Innovative Projects Realized

COVID-19 and System Responses to Homelessness

This project will build on system mapping that has been started by our partner organization, The Alliance to End Homelessness (Ottawa), to understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on the homeless population in Ottawa, including gaps in services and barriers in accessing services, and innovations that are happening to enable more effective services.

Plant-sourced high-performance fibres for the production of novel textiles

The multi-billion dollar fashion industry has a problem: many of the high-performance fabrics used in clothing are neither sustainably produced or environmentally friendly. However, there is a considerable market gap in sustainable textiles. Canadian corporations like Proteins Easy Corp are tackling the sustainability problem head on and actively seeking environmentally friendly solutions. This proactive approach has led them to the discovery of Textile Replacement iMolecules (TRiMs), a new class of computationally designed proteins that could rejuvenate the Canadian textile market. The use of TRiM protein in Proteins Easy Corp clothing could cement their place in the sought-after global market of durable eco-fabrics. Ultimately, this technology will create a new division of Canadian agriculture and textile manufacturing using the resources that are inherently available to the nation.

Head-mount Portable Multimodal Optical BrainImaging Device for Un-Anesthetized Rats

The proposed project is aimed at developing a portable optical device to image blood flow
velocity and oxygenation in a rat brain. The motivation behind this project is the development of
minimally invasive method for long-term neurological studies in un-anesthetized animals, which
should provide a better understanding of progression and treatment efficacy of various
neurological disorders. The novelty of this proposal is the development of a miniature highresolution
optical imaging system to enable monitoring brain activity that is not compromised by
the effect of anesthesia or physical fixation.
The proposed timeframe for the project is 24 months, and will span the following areas: initial
prototype design and characterization, development of a chronic skull window, biological test on
anesthetized rats and comparison against state-of-the-art table-top setup, and biological test on
un-anesthetized freely moving animals.
Our clinical partners in Toronto Western Hospital will gain the means and methods for
conducting long-term neurological brain imaging studies in un-anesthetized animals, while our…TOBECONT’D.

Pricing Strategy at Link2Feed – Yesha Joshi

The Pricing Strategy project focusses on creating a business strategy that revolves around competitive pricing and value proposition. This project will require data analytics to drive insights on client behavior and preference. Tiered models will be structured giving the organization multiple options to select the best fitted one. Future financial projections will also be created to ensure that the new model developed inclines toward the new strategy created. The organization will be benefitted widely from the project as it will help them target all types of clients in the market and increase the market share. Pandemic has forced the increase of demand for food banks and to manage the demand having a software handy that takes care of all the operations ad reporting will be accepted by everyone. The organization will also be able to position itself accurately amongst the competitors. Thus this experience will play a big role in shaping the learning curve for the individual and for the growth of the organization.

Novel, Low-Cost COVID-19 Point of Care Monitoring and Triaging Device

Testing for COVID-19 is a major strategy to manage the pandemic and one of the most important criteria and measures that are needed to restart the economy in Canada (First Ministers’ statement on shared public health approach to support restarting the economy, April 28, 2020). Two types of diagnostic devices are commonly used: 1) Lab-based devices and 2) Point of Care (PoC) devices, which are mobile solutions that can be used at homes, in doctors’ offices and long-term care homes. Only one nucleic acid-based PoC device is authorized by Health Canada to date. While this device focuses on COVID-19 diagnosis, there are still no mobile health-based (mHealth-based) tools that are inexpensive and can be used to collect real-time vital signs related to COVID-19. These signs are important for early assessment and monitoring of potential cases (people in self-isolation), false-negative cases (cases that test negative but require further monitoring), or groups at risks such as elderly people living in long-term care homes. To support these important demands, our goal is to mobilize a simple, accessible and cost-effective PoC COVID-19 self-assessment and monitoring system. This goal will be achieved by rapidly reconfiguring our existing mHealth-based PoC system, called NewPneu…

HMFT Data Analyst

Proposed Projects at Howard Marten Fluid Technologies include:
• Broad classification and internal classification of the clients: This involves a lot of critical thinking in deciding the best way to organize our clients internally so has to identify opportunities within our current client base.
• Visualization of Sales according to individual Sales representative.
• Broad visualization of data available in order to identify key insights.
• Consolidation of data into one directory which makes it easier to for key stakeholders of the organization to access key insights in one place.
• Perform customer profiling for distributors using sweet spot analysis and recency-frequency analysis.
• Pricing analytics on some product categories.
These projects will enable HMFT to maximize the use of data available to them to make more informed business decisions. Particularly, organizing the data and visualizing it allows us to spot major opportunities within our current customer base that we wouldn’t normally identify. Additionally, it helps to bring onboard other members of the organization to the benefits of data once they see these benefits.
Challenges facing the manufacturing/distribution companies are retaining their customer base, which is mostly due to pricing issues. With the proper categorizing of the customer base, we’re able to notice the gaps in certain products over time which suggests there’s a problem and take actions such as repricing.

