Innovative Projects Realized

Understanding Transportation Behaviour at Trent University

The proposed research project will seek to highlight the factors that influence transportation

behaviour, as well as the specific barriers that exist for particular modalities on Trent

University’s Symons campus. This, then, will provide a more intimate understanding of how

future efforts to bring about more sustainable transportation systems might serve to address

the specific needs of the Trent community. Secondly, it will help to elucidate specific

strategies and frameworks for addressing pressing transportation issues on the Symons

campus, and in the Peterborough community more broadly. Lastly, the knowledge gained

through this research study will contribute the overall effectiveness of transportation planning

and programming, which can then contribute to a net reduction of vehicular traffic as well as a

reduction in the social and environmental impacts associated with our current transportation

systems. This City of Peterborough, the internship partner organization, will use the research

generated within the context of this project to inform its infrastructure planning, service

provision, and Transportation Demand Management….

Characterizing Technology Use in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 1 in 68 children. Approaches that use technology can potentially decrease cost of ASD interventions and treatments and contribute to improving their effectiveness. There is currently not enough evidence to inform how these technology-based interventions should be designed. The goal of this study is to fill this gap. We will do this by conducting a national survey to better understand technology use patterns in children with and without ASD. The survey will look at how, what, and where technology is used, how technology use is affected by gender, age, and autism symptoms, and how technology impacts the children and families health and quality of life. Overall, this study will inform the development of evidence-based technology-based interventions that can improve outcomes for individuals with ASD.

Stratégies pour le contrôle des contaminants microbiens dans un procédé de fabrication de panneaux à partir de fibres de bois

Une usine de fabrication et de transformation de panneaux de fibre de bois à partir d’un procédé papetier requiert l’aide de stagiaires pour évaluer les sources de contamination microbienne. Au fil des ans, ses intrants et ses circuits ont été modifiés. L’usine constate depuis quelques années des problématiques qui dépassent son niveau de contrôle traditionnel. Des analyses plus poussées, que l’usine ne peut faire elle-même, sont nécessaires pour comprendre les interactions qui se produisent actuellement et pour trouver des solutions aux nouvelles problématiques rencontrées. Des solutions seront testées afin que l’usine puisse mesurer, contrôler ces nouveaux paramètres et en contrer les effets indésirables.

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

Bacterial pathogens of importance to animal health and food safety have major and global impacts on agriculture and food industries. There has been an increase in bacterial resistance to antimicrobials, and antibiotic use in livestock and poultry has been questioned due to likelihood of increased antimicrobial resistance. Alternative strategies to contend with bacterial pathogens within the food production chain are therefore needed. Lytic bacteriophages (phages) are bacteria-specific viruses that can lyse and kill their bacterial targets. One of the focuses of SyntBioLab Inc. is to develop applications to control bacterial pathogens by using phages. Escherichia coli is a major problem for food safety and animal health. In particular, in poultry (chickens and turkeys), avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is the predominant cause of respiratory and systemic infection. TO BE CONT’D

Testing, evaluation and development of a commercial protocol to differentiate hPSC-derived pancreatic progenitors into insulin-producing ?-cells in 2D monolayers and/or 3D culture systems

The generation of functional ?-cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for cell replacement therapy and disease modeling of diabetes is a strongly investigated area. Recent scientific breakthroughs have enabled derivation of large quantities of human pancreatic ?-like cells in the laboratory, but the protocols are currently not consistent or optimized for cells of various genetic backgrounds. We aim to develop a commercial kit to differentiate hPSCs into ?-cells with reproducible efficiencies between multiple cell lines. We anticipate for such a kit to support researchers in robustly generating cells for studying human pancreatic development, dissecting molecular pathways and gene functions impaired in disease, screening cells for drug discovery studies, and investigating the regenerative potential of ?-cells for the treatment of diabetes. We also believe such a product will pave the way for the design of a product that can support clinical trials and the scale-up of biomaterials for transplantation purposes in humans.

