Innovative Projects Realized

Micro Action Impact Measurement Index for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (aka Project MAI-MI)

In a historic United Nations (UN) summit, world leaders adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a universal call to action to address the global challenges we face by the year 2030, including those related to poverty, inequity, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Together, the UN and their partners have underscored the importance of evidence-based and transparent long-term pathways, in which sound metrics and data are critical for turning the SDGs into practical tools for problem solving, tracking progress and accountability.

The proposed research will employ statistical and machine learning tools to bridge the gap of mapping individual actions (micro-level) against the SDGs and targets (macro-level). The resulting innovation is expected to support emerging Corporate Social Responsibility principles and practices for Canadian companies and help them be more competitive through operational efficiency gains and enhancing their employer brand with transparent impact reporting.

Control of Silicon Nanocrystal Optical Response through Fueled Dissipative Self-Assembly

This project aims to prepare a self-assembling and disassembling material from silicon and gold nanoparticles. The lifetime of this material is determined by the network of chemical reactions that control the assembly and disassembly of its constituents. The relative rates of these reactions, in turn, depend on the concentration of a chemical fuel. Silicon nanoparticles, though inherently luminescent, are expected to lose their luminescence when assembled with gold nanoparticles. Consequently, the material will luminesce in the disassembled state but will not in the assembled state. Thus, the optical (and electronic) behaviour of the prepared material, as well as its lifetime, can be tuned through careful manipulation of chemical fuel concentration. This affords an intelligent and responsive system that can be employed in applications where temporal and spatial control of material properties is critical, such as in self-healing electronics and smart drug delivery.

SAGD Wind Down and Post-SAGD Energy Scavenging

In-situ recovery methods for oils sands are applied to reservoirs containing bitumen that are too deep for mining. To date there has been only one commercially viable in-situ recovery method, Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), involving high pressure steam injection and bitumen production using horizontal well pairs located near the base of oil sands formations. While SAGD has enabled conversion of significant resources to reserves (about 170 billion barrels), SAGD has many economic and environmental limitations. At the end of SAGD, steam chamber temperature remains very high and drops at a fast pace of about a few degrees per month even after the wells are shut in. The heat scavenging can play an important role in post SAGD reservoir management that requires the appropriate follow-up technologies to be developed. The project in the current proposal is an extension of an existing project and aids in further evaluating the benefits of several new technologies for stored energy scavenging from reservoir.

Investigating the Role of Sti1 in Preventing TDP-43 Misfolding in a Zebra Fish Model of ALS

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is an incurable neurodegenerative characterized by the dysfunction and then death of motor neurons due to misfolded proteins. While healthy cells are equipped with a defence mechanism against protein misfolding known as protein quality control, it is possible that some neurons in ALS lose this mechanism. It is unknown why TDP-43 misfolds in ALS, and why the protein quality control process is unable to prevent this. To investigate this, we will narrow our research in on chaperones such as Sti1, a key component of the protein control process. In a collaborative research initiative to decipher why Sti1 fails to prevent TDP-43 mis-folding in ALS motor neurons, we will use a zebra fish model of TDP-43 toxicity. This model is unique in that it allows us to investigate the Sti1-TDP-43 interaction in an organism holistically, through genetic, biochemical, cell biological, physiological, and behavioural approaches. Thus, we will be able to determine how Sti1 modulates TDP-43 in motor neurons and determine the effect on muscle function. This work will shed light on how specific molecular chaperones, in the protein quality control process, modulate protein misfolding. TBC

Changes in trabecular packets with age & effects on mechanical behaviour of cancellous bone

A person’s risk of experiencing a bony fracture increases with age. In addition to simply the loss of bone volume that occurs due to aging, there are also microstructural changes that contribute to the increased risk. The latter have been poorly studied to date. Trabecular packets (also known as hemiosteons) are the microstructural constituents of the cancellous bone that form the bulk of a spinal vertebrae, a common location for age-related fractures. Our hypothesis is that age alters the population of packets within the bone, which in turn affects the bone’s mechanical and failure behaviour.

The goal of the proposed research is to gather preliminary data supporting this hypothesis in samples from a young and old spine. Two cores of vertebral cancellous bone will be X-rayed in three-dimensions (3D) to measure its geometry, along with the 3D strain distribution when the sample is compressed. We will then embed the samples, section and stain them, and image the slices, in order to reconstruct the 3D geometry of the trabecular packets. The packets identified can then be related to their position within the overall sample geometry, as well as the strain measured in those locations. TBC

Using CT scans of deceased children to investigate the impact of mortality bias on interpretations of age and growth in forensic and bioarchaeological applications

Mortality bias is the concept that because non-survivors have passed away, they may be the frailest or most vulnerable members of a population. Thus, they may not accurately represent the biology of the whole population to which they belonged. However, these deceased individuals are precisely the ones examined by physical anthropologists working in both archaeological and forensic contexts. This study aims to estimate how much of an impact mortality bias could have on interpretations of growth, health and age at death from juvenile skeletal remains. This will be achieved by using a sample of CT scans taken of modern children. Developmental status will be assessed and then compared between groups of children meant to represent those of a normal modern population, an archaeological population, and a forensic population. This study will either strengthen skeletal analysis as conducted today, or provide incentive and a framework to develop more robust methods.

