Innovative Projects Realized

Gardyn Home Optimization and Testing for Home-Based Plant Growth Production

Vertical farming is an agricultural approach that involves indoor, large-scale plant cultivation, at multiple levels, with controlled environmental conditions, a hydroponic nutrient solution and artificial light. This space-saving approach to growing fruit and vegetables has the potential to meet increasing fresh produce demand in dense urban areas. In recent years, several commercial entities have marketed smaller scale, vertical plant growth systems to consumers who want fresh and locally grown food. These at-home systems vary in design and claim user-friendliness, yet they still hold many limitations. The goal of this research is to test and optimize the at-home plant growth system “Gardyn Home”, designed by Groupe FXR Jardyn S.A. We have a four step plan to improve the Gardyn prototype. We will expand the types of plants grown with this at-home system by selecting different varieties and cultivars that are nutritious, have short growing cycles and stature, as well as known drought- or disease-resistant properties. In addition, we will test and compare different light emitting diode (LED) settings with respect to plant growth and yield. Third, we will develop a nutrient tracking system for the hydroponic system.

Integrated Media for Urban Design Engagement

Forms of urban design engagement (i.e. public workshops, town hall meetings, neighbourhood association meetings) are often ineffective at providing residents with the opportunity to contribute to urban design decisions. The average resident does not have sufficient experience, technical expertise or vocabulary necessary to visualize the spatial implications of different design proposals. This research project seeks to discover how digital media tools such as three-dimensional modeling programs (i.e. Google SketchUp) or social media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook) can be used by local governments to increase community involvement in urban design decisions. Partnering with the City of Revelstoke Planning Department provides the opportunity to test and apply research on the ground. The

municipality also benefits from research findings that have the potential to be adopted and implemented in future engagement processes

Preparatory research to enable the implementation of a multi-site research project: Getting it right – Pharmacist-led pharmacogenetic testing in community pharmacies

Making sure patients have well controlled post-operative pain is imperative for patient well-being, optimal recovery, and to prevent chronic pain from developing. Opioid medications are often used to treat post-surgical pain, but some people respond in unpredictable ways and this may be related to their genetics. Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing is a way of finding out how people’s genes affect the way they respond to medications. Community pharmacists as medication experts are ideally positioned to provide PGx testing for patients awaiting surgery, educate and consult with patients about PGx and communicate results to appropriate health professionals.
The aim of this project is do the preparation work for future research which will involve community pharmacists providing a PGx testing service to identify patients at risk for poor pain control after surgery. Information will be collected about patients identified through PGx, changes pharmacists recommend to patients’ medications and feedback from patients and health professionals involved about their experience. It is important to get pain control right. But first we need to do the preparatory work, collaborate with health professionals and other decision makers to develop the study processes and provide education about PGx.

Improved Lateral Supports for Fresh Masonry Structures at Construction Site

Despite significant development of various construction materials, masonry is still considered as one of the most cost-effective materials. However, they are often vulnerable to wind-induced lateral loads caused during construction stage (within 1 to 2 days of construction) when the masonry is yet to achieve full strength. Temporary bracing systems are often used to support these structures at construction site to avoid loss of materials and injury to workers. However, design of these temporary bracings is relatively subjective and tend to be very conservative to maintain safety at workplace. The industry partner, Canada Masonry Design Centre, has an immediate urgency for improved efficiency of bracing of walls under construction which require a better understanding of early-age properties of masonry. This proposal aims at accurate characterization of early-age masonry and development of stringent design guidelines for bracings of newly constructed wall systems to eliminate the current conservative and uneco

Distributed Machine Learning for Large-Scale IoT Systems with MEC

Machine learning in large-scale Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems can bring overwhelming demand on the limited resource of IoT devices, e.g., simple cameras and ambient sensors. However, it can substantially benefit from the additional computation and communication resources provided by a new wireless computing framework called Mobile/multiaccess Edge Computing (MEC). In this project, we study machine learning within the multi-level hierarchy of IoT devices and MEC servers, with an aim to develop new methods and techniques for data collection, task scheduling, and system optimization. This project is expected to generate theoretical insights and engineering guidelines to serve as foundation for innovative design in wide ranging products and services by our industry partner. It will also create significant market impact in a strategic sector of the Canadian economy.

Pangnirtung Climate Change and Health Monitoring Program

The Canadian Arctic is warming at an alarming rate. The coastal community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut has long witnessed and experienced the reality of climate change. Country food is the main resource for Panniqtuumiut all year round and practices related to hunting and fishing are key to family and community well-being. Local organizations and community members contribute to numerous academic studies and endeavours devoted to climate change. However, there is a disconnect between what is currently known, and what the younger generation know as youth don’t always have many opportunities to hear from these knowledgeable people about the scale and implications of these changes. Through an on-the-land program for youth bringing together elders, knowledgeable hunters, scientists, and filmmakers, this project aims to learn from Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit holistic system of knowledge & beliefs) and scientific monitoring to better understand changes to the environment and wildlife related to climate change, and share the knowledge through short films.

