Innovative Projects Realized

Création d’un service de développement de l’image de marque pour athlète professionnel.

L’athlète professionnel peut être vu comme un véhicule marketing. Tout comme un produit, son image de marque peut donc être travaillé et développé. Cela apportera de la valeur à l’athlète qui sera bénéfique lors de sa carrière et lors de son après-carrière. L’utilisation de concepts existants comme le conceptual model of athlete brand image ainsi que le modèle de cycle de vie d’un produit seront utilisés pour construire un modèle concret applicable dans

l’évaluation et la classification de l’image de marque de l’athlète selon son cycle de vie en tant que professionnel dans le sport. L’objectif du développement de cette échelle sera d’orienter et d’appuyer les responsables marketing de SEM dans l’élaboration d’une stratégie marketing long terme pour le développement de l’image de marque d’un athlète selon les différentes étapes de développement de sa carrière professionnelle.

Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Therapy in Myasthenia Gravis Exacerbation

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is caused by an immune attack on the nerve and muscles junctions and manifests as severe and sometimes life threatening muscle weakness. A number of effective immune modifying medications are available for MG. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) – a fraction of blood harvested from thousands of donors and containing high concentration of immunoglobulins, is a highly efficacious therapy for MG. Unlike some other therapies, response to IVIG is quick and therefore commonly used in MG patients in whom rapid response is needed. Recently, a highly concentrated form of IVIG has become available that can be given under the skin i.e. subcutaneously (SCIG), which may have several potential advantages over IVIG. Our center is currently leading a clinical trial designed to optimize the use of SCIG in MG patients. The purpose of this study is to further explore various biological characteristics of SCIG that determine its efficacy, response duration and adverse effects in MG patients. Our findings would also be applicable to several other immune mediated diseases of nerves and muscles, which are treated with immunoglobulin therapy.

Evaluation Capacity Network: Aligning Evaluative Thinking and Practice among Early Childhood Stakeholders

This project aims to provide much needed evidence to service providers and program managers working in the field of early childhood development (ECD). Early childhood programs are required to provide evidence of tangible outcomes to validate the impacts of their programs. Organizations, though, do not always have the knowledge, resources, or capacity to support such processes and the intent of gathering such evidence is interpreted differently depending on the individual sector. This case study will document how two different sectors partner to support and assess the impact of a social support/housing program for young teen parents. The program is supported by an emerging partnership between an early childhood program and a housing society. This project will identify the resources and capacities needed for these organizations to effectively gather evidence of their program and services impacts.

Aerobic landfill treatment: reduction of greenhouse gas emission, leachate treatment and downstream processing

Landfilling of waste is an operation that has huge impact on both water and air quality. Modern landfills can be designed to minimize impact on groundwater resources and reduce Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in old landfills, which typically undergo a slow, anaerobic biodegradation process that

produces methane gas. It is estimated that global methane emissions from landfills are between 30 and 70 million tonnes each year, most of which currently come from developed countries. Methane and carbon dioxide are two major greenhouse gases (GHG). Methane traps 25 times more thermal

energy in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Methane emissions from Canadian landfills account for 20% of national methane emissions. SALT Canada Inc. has been working on a landfill site in Fort McMurray, Alberta, in order to convert an anaerobic site to an aerobic operation and hence achieve carbon neutrality. The company strives to treat the organic matter in the landfill expeditiously and with minimum or no impact on the environment and achieve a stable landfill ready for mining and land reclamation. SALT Canada is partnering with researchers at Western University to address this goal. TO BE CONT’D

Design and development of helical pile testing apparatus

This research will focus on designing an apparatus and developing a testing protocol for determining the capacity of helical piles in collaboration with Stable Ground Solutions. A helical pile is a type of deep foundation that consists of a shaft and helix or multiple helices. The testing of piles can be expensive and time consuming using current standard testing methods. There is also a lack of research and publications focused on helical piles and therefore they are not commonly used. This project will deliver a detailed design of the apparatus for the industry to fabricate the prototype. The proposed technology will allow the industry to conduct safe, timely and efficient tests on soils. Stable Ground Solutions will commercialize the apparatus as a tool for engineers to obtain the bearing capacity of soils using helical piles.

Facilitating knowledge transfer by sharing experience before carriers disappear

The knowledge and skills of long-term employees are vital to the success of any business. When they leave, retire or are no longer available to perform their functions new employees are hired to take on their job functions. Somehow the skills of the departing long-term employees have to be transferred to the newly hired. The most effective way for transferring the skills to the new employees is mentoring. The aim of this project is therefore to put in place a system for facilitating knowledge transfer from long-term employees that are experts in they job functions to novices before the experts are no longer available.

Développement d’un enduit pour les membranes d’étanchéité respirantes.