Ultra-low power wireless sensor node design for health monitoring use cases

In this project we address the problem of power consumption for wireless sensor nodes. This is where among different components of a sensor, RF transceivers consume a significant amount of power e.g. approximately 80%. Hence the main objective is this project is to tackle the power consumption problem at the RF transmitter, where we aim to reduce the power consumption to micro-watts of power, with minimal sacrifice in achievable data rate and by keeping the connectivity range within an acceptable radius.

Optimization of Bull Semen Cryopreservation through Iterative and Rational Media Design

Cryopreserved (frozen) semen provides optimal genetics to cattle and especially dairy farmers, facilitating improved breeding programs. The sperm cryopreservation process significantly reduces fertility compared to fresh sperm. Each percent of reduced fertility amounts to a significant financial loss to farmers. Thus there is great pressure on semen providers to improve post thaw fertility, as it is a significant market decider. In order to be successfully cryopreserved, sperm must undergo a number of damaging processes. Many previous researchers have looked at specific processes individually, but we believe that all parts of the cryopreservation process must be considered in an interconnected whole. Therefore, we propose a novel whole-protocol optimization strategy combining novel biophysical research with a novel experimental optimization design. This will result in an improved sperm cryopreservation protocol for SEMEX, and improved understanding of sperm damage so that well designed follow-up studies can be implemented.

Understanding sharp-tailed grouse habitat selection and lek persistence to inform industrial siting and mitigation strategies

The sharp-tailed grouse is the provincial bird of Saskatchewan and a favourite upland game-bird for hunters. Sharp-tailed grouse are considered an indicator of grassland ecosystem health, and there is growing concern that populations are declining in Saskatchewan and elsewhere. Habitat loss, as a result of conversion of grassland habitat for agriculture and energy production, appears to be one of the major factors influencing grouse populations in Canada. To maintain healthy populations of sharp-tailed grouse, while balancing economically important energy production, it is imperative to develop an understanding of sharp-tailed grouse habitat selection and their response to construction of energy infrastructure. In particular, the selection of lek sites, seasonal dancing grounds that form the basis for grouse mating and nesting, is poorly understood. TO BE CONT’D

Embedding Project

The Embedding Project is a public-benefit research project that relies on strong social science research methods to bring together thoughtful sustainability intrapreneurs from across industries and around the world, and harnesses their collective knowledge to develop rigorous and practical guidance that benefits everyone. This internship will offer an MBA student the opportunity to gain experience in both practice and research, while learning from leaders in the field. The Intern will spend approximately 75% of their time implementing employment engagement initiatives at Quadreal, a global real estate management company, and 25% of their time documenting and translating their learned experiences in the form of a tool or resource that can then be made publically available to sustainability practitioners more generally.

Improving Human-centric Facility Management through Machine Learning Analysis and Visualization

Buildings represent up to 40% of primary energy consumption. To optimize that energy cost vs. the comfort of its occupants, Facility Management (FM) relies on data from sensors, and on automation, to increase efficiency. The majority of existing buildings however have limited automation, so it is up to Facility Managers to interpret and act upon the information resulting from the various building sensors. This is often difficult without the appropriate contextual information to guide and support decisions. This project aims at addressing this issue by using Machine Learning methods applied to FM data, and make the results more explicit for human users, by providing better informational context as well as the development and application of new data visualization techniques, and improve Facility Managers’ decision-making.

Open Health Initiative: The Pharmaceutical Pipeline

This is a documentary and web project that will focus on the pharmaceutical industry, specifically new

approaches that may enable better development and delivery of drugs to underserved populations. The

documentary and website will explore the major issues involved in the production of pharmaceuticals,

both in Canada and around the world. Specifically, the project will focus on clinical trials, marketing

strategies and the overall corporate philosophy of the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, it will seek

to clearly explain just why a new drug costs over $800 million to develop and bring to market. The

project will also look at how generics have changed the industry. Specific attention will be paid to

Canada’s role in providing generic drugs to Africa. Interns will assist in all aspects of research and….

Silicon Quantum Dot Trace Explosive Sensor

Development and testing of a trace explosive sensor based on silicon nanomaterials or quantum dots. The project will involve interaction and pilot testing with the RCMP and Transport Canada. The success of the project will enable Applied Quantum Materials to introduce a new product into the security marketplace and form a platform technology for the development of drug and chemical agent detection.