Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

31620 Completed Projects

2978
AB
5221
BC
856
MB
696
NL
899
SK
9419
ON
9858
QC
98
PE
619
NB
1192
NS

Projects by Category

Using Big Data to Chart Workplace Learning during COVID-19

In light of disruptions caused by COVID-19, companies employing frontline workers must balance health and safety with maintaining productivity to survive and thrive in an unpredictable economic climate. This picture is complicated by the need for rapid learning in new, redeployed, and longstanding employees. How is workplace learning impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how can it be optimized as the pandemic continues to evolve? To answer these questions, we will combine our expertise in the cognitive neuroscience of memory with mathematical modeling of big data to characterize the role of different learning strategies on uptake of COVID-19 health and safety information as well as company-specific information to help companies maintain operational resilience during the pandemic. We will amplify existing partnerships with Axonify, a leader in online training of frontline workers (e.g., grocers, taxi drivers) in over 150 countries, to determine the ideal combination of learning strategies and content to maximize employee learning and retention.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shayna Rosenbaum

Student:

Partner:

Axonify

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

York University

Program:

Accelerate

Supporting explanation in the CZSaw Visual Analytics system

The intern will enhance a module of the CZSaw Visual Analytics system. The module is called the Script, and the enhancement will provide “semantic zoom” on the Script (when zoomed out, details are hidden, or replaced by summaries of them). Refinements will include (1) enabling the user to adjust the parameters by which the zoom is constructed, and (2) coordinate the semantic zoom with an existing note taking feature in CZSaw, toward supporting the analyst to construct explanations of what he or she did. The intern will also interview Boeing people to find out what Boeing products could benefit from the approaches illustrated by CZSaw, and what other requirements Boing might have.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Woodbury

Student:

Partner:

Boeing Vancouver (Richmond, BC)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

Réalité mixte et conscience de la situation chez les premiers répondants – Part 1

Le dépistage de la fièvre et des autres facteurs reliés à la COVID-19 à l’aide de l’intelligence artificielle et projeté en réalité augmentée pour assister les ressources médicales sur le terrain.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sebastien Tremblay

Student:

Partner:

OVA Inc

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université Laval

Program:

Accelerate

Food Convergent Innovation Canada Start-Up:Developing data and methods to support the digital backbone of the agri-food system in the Covid19 context

Food Convergence and Integrity (FCI) Canada is being formed to help agri-food companies mitigate the disruptions of Covid-19, increase interactions and innovations among Canadian agrifood companies and enable new agrifood business streams. Through its member platform, it will enhance resilience and competitiveness of the Canadian agri-food sector, resulting also in increased food security for Canadians.
This Mitacs supported research project supports the formation of FCI Canada, bringing together researchers from a multitude of disciplines and institutions, to develop a comprehensive map of the agri-food sector and insights that serve to guide companies and consumers through the COVID19 disruption, recovery, and reimagination of a resilient and vibrant agri-food sector serving Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Catherine LeBel;Laurette Dube;Francine Rodier;R. Sandra Schillo;Jian-Yun Nie;Anna-Liisa Aunio

Student:

Partner:

Protein Industries Canada;Bivizio;Conseil de la transformation alimentaire du Québec

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Dawson College; McGill University; Université de Montréal; Université du Québec à Montréal; University of Ottawa

Program:

Accelerate

Mental Wellness Application for Current and Post COVID 19 Self Help Training and Assessment

People who experience mental wellness challenges or mental illness often struggle to obtain or maintain a position in the workplace. Furthermore, lack of employment means individuals lose out on a myriad of mental, emotional, and physiological benefits that are generated through work. This is extremely relevant given the current COVID crisis where personal distancing and isolation are required for the greater societal good. In response to this problem, the Digital Integration Centre of Excellence (DICE) at Saskatchewan Polytechnic (Sask Polytech), Refresh Enterprises, Inc. (Refresh), and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Saskatchewan Division (CMHA-SK) are collaborating to finalize the development of the Mental Wellness App (RWA), a multifaceted lifestyle program that will promote healthy mentality and facilitate relational support through peers and professionals. RWA will leverage artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and automatic personality recognition (APR) technology in order to automatically respond to users’ mental and emotional states, offering helpful suggestions and resources. With the individual user’s permission, this information could be shared with involved health care workers, who will also be able to use the app to inform their services.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Susan Blum;Raymond Spiteri;Terry Peckham

Student:

Partner:

Refresh Enterprises Inc.

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Information and Communications Technology; COVID-19 related Research and Solutions

University:

Saskatchewan Polytechnic; University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

kitatipithitamak mithwayawin: Indigenous-Led Countermeasures to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and other Pandemics Then, Now, and Into the Future

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was first identified on December 31 2019 in Wuhan, China. As of May 23 2020, 5,403,979 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in 213 countries and territories around the world with an attributed 343,975 deaths.Studies on H1N1 and other pandemics show that Indigenous communities in Canada suffered most from these diseases. Yet, many Indigenous communities and organizations also responded effectively. The outbreak of COVID-19 thus represents a critical moment. On one hand the same mistakes could be made, with similar impacts. On the other hand, there is an opportunity to do things differently in ways that are grounded in the priorities of Indigenous communities and organizations. The overall goal of this specific project is to document the impacts of and responses to COVID-19 on the part of First Nations and to explore how these vary over time and in space. The data that arise from this project will be made available to community health directors in “real time” and help ensure that they are appropriate and useful, in turn will play a critical role in helping communities respond to the threats associated with COVID-19 now and into the future.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Stephane McLachlan;Myrle Ballard

