Innovative Projects Realized

Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Nova Scotia

Although COVID-19 is considered a respiratory illness, the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been found in the feces of people infected with the virus. It is known that the virus survives longer in the gastrointestinal tract than in the respiratory tract. As such, wastewater has been used to determine the presence of the virus either before someone develops symptoms; receives a positive test result; or is an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. On a larger scale, wastewater may be monitored for SARS-CoV-2 to learn more about the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in a given population. By applying this method to a province-wide monitoring program, we will gather baseline data for SARS-CoV-2 occurrence in wastewater in vulnerable communities and learn more about the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence that may result from individuals traveling to Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic Region.

The use of Carbon-Nanotube Aluminum/Copper Composite for Power Transmission Line and Inductor

The focus of this research project is possibilities of increasing the capacity of overhead power transmission conductors using Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). Current constraints to existing transmission conductors include: (i) high resistivity of the reinforcing steel strands; (ii) energy loss in the form of heat generated from this inefficiency; and (iii) and thermal expansion and increases the sag and length of the conductor. The unique properties of CNTs have generated much interest in their potential application to transmission conductors in the form of CNT-reinforced aluminum. A critical step in using CNTs within a new conductor is to develop a fabrication process that successfully transfers the properties of CNT to the matrix material of aluminum. A scrolling fabrication process has been developed, which may solve these challenges. Different strands of Al-CNT composite wires with different CNT concentrations will be fabricated.

Ground Disturbance and Downed Woody Materials following Diverse Timber-Harvest Methods in the Pockwock Watershed

The forWater Network, funded by the federal government as well as industry partners and provincial governments, is a national research network looking into the impacts of forest-management strategies on drinking-water source quality and treatability. forWater Network researchers at Dalhousie University (including Duinker, the supervisor in this application) are working with Halifax Water and Westfor Management Inc. to determine how the Pockwock forested watershed can be managed to improve water treatability. A key issue here is the movement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). DOC movement from the land to the water has increased in recent decades, and that increases the cost of treating drinking water to acceptable standards. The Halifax study centres on integrated simulation modelling to build and analyze long-term scenarios of forest management and climate change and their effects on DOC levels in Lake Pockwock. The modelling is supported by monitoring of water moving through the forested landscape as well as detailed measurements of the carbon stocks in the forests themselves. Experimental timber harvests will reveal what happens to DOC movements under different harvest regimes. With the project proposed herein, we intend to make a thorough characterization of two additional important variables in forest carbon assessment:

PredictNow.ai Business Strategy Internship

The intern will be primarily be asked to help carry out our ongoing customer discovery project. The intern will also help assist the business team with its existing sales and marketing plan. Finally, the intern will have a regular shift as a first point of contact monitoring the customer support requests, assisting the customers with their issues and elevating problems to other members of the support team when the intern can not solve the problem.

The intern will conduct interviews with new customers to address their pain points as well as incorporate their feedback into the overall PredictNow.ai inbound marketing plan. The intern will also help manage our social channels as well as develop marketing materials to share online. The intern will also eventually work with clients to properly format their data files with the features that provide their machine learning model with effective predictive power.

Clearview Advisory Business Strategy Internship

Clearview Advisory is a boutique advisory firm founded in 2017 that helps business owners with high value projects – Mergers and Acquisitions, divestitures, financings, joint-ventures, business integration management and strategic planning. While Clearview works with businesses across many sectors, its expertise lies in the Food & Beverage industry.
Up until recently, Clearview has grown entirely through word of mouth. The firm wants to continue to expand its business more formally, but currently lacks the bandwidth internally to do so due to its work-load with current clients. We have now orchestrated a business development plan with multiple marketing initiatives working together in concert (social media campaign, brochure, email scripts, etc.), and require additional support in order to execute on these initiatives.

