Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

13270 Completed Projects

1072
AB
2795
BC
430
MB
106
NF
348
SK
4184
ON
2671
QC
43
PE
209
NB
474
NS

Projects by Category

10%
Computer science
9%
Engineering
1%
Engineering - biomedical
4%
Engineering - chemical / biological

Modulating HMGB1 in COVID-19-associated inflammatory response

The project addresses urgent and clinically-relevant questions related to COVID-19, which causes in some patients life-threatening respiratory distress, septic shock and organ failures. Patients in intensive care units were found to have significantly higher levels of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) than patients with milder symptoms. HMGB1 is a protein normally found in the cell nucleus that is released outside the cell under inflammatory conditions such as viral infections. Although its role in COVID-19 pathology remains unclear, its levels in the blood are correlated to the severity of sepsis and organ dysfunction, and could contribute to the higher mortality rate observed in patients with other inflammatory conditions.
The reason for targeting HMGB1 in COVID-19 rests upon its key role as an inflammatory protein increased in COVID-19. Our main goal is to modulate its level and activity in COVID-19-associated inflammatory response using pharmacological and nanotherapeutical agents – JN2019, JN2020, fisetin and dPGS – which target different steps in HMGB1 regulation. COVID-19-associated inflammation will be modelled in human cells of organs most impacted by the virus (lungs, kidneys, brain) using the main viral protein (S-protein). Cell death resulting from excessive inflammation will be correlated to HMGB1 protein modifications and activity.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dusica Maysinger

Student:

Issan Zhang

Partner:

JN Nova

Discipline:

Pharmacy / Pharmacology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McGill University

Program:

Modeling the climatic impact of lakes in Tsay Keh Dene Nation and Carcross /Tagish First Nation territories of northwestern Canada

Lakes and reservoirs affect regional weather but their influence on the average environmental conditions in the remote, sparsely monitored, northwest of Canada has seldom been investigated. This study examines the climatic influences of lakes and reservoir impoundment on two First Nations territories in southern Yukon and northern British Columbia, using an atmospheric model alongside a lake model. Two 10-year meteorological simulations, corresponding to pre- and post-impoundment conditions, and for landscape with and without the lakes, respectively, will be used. Their differences for surface fluxes including heat, will help determine what localized warming and cooling for various periods are induced by water bodies, the changes in precipitation, alongside the underlying physical processes. Lake properties for a warmer climate will also be analyzed. The examinations will improve knowledge of land-water-atmosphere interactions at high latitudes. Such understanding will guide environmental change adaptations of remote communities where hydropower projects are planned or underway.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Peter Jackson;Siraj Ul Islam;Stephen Dery;Brian Menounos

Student:

Chibuike Onwukwe

Partner:

Chu Cho Environmental LLP

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Northern British Columbia

Program:

Human-Based Study to Characterize the Biomechanical, Physiological and Comfort Impact of Alternative Torso-Borne Loads and Load Distributions

Torso-borne protective clothing and load carrying equipment (ie. bulletproof vests) is fundamental to the safety of Canadian Armed Forces personnel. To make informed decisions on purchasing and developing new equipment, a suite of mannequin-based tools was developed by Defense Research and Development Canada. They are developing a female model to reflect the Canadian Armed Forces’ goal to increase diversity within its ranks, particularly with the representation of women. HumanSystems® Incorporated has been contracted to complete human testing to help validate the new tools. The intern will collect kinematic data from female participants conducting a series of tasks commonly performed in the Canadian Army. These tasks will be completed while wearing a vest, manipulated to simulate different loads and arrangements of torso-borne equipment worn by soldiers. The data will be used to determine the forces and moments on the spine as a crucial step to validating the new system.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Michele Oliver

Student:

Rebecca Wendland

Partner:

Human Systems Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Guelph

Program:

Accelerate

Optimization of Oat Beverage Process Conditions for Nutrients Recovery

The demand for plant-based beverages by consumers continue to increase due to their sustainability and health benefits. Oat is one of the most promising cereals and seeds to prepare functional plant-based beverage since oat has high amount of dietary fibres and good quality proteins. Earth’s Own is one of the biggest oat beverage producers in Canada and even North America, but more research efforts are needed to increase the nutrient recovery and improve the oat beverage sensory profiles for more competitive products at home and abroad. To the end, the effects of process conditions (such as grain-to-water ratio, mechanical forces, and enzyme levels) on the nutrient recovery and sensory profiles will be understood. This fundamental knowledge will provide valuable guidance to the oat beverage production. The findings of this research could be used to create industrial guidelines that will be used in other companies in Canada.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Lingyun Chen

Student:

Jingqi Yang

Partner:

Earth's Own Food Group

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

Managing the transportation of hazardous materials with disruptions and uncertainties

Given the harmful nature of Hazardous materials (Hazmats), the corresponding transportation and storage processes are always associated with substantial levels of risks. Targeting the real-world circumstances with disruptions and uncertainties, the proposed research aims to seek alternative and adaptive solutions for proper locations of Hazmat facilities, suitable assignment of customers to active sites, and efficient routing plans from both cost and risk perspectives. More practical and realistic considerations are brought to the model by additional time-variant assumptions, including the customer service time restrictions, different traffic densities and speeds over different hours of the day, as well as transportation risks and cost caused by different departure times. The main purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the existing transportation networks, and to facilitate relevant shareholders, such as the government and carriers, to manage the hazmat transportation and emergency response.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ginger Ke

Student:

Saeed Tasouji Hassanpour

Partner:

Husky Energy Inc

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Optimising Green Rainwater Infrastructure for Rain City Strategy Targets

