Innovative Projects Realized

Design, Fabrication and Evaluation of a Small Scale and Low Cost Vertical Garden Hydroponic System

The main goal of this research project is to develop a sustainable fruit and vegetable production system for households and small communities through design, fabrication and evaluation a small scale and low cost vertical garden hydroponic system. One of the major agricultural challenges faced by Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) is the lack of locally produced fresh vegetables, primarily due to major barriers such climate, soil and lack of know how. This food insecurity can further be aggravated under sudden situations like COVID-19 where availability of food a real challenge with transportation and production restrictions. Hydroponic growing system could be a reasonable solution to address acidic and nutritionally poor soil as well as climatic limitations in NL. We expect to address complexity, high initial capital cost, and the high-energy consumption issues through development of a small scale and low cost hydroponic system.

COVID-19: optimisation opérationnelle d’un véhicule autonome de désinfection d’environnement intérieur

Depuis décembre 2019, le monde entier vit une pandémie sans précédent qui requière des solutions novatrices et efficaces telles que les véhicules mobiles de désinfection par rayon ultra-violet à longueur d’onde courte (UV-C) qui sont capables de détruire le virus. Dans ce contexte, une équipe de recherche de l’UQTR et de l’Université Carleton s’associe avec la compagnie Noovelia pour développer une plateforme mobile autonome afin d’en faire un outil de pointe pour les opérations de désinfection liées à la pandémie du COVID-19. Cette plateforme mobile de désinfection par UV C peut identifier en temps réel les surfaces à désinfecter par une caméra dans les lieux publics clos (bureaux, salles communes, chambres de patients, salles de classe, etc.). Si la surface à désinfecter est accessible par la plateforme, alors sa position est transmise au module de navigation autonome qui dirige le véhicule vers l’emplacement ciblé afin d’exposer cette surface aux rayons UV-C.

Smart and Low-Cost Face-Shields Capable of Protection, Prevention and Detection for Essential Workers Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic

This project is in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and aims at developing a self-disinfecting personal protective equipment (PPE), such as goggles, and face shields, that are crucial to the safety of frontline workers. The low-cost, easy-to-implement fabricated end-product can be applied in both production and retrofit contexts. The approach embeds a thin layer of transparent conducting polymer in/on the PPE’s visor, integrated with a simple electronic circuit. Upon application of certain voltage, virus will be first detected and then inactivated by the generated heat of 60-65°C through the polymeric film electrode.

Climate Risk Valuation – Mapping climatology to macro-economic indicators

Climate change is one of the greatest challenge society has ever faced, with increasingly severe consequences for humanity. Climate change also creates risks to both the safety and soundness of the individual firms and to the stability of the financial system. This will be felt both in the cost of direct losses to climate events, as well as the expense of adapting businesses to the new climate policies that will have to be met.
The aims of this project are to:
• Research climate modelling techniques, with a particular focus on mapping climatology to macro-economic indicators
• Develop models and estimate the impact of climate changes on financial institutions
• Measure and evaluate the short and long term risks through scenario analysis and stress testing.

Supporting Municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador in navigating COVID-19

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador have faced and continue to encounter challenges. They are also exploring new opportunities as they navigate what appears to be a new municipal world. Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) is working with its members on this navigation through regular engagement, survey work and one-on-one supports. The research question guiding this work is as follows: What are the best municipal practices for safereopening? Connected to this, we ask: what additional supports and information do municipalities need to navigate Life with Covid-19 in NL? Through the use of literature reviews, secondary data analysis and member engagement, MNL will provide best practice information and recommendations to its members based upon their needs and experiences.

An efficient heuristic algorithm for laboratory analysis profile selection

In health care industry, the tests of laboratory analysis are organized and priced in the format of profiles. Each profile contains a specific group of tests. The price of a profile is usually lower than the sum of the prices of individual tests included in the profile. In this project, the intern will develop a special optimization algorithm for selecting test profiles and/or combinations of test profiles to cover the list of tests required by a patient. This is an important component to enable an online price estimation service provided by Medialpha. The service automatically calculates the price for conducting a set of lab analysis prescribed by a doctor. The service will intuitively guide patients through the price estimation process and intelligently help patients match non-standardized test abbreviations and codes in their requisition forms with the laboratory’s standard ontology. To achieve this objective, the intern will develop software interfaces which integrated the developed optimization algorithm with Medialpha’s existing Price Estimator modules. The superb user experience and time-saving benefits provided by the online price estimation system will attract more patients to obtain their laboratory analysis quotations through the online service.