WEMA Inc. – SUCCESS – SEVIA Business Model

In order for all countries to achieve the aspirational goal of universal cervical cancer elimination, global, regional and national efforts, including the collaboration of a broad spectrum of key stakeholders, are required to ensure rapid progress along the entire spectrum of prevention, control and care. Scale Up Cervical Cancer Elimination with Secondary prevention Strategy (SUCCESS) aims to contribute to these global efforts through shifting 4 countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guatemala and Philippines) from opportunistic cervical cancer screening models to systematic service provision that reaches 70% population coverage. The SUCCESS project plan has been designed to achieve ambitious objectives, with 185,000 women screened within 3 years, including 75,600 (40%) women living with HIV in these four countries. The project is led by Dr. Karen Yeates, Professor of Medicine at Queen’s University, and Dr. Ophira Ginsburg, Associate Professor of Population Health and Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

Model Development for Ground-Engaging Tools using Real-Time Numerical Terramechanics and Discrete-Element Method

This Ph.D. study will focus on simulating and validating soil flow behavior models using numerical terramechanics for three distinct applications of soil flow behaviors from operations of construction equipment: hauling loose material (wheel loader), excavation of soil (backhoe loader/excavator) and pushing large quantities of soil (bulldozer). Numerical terramechanics models will be compared with DEM models in terms of prediction of forces on ground-engaging tools and to quantify soil flow behavior. The main advantage of this type of real-time simulation allows for direct control of the equipment to quickly observe the general soil behavior (for design optimization) and for training purposes of operators.

Deep Subduction Zone Dynamics: Implications of deep tremor and slow slip from the rock record

Subduction zones, where one tectonic plate dives under the other, host large earthquakes. Recently, scientists detected faint tremors coming from deep parts of subduction zones and termed them as deep tremor and slow slip. These tremors were accompanied by a minor land shift toward the ocean. These signals appear to be revealing deep, slow, silent earthquakes that transfer stress up into the locked zone, where large earthquakes originate. Ancient subducted rocks are found in a few places at the Earth’s surface can reveal the mechanisms of locking and slip that produce slow earthquakes. Through field studies and microstructural analyses, I will determine which processes cause these events and investigate the mechanisms of slow earthquakes. These estimates can be used to constrain stress accumulation which controls the size of the earthquake and time till the next large earthquake. Notably, this project will contribute to the advancement of forecasting methods necessary for developing effective disaster mitigation plans.

Farm Management Canada Internship

Assisting Farm Management Canada, a not-for-profit organization, to overcome business challenges that have been created due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The intern will be researching new ways to effectively deliver Farm Management Canada’s programs and services, provide alternatives for maintaining company moral and assist in a solution for the office space that Farm Management Canada currently has.

Determination of net calorific value of fresh and aged wood pellets

In this project, the effects of storage time on the heating value of wood pellets are investigated. During relatively long-term storage and transportation, pellets may lose part of its heating value, which could
translate to financial losses. However, for a limited and shorter storage time, studies have shown that pellets could have a slight gain in heating value. Thus, this project aims at resolving this ambiguity by
conducting lab experiments and fitting the data to a mathematical model for prediction purposes. In this collaborative project between Pinnacle Renewable Energy Group (PREG) and UBC Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group (BBRG), the intern will be involved in the laboratory investigation of the wood pellets using specific instrumentation. The partner organization would be able to use the outcomes of this project to calculate the expected changes in heat value and hence make adjustments on their logistics accordingly.

Marketing Strategy Development Project

Mech solution Ltd is a fast-growing start-up led by engineers and developers with mostly technical background. As we grow, we are in need of business experts to help us get our innovative product to the market in the most efficient and effective manner. This project is critical to Mech Solutions Ltd.’s growth plans for “Cloud 3D Print”. The company has made significant investment in R&D over the last few years to develop this innovative product and a marketing strategy is key to the successful launch of the product nationally and internationally. The launching time is early 2021, it is perfectly matching the winter BSI timelines. We are going to run massive marketing campaign and let the candidate run a challenging project to let them stand-out through a practical campaign.

Financial Analyst Intern

Currently Allos Bioscience is looking to due extensive market research on each of these fields to determine industry-specific technology requirements and which industries are currently facing a problem that the initial biosensors can help solve. With this information, Allos will be able to evaluate where to prioritize resources and expertise over the next year and develop prototypes for a specific industry. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Allos Bioscience was unable to access the rented research laboratory space at the University of Lethbridge to continue product development, losing one year of runway. Ensuring that technical development is focused on aspects industries desire, specifically those industries more likely to utilize the biosensors soon, will more effectively utilize the financial runway of Allos.