Innovative Projects Realized

Examining the effectiveness of interactive digital media on children’s self-regulation through game-play and movement.

The proposed project plans to assist in the development of software that is designed to accompany traditional fitness equipment like stationary bicycles. By utilizing game-design elements in the software, in conjunction with the spin bike, our goal is to show improvements in physical exercise, self-regulation, and learning in children. We also plan to take a closer look at the impacts and implications that COVID has had on physical and mental health outcomes and seek to examine the barriers and opportunities that currently exist in today’s shifting education sector.

Bid, Evaluate, Award (BEA) Cycle Analysis & Visualization

Measuring and assessing EPC project performance is an integral part of the management’s control function. EPC companies generate a lot of unstructured data. Visualization techniques have the potential to cope with such large datasets as are generated in EPC companies, by presenting subsets of these datasets in forms that provide useful insights for management teams. The project aims to use top-down approaches for the design and development of a data visualization environment for Supply Chain (SC). This work seeks a structured way of thinking that will help in formulating visual images of data and supporting interaction features to assist with the analytical reasoning tasks associated with various SC functions, singly or in combination, and related performance measures. Partner organisation stands to benefit from getting key insights into their existing data, using visualization tools to make timely and effective decision making on project performance and progress.

Assembly and metabolic engineering of the biosynthesis of natural product pharmaceuticals in yeast

The rapid development of “Omics” technologies has accelerated the elucidation of complex biosynthetic pathway to rare natural product medicines, allowing the metabolic engineering of their production in alternative systems to provide sustainable production. As one of the simplest eukaryotes, yeast contains most of the cellular compartments and machinery for producing plant metabolites, while offering advantages such as fast growth and rich genetic and genomic tools for gene manipulation.
This project will use CRISPR/Cas9 technology to integrate the biosynthetic pathways leading to key precursors to two classes of natural products: monoterpenoid indole alkaloids and prenylated polyketides in baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), which will be further modified to enable the production of specific pharmaceuticals. The research will also optimize the production towards compounds of interest while also eliminate the consumption of intermediates by yeast metabolism, via a series of metabolic engineering approaches. The developed system will also be used to introduce additional enzymes that further modifies the compound of interest, which may lead to improved pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.

Development of MXene/Graphene composite electrodes for high performance capbattery

Burning fuels such as gasoline and diesel in our vehicles causes green house gas emissions and it is a major cause of global warming. If electric vehicles replace gasoline powered vehicles, the emission will be much lower. The peak power demand of an electric vehicle during acceleration is the key factor for its battery size. The large battery size causes less optimal use of energy and finally ends up with lower mileage in electric vehicles. These limitations could be solved by combination of battery system with supercapacitors. The project goal is to develop a high-performance capbattery device that can successfully integrate with batteries in partner organization’s electric vehicles and thereby greatly reduce the maximum power requirement of the battery. This will allow for a smaller battery size and faster charging and also reduce the cost of electric vehicles.

Intelligence artificielle pour le prétraitement des données chez Co-operators

L’historique des données que possède une entreprise d’assurance telle que Co-operators concernant leurs clients, les soumissions, les réclamations, etc., constituent un élément stratégique clé qui est au coeur du développement des affaires. La capacité de l’entreprise à utiliser, à manipuler et à interpréter ces données constitue un élément fondamental. Le prétraitement de ces données est l’une des étapes les plus longue du processus d’analyse des données. Les utilisateurs experts des données ont des connaissances pour trouver les bonnes opérations de prétraitement basées sur leurs expériences. Cependant, lorsqu’il s’agit de non-experts dans ces mêmes données, il est difficile pour eux de trouver les bonnes opérations qui auraient un impact positif sur leur analyse, comme par exemple augmenter la valeur prédictive de celles-ci.
L’objectif du présent projet est de développer des outils logiciels, basés sur l’intelligence artificielle, d’aide au prétraitement des données pour les non-experts et experts en science des données. On vise ainsi à minimiser le temps passé au prétraitement des données dans un projet d’analyse de données, mais aussi d’améliorer ce processus grâce à l’IA.

STRATUM: A Digital Field Notes Tool for Archaeologists

Under the Lab2Market Program, the intern will develop and test a field notes tool called STRATUM to alleviate stresses caused by documentation in the field. The tool development will be guided by the results of three studies: 1) a qualitative investigation of user needs and sources of stress (already underway); 2) a preliminary survey of the archaeological community of Canada and the US evaluating incidence of burnout (the main focus of this internship); and 3) a mixed-methods study evaluating the effect of a digital tool on burnout rates and stresses on archaeologists in the field, to be conducted upon completion of the first two studies.7.3.

