Innovative Projects Realized

Application of a novel pilot-scale bioreactor for wastewater treatment at a typical remote area in China

Current wastewater treatment facilities are relatively large and located in centralized populated areas. A major issue arises in an area such as Tianjin China because there are a number a small communities and villages located a great distance away from the centralized treatment plant within the city. Because of this, those villages require a transportation method that will remove their wastewater and bring it to the facility; some communities are in very remote areas where wastewater transportation is not possible. The proposed idea is the innovation of a small wastewater bio-reactor that can be centralized within smaller communities. The objectives of this project it to bring effective wastewater treatment to smaller populated areas, reduce the need of wastewater transportation and reduce the cost of wastewater treatment. TO BE CONT’D

A Comparison of Canadian and Chinese Historical Narrative Formation

I would like to study what history is emphasized in Chinese middle and high school classrooms. Through observation, I would like to see what elements of Chinese history are focused on, and in turn, how this may contribute to the Chinese identity. Compared to Canada, China has a rich history spanning thousands of years, yet it is highly unlikely that all events in China’s history can be covered within whatever limited time scheduled for history education. Understanding how educators select what to teach, and what not to teach, can provide a great deal of information to a student’s level of pride, patriotism and civic engagement. It would also provide insight as to the level of student engagement on specific subject matter. Do they take more interest on social history or military history? TO BE CONT’D

Design and Testing of a Novel System for In-Situ Die Lubrication

Stamping presses are widely used to make metal parts in the automotive industry. Currently,

lubrication for a die in a stamping press is applied to the whole sheet. Although this is the

industry standard, this approach has a problem. By the time the sheet exits the press, the

lubricant may have run out. This can result in defective parts. To correct this, it is proposed

to have lubrication nozzles built into the die so that lubricant is applied locally. Thus, the

objective is to design, test and implement a control system for automatic in-situ die

lubrication. A prototype die with lubricant injectors is available for test purposes.

Experiments are needed to identify the optimum conditions for delivery of the lubricant. In

order to optimize the controller, an intelligent (neuro-fuzzy) algorithm will be used. If the

project is successful, the immediate benefits are: 1) fewer defective parts, 2) reduced

consumption of lubricant and 3) a cleaner work environment.

Examining play based learning cross-culturally

I would like to study how play based learning is used and viewed in the Chinese school system, and how children learn through play in these conditions. Through observation I intend to examine classroom structures in the primary grades, kindergarten to grade 3, in Chinese school system, and observe how students learn through play from the beginning of their educational journey. The study will address the question: How is play based learning viewed and practiced in China in K-3 classes? In investigating this question, my research will look at the types of play that best support child development, for example dramatic play, cooperative or solitary play, artistic, outdoor, indoor, etc. Along with types of play, my research will ask the question, is teacher-directed play more effective than children’s free play environment? TO BE CONT’D

Drug loaded co-polymeric nanoparticles as targeted delivery systems: Preparation and evaluation

The research project deals with the development of a targeted drug delivery system for cancer treatment. This drug delivery system features the use of nanoparticles (NPs) as efficient carriers for cancer drugs. Current cancer therapy regularly involves the use of chemotherapy to kill cancer cells; however, chemotherapy affects normal healthy cells and patients may experience severe toxicities. Use of NPs have numerous advantages, including its abilities to prolong the drug’s time in blood circulation and to transport drugs to specific sites, and these can help reduce the harmful effects of chemotherapy. This project specifically analyzes the synthesis of drug loaded NPs by a method called microchannel technology. Then, synthesized products will be evaluated in laboratory or controlled experimental settings (in vitro) and under normal biological contexts (in vivo). TO BE CONT’D

Studying the Nature of Red Star-forming Galaxies using Observations of their Interstellar Medium from the JCMT

Observations of large numbers of galaxies in the universe have shown that the vast proportion of galaxies are either blue in colour and actively forming stars, or red in colour with little to no star formation. One goal of the study of galaxy formation is to establish any physical links between these types of galaxies. Since it is not possible for us to observe individual galaxies evolve in real time, we must infer their evolution by studying many galaxies with a range of properties. We will study a population of galaxies which are red in colour and yet actively forming stars, recently found in a recent study of Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. The study found that galaxies in this population, coined “red misfits,” are evolving from blue and star-forming to red and not star-forming. TO BE CONT’D

Quantification of antibiotic residues and nitrites in meat using paper-based microfluidic devices