DL-based commercial vehicle characteristics identification, detection, and classification system

Information is everywhere, especially in the commercial vehicle industry. Vehicles may be classified by number of axles/tires. There are several text- and label-based classification systems: for dangerous goods transport (HAZMAT); vehicle safety code compliance (CVSA); and general identification and tracking (license plates, USDOT numbers). Employing humans to perform simple classification and recognition tasks can be impractical. However, explicitly programming these tasks can be challenging. We propose research into object/character detection and recognition methods to develop a fast, accurate, and robust identification system for all aforementioned vehicle characteristics. We will utilize deep learning, in which machines learn patterns from data inputs and desired outputs. IRD will provide datasets from which we can develop our models, and will benefit by adding our solution to their many Intelligent Transportation Systems. We foresee that our system, allowing fast commercial vehicle identification and tracking, will be deployed throughout Canada, North America, and the driving world.

Connected and Automated Vehicles: Ameliorating Traffic Safety and Operations

It is expected that a complete deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) onto a transportation network will take a long transition period and, therefore, reliable and accurate modeling of mixed traffic networks that include both conventional vehicles (ConVs) and CAVs is of paramount importance for the success of CAVs concept implementation. This project will utilize and expand basic traffic simulation models for mixed traffic networks to evaluate the specific factors that can ameliorate traffic safety and operations (e.g., the CAVs penetration ratios that may lead delaying the offset of congestion on freeway, the impact of traffic volumes on the efficiency of traffic signals and traffic safety, etc.). The partner will benefit by promoting their technology as a showcase related to the improvement of traffic operations as well as other environmental and economic benefits (e.g., reduction in air pollution, optimization of fuel consumption, reduction in lost productivity, etc.).

Évaluation de l’utilité d’une méthode de dépistage de glucose dans l’urine chez le chat : une étude pilote

À plus de 8 millions d’animaux, le chat est l’animal de compagnie favori dans les foyers canadiens. Le diabète de type 2 a une prévalence qui varie de 1 pour 50 à 1 pour 400 chez le chat de compagnie. La glycosurie est une manifestation diagnostique chez le chat diabétique. Actuellement, il n’existe aucun moyen de dépister cette condition à l’extérieur de l’établissement vétérinaire, ce qui retarde le diagnostic et la prise en charge des patients atteints de cette maladie. De plus, la validation de l’efficacité du traitement est compliquée pour le propriétaire. Un outil permettant facilement et de façon non intrusive de surveiller ces animaux est nécessaire. Ce programme de recherche a pour objectif d’évaluer la fiabilité d’une épreuve chromogénique de dépistage de glycosurie sur la litière, pouvant être facilement utilisé par l’établissement vétérinaire et à la maison. Les résultats contribueront à la mise en marché d’un produit innovant.

Developing Leadership Competencies Through Elite Sport

Sport participants offer a source for community leadership potential that could be more fully and intentionally leveraged for maximum social impact. Currently, leadership development occurring through sport is haphazard and may be a product of chance rather than intent. This research explores elite athletes’ perspectives of leadership competencies developed through sport and aims to gain greater understanding of how these competencies can be intentionally incorporated in long-term athlete development models. Interviews will be conducted with current and recently retired athletes inquiring into experience-based leadership competencies developed through sport. The intent of this research is to understand the ways qualitative leadership competencies might actually enhance sport performance outcomes, lead to a more holistic model of sport designed to develop excellence in both performance and leadership, and better leverage the power and potential of sport for individual, team and community development.

Determining the Stability of Lipid Organization in Asymmetric Liposomes

The outer covering of organisms often come in the form of a cellular plasma membrane, providing protection from harsh external factors. However, protection is not its only function; it acts as a matrix for important cellular reactions and processes (e.g. signal transduction, protein interactions, and more). At its basis, the membrane is a lipid bilayer with two apposing monolayers. These monolayers are composed of different lipid constituents (dubbed “membrane asymmetry”), conferring the monolayers unique physical and chemical properties from one another that affect protein shape and function. Despite the ubiquity of membrane asymmetry, most model membrane systems used are symmetric due to the difficulties in constructing asymmetric membranes. As a result, this project will aim to improve their synthesis, characterize different lipid compositions, and test these asymmetric membranes, to help shed light on the biological implications of lipid asymmetry on membrane properties and function.

Impact modeling of composite aircraft structure

Composite structures are vulnerable to impact damage, and have to satisfy certification

procedures for high velocity impact from bird strike and foreign object damage. Since

performing full scale impact tests is highly expensive and thus impractical, the development of

validated analytical tools for the prediction of the structural response is essential for the

industry to reduce development costs and to speed up the development process. Today, the

capabilities for modeling the initial and progressive failure of composite materials has not been

thoroughly evaluated or validated for commercial finite elements codes. Thus, accurate

modeling of the impact response and failure of composite airframe structures subjected to

impact and crash conditions still remains a challenging problem.

The challenge is then to integrate the knowledge accumulated through various

disciplines such as damage, fracture, computational mechanics, and composite failure

theories to form design methodologies and practical tools that will aid engineers and designers

in the analysis of composite structures.