Innovative Projects Realized

Development of Remedial Action Objectives for McKay River Watershed Impacted by Open Mines and Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainages

Since the 1960s, the lands of several indigenous communities such as the Fort McKay Métis have been largely impacted by open mines and steam assisted gravity drainages (SAGDs). Such oil sands operations have disturbed large areas, changed geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, aquatic and terrestrial environment, and created a linear disturbance. This research project will map and analyze the contaminants of particular concern within the McKay river watershed which will be used to develop remedial action objectives (RAOs). Specifically, this project will develop a consistent approach to interpret baseline aquatic environment data collected using indigenous knowledge (IK) and contemporary western environmental science. Besides, areas of greatest risk will be identified through robust watershed models combined by chemical simulation modules. Finally, a decision support system will be developed to help the community develop feasible RAOs. These RAOs will: a) protect human health and the environment from contaminants that may cause significant risk.; b) comply with applicable, relevant, and appropriate regulations; c) be cost-effective; and d) consider a long-term remedy whenever practical while being consistent with planned future land use. The research derived from this project will assist Fort McKay Métis community to adopt sustainable development strategies while strengthening vulnerable areas and increasing resiliency.

Process enhancement for conversion of municipal wastewater residuals into effective sorbents

Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generate a large amount of sewage sludge which requires tremendous operating costs for handling and treatment, and the final disposal of biosolids for land applications becomes less feasible because of the potential hazards (e.g., heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants) in the biosolids. In addition, some emerging contaminants have caused growing concerns as indicated by and outlined in the in the Canadian Water Network March 2018 National Expert Panel Report Canada’s Challenges and Opportunities to Address Contaminants in Wastewater. This research proposes an innovative solution to these two problems. The general objective is to synthesize sewage sludge-based activated carbon (SBAC) for effectively removing contaminants of emerging concerns from WWTP effluent. The SBAC will be synthesized by pyrolysis at 400-500ºC for 1-2 hours using different starting materials including thickened secondary sludge, biosolids, and mixed primary and secondary sludge. TO BE CONT’D

Architecture Exploration for High-Integrated and Low-Cost Avionic Systems

Digital avionics systems of today are designed for the most part with embedded computers. These

computers run safety-critical real-time applications such as flight management systems (FMS) and

flight control systems (FCS). Even if avionics use conservative technologies, economic concerns are

constantly pushing for changes. Space, weight, power and cooling (SWaP-C) considerations are

gaining importance in the aviation industry. High fuel and maintenance costs encourage aircraft

manufacturers to reduce the footprint of new models. For many years, avionics systems have been

designed to run a single application on dedicated hardware in tightly coupled hardware/software

architecture. These federated systems are no longer economical, given the duplication of hardware

they incur. Modern airplanes like the Airbus A-380 use Integrated and Modular Avionic (IMA)

architecture to reduce the footprint of new avionics systems by combining several applications within

a single computer hardware unit. The interns in this project will work on the IMA development

environment and design a platform demonstrator to help our partners make………………….

Tectonics of Mount Abu Granitoid, Rajasthan, India

The proposed research will take place in Mt. Abu, Sirohi district of Rajasthan in Western India. Mt Abu is a batholith and consists of granite. The project will analyze the 735 Ma old Mt. Abu Granitoid batholithic pluton that is situated at the southern tip of NE trending in the Aravalli Mountain Range. The purpose of the study is to determine whether shear zones in Mt. Abu are a product of cratonic collision or were formed as a later tectonic product. Despite being one of the oldest regions, the cause for deformation in Mt. Abu has not been identified.

This research topic was chosen due to recent identification of ductile and brittle shear zones in the Mount Abu rocks. The objective of the study is to analyze shear zones in Mt. Abu through documenting structural data to ultimately develop a new model of deformation for the grantioid. A model for deformation will provide better insight on the plate tectonics of the region and serves an academic as well as industrial purpose.

Does FOXO1 directly regulate chemosensitivity in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?

Development of waste derived heterogeneous photo-catalysts for the treatment of chlorophenols

Chlorinated organics are recalcitrant in nature and are released from industrial effluents. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as photo-catalysis are considered effective towards partial or complete degradation of toxic and recalcitrant compounds due to their non-selective nature. The current study is planned to synthesise bimetallic catalyst supported on carbonaceous waste material. The catalyst synthesized will be then characterized using various techniques and will be tested for treatability of mixture of chlorophenols under the conditions optimized in our recent study. The spent catalyst will be regenerated chemically and thermally and will be reused for photo-catalytic oxidation and characterization. Further, reaction kinetics will be studied and mathematical model will be developed. Finally, a brief report of the work be prepared.