Meat contamination is a severe public health risk and therefore the development of highly precise, rapid, and reliable monitoring devices are necessary. Chemical hazards in meat such as the presence of nitrites and antibiotic residues have potentially carcinogenic, toxic, and/or allergenic effects when exceeding threshold limits set by governing health agencies. Conventional methods to monitor meat contaminants are often laborious and require highly skilled personnel, making the quest for developing simpler and more cost-effective techniques for rapid monitoring to be critical. This research project focuses on developing a paper-based colorimetric microfluidic device that is capable of quantifying trace level of nitrite and antibiotic residues in meat with high specificity and reproducibility. Determination of the presence of nitrite and antibiotic residues in meat will be based upon a chromogenic reaction between these chemical hazards and chromogenic reagents on wax-printed filter paper. TO BE CONT’D

Investigating the Ecological Significance of Toxin Production in Poisonous Amanita Mushrooms

Poisonous mushrooms play important roles in the ecosystems they inhabit, yet they produce chemical toxins that can be lethal when ingested, making these fungi interesting organisms to study. Many species of Amanita mushrooms contain toxins that result in hundreds of deaths globally every year. While numerous studies have examined the chemical properties of these toxins produced, the biological effects of the toxins when consumed and the global and geographical distributions of poisonous Amanita species, little is known about the ecological role of toxin production for these organisms. This project will aim to examine the ecological significance of toxin production to investigate if toxins enhance the germination ability of spores produced by the mushroom, allowing the fungi to reproduce and propagate more efficiently. TO BE CONT’D

Determining the effects of gating modifier compounds on cultured central nervous system neurons as potential therapeutics against epilepsy.

Voltage-gated sodium channels are key contributors to excitability in living organisms; hence, modulation of these channels through mutations and/or environmental triggers can often lead to serious disorders. Having an enriched understanding of the sodium channel electrophysiology may result in uncovering potential therapeutic targets. The general aims of our research include studying the effects of various modulators on sodium channels through well-established electrophysiological techniques. These efforts will be an effort to discover potentially therapeutic modulators against sodium channel-mediated epilepsies.

Environment-Based Design (EBD) application to mechanical products

Design problems need creative solving method, solution and specific knowledge and experience. Design problems and solution methodologies have been studied for many decades. Environment-Based Design (EBD) method is one of the modern and comprehensive methods which reflects the state of art in the design methodologies. In this project EBD technics including environment analysis, right-questions presentation, Recursive Object Model (ROM), conflicts identification and design generation, design validation and future prediction will be used to analyze the mechanical product development. The project will be done in School of logistic Engineering of Wuhan University of Technology and will have two aspects. First part includes improving host group design knowledge by implementing EBD and the second part is about validating the proposed methodology by considering mechanical products as case-study. The outcomes of project can be presented as follows.
1. Developing strategic framework for finding innovative design idea by using EBD. TO BE CONT’D

The Scale-up Challenge for Canada? Obstacles to High-Growth Technology-based Firms and the Policy Response

Digitally-enabled technology firms will assume greater significance for Canada’s future economic growth and prosperity. The ability to grow digitally-enabled firms from the startup phase to globally competitive scaled up firms will be a critical part of this challenge. Among the advanced industrial economies, Canada ranks second only to the United States in terms of entrepreneurship, but most Canadian start-ups do not scale successfully. Available data indicates that less than 3 percent of Canadian service firms beyond the five-year mark qualify as “high-growth.” Canadian firms simply aren’t scaling, but why? In cooperation with its industry partner, this project seeks to address this puzzling outcome through a rigorous, empirical investigation of the obstacles to scaling-up and the policy supports needed to overcome them. The project’s industry partner and the broader Canadian policy community will benefit from the project’s insights into what works and what doesn’t for firms looking to scale.

Evaluation of Signal Mass as a new marker of brain tissue loss in multiple sclerosis

The degree of brain cell injury and death may be associated with disability and problems with memory and thinking skills in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This is most frequently measured by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to calculate shrinkage of brain volume. In fact, MS patients suffer more rapid shrinkage of brain volume compared to healthy people. However, brain volume can also fluctuate due to reasons other than brain cell death, such as water coming in and out of the brain. Also, brain volume change alone does not necessarily inform us regarding the change in the number of brain cells within the tissue (i.e. change in the density of brain cells). This project aims to evaluate Signal Mass (SM), a new method that combines both the volume shrinkage and cellular density information. TO BE CONT’D