Innovative Projects Realized

CLICK (Community Led Inclusive Creation Kit)

This research will help to unplay and rewrite certain ideas of “assistive” technology by developing methods to engage children and youth in the process of collaborative, multi-media creation where captioning and audio description are used as creative tools. Successful approaches, workshop plans, DIY tools, discovery games and training methods will be accumulated in a playful kit called CLICK (Community Led Inclusive Creation Kits) and shared as an OER (Open Education Resource). The methods discovered with this research, will also be applied to the project; Me on the Map, produced by New World Theatre and commissioned by the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. Company Sponsors, Inclusive Media and Design and Abilities Arts Festival will both benefit from the CLICK kit as well as the Me on the Map project that will stand as an example for the creative potential of inclusive productions when it premieres at the 2014 Vancouver Children’s International Festival.

Exploring the Potential of Convalescent Plasma Therapy as an Intervention in the Pandemic Response

Convalescent plasma–used for over a century as the first treatment option in outbreaks caused by novel pathogens. The therapy involves transfusion of blood plasma from recovered donors, which contains antibodies, that can prevent or treat infection in recipients. Convalescent plasa therapy has been observed empirically or in small studies to confer passive immunity to susceptible or already infected recipients. Very little rigorous evidence has been available to confirm safety, effectiveness, appropriate target population and delivery strategies of this therapy for specific pathogens. During the current pandemic, COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) has been investigated in numerous clinical trials. Our study will capture lessons learned about CCP delivery through the CONCOR-1 Canadian trial in British Columbia. We will explore immunological, clinical, regulatory, logistical and operational aspects of the process, employing qualitative methods for a comprehensive mapping of the CCP implementation process and mathematical modelling to study the equitable distribution of CCP. Our study will use the opportunity to capture and document the current experience to inform future pandemic planning.

Experimental Analysis, FE Prediction, and Multi-criteria Optimization of Residual Stresses Induced by Rough Milling Processes in Large Steel Blocks

The milling process is an industrial manufacturing method commonly used for shaping custom parts with precise tolerances using rotary cutters. Rough Milling processes affect the part quality of machined components due to high temperature, large strain, and high strain rate. It is important to identify and improve the milling-induced residual stresses of surface and subsurface layers for crack prevention.
Finkl Steel-Sorel manufactures blocks of steel in several steps including casting, forging, quenching, tempering, and lastly dry rough milling. According to the company, cracks are observed in the blocks during after milling processes. These cracks may be due to the presence of surface and sub-surface tensile residual stresses induced by the machining processes.
This study is aimed at studying (experimentally and numerically) in order to optimise the machining conditions so as to control residual stresses induced by the rough milling process and by doing so minimize the cracking occurrence.
The developed experimental and numerical models of the rough milling process will be given to Finkl Steel-Sorel as tools to predict and optimized the machining conditions for large blocks: residual stresses, tool life, and material removal rate.

DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-INTRUSIVE FOULING INDICATOR FOR A BRAZED PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER SYSTEM

Heat exchangers, used in building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to transfer heat from hot to cold fluids, are designed to operate under ideal conditions. However, in practice operating conditions may vary with ambient temperature or humidity. HVAC system efficiency can be improved significantly if fluid flow rates are adjusted in response to such changes. Armstrong Fluid Technology is a Canadian firm that has developed control systems to adjust the flow through building heat exchangers to maximize their efficiency. This project is being undertaken to optimize a heat exchanger system. The feedback control system will reduce the energy required for operating an HVAC system by approximately 30% and have a significant impact on Canada’s energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

Predicting failures in networking equipment using machine learning

This project is in collaboration with Ciena, an international company specialized in the supply of telecommunications networking equipment and software services. Electrical components produced by Ciena are important in many networking equipment such as routers or switches. Every year, a large number of components is produced. However, the production process may have some flaws, causing the production of faulty components. Detecting which components are faulty and what are the causes of the failures is a difficult and costly process and has been identified as a major challenge by Ciena in order to maintain a very low failure rate. Besides, failures can arise following a normal long usage of the component. Predicting when wear failures will occur in order to replace the equipment before it fails is also a challenge. This research project is within this context. The goal is to use state-of-the-art machine learning tools in order to improve the reliability of Ciena production process by detecting automatically faulty components as they are produced.