Développement d’un outil d’analyse comparative des indicateurs, mesures, pratiques pour évaluer et comparer la performance des bâtiments institutionnels durables, intelligents et résilients au Québec.

Ce projet a pour but de développer un outil d’analyse des indicateurs, mesures, pratiques et moyens, qui sera utilisé pour suivre et comparer la performance des actifs immobiliers institutionnels. L’évaluation et le suivi de cette performance permet aussi d’établir un meilleur diagnostic de leur espérance de vie économique. De plus, l’analyse permettra de développer un outil d’analyse comparative et de suivi qui pourra être utilisé par les gestionnaires d’immeubles institutionnels pour suivre et comparer périodiquement leur performance, tout en cherchant à l’améliorer, ainsi que de stimuler l’exemplarité de l’État.

Protein Industries Canada BSI Project

Protein Industries Canada is a member based organization that serves not only the base of 240 current members, but also an
extended ecosystem of contacts, connections and stakeholders. Much of our value proposition is deep knowledge of that membership
base and the extended ecosystem. This knowledge drives research collaboration, capacity building activities, gap identification and
potential business relationships. Protein Industries Canada has recently implemented SalesForce as a Client Relationship
Management System and we now need to ensure that the information is accurate, up to date and useful for activities related to
member connectivity.

In addition to populating the CRM system, this position will be responsible for analysing the membership base and larger ecosystem
for gaps in research and commercial capacity. In addition, the position will be responsible for suggesting client connectivity based on
knowledge of the membership base. This work will include researching companies, financial and lending institutions, academic institutions, research providers, not for
profits, incubators / accelerators and other members of the Protein Industries Canada ecosystem.

Cloud Native Big Data Engineering and Automation

XLScout is a startup engaged in democratizing innovation and connecting research and development with intellectual property (IP) departments across the world. The company is developing proprietary algorithms, using Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning, to mimic the behaviour of an expert searcher.
XLScout hosts a data vault of about 130+ million patent documents which occupies approximately 8TB of storage. Searching such documents is a cumbersome process requiring extensive effort, time and strategies that a novice searcher might not be aware of. The objective of this project is to automate the search process by allowing machines to understand users’ queries. A sustainable and adaptive text mining framework will be developed to provide NLP-based research outputs for IP search in different domains. This will provide scalable solutions for XLScout’s data vault on which the company will run proprietary AI/ML models and generate high-value analytic solutions to help the customers make informed decisions

Evaluating the Implementation of Goal Management Training Cognitive Remediation Therapy among OSI Clients in Quebec City

There is an urgent need to address the mounting crisis of mental illness, and in particular posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among military members and Veterans in Canada. PTSD is associated with changes in cognitive functioning across multiple domains (e.g., poor memory and attention) that can negatively impact military members and Veteran. Goal Management Training (GMT) is a cognitive remediation strategy that has been found to improve memory, attention and ability to engage in complex reasoning in individuals with PTSD. Due to restrictions related to COVID-19, GMT was adopted to an online delivery method in an Occupational Stress Injury (OSI) clinic. The currently study aims to evaluate the online delivery of GMT members among OSI service providers. The results of this study can be used to inform the future delivery of online GMT to OSI clients, and ways in which the process of providing GMT can be improved.

Mobile energy efficient tissue culture laboratory for northern agriculture development and crop improvements

Food production and agriculture in Canada’s far North is met with many challenges. Short growing seasons, poor soil, extreme weather all impact the ability to effectively and efficiently produce food locally. In addition, Northern communities are at the end of a South to North supply chain, suspectable to multiple disruptions, both physical and economic. Our mobile lab allows for exponential plant cloning through sustainable processes. It will provide access to big agriculture technology for farmers and food producers of all sizes for rural and remote communities, minimizing the impacts of supply chain disruption, producing resilient and hearty plants, and enable food sovereignty amidst times of crisis.
The partners, OUTFRNT and Cold Acres, will benefit through the commercialization and deployment of the lab. This initial research will allow for the deployment of a live feasibility pilot as this project is a first in Canada innovation (mobilization of micropropagation).

Syndrome Anomaly Detection System

Technologies that can speedily and efficiently analyze large amounts of data in real-time play a critical role in helping healthcare professionals and governments predict the impact and spread of a pandemic such as the Covid-19 virus over time. Our Syndrome Anomaly Detection System (SADS) is an innovative platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to capture a set of symptoms using conversations of patients with health practitioners. Machine learning (ML) algorithms are then used to classify and detect sudden increases in unusual syndromes in communities. SADS will immediately notify public health and government officials upon outbreak detection. SADS will allow governments to manage disease outbreaks efficiently and in real-time, save lives, reduce health care costs and hospitalizations.