En partenariat avec la Chaire de Recherche Industrielle en Environnement et Biotechnologie (CRIEB) de l’UQTR, papiers C.C.T a entrepris un programme de recherche sur les enduits pour les membranes d’étanchéité. Les mandats sont de développer de nouveaux enduits respirant afin d’éviter les phénomènes de condensation interstitielle et d’améliorer l’efficacité énergétique des bâtiments. Le présent stage cadre dans ce programme. Le stagiaire sera appelé à faire le développement de ces enduits et à évaluer leur respirabilité. En effet, les enduits seront couchés sur une membrane nano(micro)poreuse et caractérisés par les méthodes RET (resistance evaporative transfert), MVTR (moisture vapor transmission rate) et d’infiltrométrie.

CommuterVis: Visually Understanding Commuter Behaviour in Canada

Too many people drive cars for commuting to work. If people used more active and sustainable transportation options this would reduce the impact on the environment and likely increase people’s physical activity and well-being. Our project partner Sustainable Alberta Association (SAA) is a not for

profit organization that organize a Canadian annual wide competition called Commuter Challenge held during Environment Canada Week where individuals and work places track their commuting behaviour over a week. In this research project we propose to visually explore the commuting

behaviour data to better understand how participants commute within Canadian cities. Our goal is to raise awareness of commuting behaviour via visualizations to help organizations such as city councils and local governments to improve their business decisions when making investment into sustainable transportation infrastructure such as public transit, bike pathways, and electric vehicle recharge stations.

Déterminer le connecteur optimal pour joindre un pontage métallique à une charpente en bois

Le projet de recherche présenté a pour objectif de proposer un connecteur optimal pour joindre un pontage métallique léger de toit, à une charpente de bois. La portée de ce projet se limite à un pontage typiquement utilisé dans l’industrie, soit le P-3606 de CANAM. Les connecteurs ciblés sont de de type « pointe » (vis, clou) installés sur le dessus de la toiture à l’aide d’équipements pneumatiques. Les facteurs d’évaluation des performances du connecte du seront : la résistance à un effort latéral statique (résistance pondéré et rigidité du diaphragme) et le coût. Pour évaluer ces facteurs, des tests à petite échelle seront effectués sur une grande variété de connecteurs afin de restreindre le nombre de connecteurs à considérer lors des tests à grande échelle prévus. Les tests à grande échelle seront comparés à la méthode de calcul utilisée dans le Code national du bâtiment canadien ainsi que celle du Steel Deck Institute. Au terme de cette recherche, une règle de calcul et/ou une table de calcul sera produite pour permettre la conception de bâtiments sécuritaires et à un coût raisonnable.

Amélioration de la compacité des bétons ordinaires et bétons à hautes performances contenant la poudre de verre

Ce projet vise l’optimisation de la compacité des particules cimentaires pour améliorer la durabilité des bétons ordinaires (BO) et celle des bétons à hautes performances (BHP). L’étude inclut l’incorporation des ajouts cimentaires notamment la poudre de verre, le métakaolin et le laitier dans les bétons en vue de réduire considérablement la perméabilité de bétons. En général, un béton de faible perméabilité est synonyme d’un béton durable. Des différents types de bétons suivant le rapport E/L et contenant divers taux d’ajouts cimentaires seront soumis à des essais mentionnés dans le tableau 1. Des résultats de l’étude permettront d’optimiser le compactage des matériaux cimentaires pour les BO et BHP, puis d’évaluer les paramètres indicateurs de durabilité, et enfin modéliser la compacité des matériaux cimentaires servant à la formulation des BO et BHP.

Human umbilical cord perivascular cells as cell therapeutics for biodefense and immunomodulation

Mesenchymal stromal / “stem” cells (MSCs) are found in adult tissues such as bone marrow and fat and also in neonatal tissues such as the placenta and umbilical cord. Among these sources, Human Umbilical Cord PeriVascular Cells (HUCPVCs) are the richest source of MSCs described. Importantly,

they possess immunomodulatory and immuneprivileged properties which enable them to be delivered from one donor to another, evading immune detection. Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics (TRT) Inc. is developing MSC products with prophylactic properties for use in biodefense and immunomodulation applications by genetically modifying the cells to secrete therapeutic antibodies, however we lack inhouse expertise in this area. This project will enable the laboratory of Dr. Bernhard Ganss, in collaboration with TRT Inc., to carry out pilot collaborative work to address these and other challenges associated with designing, engineering, producing, and testing this novel class of MSC-based therapeutics in animal models of disease for use in biodefense

Narrative Form and Visual Sequence: The New Photography in 1970s American Practice and 1980s French Discourse

My dissertation investigates the narrative photography emerged in the US around the 1970s and its influence on the formation of photographic discourse in France throughout the 1980s. By narrative photography, I refer to the photographic experiments that appropriate certain qualities of narrative forms, ranging from books to theater. With the financial support of Mitacs Globalink Research Award, my stay in Paris will allow me to examine the original photobooks and critical writings produced in France during the 1980s. The result will buttress my argument that the transatlantic fascination with narrative photography originated in a specific epistemological aspiration for the medium during the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to the successful completion of my dissertation and the publication of its chapters as independent papers, the proposed research will weave a vast network of institutions and individuals, which opens up fecund potentialities for future collaborations across the Atlantic.