Innovative Projects Realized

Application of concrete electrical resistivity technique for monitoring thesetting and hardening of concrete

The measurement of concrete electrical resistivity is a very fast method providing reliable information about the pore structure and durability parameters in concrete. This measurement can be related to the setting of concrete. Time of setting when concrete’s workability decreases significantly is an important parameter for concrete production in different climates and construction conditions. This project is designed in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms in concrete setting as it is related to the electrical resistivity of this material. Three students will work on various aspects of this project, including the correlation of setting and resistivity, optimizing the electrical current frequency for various concrete mixtures, and application of electrical resistivity in determining the time to remove concrete formwork. This project will ultimately result in the development of a comprehensive guideline for the application of electrical resistivity measurement for the improvement of current quality control practices in the construction industry.

Sami Reindeer Domestication Studies

My interest in the displacement of animals that play key roles in Indigenous food systems that resulting from habitat loss associated with climate change has led me to consider the potential for domestication and animal husbandry as a potential adaptive management strategy. The unique instance of reindeer herding by the Sámi people provides an important point of comparison for my research into Indigenous food sovereignty and climate change. This international collaboration will allow me to develop expertise within my specific focus in the consideration of potential applications of similar domestication strategies for the conservation of at risk species and improvment of Indigenous food security locally. The opportunity to collaborate with the Domestication in Action project led by Dr. Anna-Kaisa Salmi at the University of Oulu and access extensive literature available at the university library would be crucial to gaining an adequately in-depth understanding of this relatively obscure area of interest.

Expanding Cultural Heritage Stewardship Knowledge and Capacity with Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council and Teck Highland Valley Copper Operations

Many agree that the future of economic and community development in British Columbia hinges on the successful creation of innovative, broadly beneficial partnerships among First Nations, governments, and industry. The proposed research collaboration between the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council and Teck Resources Limited would harmonize and advance three complementary goals: (1) boost the efficiency and productivity of Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Operations, (2) expand Nlaka’pamux cultural and environmental heritage stewardship capacities, and (3) enhance the quantity and quality of information obtained from field investigations of the cultural and archaeological sites and artifacts documented within the Highland Valley Mine’s footprint. The project would engage up to seven interns to conduct research and write archaeology master’s theses on topics ranging from the sources and distributions of stone used for tool making to the application of satellite imagery to assist in the identification and mapping of ancient villages, trails, and land use patterns.

Usages et appropriation des médias sociaux par les parlementaires : quelle innovation de la communication politique ?

Réalisé en partenariat avec l’École de Communication de l’Université Catholique de Louvain, notre projet interroge l’utilisation des médias sociaux par les politiciens européens et canadiens au regard des discours d’accompagnement qui tendent à célébrer leur potentiel démocratique. Par le biais de l’analyse de publications Facebook et Twitter émises par les élus dans leur action politique au quotidien et lors de campagnes électorales, nous souhaitons mieux comprendre les pratiques des acteurs politiques sur le Web 2.0 et voir comment ceux-ci peuvent jouer des potentialités sociotechniques de ces dispositifs pour valoriser des éléments de proximité et de spontanéité avec les citoyens. Comme l’indique le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada dans son récent rapport (2017) sur les « Défis de demain » dont fait partie l’étude de la contribution des nouvelles technologies au profit des individus, il devient essentiel de former, dans la durée, les élus à une culture de la participation citoyenne et à une appropriation effective des outils numériques […]

Is the psychological profile of the mentor a predictor for the success of the mentoring relationship?

Our research project is to verify the effect of two psychological concepts, emotional intelligence (IE) and the Big Five, on a mentoring relationship developed in an entrepreneurial context. We collected data from 188 mentoring dyads as part of the Réseau M of the “Fondation de l’entrepreneurship du Québec”. A positive association is expected between the mentor’s EI and the mentee’s learning, the functions received, and the characteristics of the relationship (trust and perceived similarity). Similarly, personality factors such as openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are presumed to influence trust in the mentor, perceived similarity, functions, and learning. As far as the EI can be developed by an awareness of the mentors, it is a potential track for intervention in the future in order to improve the impact of learning for entrepreneurs that are supported by a mentor.

