Innovative Projects Realized

Gitga’at Development Corporation Feasibility Study Research

The Gitga’at Development Corporation (GDC) is creating a strategy for economic development activities within the Nation and requires innovative business research to facilitate this initiative. As such, this research cluster is comprised of six projects:

• Project 1: Shellfish Aquaculture Opportunity Investigation

• Project 2: Alternative Energy Feasibility Study

• Project 3: Forestry Feasibility Study

• Project 4: Real Estate Opportunity Assessment

• Project 5: Commercial Fish Processing Investigation

• Project 6: Tourism Product Feasibility Study

With GDC moving forward to deliver on its mandate and development objectives, its involvement with this innovative research would examine how strategic assets could be leveraged to provide returns to the enterprise and the Nation overall. Graduate students will utilize innovative business research methodologies to create new solutions for GDC – gained through interaction with community members, decision makers and stakeholders as well as thorough investigation of applicable secondary literature

Genetic susceptibility to renal cancer

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, is characterized by heterogeneous tumor biology and clinical outcomes. Due to the indeterminate behavior of RCC and the absence of routine biomarkers, it is difficult to identify individuals at risk to develop RCC, and patients who are at high-risk of relapse. There are also unexplained large variations in incidence of RCC worldwide. Genetic factors play an important role in susceptibility to and progression of cancer. Identifying actionable genetic variants has greatly helped with the prevention and surveillance of some cancers, including breast cancer. Similarly, genetic analysis has potentials for identifying individuals who may be at risk for RCC, however our knowledge about genetic background of RCC is limited. We aim to interrogate known cancer susceptibility genes and examine patterns that contribute to susceptibility in RCC. This research study serves as a path toward methods of risk-assessment for RCC, its progression and therapy selection.

COOL WORLD:Researching the intersections of community collaboration, technology, and social justice

This research project will examine the how digital networking technologies that use geo-targeted data can be used for social movement building. The project will analyze how grassroots community engagement can be optimized for online networks and digital technologies, and will engage with artists and activists who do this work, in a participatory relationship, in order to assess the viability of the technology, for social transformations.

Project #160018b: Automated and Connected Electric Vehicle Integration- Detection of Trojan Hardware by Using Machine Learning

Electronic systems have advanced to the point that our daily activities depend on them and we trust the Integrated Circuits (IC) within the electronic devices to perform their required operation. Due to current manufacturing trends, ICs are outsourced to third parties, and may cause the integrity of the IC to be compromised. Systems that rely on ICs are then open to attacks; hardware and internal structure of the ICs can be modified, without the knowledge of the designer. The malicious, undesired, intentional modification of an electronic circuit or design, resulting in incorrect operation of the electronic device is called, “Trojan Hardware.” These are considered as a back-door that, when inserted into hardware, can bypass security measures within the system, either software- or hardware-based. This research investigates a machine learning method that relies on the side-channel signature of the IC to detect Trojan Hardware.

Numerical investigation of the seismic performance of various types of bridge configuration using advanced analysis tools

Bridge infrastructure constitutes a substantial portion of national wealth of Canada, whose performance during earthquake events has a significant impact on the public safety. This study focuses on investigating the force-based and performance-based seismic design of bridges specified in the latest versions of Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code 2014/2019. Numerical studies will be conducted, and design guidelines will be recommended. The project will provide valuable insight into performance-based seismic design of bridges, which is helpful for its mass scale application in Canada. Spannovation Consulting Limited. is a new and forward-thinking organization started by principals with a combined experience of more than 40 years. In particular, Saqib Khan has over 20 years of seismic analysis and design experience and is also a member of the CAN/CSA-S6-19 subcommittee for Chapter 4 – Seismic Design. The principles are setting up a uniquely integrated practice comprising research and development, teaching bridge engineering, and consulting. This collaboration will help Spannovation solve some of the industry’s leading challenges in the seismic analysis and performance demonstration of bridges thereby helping the firm become a major player in the bridge research and development and consultancy arenas.

Feasibility studies and research of business units for the Haida EnterpriseCorporation (HaiCo).

Through the development of feasibility studies and business models, this cluster will be focused on

providing HaiCo with specific information and toolkit(s) to make business decisions. The investigation

into economic and business issues within the region will allow HaiCo to better optimize corporate

assets and create better returns on capital investment. This cluster is comprised of six projects, which

are listed and detailed below.

• Project 1: Tlell River House Feasibility Study

• Project 2: Taan Information Technology (IT) Investigation

• Project 3: Tlell River House Marketing Study

• Project 4: Haida Gwaii Market Research and Tourism Marketing Investigation

• Project 5: CHN Seafood Investigation

• Project 6: Political and Business Strategy Research

These projects will take place sequentially, where interns will visit the Haida Gwaii to conduct

research and work with people of the Haida Nation. Information collected from the first research

study will feed into other research internships that follow to produce the highest quality applicable

research for HaiCo’s business issues.

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.