Innovative Projects Realized

Consequence assessment of potential tailings storage facility failures within the Canadian context

Recent catastrophic tailings storage facility (TSF) failures have resulted in immense societal, environmental and economic losses. Currently, research on TSF risk is primarily focused on the technical reasons for failure or post-failure environmental damages. Furthermore, limited research explores the financial, environmental and social consequences of potential TSF failure within potential tailings inundation zones. This project works to quantify and communicate the potential consequences of Canadian tailings storage facility failures to institutional investors. There is a pressing and urgent need to develop mining project assessment tools to understand and communicate the consequences of potential TSF failures to people, infrastructure, and the environment. This research will provide Resourceful Paths with tools and clearer justification for mining companies to commit to safer choices for alternative tailings disposal strategies. Additionally, this project will equip mining investors and stakeholders with much-needed decision-making information to improve the management and mitigation of TSF risk and act to spread best practice across the sector.

Artificial Intelligence in Mass Transit

Transportation systems are evolving towards intelligent transportation systems and ISR Transit is a leading provider of these systems providing solutions in fleet management. In these systems, one of the enabling technologies is wireless sensor networks in which sensors are used to obtain information about the fleets. For example, sensors are deployed on motor, brake modules, doors, emergency buttons and passenger stop request. The information captured by these sensors is transmitted to a central controller to optimize productivity by tracking, monitoring, and managing mass transit elements and static operational data such as vehicle numbers, drivers, routes, schedules, timetables, and so on.

One of the main challenges in these systems is that since sensors have limited power resources, they cannot perform monitoring tasks over a long period of time. To address this issue, the energy consumption at sensors should be reduced which can be achieved by minimizing the number of data transmissions. More specifically, As sensory observations are highly correlated in time and space domain, some of the collected readings might be redundant. The objective of this project is to propose data reduction schemes that while they minimize the energy consumption of sensors, the quality of data is preserved.

Development of Freshwater Forecasting System using the SWAT-MODFLOW total water budget model

We will design and build a software suite for producing 36-hour forecasts of water flow rates and turbidity (cloudiness) at any point along the channels of the Upper Yellowstone River Watershed (UYRW). This forecasting system will respond to real-time sources of information on weather and upstream sensor readings, and will be designed for continual updates (via automatic daily recalibrations) based on modern statistical techniques. This project will substantially modify an existing software package (SWAT-MODFLOW) by introducing: turbidity forecasting; a more realistic accounting of snow buildup in the mountains; a calibration system designed for real-time updates; and an easy-to-use interface for running simulations and plotting inputs/outputs. The partner organization will be able to use this software for scenario-planning, and to obtain more accurate estimates of watershed metrics – both historical and current — that are crucial to managing human water users (public and private), wildlife, and the environment.

Material Formulation and Sheet Extrusion of Thermoplastic-Graphite Composites for Compression Molding of PEMFC Bipolar Plates

Hydrogen is a clean source of energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions. A very efficient method to obtain power from hydrogen is by using fuel cells, which generate electricity via an electrochemical reaction in which oxygen and hydrogen combine to form water with no harmful emissions. Of the major components of fuel cells are Bipolar Plates, which cost about one-third of the total cost of the fuel cells. As a result, reducing the cost of such components, specifically the manufacturing cost, while maintaining or improving their performance is a primary goal for the producers of fuel cells. Polymer-graphite composites has become the low-cost alternative material for the bipolar plates, currently made of thermoset (e.g. epoxy)-graphite composite materials. Such composite materials must have certain characteristics, but most importantly high electrical conductivity, especially in through-plane direction (TPEC). In addition, they should have an adequate flexural strength and fracture toughness to withstand the manufacture and operators’ handling throughout the processing and postprocessing (grooves making) mold-ability. Other desirable characteristics include: i) lost cost (material cost and conversion cost), and ii) low scrap rate (low rate of failure, especially during assembly, and recyclability).

Pattern Recognition in an Internet of Personal Health (IoPH) Platform

Providing meaningful health and wellness information is important in order to sustain an effective healthcare system in a society. In the last decade, manufacturers have launched a wide range of health monitoring devices. However, these devices provide mainly numbers, e.g. steps and heart beats, without reporting health conditions. Salu Design aims to transform a simple wearable device to a complete interactive personal health monitoring solution that deepens one’s understanding and engagement with individual health, by providing context for health data, answers to personal health questions and meaningful advice to improve conditions. The user is able to communicate with the Salu Design platform interactively. Communication data together with the accumulated back-end data will be processed and analyzed by the platform engine. The objective is to provide users not only numbers, but also the interpretations. The Salu Design Platform will start with its own simple to use and affordable wearable device. Eventually the platform will be available to other wearable devices. The long term goal is to provide health monitoring and solutions to clients internationally through smart wearables.

