Innovative Projects Realized

Developper une regie commerciale de culture biologique du fraisier a joursneutres hors-sol

L’experience sera conduite sous tunnels a la Ferme des Fraises de rile d’Orleans inc. Les

fralsiers a jour neutre (IN) seron! plantes en pots. Les pots seront disposes sur des dalles

suspendues aux structures des tunnels. Des espaces d’environ 1,3 m entre les rangs

permettront Ie passage de la rnacl1inerie et les operations culturales. Un systeme de fertigation assurera I’arrosage et la fertilisation des plants. L’irrigation sera geree a I’aide de

tensiometres electroniques et d’un systeme de lecture en continuo Lors de la premiere annee.

trois regies de fertigation seront comparees pour deux substrats et deux cultivars de fraisiers a IN. Les parametres edaphiques et les variables contribuant aux composantes du

rendement et de qua lite seront mesures a I’interieur de chacune des parcelles. Les variables

relatives a la stabilite physico-chimique du substrat seront mesurees.

Les beneficies attendus pour I’entreprise seront de permettre augmenter la production des

fraisiers ainsi que dameliorer la qualite de ses fruits. en occupant un…….

AI-powered operating system for buildings: new performance metrics

In the real estate sector, a large volume of data is produced by businesses, commercial users and building visitors in a great variety of forms. For instance, three extensive sources of data come from unstructured text (e.g. documents, contracts), numerical data containing resources consumption and sensor/image-type data describing user behavior. A challenging problem for the sector is how to process the generated data into a useful asset that can provide insights to help business decisions, optimize user navigation and automate building-related processes. In this context, modern machine learning offers a plethora of solutions, ranging from well-established predictive statistical models to natural language processing techniques for automatically analyzing texts. Given the variety of out-of-the box machine learning methods, it becomes essential to be able to compare solutions efficiently in terms of quality measure, model training and generalization capacity for annotated data, as well as intrinsic metrics for non-annotated data. TO BE CONT’D

Technology transfer of bioenergy systems for remote communities

The goal of this research is to use the developed information around the technical, economical and social political challenges for the implementation of small-scale bioenergy systems in remote indigenous communities in Canada. The targeted outcome creates a multi faceted model to evaluate the success and impact of future installation with less input factors to simplify the technology transfer and lower the overall investment requirements for communities or stakeholders. The project therefore attempts to promote and ease the installation of clean technologies in Canada to reduce carbon emissions, create job opportunities and retain money in local communities. The usage of local biofuels would further decrease the risk of wild fire in small communities and remote locations.

Novel strategies to handle noise in schools: the potential of soundscape based approach

In schools, sounds and noise can affect the students’ and the teachers’ well being. They are constantly exposed to noise and the latter can create a sound environment that is inadeqaute for the students to study and concentrate properly. This project will explore potential benefits of visual and auditory design to establish with minimal budget and intervention high quality spaces in school-contexts that help in creating an agreeable soundscape in the school. This project has three principle hypothesis (1) visual cues can influence the level of produced speech and as such control the background noise in schools, (2) providing well-designed restorative areas in schools can help students and teachers to cope better with noise exposure through-out the day, and (3) low-cost and highly effective interventions in the class rooms and the school as a whole can be realized through creative use of visual and auditory design.

R&D in the Social Impact Sector: documenting practices, assessing current needs and prototyping support models to enhance R&D capacity.

Despite the existence of pockets of deep expertise, there is not broad R&D capacity and talent in the social impact sector. Contributing factors include program based funding mechanisms, limited talent influx and partnerships with other sectors, among others.
The goal of this project is to explore different models to increase R&D capacity and supports for the sector. This includes examining current approaches to R&D, research on best practices for R&D supports (given the nuances of the social mission space), and testing a few distinct R&D support and capacity building models/interventions to arrive at solutions that can increase impactful R&D in Canada’s social impact sector.

ERVK as an ALS biomarker

The Endogenous retrovirus-K (ERVK) group are retroviruses which are found in human DNA and are linked to the disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Research has found that ERVK is more active in the brains and spinal cords of ALS patients. ALS is a disease that results in a patient’s gradual paralysis and for which there is no cure. As well, ALS is difficult for doctors to diagnose as there is no one test to determine if a patient has the disease. For this reason, I will be investigating the utility of measuring the levels of ERVK proteins in patient blood samples as an ALS biomarker. As ERVK is shown to be active in ALS, I predict that levels of ERVK protein found in a patient’s blood will be correlated to the severity of their disease symptoms. If this is the case, ERVK has the potential to be developed as a biomarker to help diagnose ALS earlier in patients and lead to earlier interventions and treatment.

