Innovative Projects Realized

An initial evaluation of the working memory impacts of a cognitive training program for children with learning disabilities

Learning disabilities (LD) are a significant area of identified disability for children in North America and worldwide. We currently understand cognitive processing weaknesses to contribute to the developmental difficulties that children with LD face in learning and beyond. One of these areas of cognitive weakness, working memory, is an important target for intervention because it not only impacts learning but other important aspects of life. This project examines the working memory effects of a cognitive training program for children with LD, the Eaton Arrowsmith school. We will use behavioral and neuroimaging techniques to examine working memory changes in treatment and control groups. This project will provide the Eaton Arrowsmith school with valuable knowledge about the effects of their program and will help researchers in this field better understand how we should continue to intervene with children with LD to encourage their academic and lifelong success.

Evaluation and design of a novel CO2 methanation reactor integrated into a Biogas upgrading facility

Wind energy is the fastest growing source of electricity in Canada. However, its supply is not aligned with the energy demand, thus energy storage becomes important. The Power to Gas process (P2G) is a promising technology in which electrical energy is converted into chemical energy (methane). Methane can be stored in already existing natural gas distribution infrastructure. Within the P2G process, excess electricity is converted to hydrogen via water electrolysis and subsequently converted with CO2 (biogas upgrading) to methane. This project will evaluate, design and build novel reactors (prototype and pilot-plant) for small scale that can be integrated into current biogas upgrading facilities, which are manufactured by Xebec Adsorption Inc. By developing a reliable CO2 methanation stage, the first-of-its-kind Canadian P2G pilot plant can be built, which would place Xebec Inc. at the forefront of the industry.

Characterizing phytochemical content of bioactive coffee leaf materials for use in coffee tea leaf beverages

Wize Monkey is currently the only maker of Coffee Leaf Tea in the world; they work in partnership with coffee producers in Nicaragua to develop alternative coffee based products. One of these is coffee leaf; a novel idea of harvesting leafs at optimal times to be used as a tea-based beverage. The leaf is harvested, dried, processed and blended to produce novelty based coffee leaf teas. Their business provides a humanitarian component providing stable work for up to 40 farm workers through-out the year to supply their product. Lives of coffee growers in this region of the world is greatly influenced by the volatility and seasonality of the commodity; hence a factor underlying the poverty and hunger that exists for many of the coffee growers. Wize Monkey has created a vertical integrated supply chain where coffee leaves are harvested and processed on-site at the Nicaragua farm, then shipped directly to Vancouver, Canada where they are inspected, blended and packaged for export to many different global customers. TO BE CONT’D

The Recess Project

Our goal is to continue to provide the solution to the problems that elementary schools are facing across Ontario. To re-define the existing culture of recess by providing healthy role models, options and equipment and advocating for spaces more conducive to play. Our research team is currently the only one in Canada dedicated to research on recess. Our exploratory research continues and we have now piloted and refined an on-line aggregate survey for students, educators and administrators that measures indicators such as activity levels, feelings of engagement, inclusion, supervision challenges, needs and suggestions. We also continue to collect observational data. Our interns will assist with administration of surveys and data collection throughout the year at all partner schools within the District School Board of Niagara. The will also assist in program implementation and facilitation at a designated school.

Optimization of algorithms for real-time digital slide viewing

Panoptiq, is ViewsIQ’s flagship product for slide scanning and navigation in the microscopy

and pathology market. This product would significantly benefit from enhanced resolution and

accuracy of the images produced and improved system response time. The goal of the project is to (1) explore appropriate image processing algorithms and design

new ones for Panoptiq and (2) to achieve significant speedup benefiting from massively

parallel hardware architectures (such as GPUs). The algorithms and techniques used should be

fast enough to help users, such as pathologists, navigate and scan slides in real-time without

sacrificing the quality of the resulting images.

The role of integrins in stretch-induced activation of TGF-?1 and pulmonary fibrosis

Fibroproliferative disorders are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A large group of interstitial lung diseases (ILD) can cause progressive scarring of lung tissues, affecting the ability to breathe. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is one of the major forms of ILD and is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function. Although the pathogenesis of IPF is not completely understood, work from our group and others suggest that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-?1) is involved in the fibrogenic process. In this project, we will assess the contribution of the Integrins to the stretch-induced activation of TGF-?1 and the fibrotic process and we will examine the anti-fibrotic effect of specific Integrins Antibodies that are developed by GSK plc. In a TGF-?1-mediated animal model of lung fibrosis. This work will increase our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in pulmonary fibrosis and potentially lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for IPF.

