Innovative Projects Realized

Effect of anisotropy in thermal-hydro-mechanical properties of argillaceous shale on casing and caprock integrity under thermal recovery

Argillaceous shales comprise a large proportion of rocks in most sedimentary basins. They serve as caprocks in the projects of petroleum industry. Maintaining borehole and caprock integrity is to prevent disasters such as borehole collapse and leakage through caprocks. Thermal-hydro-mechanical properties of argillaceous shales have decisive controls on the integrity analysis. As a kind of clay rich geomaterial, argillaceous shales feature in oriented fabric and have anisotropic behaviors. Currently, the investigations on anisotropic thermal-hydro-mechanical properties of argillaceous shale are limited. During designing of oil exploiting, the neglect of anisotropy will reduce the degree of exactitude. The objective of this internship is to work with BitCan Geosciences & Engineering Inc. and their expertise and facilities to develop characterization tools on investigating the anisotropic thermal-hydro-mechanical behaviors in argillaceous shale. The researches included in the internship are closely related to BitCan’s technical services.

An FPGA-based platform for the control of a CMOS quantum chip

Quantum Computing has the potential to tackle problems, unsolvable with the most powerful current high-performance machines. It is expected that quantum technology will enable life-changing discovery in the pharmaceutical industry with new drugs, finance for risk minimization, discovering new materials, clean energy, and more. Today, many different architectural solutions exist for quantum computing – photonic, trapped ions, neutral atoms and others. Such solutions require specialized cooling systems, e.g. cryogenic, to keep the qubits in a quantum state. This project deals with the problem of interfacing and controlling CMOS-based qubits using an FPGA platform. The considered quantum chip operates at room temperature, a technology developed by the InfinityQ Inc, the industrial partner of the project. Moreover, the project will tackle the problem of running real-world computing applications on the quantum chip using the prototyped interface board.

Textile Embedded Vital Health Signs Monitor

The goal in medicine is prolong life and prevent disease before it spreads and becomes irreversible. There must be a way to easily self-monitor or to allow medical professionals to continuously remotely monitor high risk patients. The main vital signs that ideally should be constantly evaluated are pulse rate, respiration rate, body temperature, oxygen saturation levels and blood pressure. Other secondary figures that should be watched over are glucose levels, cholesterol levels among others. With our technology, patients’ vital health signs will be monitored remotely, cutting a considerable portion of costs from in-person medical examinations and monitoring and thus bring about a disruptive technology to the biomedical testing and diagnostics sector. Besides, these devices allow health care personnel to control important physiological symptoms of their patients, evaluate them in real-time, and provide appropriate treatment conditions.

Children’s Link Society – Marketing & Branding Coordinator #2

The intern would be responsible for analyzing and executing different semi-developed revenue generating projects. These initiatives would help Children’s Link become financially prominent and meet the needs of families who care for children with disabilities. Potential projects include: developing effective marketing strategies to increase website traffic, including guiding social media content and assisting with written and visual web content; building relationships with sponsors and brand partners to leverage traffic and increase website based ad revenue; optimizing video-streaming technologies to better connect partner messages with audiences; significantly increasing the scale of various local 3rd party business offerings; and identifying sponsors who share core values to support client-centered events. The intern would work with the Director of Operations to develop measurable outcomes for all initiatives and would play a vital role in helping Children’s Link cultivate financial strength and operational excellence. Lived experience with disability is an asset, as are strong logistical, organizational, creative, critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills. These projects command a passion for community development, anti-oppressive practice, business development, empathy, teamwork, and storytelling.

Reactive extrusion process development for silane modified EPDM

Most rubber products require curing that involves either sulfur or peroxide curing and other ingredients such as accelerators, antioxidants, antiozonants, and heavy metal oxides. Some of these ingredients, either individually or in combination, generate environmental pollutant and hazardous gases and fumes during rubber processing or storage. Thus, there is a continuous need by the rubber industry to develop benign curing processes involving environmental-friendly process and less hazardous ingredients. In this project, we aim to develop a scalable, robust, and waste-free process for the production of silane-modified EPDM elastomer with adaptable curing behavior. The modification process involve the chemical grafting of silanes onto elastomers in the presence of reaction initiators in a solvent-free melt process using an internal mixer and extruder.

Children’s Link Society – Marketing & Branding Coordinator

The intern would be responsible for analyzing and executing different semi-developed revenue generating projects. These initiatives would help Children’s Link become financially prominent and meet the needs of families who care for children with disabilities. Potential projects include: developing effective marketing strategies to increase website traffic, including guiding social media content and assisting with written and visual web content; building relationships with sponsors and brand partners to leverage traffic and increase website based ad revenue; optimizing video-streaming technologies to better connect partner messages with audiences; significantly increasing the scale of various local 3rd party business offerings; and identifying sponsors who share core values to support client-centered events. The intern would work with the Director of Operations to develop measurable outcomes for all initiatives and would play a vital role in helping Children’s Link cultivate financial strength and operational excellence. Lived experience with disability is an asset, as are strong logistical, organizational, creative, critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills. These projects command a passion for community development, anti-oppressive practice, business development, empathy, teamwork, and storytelling.