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) asanAlternative Decision Making Framework forHealth Technology Ass.essment in Canada

Decision-making frameworks for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) have become a major topic in
developed nations in recent years. Indeed, the quest for more rational and transparent HTA decisions
led many jurisdictions to investigate the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) as an
alternative decision-making framework. In Canada, the development of a MCDA framework for HTA
decision-making is in its infancy. Indeed, to our knowledge, ‘Only one MCDA framework has been
proposed and tested in the country. This framework is based on a specific model of the broad families
of MCDA methods while other methods that might be well suited for different decision-making
contexts remain largely unexplored. This study will show the extent to which MCDA can help make
rational and transparent decisions in Canada, by means of practical examples and case studies. A
pilot test using the most appropriate MCDA model for the Common Drug Review (CDR) process in
Canada will be carried out.

Quantification de solvants traces dans un procédé vert de recyclage du polystyrène par spectroscopie vibrationnelle

Ce projet de recherche est intimement lie à l’optimisation et au contrôle qualité d’une technologie verte associée au recyclage du polystyrène (PS). Durant ce procédé, le PS contaminé provenant du consommateur ou simplement de rejets industriels est mis au contact d’un solvant qui a pour but de le solubiliser, puis d’un autre pour le précipiter. La connaissance de la concentration en mélange de solvants et PS à chaque étape de transformation est essentielle pour l’optimisation du procédé. Ce projet consiste donc en l’élaboration d’une méthode de dosage par spectroscopie vibrationnelle qui pourra être quantitative, robuste et potentiellement implémentable sur l’usine pour contrôler en temps réel la concentration des produits d’intérêts.

SUNSET Renewable Asset Management Inc.

The scope of the project is to develop unique processes, technologies, and secondary uses to manage End of Life renewable energy asset liabilities and bridge the gap between renewable energy stakeholders and industrial recycling facility operators. This will be done while considering the new norms and challenges on businesses due to COVID-19.

The benefits of having the applicant Desirée Squires on the project team will be to:

Review/refine business plan/structure
Market research
Process & technology development oversight
Develop business relationships with industry stakeholders
Research and apply for applicable government funding
Identify potential growth opportunities

This opportunity will allow for her education and work experience to help develop an emerging business while using Sustainable Development Goals as the guiding principles & core values. If this placement is successful it will likely lead to permanent employment in a senior management position.

Assessing the immune response to stem cell-derived beta cells and associated bioprinted devices for diabetes cell therapy

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease where pancreatic beta cells are destroyed and no longer produce insulin, a hormone that maintains healthy blood sugar levels. People with T1D must replace insulin with injections or a pump. Although insulin is lifesaving, maintaining normal blood sugar levels is often a struggle for people with diabetes. Extreme low or high blood sugar can have deadly consequences. Replacing beta cells through islet transplantation is a promising therapy that allows the restoration of normal blood glucose levels. However, there are many challenges with this including limited donor supply, and patients must take powerful immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the immune system from rejecting the islets. Although beta cells derived from stem cells provide a potentially unlimited source of insulin-producing cells, immune-mediated rejection is still an issue once transplanted. This project aims to protect these cells with an innovative 3D bioprinted device that is designed to help them survive. However, in order to do this, key immune responses must be identified to both cells and device material. If successful, this will provide a new treatment option for people with T1D.

Small Crafts Harbour and Marina Strategy and Planning

Rural and outport communities are struggling to diversify their economies in general and specifically in lieu of COVID19 impacts that are negatively impacting tourism. As a result of COVID19 and the resulting limits in travel and in person consultations, Small Business Doctor is looking for a business student to assist it and its’ clients on the research and writing up the content for for-profit business plans. These plans reflect strategies to move forward in light of COVID19. By having a student do most of the research and writing, we will be able to get this plan done on time for our client to submit their financing applications in time for potential ground-breaking in Spring 2021.

Assessment of two novel chemical entities in theamelioration of tau-related neuropathology andbehavioral impairment in the P301S mouse.

The onset of symptoms in Alzheimer’s Disease, Picks disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and
cortical basal degeneration are connected to the formation of insoluble deposits of the tau protein in
the brain, also known as neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). The Treventis Corporation has developed new
chemicals that are designed to prevent the formation of NFT, which may be useful for treating
Alzheimer’s disease. Genetically modified mice which develop NFTs in their brains have been
developed as animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, and are therefore useful to test the effects novel
treatments. This experiment will determine whether two novel chemicals can reduce the amount of
brain pathology and behavioural impairments in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. This research
will benefit the Treventis Corporation, by determining whether these novel chemicals are effective and
thus potentially useful for humans with Alzheimer’s disease.