Analysis of a Genetic Mutation in a Gene for Association to Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when buildup of plaque causes blockage of oxygen to reach the heart. When a total blockage occurs, this leads to heart attacks. CAD is the leading cause of death worldwide and this research will be conducted on a mutation found in a gene associated with plaque build up and analysis will be undertaken to determine the relationship between this mutation and the susceptibility of attaining the disease. Our expected results will allow us to understand what effect this mutation has on a gene related to CAD and will add to our current understanding of genetics in the development of CAD.

Production of 9%Cr-Al-Zr ODS Steels

The goal of the project is to produce sample sets of oxide-dispersion strengthened steels, with varying compositions, using advanced manufacturing equipment and techniques. These ODS steels differ from traditional ferrous alloys as they contain nano-sized oxide particles that are dispersed throughout the body of the steel. These dispersions help strengthen the steel as they are much stiffer and harder, and they maintain these properties at high temperatures. Because of the included participates, these steels cannot be manufactured using traditional methods as the oxide particles cannot bond with the metal base. Instead these materials must be formed from a mix of powders that are compressed and heated. The facilities available for this type of manufacturing are limited, and the advanced manufacturing facilities at the University of Science and Technology Beijing specialize in the production of these ODS steels. At the end of this research project, a set of ODS steel samples with varying concentrations will have been manufactured and processed. Additionally, a draft of a research paper will have been completed and data from mechanical testing and electron microscope imaging will have been collected […]

Molecular insights into the phosphorus cycling in Lake of the Woods, Canada and Lake Taihu, China: the binding forms

Anthropogenic inputs of phosphorus (P) from agricultural and urban activities, as well as sediment recycling (internal loading), have caused harmful algal blooms (HABs) in surface waters worldwide, including Lake of the Woods, Canada and Lake Taihu, China. HABs remain active in the Lake of the Woods and Lake Taihu even though point sources, such as direct and/or indirect municipal and industrial discharge of P loading have been drastically reduced over the past few decades. To address this problem, an improved understanding of P cycling, in terms of P species and binding forms and detailed molecular characterization is essential. Current methods (e.g. membrane filtration; calorimetric method coupled with sequential P extractions) for characterization P chemistry and/or transformation may seriously under predict the actual mobility of P at a site that has undergone restoration. Understanding phosphorus (P) speciation and binding forms and the mechanisms of P transformation especially to bioavailable phases at a molecular level is critical for accurate identification of external and internal P sources […]

Capture and repurposing of waste industrial emissions for improved economic and environmental sustainability

The long-term goals of this project are to help find economic and environmental sustainable ways to improve the efficiency of the mining industry. Vital to the Canadian economy, the industry is energy intensive and produces large amounts of waste carbon dioxide and heat. Through capturing and repurposing these waste streams, the project will develop pathways to produce on a large-scale, microalgae sourced biofuels and valuable health beneficial nutraceuticals, such as antioxidants and antibacterial compounds. These will be obtained from microalgae bioprospected from both historic and active mine sites as we have found many of these microalgae, through natural adaptation to unusual environments, uniquely produce the desired valuable products.

From incubator to money maker: An investigation of entrepreneurial founding teams

The current project seeks to develop an understanding of the process of startup organization process by examining the individual, team, and contextual characteristics that will lead to the success of a startup organization. Despite the importance of each variable, most of the literature has focused on individual characteristics, ignoring the importance of the team as a whole and the context of the organization. The goal of this internship is to create an evidence-based assessment tool that will evaluate a startup based on the aforementioned characteristics. In addition, we are aware that startup organizations are not static in nature; rather, they are dynamics organizations that are constantly evolving as their meet their goal of becoming an operating business. This project will therefore take a temporal approach to assessing startup organization’s needs by identifying differences stages in the startup process and identifying which characteristics are most important at each stage.

Development of invertebrate behavior bio-indicator assays forcontaminants in honey.

This

project aims to investigate the possibility of using insects that feed on honey in nature to develop a simple, lowtech

test for testing honey contamination levels. We propose to test the behavior and development of larvae of

the Greater Wax Moth and the Small Hive Beetle on honey with a range of contamination levels. If we can find a

significant behavioural difference between insects on contaminated and non-contaminated honey this could be

used as an alternative to high-cost testing methods currently in use. We believe that this could have great

potential for small-scale honey producers and in the developing world as a method of reducing the costs of

honey production.