Investigation of Aerosol Cold Spray Technology for Ceramic Coatings Deposition

Aerosol deposition (AD) is a modification of low pressure cold spray technology which allows the deposit of ceramic based coatings. AD technology in a vacuum allows the formation of dense and well adhering ceramic films from sub-micro and nanoparticles directly at room temperature. The AD technology is still under development to cover more applications and discover solutions of spraying different kinds of powders on different types of material substrate and optimizing spraying conditions to obtain the best results. The main objective of the project is to investigate a new AD cold spray technology for Hydroxyapatite (HA) and Zirconium Dioxide (ZrO2) ceramic powder deposition onto both the implants and engine components. The new AD spraying system will be constructed and tested to obtain data that will have a significant effect on the development of ceramic coating structures and properties, and will allow spraying of nano-particles onto various substrates to achieve unique material properties. Application prospects of the AD cold spray technology will be defined and the first trials of AD process for orthopedic implants will be performed.

Self-optimizing Fabric for ENCQOR Network

This project is aimed to develop a next-generation network providing unprecedented quality of cellular service to Canadians and small and medium businesses, stimulating innovations and improving the quality of life of our people. Relying on the ENCQOR infrastructure, which is the first 5G network in Canada supported by three governments (Quebec, Ontario, and Canada), the outcomes of this research project will contribute substantially to the progress of the Canadian information and communication technologies industry. The proposed research project used as the building blocks for a new class of Ciena’s network solutions, which will be offered to many world-class operators.

Examining surgeon’s eye-hand coordination during microsurgery

Are we using surgical simulation the right way? At present, the surgical curriculum uses simulation mainly to familiarize students with instruments and surgical techniques or as an objective assessment of skills performance. What if we could use surgical simulation to personalize the teaching of a surgeon in training (surgery resident)?

This research will use eye-tracking (participant’s eye movement), motion-tracking (movement of the instruments) and force-tracking (force applied to the instrument) technologies to identify the differences between board certified neurosurgeons (expert) and neurosurgery residents (novice) during simulated surgical procedures. By describing these differences, we will be able to provide instant and individualized feedback to the surgical residents so they can develop a technique similar to the expert.

I expect that the knowledge gained will help the neurosurgical community design a better training curriculum for neurosurgical residents. The ultimate goal is to eventually report the correlation between simulation and clinical benefits and hopefully prove that simulation in neurosurgery leads to an improvement in patient outcome and safety.

Strong Like Two People: curriculum development for northern creative program on Tlicho lands

This research will help Tlicho youth engage with the teachings of ancestors through art practice—addressing the need for educational opportunities that revolve around northern Indigenous culture.
In the first phase of this research the intern will gather information from Tlicho elders about what aspects of culture (such as oral stories) may be presented in the course. In the second phase, the intern, together with Tlicho elders, will deliver a course that allows young students to tell stories from the north through art practice (using drawing and animation).

la langue incarnée – la construction social des « derniers locuteurs »

Un grand nombre de variétés linguistiques disparaîtront probablement au cours des prochaines décennies. Leur documentation revêt une grande importance pour les communautés minoritaires, mais également pour la linguistique, car une théorie du langage ne devrait pas s’appuyer uniquement sur les langues majoritaires. Ce sujet reste problématique car il implique plusieurs acteurs, notamment les membres des communautés autochtones, les organisations internationales, les institutions subventionnaires, les forces politiques, les médias et le grand public. Le statut des langues étant lié aux formes de légitimité, chacun de ces groupes peut suivre des objectifs différents.
Outre les questions sensibles telles que l’éthique sur le terrain et au-delà, la propriété des données et les inégalités d’accès à la langue, on peut aussi remettre en question les échelles de disparition des langues et le compte à rebours des « derniers locuteurs » – une caractérisation qu’affecte leurs vies et celles de leurs proches de manière non négligeable.

Otolith collection from adult and juvenile Caranx caninus, Lutjanus argentiventris and Lutjanus novemfasciatus fishes in Barra de Navidad, Mexico

This project is a data collection project; the collected data will be part of a greater project that will aim to demonstrate using microchemistry that commercially important fish stocks of Caranx caninus, Lutjanus argentiventris and Lutjanus novemfasciatus that are regularly fished from Bahía de Navidad use Barra de Navidad lagoon as a nursery area. Adults fished from Bahía de Navidad will be bought from local fisherman, and juveniles will be caught from Barra de Navidad. Samples will be processed; otoliths (small bones) will be removed, and weights and measurements of the fishes will be taken. These results will eventually be used for a larger project that will analyze and compare Strontium concentrations found in the otoliths of the adults and juveniles. Saltwater contains several times more Strontium than freshwater, and this element is retained by continuously growing otoliths in the fish proportionally to the ambient level. Therefore, analyzing concentrations of Strontium from otoliths allows us to see if the fish has spent time in fresh, estuarine, and/or saltwater, and during which part of its life.