Active children today, healthy adults tomorrow: Getting serious about physical activity and physical literacy in our schools

As the intern, I will be taking on specific components of this evaluation as my own research contribution. These select components form the research project for which we are seeking Mitacs funding. Specifically, this research project, as a component of the overarching evaluation, will examine: 1) the role, bringing together their perspectives on implementation facilitators, barriers and contributions of partnerships in the development and implementation of the SPA-PL project and 2) the effectiveness of the key capacity-building component – Summer Institute – and the overall impact on pre and in-service teachers’ knowledge, confidence and physical activity-related practices.

The interim work and findings from this project will help the Childhood Obesity Foundation achieve their mission by increasing physical literacy and physical activity opportunities within the school day. The resulting data will inform provincial scale-up and be used to enhance future childhood obesity prevention and management programs.

Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance of electrical assets using deep learning

We deal with condition monitoring and predictive maintenance of a selected electrical asset using deep learning. We propose an efficient predictive maintenance strategy for a selected electrical asset in order to optimize their life cycle costs. We will investigate the use of LSTM networks in order to predict the Remaining Useful Life RUL for the selected equipment.

Novel Experimental and Molecular Dynamics Strategies to Investigate Separation of Various Oil Contaminations from Wastewater Systems Using Functionalized Membranes and Magnetic Nanoparticles

In this project, a collaboration between an industry partner and Memorial University will begin with a PDF working on a project partly funded by MITACS and in part by the industry partner. In this project, we will be investigating how to separate oil contaminations from water using filtration through a membrane. The membrane properties will be changed so that the process will be optimized. The oil contamination could be in the finely-dispersed form (i.e. emulsion) or in a mixture form. The financial support supported by the industry partner will facilitate the completion of this project, which will benefit the industry partner by providing a venue of assessing this technology, and move further toward commercialization depending on the outcomes of this proof-of-concept study.

Kinetic and Thermodynamic Analysis of Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Process: Parametric Modelling, Optimization and Solvents Screening

This project is a cooperation between the university and an industrial partner. The project is reflecting the most challenging concerns in the carbon capture processes at the industrial operations. The project seeks possible solutions for the improvement of solvent-based post combustion CO2 capture process. The process improvement qualifiers are the amount of the energy utilization, CO2 absorption, and the solvent selection, which have the greatest operational advantages along with the least environmental impact. This can be accomplished by following the proposed methodology and developing appropriate mathematical models for the kinetics, thermodynamics, physical, chemical, and transport phenomena involved in the process. The MITACS support will be used to hire a Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF) to endorse the endeavors envisioned in the joint industry project (JIP). The PDF will bear the theoretical attempts and practical efforts at the facilities provided by the partner and at Memorial University (MUN).

Optimization of a TMP production process by Implementing a new online pulp quality analyzer

Irving Paper is a specialty paper producer located in Saint John, New Brunswick. The mill has made significant investment most recently. There are three TMP lines that produce high- quality TMP to be used by two super- calendered (SC) paper machines. The TMP quality, including the fiber characteristics, would be critical in producing highquality SC paper. The project is part of Irving Paper’s goal to optimize the overall production process, including the decrease in the production cost. This internship will work on a project related to a new on line fiber control system that will target to improve the TMP refining, screening, and paper making process. The student will use the facilities at UNB and Irving Paper to complete the proposed project. It will provide a strong training opportunity to the intern.

Project Manager at The Water Shed Inc.

A Project Manager will be involved in overseeing and executing the implementation of a new Learning Management System (LMS) operating system for The Watershed Inc., to determine if it can be turned into a stand-alone business.

Innovative Canadians for Change – InnovaHealth Digital Health Incubator and Accelerator – RES0054325

InnovaHealth is a dual-streamed Incubation and Acceleration platform offered by Innovative Canadians for Change (ICChange) that creates economic benefits by preparing entrepreneurs to launch disruptive, community-driven change in healthcare specifically in marginalized and underserved populations in Alberta.

Disproportionately costly and inefficiently managed health disparities have been identified in Indigenous and low-income communities by the Alberta Ministry of Health, for which it now aims to support the development of targeted and collaborative health interventions. Rising healthcare costs and growing strain on an already taxed system necessitates a new approach that empowers local and global digital health solutions to solve neglected problems in healthcare. As such, InnovaHealth aims to catalyze entrepreneurial activity in this overlooked, yet critical area of opportunity for impact by digital health innovators residing with marginalized populations in inner-city and remote communities.

Beginning with a needs’ assessment, InnovaHealth works with communities to articulate needs and opportunities before inviting innovators to break down barriers in healthcare access and equity. Community stakeholders co-create solutions and are actively consulted through the prototyping and product development stages, with the potential for gainsharing as solutions achieve scale.