Student:

Partner:

Integral Ecology Group

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Development of Resources for a National COVID-19 Information Website for Families of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities

This research project will both contribute to, and examine the impacts of, the Autism & Intellectual-Developmental Disabilities National Resource and Exchange Network (AIDE) COVID-19 website for children with neuro-developmental disability (NDD) and their families, including evaluation for continual quality improvement and determining impact. Directed by the Pacific Autism Family Network, AIDE is a wide-reaching initiative that is nationally and regionally focused in offering information and support to individuals with NDD and their families. This initiative will provide key information and support resources regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for families impacted by NDD. Beyond developing and curating evidence-informed information, the project will identify the experiences and impacts of the information, focusing on (i) outcomes, and (ii) what processes and resources foster outcomes. Mixed methods of evaluation include web analytics and qualitative data collection examining perceived impacts of the initiative.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Nicholas

Student:

Partner:

Pacific Autism Family Network

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

Digitizing the End-of-Life Final Document Service

During COVID-19, unexpected death has become more commonplace, and many are finding themselves in the unfortunate position of dealing with their loved ones’ estates while continuing to worry about their own health and well-being. In a time where we are asked to stay indoors to protect ourselves and help ‘flatten the curve’, grieving family members are expected to deal with dozens – or even hundreds – of administrative tasks related to the estate of their deceased loved one. Many of these administrative duties are labour intensive, manual processes, whereby executors must print and mail forms, wait in government offices and meet with advisors to sign paperwork.
The goal of this research is to develop a user-friendly software that simplifies the end-of-life final document service and reduces manual work and in-person contact during the bereavement period. The project will involve an environmental scan of the political, technical, business and regulatory landscape surrounding the digitization of service delivery in Canada. Drawing on user-centered design (UCD) theory, user needs assessments, service design sessions and usability testing will be conducted to inform the development of the solution.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Karim Keshavjee

Student:

Partner:

Cadence Final Document Services Ltd

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Information and cultural industries

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Development of a Product to Prevent Binding of SARS-COV-2 within the Respiratory Airway and Cardiovascular System

The SARS beta coronaviruses, SARS-CoV, which caused the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2003 and the new SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, bind to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in the lower respiratory tracts of infected patients to gain entry into the lungs. Viral pneumonia and potentially fatal respiratory failure may result in susceptible persons after 10-14 days. Our proposed product will bind to SARS-COV-2 and reduce the opportunity for it to enter the body. If the virus does enter the body, our product can also cross the lung membranes into the bloodstream and also bind to the virus, preventing it from attaching to ACE-2, thereby preventing replication. The intern(s) will examine the dynamics of blocking virus using respiratory and cardiovascular models. The expected benefit to the partner organization will be to obtain Intellectual Property, that can in turn be used to attract Venture Capital investors to provide further funding to guide this project through Clinical Trials.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Donald Miller;Vernon Dolinsky

Student:

Partner:

utR Biotech

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Système intelligent de gestion des ressources humaines

Optimiser les processus de gestion électronique des ressources humaines (e-GRH) à l’ère du numérique et de l’intelligence artificielle en mettant l’accent sur les compétences du 21e siècle pour maximiser les performances humaines et organisationnelles. Avec la crise pandémique et l’ère post-COVID, un défi de transformation numérique et d’innovation s’impose pour la e-GRH : Concevoir une approche novatrice, flexible (à distance) et centrée sur le talent.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sebastien Tremblay

Student:

Partner:

Habilis 21

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université Laval

Program:

Accelerate

Upgrading Locally Available Sanitizer Ingredients for Health Services in Canada

In response to COVID-19 in Canada, demand for sanitizer products has increased dramatically. Health Canada has relaxed guidelines for sanitizers meant for consumers and maintained the regulation for medical grade ethanol in healthcare settings. In response to the increased demand and relaxed guidelines, organizations in the ethanol supply chain have been producing sanitizer products. The supply chains for sanitizer ingredients has been thoroughly disrupted. There is a need for medical-grade ethanol, and the reduction of impurities in consumer sanitizers will also benefit the public. This project is aimed at procuring sanitizer ingredients from alternative sources, analyzing and addressing the impurities to comply with the USP monographs for those materials (ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide). Sanitizing products will be produced using these ingredients and distributed to health service providers. The process adaptations that are developed to address impurities will be generated with Good Manufacturing Practices, and appropriate quality control will be developed and practiced as part of production. The project will be directed towards creating a model which can be used to implement this procedure at other fuel grade ethanol plants and manufacturers in order to provide ongoing and future emergency preparedness on a national and global level.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Chris Zhang;Martin Reaney;Sarah Purdy

Student:

Partner:

Prairie Tide

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

UVPD of DMS-MS-selected SARS-CoV-2 peptides

Differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) is a technique that is used for the analysis of chemicals by separating complex gaseous mixtures under the influence of an electric field. It is a widely used technique and is successfully deployed in many areas, including drug and explosives testing at airports. In analytical laboratories, it can be used to separate peptides – the components that make up proteins and viruses. However, analysis of data from these experiments can be ambiguous and difficult to interpret. We propose to eliminate that ambiguity by simultaneously measuring those chemicals’ response to UV light after they are separated by using DMS. Their response will help us to identify peptides directly, based on their unique interaction with light.

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Faculty Supervisor:

William Scott Hopkins

Student:

Partner:

SCIEX

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

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Mitacs — Return on Innovation

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.