Biodegradation of Dissolved Organic Matter

Water is vital for life; it is a resource we interact with daily and rely on implicitly. Our reliance on water resources is why water pollution is a global concern. One risk to water quality is elevated levels of toxic trace metals. While metals occur naturally in aquatic environments, human activities can increase natural concentrations to toxic levels.
Interactions of metals in aquatic environments are complex, and many metals may bind with organic matter in the water. This is a concern because this can increase the movement and availability of the toxic metals in the water. Therefore, understanding the cycling and interactions of organic matter is key to the study of trace metals. The proposed project aims to increase understanding of dissolved organic matter, which will also inform our understanding of trace metal interactions in aquatic environments. TO BE CONT’D

Investigating the scope of dsRNAi in human cells

Long dsRNA is produced by viruses during their replicative cycle. In plants and invertebrates, long dsRNAs block crucial cellular processes through RNA interference (RNAi). In vertebrates, long dsRNA is a potent inducer of critical signaling proteins that regulate antiviral immune responses. Although the RNAi system is conserved in vertebrates, there is little evidence to suggest that it plays a major role in antiviral defense. Moreover, it remains unclear whether long dsRNA can function as a template for RNAi (dsRNAi) in vertebrates. The proposed project aims to determine what human cell types are capable of using long dsRNA for RNAi and test this mechanism for novel therapeutic applications in the human cells.

Bohemian Matrices and Applications

“Bohemian matrices and applications” is a new and growing field in computational mathematics invented at Western University. The name “Bohemian” is a mnemonic for “Bounded Height Matrix of Integers”, which means that the entries of these matrices are drawn from a small set of numbers, such as {-1, 0, 1}. The original motivation for starting this field was to test software: we have found bugs in Matlab (a computer program which is widely-used by engineers and mathematicians), notably in the eigenvalue routine. However, as this field progressed, we have found many other applications of Bohemian matrices, such as (but not limited to) vibration analysis, compressed sensing, and optimization problems. The proposed research project (together with two of the top computer algebra research centers in the world) is to establish some foundational technical results for different families of Bohemian matrices. TO BE CONT’D

Mise en place d’outils et systemes de gestion en support a I’implantation de I’innovation ouverte

Dans Ie cadre de la demarche de I’IREO pour adopter I’innovation ouverte, I’equipe de recherche de

la ille, depuis 3 ans, un partenaire avec I’IREO pour: a) Oevelopper des meilleures pratiques et des

outils facilitant I’innovation ouverte, b) partager les meilleures pratiques d’entreprises innovantes en

innovation ouverte, developper les competenees cles chez les stagiaires pour reussir I’innovation

ouverte, c) etudier et evaluer les differents modeles d’organisation, d) planifier les diverses

innovations requlses dans les systemes d’innovation ouverts, adapter les processus et outils de

gestion en innovation teehnologique. Le but poursuivi par Ie projet planifie en 2011 est d’identifieri

accelerer, faeiliter et guider la mise en place de diverses innovations organisationnelles et

administratives specifiques touchant les strategies, processus, outils et methodes de gestion utiles a I’IREO dans Ie cadre de sa demarche d’innovation ouverte dans les 3 domaines suivants:

financement de I’innovation en partenariat, gestion de la en:iativite; gestion des connaissances.

Analyse biologique de différentes espèces de poissons d’eau douce d’intérêt pour la diversification de l’industrie piscicole Québécoise.

L’aquaculture est l’industrie agroalimentaires mondiales avec la plus forte croissance. Au Québec pourtant, la production piscicole ne bénéficie pas de cette croissance. L’industrie piscicole québécoise n’est pas très diversifiée et produit principalement de l’omble de fontaine, de la truite arc-en-ciel et de l’omble chevalier. Le nombre restreint d’espèce et la réglementation rigoureuse rend cette industrie plutôt vulnérable. Le projet vise identifier les espèces d’eau douce qui ne sont pas produites actuellement de façon commerciale au Québec, mais qui auraient une valeur marchande intéressante sur le marché de la table. Le projet permettra de (1) sélectionner et pondérer des critères, tant biologiques, physico-chimiques, techniques, financiers que réglementaires, servant à l’évaluation du potentiel d’élevage et de domestication de poissons, (2) de sélectionner les espèces à considérer pour le développement de l’aquaculture, (3) d’évaluer la préfaisabilité de projets d’élevage grâce à l’élaboration de modèles technico-économiques et (4) d’identifier les avenues de recherche maximisant la rentabilité commerciale.

Partnership Capacity in Australian Community Sport

Community Sport Organizations (CSOs) exist to provide opportunities for sport participation for youth and adults in many countries around the world. These nonprofit, voluntary organizations face many challenges in an increasingly complex environment due to their diverse stakeholders, scarce resources, volunteer turnover among other issues (Allison, 2001; Hoye & Cuskelly, 2007). Interorganizational partnerships have been identified as a central dimension influencing the overall organizational capacity of CSOs and the ability of these organizations to achieve their missions (Misener & Doherty, 2013; Doherty, Misener, & Cuskelly, 2014). This study will research partnership capacity within Australian CSOs. The particular objectives will be:

(1) to explore the type, frequency, and key motives for partnerships in the community sport sector;
(2) to identify the key capacities required to develop and manage effective partnerships;
(3) to understand the outcomes of community sport partnerships in the Australian context.

We anticipate that this study will result in theoretical development related to partnership management as well as cross-cultural comparison in addition academic manuscripts and technical reports for participating CSOs will be developed at the end of the study. This will also serve as a foundation for my future dissertation studies related to building capacity in youth sport organizations.