblay;Christiane Bergeron-Leclerc

Student:

Partner:

Centraide Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Utilities

University:

Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Program:

Accelerate

A Social Welfare Maximization Matching Framework for Supplemental Nurse Staffing

The adequacy of hospital nurse staffing in Canada is essential for the delivery of quality health care to Canadians. In light of permanent nursing staff shortage in most of Canadian hospitals, using of supplemental nurses to bolster permanent nursing staff is widespread. Having suitably qualified staff on duty at the right time is a large determinant of service organization efficiency in providing continuity of care. On the other hand, attractive schedules are an important factor leading to successful recruiting and retaining valuable nursing personnel. Computing mutually beneficial staffing schedules in a dynamic supplemental nurse staffing environment at larger scale is a big challenge facing healthcare staffing agencies. In this project, we will develop machine learning algorithms, optimization models, dynamic scheduling structures to tackle the challenge. These proposed methods will be implemented in software modules and integrated in a software platform which can be hosted in Medialpha’s cloud computing environment. By using the proposed supplemental nurse staffing system, Medialpha will attract more nurses and hospitals to their platform. In addition, the integrated system will streamline Medialpha’s business process and lower its operational costs.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Chun Wang

Student:

Partner:

Medialpha Laboratories Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Accelerate

Developing Mixed-use Affordable Communities: Identifying Opportunities for more Sustainable and Affordable Suburban Development in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)

This research project builds on a strong partnership with Parallel Architecture, an architecture and planning firm interested in exploring the role of private city-builders in redressing the housing affordability crisis and finding progressive ways of leveraging current federal, provincial, and local policies. This project seeks to examine: (1) how can new mixed-use suburban development meet the conditions of affordability and complete communities?; (2) what costs in the development and financing process of mixed-use developments can be effectively lowered through current policies?; and (3) what examples exist at the national scale of housing that is affordable, efficiently built, and attractive in suburban mixed-use communities and what can be learned from such contexts and experiences that may be transferable to the GTHA? By collaborating with York University and the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Parallel Architecture will gain insight on best practices in mixed-use affordable housing development in the suburban context.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Luisa Sotomayor

Student:

Partner:

Parallel Architecture;Ontario Professional Planners Institute;N. Barry Lyon Consultants Limited

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

York University

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.