Mitigation des impacts de la pandémie de la COVID-19 : développement des capacités des organisations sportives en réponse à la crise sanitaire

La pandémie de COVID-19 a contraint bon nombre d’entreprises et d’organisations à réduire ou à cesser momentanément leurs activités principales. Les organisations nationales de sport (ONS) et les organisations évoluant dans le domaine du sport et du loisir sont particulièrement affectées par cette situation qui remet en question leur capacité à mener leurs activités actuelles et futures. Le présent projet de recherche vise à accroître la capacité de ces organisations à surmonter la crise actuelle.

Quatre sous-projets seront menés dans deux organisations sportives (une fédération sportive et un centre d’excellence sportive), et ont permis de faire avancer les connaissances scientifiques relatives à certaines activités clés (agilité organisationnelle, gestion des talents et des compétences, pratiques de ressources humaines favorisant la mobilisation organisationnelle et système de gestion de la performance individuelle et collective) en contexte d’organisation sportive. Des outils concrets issus des connaissances théoriques et empiriques dégagées dans le cadre de ces sous-projets seront élaborés afin d’accroître la résilience des organisations sportives aux chocs en provenance de l’environnement, comme c’est le cas avec la pandémie de COVID-19.

Elucidating the pathogenesis of COVID-19-related coagulopathies and evaluation of medical countermeasures

Various blood clotting disorders have been associated with COVID-19. The underlying cause of the problem remains unknown. This research project aims to tease out the underlying biological causes and evaluate potential treatments.

Establishing best practices for generating synthetic pediatric health data

As the COVID-19 pandemic has made painfully clear, it is both important and difficult to analyze the large volumes of patient data collected by hospitals and other healthcare providers. Ideally, data would be widely-shared between institutions, and experts and teams with diverse backgrounds would be able to contribute to the analysis. Unfortunately, this is not possible: sharing of healthcare data would severely compromise patient privacy, with many negative consequences. The goal of this project is to develop methods for the generation of realistic synthetic datasets that closely mimic real longitudinal healthcare records, without containing sensitive patient information. This synthetic data could then be shared widely and used as the basis for first-stage analysis.

A Preliminary Overview of the Impacts of COVID-19 in the Republic of Malawi

Future Ancestors Services seeks to build a database that explores the teachings of various peoples around the world and what ancestry and ancestral accountability means to them in the context of current socio-political and environmental issues. This research project explores the ways in which the lived experiences of black people in Sub-Saharan Africa impact their experience and understanding of COVID-19, and how the disease has been harmful at not just a physical level, but also a spiritual and emotional level. Future Ancestors Services will be using the results of this research project to advocate for better pandemic response policies in Canada at a government level that takes into account the lived experiences of marginalised communities; and, providing effective low-cost pandemic response plans to racialized communities and community out-reach groups.

Characterizing the sensory properties of whole wheat pasta for use in macaroni and cheese

There are growing trends of companies producing foods that are made from whole wheat

because of their abundance in B vitamins, dietary fibre, and essential fatty acids. They also

possess polyphenols that reportedly have effect against cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

A drawback to using whole wheat in breads and pastas is a change in appearance, flavour,

and texture, which may decrease consumer acceptability. This research is crucial for food

companies wishing to reformulate their products as they must ensure that the use of whole

wheat in their formulations does not significantly alter the sensory properties of their product.

The ensuing research will look at the sensory properties of macaroni in Kraft Dinner that is

made from a variety of wheats. A trained panel will establish the sensory attributes of the

whole wheat pasta, which will then be followed by the testing of products with a consumer

panel.

Amélioration de la performance commerciale (génération de revenus) de Parasports Québec – Mise en place d’un modèle d’affaires innovant

Comme bon nombre de fédérations sportives, le financement de Parasports Québec demeure précaire et soumis aux aléas de la conjoncture. Les revenus annuels de cette fédération sont en effet grandement dépendants de trois sources principales, à savoir les subventions gouvernementales, la philanthropie et les cotisations annuelles de ses membres.

Le présent projet de recherche visera (1) à identifier des pratiques innovantes au chapitre de la génération de revenus, et notamment en matière de philanthropie, et (2) élaborer une méthodologie d’implantation des pratiques retenues dans le contexte des fédérations sportives. Les pratiques identifiées pourront être intégrées au modèle d’affaires de l’organisation, préparant de fait cette dernière à une relance plus fructueuse de ses activités une fois la crise sanitaire liée à la COVID-19 passée.