Structural colors on polymers by femtosecond laser irradiation

Most colors in nature are due to the presence of pigments or dyes. Artificial colors on different materials are produced by incorporating dyes in them. However, the brightest colors in nature, e.g. the colors of butterfly wings and peacock feathers, are generated because of the micro/nano-features on their surface. Unlike the added dyes or pigments in a material, the colors produced by surface features, also called structural colors, do not fade with sunshine and this colors are non-toxic. Laser irradiation can create structural colors on metals by an easy one-step process. However, structural colors have yet not been achieved on polymers by this technique. Furthermore, other techniques of fabricating structural colors on polymers use added nano-particles. This project will fabricate polymers with structural colors by laser machining. Moreover, added functionalities such as anti-wetting and anti-staining properties will be imparted into this colored polymers. These colored polymers can be used in pool liners and cool roofin

Validation of Quality of Life Instruments for acne involving face and torso; and for hidradenitis suppurativa

The goal of this project is to provide evidence of validity for two newly developed measures of quality of life; one for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and one for acne. Both HS and acne negatively impact quality of life; however, to date, there are no disease-specific, patient-centered quality of life measures. The results of this project will provide healthcare professionals with tools to assess the impact of these conditions and their treatments (HS and acne) on patients’ quality of life.

Computer Vision and Deep Learning for Moderating Visual Content

Two Hat Security is a company that develops next generation moderation tools for social networking apps. Since visual content (e.g. images, videos) is one of the most important types of data shared by social networking apps, an important problem for the company is to identify images/videos that are offensive or inappropriate. For example, certain images/videos might contain violence, nudity, or certain objects (knife, gun, bikini, etc.) that are considered offensive. It is obviously unrealistic to have human annotators to manually sift through all images/videos online and flag those offensive contents. The goal of the proposed research program is to develop a series of computer vision and machine learning (especially deep learning) technologies that the partner company can utilize to build the state-of-the-art moderation tools for social network apps.

Scaling Geocontextualization

Urban design and development is an iterative process that involves community engagement and multiple feedback cycles. Advances in internet technologies and web mapping technologies has made it possible to display design plans on websites and to collect feedback on specific locations or aspects of the provided design. Using web mapping applications to feedback from the community is formally known as facilitated volunteer geographic information (FVGI). FVGI has potential to improve decision making in urban governance but it comes with challenges such as data overload, poor data quality and data ambiguity. This research proposes an automated process to identify key locations within FVGI data using a process called Geocontextualization. Urban decision makers will be able to identify areas of concern as a result. This internship will benefit the intern as there is an opportunity to work with real data sets and projects and to build a web solution at scale. This internship will benefit the partner because it will allow the firm to leverage the latest GIS workflows to new competitive service in urban development.

Calibrage automatique et analyse de performances de systèmes LiDAR

Ce projet porte sur l’amélioration des performances de systèmes de mesure LiDAR portés par des mobiles (navires, véhicules terrestres), qui sont de plus en plus utilisés dans les domaines de la surveillance de l’érosion côtière, de l’inspection d’infrastructures marines et des levés de caractéristiques du trait de côte.
Notre projet cible les utilisateurs de systèmes à composants hybrides et vise à développer des outils logiciels permettant, d’une part, d’améliorer les performances à travers des algorithmes de calibration originaux et, d’autre part, de fournir des outils numériques d’évaluation des performances de ces systèmes, de manière à déterminer objectivement leurs limites d’utilisation en fonction des contraintes de précision imposées par certaines applications.

Exploratory study: modification of sludge based sorbents for nutrient removal from stormwater runoff

Nutrients (P, N) in stormwater runoff are a major cause for eutrophication and algae blooms. Kerr Wood Leidal (KWL) is a leader in proving progressive solutions for stormwater management in BC, is seeking to improve the rain garden system to effectively capture the nutrients in the runoff. The proposed project will investigate various chemical activation to produce effective biomass-/sludge-based sorbent. This sorbent developed from sludge will be modified through metal doping and pyrolysis (i.e., chemical activation) to introduced functional groups to the sorbents to effectively capture the nutrients. Activation conditions will be optimized including pyrolysis temperature and during, heating rate, and chemical content. Batch and column adsorption tests will be used to evaluate the efficacy of the produced sorbents. The results will assist the company in improving rain garden design and provide a new solution for KWL to control the nutrients in stormwater runoff.