Next-Gen Amplified Sustainable Agriculture (NASA) – It’s About Space

To mitigate risks of global malnutrition, hunger, and conflict; food production should become more efficient and sustainable. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) can produce higher yields at reduced spatial and environmental footprints. This control improves management of key elements like water, nutrients, and nutritional outcomes. These advantages come with a cost however; of which energy is among the greatest. Greenhouses and vertical farms can have significant thermal management requirements, and increasingly, very large electricity demands. This project radically rethinks how CEA should be designed and implemented at small scales, large scales, and worlds beyond our own. The groundbreaking model-and-maker platform will transcend existing paradigms that historically have constrained CEA to specific locations, configurations, scales, or socioeconomic class. The program aims to 1) transform energy efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability of CEA operations, 2) increase global access to the advantages of CEA, and 3) grow the next generation of amplified agriculturalists.

Total Versus Bioaccessible Soil Sterilants (Bromacil and Tebuthiuron)

Bioaccessibility of soil sterilants is a limitation in management of sterilant-impacted sites. The term ‘bioaccessibility’ means: what is immediately available, plus that which may become available. Studies have been conducted to examine the bioaccessible fraction of various soil sterilants after different aging periods; however, studies have not been conducted in Alberta. Immobilization technologies such as activated carbon have been applied to sterilant impacted sites in Alberta for decades (Drozdowski et al. 2018). Given the uncertainty associated with the bioaccessibility of soil sterilants over time, there is a reluctance from a regulatory perspective to accept immobilization as a long-term solution for managing sterilant impacted surface soils. There is a need to identify methods for quantifying bioaccessible concentrations of sterilants in soil at different aging times from the application of activated carbon to properly manage sterilant impacted sites.

A Toolkit for Analyzing Online Conversations for Solutions Based Policy Development

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2014 Synthesis Report states that “substantial [greenhouse gas] emissions reductions over the next few decades can reduce climate risks in the 21st century and beyond, increase prospects for effective adaptation, reduce the costs and challenges of mitigation in the longer term, and contribute to climate-resilient pathways for sustainable development.” Yet, despite this imperative, energy conversations in Canada have become fragmented and polarized (Kevins & Soroka, 2018; Lefsrud et al., 2015) for renewable (Hoberg, 2019) and non-renewable energy (Hoberg, 2018) alike. This research examines these fragmented narratives by developing (a) several curated data sets for use in text-analysis research, (b) automated methods and tools for multi-faceted document-similarity estimation and document clustering, and (c) thematic mapping and evolution analysis of textual data streams for incumbent energy sources (hydro, oil and gas, coal, nuclear) and nonincumbent energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass) by geography. Our objective is understanding (d) the vocabularies, speakers, interlinking of conversations, and associated topics/themes by geography that can (e) draw these narratives together to support solutions-based policy conversations

Constructing New Statistical Approaches with CRM to Determining Membership Value to Customers: Evidence from CBA Data

The legal profession, like many professions within the global economy, is undergoing significant change with advances in innovation and technologies and as geo-political and economic shifts are underway. As the only association representing the legal profession across the country, but also active in the global economy through various initiatives including international projects supported by partners such as the UN among others, the ability for the CBA to provide a path for the future of the legal profession is paramount for its membership and its role in supporting the justice system and the rule of law.
The availability of “Big Data” enables the use of sophisticated statistical methods – such as machine learning and text mining – that will help the CBA in better understanding the needs of its membership and how such tools can help delivering unique insights in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Medicinal Chemistry Studies on Small Molecule Glucocerebrosidase Inhibitors

The objective of this internship is to create new chemical compounds that can be used to further our research and understanding of a human enzyme known as GBA2 – implicated in several debilitating diseases and signalling pathways in the body. These compounds would not only serve as tools to probe GBA2 for additional information but could also function as potential downstream therapeutics or pre-cursors to future medications to treat GBA2 malfunction. By synthesizing these probes, the intern will not only gain exposure to a branch of medicinal chemistry at the crossroads of organic synthesis and pharmaceutical sciences but will also have the opportunity to work and learn in an industrial science environment. In return, the intern will provide the partner organization with these valuable compounds and potential therapeutics which may serve the greater Canadian community as a resource for continued research, publication, and application.

Data-Centric Approaches for Vertical Agriculture

This project addresses one of the challenges confronting Vertical Agriculture (VA): the acquisition of added-value data, their analysis and their transmission to enable VA to provide a steady production while minimizing its environmental impacts, manage its yield and allow for a better understanding of its inter-related component. As a starting point, strawberry production is looked at with its cluster partner NovaFarming. The approach proposed of identifying the data required from which knowledge can be generated to enhance the overall performance of the VA installation. This includes collecting data to be analyzed and proposing data-centric approaches to act upon in the VA enclosures.

Issues in Northern Governance and Development- Masters Degree Cluster

The research plan has been jointly proposed by the academics of the International Centre for Northern

Governance and Development and Cameco Corporation to meet the needs of industry, [federal/provincial]

government(s), and Northern Saskatchewan residents by researching key issues such as duty to consult, resource

sector competiveness, and Northern development strategies. The research results will assist wealth generation in

Northern Saskatchewan, while the collaboration and education itself will increase local research capacity in

Northern and Aboriginal communities. Students’ research will advance the academic understanding of

governance and development in a Northern context and will foster unprecedented collaboration among industry,

community, government, and researchers to solve real world issues in a timely and pragmatic way.