Innovative Projects Realized

The development and feasibility/acceptability testing of an online mind-body wellness program for primary biliary cirrhosis

Persons with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) have high rates of liver disease-related symptoms and poor health-related quality of life – amongst the lowest of all chronic liver diseases. Patients and the Canadian PBC Society have identified the need for self-care tools to manage symptom burden. Building upon a previously developed online wellness program for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Makayla Watt’s project entails: Aim 1 developing a PBC-specific 10-week online mind-body wellness program incorporating pre-developed programming from the Canadian PBC Society, the IBD program, and additional evidence-based relaxation elements; and, Aim 2 the assessment of the online program’s viability and patient acceptance using a mixed methods feasibility study in 20-30 patients with PBC.

Design Tools for Next Generation of Microelectronics Cooling Solutions –Characterization, Modeling and Optimization

There is an increasing trend towards miniaturization in the microelectronics industry which increases

the power density and thus heat generated from these devices. Consequently, one key factor limiting

reliability and higher performance of electronic devices is the heat removal, to maintain the device

below its maximum operating temperature. This indicates the importance of devising efficient cooling

strategies to meet the demands of the electronics sectors. The goal of this program is to develop and

implement state-of-the-art cooling solutions for Analytic Systems’ products. In this project, theoretical

models and simulations will be developed to accurately analyze and predict operating temperature and

performance of the existing cooling solutions in Analytic Systems’ products. A comprehensive

experimental program will be conducted to test and verify the developed models/simulations in close

collaboration with Analytic Systems (AS). The developed models will then be used to optimize the

current designs and develop efficient cooling strategies for AS products.

During the first-phase of this program, the primary focus will….TOBECONTINUED

Navigation of magnetotactic bacteria through a microfluidic vascular network

Conventional drug delivery methods, including oral ingestion and injection, distribute the drug to the entire body, reducing the amount of the drug delivered to the target tissue or organ and increasing side effects. Targeted drug delivery, in which the drug is transported directly to the target tissue or organ, can be used to minimize these negative effects. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) have the potential to be used as targeted drug delivery agents. These bacteria have internal magnetic nanoparticles, which cause them to orient and swim in the direction of a magnetic field. This swimming behaviour facilitates the control of the MTB swimming direction by implementing a magnetic field. For MTB to be used as targeted drug delivery agents, their ability to navigate through vascular networks to reach the target must be determined. The objective of this project is to study and determine the feasibility of directing the MTB through a microfluidic vascular network, developed by Dr. Yuji Nashimoto of Tohoku University, to a target tissue by implementing a magnetic field.

Commercial Applications of Organic Electronics

Organic and Printed Electronics are a disruptive technology that will create a wealth of new products

and markets not yet imagined. Organic and printed electronics can help to overcome the numerous

challenges the world is facing in the next decade such as environmental sustainability, energy supply,

health and demographics, mobility and security, and others. In particular, wireless mobile devices are

approaching their limits in the size and shape due to limitations in batteries for not only operational

lifetime, but also in the form factor of the device. The batteries in current generation smart phones for

example take up 80% or more of the space occupied by internal components. This project aims to

develop enabling technology in solar, lighting and power storage for the next generation of wireless

devices.

Personal Productivity Analytics

To investigate how artificial intelligence techniques can be applied to improve productivity in computer-mediated work contexts, including email and messaging applications. We look at how to leverage features in data to make better guesses about when someone is productive, and create intelligent assistants to help people stay productive.

Stage de maîtrise dans le cadre d’un projet de recherche au Brésil

Le projet se déroulera à Fortaleza, une ville au nord-est du Brésil et fera partie d’un projet de recherche plus large portant sur la mobilisation communautaire en but de contrer la propogation de la dengue dans cette ville. De plus, le projet fera objet d’un stage de maîtrise et visera à évaluer les défis quant à la collecte de données du projet plus large, qui aura lieu entre les mois de janvier à avril de l’année 2020. Davantage, l’objectif sera d’examiner les données générales afin de comprendre s’il y a eu des problèmes en ce qui a trait à la qualité de celles-ci ou à la façon qu’elles ont été recueillies, par exemple.

