Innovative Projects Realized

Product Modularity Enhancement and Engineering Analysis for CPP Dredge

Canada Pump and Power (CPP) Corporation has approached University of Alberta (UofA) to conduct

a joint research program by leveraging MITACS Accelerate Internship Cluster Program on “product

modularity enhancement and mechanical engineering analysis” for CPP’s existing dredges with its

uniquely selected pumps for different user requirements. The methodology adopted includes

parametric feature-based design and system simulation-based engineering analysis. The research

novelty is the associative engineering analysis with product selections, and configuration

management information model that can be reused for different product configurations with minimum

reengineering effort. This research has a 2-year period; 16 intern units are planned for graduate

students. The key benefits for CPP are the development of a well investigated modularity framework

with reusable engineering and computerized design models. These benefits will enhance CPP’s

flexibility in satisfying the variety of user requirements and reduce the risks and costs of reconfigured

systems which will lead to direct efficiency and profit gains.

Mapping associations between drought and simultaneous fires across space and time within the Southern Canadian Cordillera

The sequence of costly wildfires that burned at multiple locations in British Columbia and Alberta during fire seasons in 2003, 2015, 2016 and 2017 remind people that fires play an important part in forests of southwestern Canada. However, people are also increasingly recognizing the role of fire in providing ecological renewal and diversification. As a testament to this growth in understanding, forestry companies are embracing practices which include emulating historical fire regimes that exhibit a wide range of spatial and temporal characteristics such as fire shape and severity. Unfortunately, for the most complex fire regimes, those of mixed-severity, climate drivers remain poorly understood. Since many forests in the Southern Canadian Cordillera have evidence of these fire regimes, increasing our knowledge of fire-climate relations across these forests can help identify patterns of fires over space and time. Such knowledge can also help anticipate changes to fire regimes due to human driven climate change.

Characterizing wetlands of different restoration ages in central Alberta using drone-based information (an extension to current Mitacs project: IT10213)

Wetlands provide important ecosystem services to human communities, such as groundwater recharge, storing floodwater, and supplying fishery resources. In Alberta, wetlands cover ~21% of the province, forming one of the Canada’s largest wetlands reserves; however, many of these wetlands have been impacted or lost through human activities. Over the past 30 years, there have been efforts made by the government and partner agencies to restore wetlands, but little is known about the rate of recovery and the state of these restored wetlands, relative to a natural reference condition.. The aim of this research is thus to understand how well wetland ecosystem function recovers after restoration using new and emerging technologies, including Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Results of this research will help the public and policy-makers better understand the effectiveness of wetland restoration methods in Alberta. Fiera Biological Consulting Ltd. will also benefit from this research in enhancing their expertise in wetlands monitoring.

Credit Portfolio Management and Stress Testing Models Research & Development

Consistent with industry norms, ATB Financial conducts both mandatory and discretionary stress tests of the whole institution and of its credit portfolio. This project aims to contribute to the refinement of the in-house expertise on methodologies employed to measure credits risk and the overall level of risk of the institution. These activities normally requires management to provide an estimate for ATB’s financial performance, capital and liquidity position conditional on a set of predefined scenarios. The focus of the research project is on the estimation of default probabilities and loss given default.

Security and Resiliency of Prairie Industrial Water Supplies

This research problem examines the security and resiliency of prairie industrial water supplies in a changing climate. The water-consumptive industries in the Prairie Provinces are a major contributor to the national economy, but they depend on secure and reliable water supplies in a region characterized by dry climate. The most challenging future scenario for these industries, and the prairie economy in general, is a prolonged drought in a warmer climate. The objective of this project is to support planned adaptation to climate change in the Prairie Provinces’ energy and mining industries. The research will involve using tree rings to reconstruct past water levels in the Souris, Saskatchewan and Qu’Appelle River basins, and using climate models to predict future climate and water supplies. This new scientific knowledge will be translated so that it can be applied to risk assessment and adaptation planning in the mining and energy sectors.

PHASE II Mapping for Change – A Case Study of Enhancing Informational Exchange and Collaboration Through Geoweb Technology

‘Mapping for Change’ Phase II is a continuation of a case study of best practices in the use of Geoweb as a mechanism for enhancing informational exchange and collaboration between homelessness stakeholders including non-profits/charities serving the homeless. Building upon the web-based mapping application (isearchkelowna) developed/evaluated in Phase I, Phase II will extend the broad-based consultation with relevant homelessness stakeholders in order to refine isearchkelowna to align with the ‘Journey Home’ Strategy. The ‘Journey Home’ Strategy is a community-based homelessness strategy intended to coordinate, on a system-level, homeless services in Kelowna. The primary focus of the next phase of ‘Mapping for Change’ is readying isearchkelowna, both in terms of structure/function and its long-term positioning within the broader community, for hand-off to the community once Phase II is complete.