Spiridon Technologies Internship

The technology landscape has changed as a result on the ongoing pandemic. Spiridon must analyze the current market to determine whether acquisition opportunities exist and must evaluate the performance of previous acquisition targets. The overall goal of redefining Spiridon’s strategy for business acquisition will be accomplished in two steps. The first step revolves around the analysis and forecasting of M&A target performance. This step consists of an evaluation to determine which targets will prevail in a post-COVID environment, as well as market and industry research. The second step revolves around the identification of new business opportunities. COVID-19 has produced various opportunities for technology firms to serve, whether it be a new market or an existing market that has been impacted negatively. The identification of new business opportunities will comprise of financial modelling and an analysis to determine both business implications and growth potential.

I anticipate that much of my work will revolve around the identification of new business opportunities, and the execution of those new business opportunities. For example, COVID-19 has almost produced a new market in which more and more individuals find themselves working at home.

Analyse transcriptomique comparative de Phaeodactylum tricornutum bio-ingénierie dans des conditions de lumière optimisées pour étudier les voies métaboliques lipidiques

La croissance démographique, les problèmes environnementaux, les agents pathogènes et de nombreux autres défis empêchent l’Homme d’être autosuffisant vis-à-vis des ressources naturelles, en particulier des plantes et des produits naturels. Tous ces problèmes énumérés s’ajoutent au faible rendement de production des produits naturels des plantes, ce qui augmente la nécessité de trouver des alternatives. Notre groupe de recherche se concentre sur l’utilisation des microalgues comme système alternatif pour produire plusieurs produits naturels de plante avec plusieurs produits à valeur ajoutée dans une perspective d’économie circulaire. Les microalgues sont de petites machines biologiques ayant le potentiel de produire une large gamme de produits naturels de plantes tels que les nutraceutiques, les biocarburants, des médicaments, etc. et sont capables de croître à l’échelle industrielle dans des conditions de faible entretien. La mission principale du projet est de produire des produits végétaux complexes tels que des cannabinoïdes, des lipides et diverses molécules bioactives dans des microalgues à l’aide des outils biotechnologiques. Nous étudions une diatomée, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, dans le but de produire des lipides essentiels pour l’industrie alimentaire, médicale et bioénergétique. Mon premier objectif est d’optimiser les conditions de culture, surtout la lumière, pour obtenir des cellules en bonne santé TOBECONT’

KASTx Ventures Inc.

There will be a number of business projects all designed to move these life science start-ups forward. The first project will be extensive research on the M&A deals in the life sciences area with the goal of estimating valuations and developing capital raise strategies. Other projects are around validating business plans and executing on key strategies.

Technical Sales Intern

As Software Technology company able to offer
remote work options, we are planned to be well-equipped for growth during this
pandemic. Externally, our customers’ need for digital transformation has
catalyzed our growth, necessitating new hires to meet exceptional demand.
An intern would help us evaluate a candidate for long term hiring (FTE), while
giving them a meaningful project to complete, which impacts the Canadian
Insurance and Health landscape today by learning about our sales and business development operations.

Development of an isobar separator for anions for accelerator mass spectrometry

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry is a highly sensitive technique for measuring the concentration of certain long-lived isotopes, such as carbon-14. Recently, the use of an ion-gas reaction cell before the accelerator has been shown to enhance this sensitivity, particularly for smaller accelerators, and to extend the application of this technique to more isotopes. Isobarex Corporation has been formed to develop a commercial instrument embodying this technology and is currently designing such an instrument. The intern will participate in tests needed to finalize this design, using the existing proof-of-principle equipment at the IsoTrace Lab (Universities of Toronto and Ottawa). The intern will gain industrial experience by participating in the progress of this design as it becomes a marketable device and will carry out research contributing to the documentation required by the purchasers and users of this instrument. Isobarex will benefit from the expertise of the intern in analytical work with mass spectrometers.

Marketing and Business Strategy Analyst

As an essential service involved in the importation and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other disposables for foodservice, janitorial/sanitation, and healthcare industries, we have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. Our sales of disposable woodenware, which normally account for over 60% of revenue, have declined due to the negative impact on the restaurant industry. However, sales of PPE have skyrocketed, and we are on track to double last year’s revenues. While positive in the near-term, this shift creates longer-term risks. 80% of our revenues now depend on a few key products, and current market conditions are not sustainable. Looking ahead, we need to begin planning for the eventual cool-down of the PPE market, and the possibility that our woodenware sales will not recover to pre-COVID levels. It is crucial for us to explore new opportunities to diversify our business and position ourselves for sustainable growth in a post-COVID world. A Mitacs Business Strategy Intern will spearhead this effort by conducting research and analysis to identify new opportunities in adjacent markets or products that complement and leverage our existing business model. The intern’s work will help shape our long-term growth strategy and address key business risks.