Design and optimization of the layout, energy systems, and district energy plant for a Mothership in a UK case study

The ‘Mothership’ concept aims to provide a holistic alternative to urban sprawl. A ‘Mothership’ is a large (more expansive than tall) building or cluster of buildings with high residential density plus a mix of others use types. The idea is that this building will encompass all the necessities of a typical suburb into a compact footprint. This could potentially free up large areas that would otherwise be taken up by the alternative forms of buildings such as single detached homes. It is also an excellent platform for district energy systems, and renewable energy integration. The project will investigate the application of the Mothership in a UK context, accounting for the different energy generation mix, climate, resource availability and development scenarios. The tasks will include optimization of the Mothership layout and massing for energy efficiency, and design and optimization of the energy system and district energy plant.

Application of Global Predictive Real Time Control Strategy to Improve Flooding Prevention Performance of Stormwater Basins

Sustainability as one of the key elements of Smart cities, can be realized by employing Real Time Control Strategies for city’s infrastructures. Nowadays Stormwater management systems play an important role in mitigating the impacts of urbanization on natural hydrological cycle. Besides, these systems have a huge potential to be managed in such a way that they would be adaptable to global challenges like climate change. Hence, a dynamically managed system that can adapt itself to instability of the environmental conditions is desirable. Some Global Predictive Real Time Control algorithms will be developed in this project to optimize the performance an integrated system of stormwater management basins in terms of flooding prevention. Then a Hybrid metaheuristic approach from the combination of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Genetic algorithm (GA) will be employed to achieve a sufficiently good solution to our optimization problem. At the end, an improved performance at system-level for the stormwater basins is expected which will result in much less flooding in downstream urban areas in comparison to static managed basins.

Development of an efficient process to produce influenza virus-like particles in insect cell culture platform

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent influenza infections. However, the current production of influenza vaccines in embryonated chicken eggs has limited capacity during pandemics or high demand seasons, and is both labor-intensive and time-consuming. Consequently, there is a need to develop a robust production platform that can efficiently accelerate the production process and ultimately replace the egg production system. The aim of this research project is to use insect cell culture-based technology to rapidly produce virus-like particles (VLPs) as influenza vaccine candidates. VLPs are non-infectious particles that mimic the native structure of the virus eliciting a strong immune response in a safer manner. In our project, the production of VLPs will occur after introducing the variable dominant surface antigens in an insect cell line stably expressing the VLPs core protein. The project will deliver novel knowledge on the cell line development and inducible system in insect cells platform as well as novel bioprocessing technologies.

Value-based care in abdominal surgery: Measuring recovery outcomes that matter to patients

As surgery enters the era of value-based care, it is advocated that postoperative recovery be measured using patient-reported outcomes (PROs) as they provide a mean to incorporate the patient’s perspectives and experiences into research and clinical decision-making. In abdominal surgery, this is currently precluded by the lack of PRO measures specifically developed and validated in the context of postoperative recovery. The core goal of this research project is to develop a PRO measure aimed to assess postoperative recovery from the perspective of patients undergoing abdominal surgery. This project will be conducted in three phases: Phase 1: qualitative interviews with patients to develop a conceptual framework and generate relevant items, Phase 2: use of Rasch Analysis for item-reduction and scale formation, and Phase 3: further assessment of measurement properties based on traditional psychometric methods.

Drying, harvest, and storage conditions of buckwheat hay used for commercial production of rutin

Production of rutin, a high value of nutraceutical, from buckwheat hay in Manitoba has the potential to be much less labour-intensive and inexpensive compared to that produced offshore from other crops. However, the optimum drying condition of buckwheat hay and the relationship among drying conditions, harvest times and the amount of rutin in the dried hay is not known. An inexpensive and faster method to determine the amount of rutin should also be developed for the factory production of rutin. The objectives of this proposed project are to determine whether the drying conditions and harvest times influences the production of rutin extracted from the dried hay.

The effect of a topical analgesic on neuromuscular endurance and pain

It has been shown that topically applied gels, which contain menthol, result in a cooling sensation and reduce the sensation of pain. Because neuromuscular endurance activity leads to sweating and muscle pain we seek to discover the effect of BioFreeze on various forms of neuromuscular endurance activity and muscle soreness. This discovery will require 3 main research objectives, all of which will be conducted as research studies with the goal to be published in peer-reviewed journals. Performance Health will get the benefit of understating potential application of BioFreeze and potentially how to further market their product.

Issues in Northern Governance and Development

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/local governments, and Northern Saskatchewan residents by researching key issues

related to northern development and governance strategies. The research results will assist in the

improvement of prosperity and well-being 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 collaboration among industry, community, government, and

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