Suivi au champ de la croissance des racines d’espèces fourragères en fonction de la fertilisation et des coupes de foin

La croissance racinaire des plantes fourragères destinées à l’alimentation des bovins a été peu étudiée. Ce projet vise à évaluer l’effet de certaines pratiques agronomiques sur la croissance des racines de fléole des prés, de fétuque élevée et de luzerne. Pendant deux saisons de croissance, les racines de ces plantes ont été photographiées chaque semaine, directement dans le sol, à l’aide d’une caméra de type minirhizotron. Le projet de recherche international proposé consistera en l’analyse et l’interprétation des données issues de ces deux années d’expérience dans un laboratoire français spécialisé dans l’écologie fonctionnelle des systèmes racinaires des plantes pérennes. Les objectifs spécifiques seront d’établir l’effet de la source d’azote (lisier de bovin ou engrais de synthèse) et des coupes de foin sur la croissance racinaire de ces mélanges fourragers, ainsi que d’établir le taux de renouvellement annuel des racines, une information essentielle pour déterminer quelle quantité de carbone ces plantes peuvent entreposer dans les sols. Une meilleure connaissance du système racinaire des plantes fourragères pérennes permettra d’améliorer la performance agronomique et environnementale des systèmes agricoles.

Signal processing of EEG for detection and classification ofclinical brain states

measures the brain activity via electrodes placed on the scalp, or in the case of evaluation for epilepsy brain

surgery, intracranially. The EEG measures very complex time varying signals from multiple and spatially

complicated sources. Clinically, EEG interpretation relies on visual interpretation of signals less than 30 Hz,

ignoring the rich motherlode of information from higher frequencies. Advanced signal processing is required to

make the EEG more useful for assessing clinical states. This proposal applies advanced signal processing to: 1)

assess the levels of anesthesia in patients undergoing surgery, 2) study the neurodynamics of focal seizure

activity measured both with intracranial and extracranial EEG electrodes with a view to understanding the

features and location of most active seizure activity, and 3) extract gamma frequency from the scalp EEG from

controls and patients so as to develop a biomarker for disease states such as dementia and schizophrenia. All of

these projects clearly have significant clinical applicability and commercial potential.

Characterizing lytic bacteriophages against pathogenic E. coli: receptor specificity, efficacy in vivo, and genomic analysis

Many facets of human life are affected by bacterial pathogens. Bacteria can cause both animal and plant diseases. Extensive use of antibiotics to contend with pathogenic bacteria has resulted in an increase of multi-resistance to antimicrobials. Even when antibiotics are used vigilantly, their application in poultry or other fields of animal production can lead to increased spreading of drug resistance. Natural adversaries of bacteria – bacteriophages – are now considered as an alternative to antibiotics. Unlike antibiotics which show broad range killing, bacteriophages only kill specific bacterial species or strains, and are harmless for others. In poultry, avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is the predominant cause of respiratory and systemic infection in chickens and turkeys. During a Mitacs Accelerate grant, we isolated lytic phages with a broad killing activity against a variety of APEC strains. TO BE CONT’D

Développement d’une formation en ligne au travail avec interprète pour le réseau de la santé de la ville de Québec

La communication entre un patient et un intervenant est la base pour le travail en santé et service sociaux. L’intervention d’un interprète peut être essentielle en situation interculturelle, pour aller au-delà des différences linguistiques et culturelles qui conditionnent la qualité des soins. Le but de ce projet est de concevoir et valider un court programme de formation continue pour les intervenants en santé (notamment médecins, infirmières et professionnels de la santé mentale) portant sur le travail avec interprète. Cette formation permettra un meilleur accès aux services de santé et services sociaux pour les patients allophones et améliorera la qualité des services (évitant des erreurs, garantissant le suivi des traitements, etc.). Elle devrait aussi diminuer la discrimination systémique entraînée par le manque de connaissance sur ce type d’intervention.

Microfluidics Lab on a Chip device

There is no definite knowledge about how cells transforms and responds to the physical forces in human body. Recent studies shows that chemical signals, environment as well as mechanical properties can steer the cell behavior. Recent advancement in MEMS and micro fabrication techniques leads to the ability to study biological responses using a lab on a chip and organ on a chip devices. The potential to mimic exact same cellular level conditions made LOC a vibrant and rapidly-progressing field. Mechanotransduction can be studied in details by placing the cells in a micro porous membrane and applying a uniaxial stretch. Recent research solved the challenges to create a biaxial stretch which is more close to biological force condition compared to the uniaxial. Our objective of this research is to develop a micro fabricated multi axis stretching LOC device for studying mechanotransduction and biomedical applications.

An investigation of the effectiveness of competency-based management implementation

Competency-based management (CBM) is an approach to human resource management (HRM) that has grown in popularity over the years. CBM involves objectively defining the necessary competencies (defined as job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes) to effectively perform a job, then integrating this framework into the organization’s HRM processes. While this approach makes sense in theory, there is little hard evidence available about its effectiveness for organizations. In an effort to bridge this knowledge gap, this project will involve conducting a comprehensive interdisciplinary review of the literature to determine what evidence currently exists about the effectiveness of CBM for learning and development initiatives in organizations. Importantly, the review will also assist organizations with preparing themselves to evaluate future CBM initiatives.