La certitude morale chez Descartes

Que signifie être certain lorsque les conditions d’une parfaite démonstration ne sont pas réunies? Commet-on un abus de langage lorsque nous prétendons obtenir des certitudes en dehors du domaine des mathématiques? Cette question, d’intérêt crucial pour les sciences humaines, a reçu un traitement important au 17e siècle, où émerge une tendance à remettre en question la pertinence de la dichotomie traditionnelle entre connaissance démonstrative et connaissance fondée sur de simples probabilités. Ce projet de thèse, sur le thème de « La certitude morale chez Descartes », inscrit le philosophe français au cœur de cette problématique et comporte deux aspects principaux. Dans un premier temps, il s’agit d’évaluer la valeur épistémique de cette forme de certitude que Descartes qualifie de simplement « morale », par opposition à une forme de certitude que Descartes qualifie d’absolue. Dans un second temps, il s’agit de préciser le sens de ce vocabulaire singulier : que signifie l’adjectif « moral » dans le contexte des sciences? Ce séjour de 6 mois à l’Université de Princeton me permettra de discuter ces questions avec l’un des plus grands spécialistes de la question et de rédiger les chapitres de ma thèse qui portent sur ces deux questions.

Fluvial Geomorphology Experiments in support of the Lynn Creek Flood Risk Assessment and Reduction Plan

Lynn Creek poses flood and erosion risks in North Vancouver, BC. The surrounding urban areas are not protected by structural flood protection measures, and flood mitigation has historically been conducted through gravel removals, which increase the depth of the channel. Recent analysis has shown that gravel removals are relatively ineffective at reducing the flood risk, which will continue to increase alongside climate change. In addition, Lynn Creek is a fish-bearing watercourse and gravel removals pose potential impacts to habitat.

In response, the City of North Vancouver has engaged the consulting firm of Kerr Wood Leidal Associates Ltd. (KWL) to perform a flood risk assessment and develop a risk reduction plan. Through a MITACS project, KWL will be collaborating with the Biogeomorphology laboratory at UBC to conduct laboratory experiments which will aid in the flood risk assessment. The experiments will involve physical modeling of historical trends, current conditions, predictions of short-term and long-term movement patterns of gravel, and innovative approaches to sediment management. The results of these experiments will directly inform flood risk and sediment management on the North Shore region of the Lower Mainland, and possibly elsewhere.

Impact of climate change on domestic water requirements in Montréal

A stochastic model was recently developed to theoretically estimate per capita water consumption for various lifestyles, based on specific domestic water use activities. The intention is to populate this model with data from the City of Montréal, bearing in mind that metering of water consumption is uncommon in the study area. Therefore, calibration and verification of the model is anticipated to be a challenge. Climate change is expected to have an impact on water consumption. After model population for the current water use scenario, the results could be extrapolated to allow for the expected long-term impacts of climate change. In this research collaboration we aim to obtain model input parameters for the study area and to select the appropriate climate change scenarios.

An Advanced IP Based CDMA 2000 Communication System for Coal Mines (CCSCM)

The proposed project aims at developing an enterprise-level CDMA2000 Communication System

based on SIP Soft Switching technology and CDMA2000 emerging technology. It is called an

enterprise-level communication system because it has typically only thousands of subscribers rather

than millions of users as in the case for carrier-level systems; furthermore it has to be cost effective,

compact, and easy in deployment and maintenance to best fit enterpriser users, such as the many coal

mines companies in China. The overall project is organized into six prototype R/D sub-projects, which

are kept distinct for ease in concurrent development. There are several major design issues for the

CDMA2000 enterprise system with low cost and small footprint. These issues were not well addressed

in the CTC’s earlier product V1.0, but must be properly handled in the new improved version V2.0……TOBECONTINUED

Exploring the Meanings of Participants’ Fly-Fishing Experiences and Its Impact on Active and Healthy Lifestyle

This exploratory study will utilize indirect calorimetry (the method by which the type and rate of substrate utilization, and energy metabolism are estimated), accelerometer-based technology, photo-elicitation interviews, focus-groups, and a subsequent large-scale survey to answer the following research questions:
a) What is the energy expenditure of a typical fly-fishingday and its physical fitness requirement?
b) What are the meanings and significance of fly-fishingin the lives of participants?
c) How does fly-fishingcontribute to an active, healthy lifestyle?
d) What are the values, ethics, motivations, and participation patterns of fly anglers?
This innovative, collaborative, and broad approach to the research will contribute significantly to the existing literature and knowledge related to the phenomenon of fly-fishingand its role in an active and healthy lifestyle.

Developing high-capacity composite adsorbents for gold mill processes

Gold is the most economically important mined mineral in Canada, with a production value of $8.7 billion in 2017. Quebec and Ontario together accounted for more than 75% of the mined gold production in Canada in 2017. Economic, efficient, yet safe and environmentally responsible gold extraction is vital to Canada’s dynamic economy and environment, as well as the global competitiveness of Canada’s gold mining industries. This MITACS Accelerate project is aimed at developing high-capacity adsorbent technologies for applications in gold mill processes at Newmont Goldcorp, which are expected to improve process efficiency, economics, and environmental responsiveness.