The City of Vancouver’s Integrated Rainwater Management Plan and Rain City Strategy provides rainwater management targets and design standards for public spaces (streets, public spaces, parks) and private spaces (private property, City-owned property) in the City of Vancouver. To reach these targets, the City has adopted several Green Rainwater Infrastructure (GRI) approaches to achieve the design standards in both types of spaces. The GRI types that will help the City meet its targets sustainably include green roofs, rain barrels, and rain. The City however, is coming up against barriers to implementing these types of GRIs so to overcome these issues, this work will increase the understanding of how these GRIs can be used on different building types and spaces to meet the Rain City Strategy targets. A handful of case studies spanning the range of Tier 1 type GRIs will be selected and analyzed to demonstrate how these GRIs work and why. The case studies analysis will be developed to demonstrate to the public the benefit to both the public and private sector, and to promote their use in future planning.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Caterina Valeo;Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya

Student:

Sarah Wenqin Qi

Partner:

City of Vancouver

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Other

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Accelerate

Governing innovation and knowledge sharing to increase adaptive capacity of forest industry in Quesnel, British Columbia

In Quesnel, British Columbia, efforts to stimulate innovation and diversify actors of local forest industry can be challenging for emerging locally-driven small forest enterprises that have limited capacity and resources. Building an inclusive forest industry that constitutes existing large forest enterprises and locally-controlled small forest enterprises in the landscapes therefore involves strengthening networks of knowledge and innovation. This research seeks to gain a deep understanding of Quesnel forest industries and to identify conditions that foster learning and innovation among locally-driven forest enterprises. To meet the objective, we will apply a participatory approach to learn about the underpinning social network and points of leverage to achieve resilient forest industry. Community-driven study using participatory approach will help the City of Quesnel to establish a long-term collaboration with private institutions and local communities to improve the effectiveness of Forestry Initiatives Program

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jeffrey Sayer;Agni Klintuni Boedhihartono

Student:

Adinda Rizky Herdianti

Partner:

City of Quesnel

Discipline:

Forestry

Sector:

Other

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Mental Health Series: Addressing the mental health concerns of medical radiation technologists in Canada

In 2018, the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) identified that there were high levels of emotional exhaustion and among medical radiation technologists. Research has shown that such burnout can lead to significant personal implications, reduced quality of patient care, and can have financial implications for organizations due to absenteeism and low job satisfaction.4–7 There are significant gaps in the literature surrounding the mental health of MRTs and a lack of resources to support them. This research project will help to rectify this situation by gathering mental health information (national survey, interviews and focus groups) and creating guideline resources on how to deal with mental health issues in the workplace. The proposed intern will be involved in all stages within this project. CAMRT will benefit, in alignments with its mandate, by providing valuable mental health information and resources to its membership at the personal, organization and system level to support change that may ultimately improve patient care.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ivy Bourgeault

Student:

Mara Mihailescu

Partner:

Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Ottawa

Program:

Accelerate

Stochastic Optimization Approach for the Multi Depot Vehicle Scheduling Problem

Vehicle scheduling is one of the main planning problems for transit agencies. While it is relatively simple to solve in the deterministic and single-depot setting, these assumptions are unrealistic in real-world applications. Specifically, ignoring major sources of uncertainty (such as travel times) and making decisions over average predictions can lead to inferior schedules that incur additional costs and reduce the quality of service during execution. In this project, we consider the multi-depot vehicle scheduling problem under uncertainty. We propose a mathematical model that receives a timetable and historical data (e.g., travel times) to generate a long-term schedule while taking into account the day-to-day operational stage and potential future scenarios of various uncertain parameter realizations therein. The resulting schedule is optimal in terms of average total (scheduling and operational) cost and the rescheduling needs on a day-to-day basis due to uncertainty.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Merve Bodur;Amer Shalaby

Student:

Margarita Castro

Partner:

Trapeze Group

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Transportation and warehousing

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Songbirds in the Waterton Park Front Area

The objective of this project is to establish a long-term study on the ecology of grassland songbirds in the Waterton Park Front Area (just outside of Waterton National Park), Alberta. The student will examine how different grazing regimes and other management actions influence birds. Fieldwork, which will occur from approximately May to July each year, will involve bird surveys, vegetation monitoring, and interacting with a variety of stakeholders. The Nature Conservancy of Canada will benefit by learning how different management strategies on their properties influence grassland songbirds. This could influence future management actions on these properties, and will help ranchers and conservation organizations find common ground from which we can ensure ecological, social, and economic sustainability.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Nicola Koper

Student:

Zachary Moore

Partner:

Nature Conservancy Canada

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

3-D Mesoscale Imaging of Turbine Runner Alloys

In the project, we will use an advanced microscope instrument, called a plasma focused ion beam to image the three dimensional structure of turbine materials used to generate hydroelectric power, with the aim of design a method for predicting damage and maintenance schedules in the long term. If we can understand the microstructure of these steels, we can figure out how they will deform over the long term.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Nabil Bassim

Student:

Mehdi Mosayebi

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

Harm reduction-based programming and services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in a novel clinical care setting: the opportunities and challenges for clinicians, clients, donors and fundraisers – Year two

Substance use significantly impacts the health and health care of many people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV), especially those dealing with additional medical, psychosocial, and economic complications. The need for comprehensive care for this population is particularly important given the current opioid overdose crisis in Canada. In response, harm reduction (HR) services (e.g., supervised injection, naloxone training, etc.) have been implemented to reduce drug-related deaths and harms. However, such services are typically not provided within hospitals/outpatient programs. Little is known about how HR services in these contexts may affect clinical care providers, complex service users, or broader organizational operations. This project provides a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of introducing HR services in a clinical care setting. The Casey House Foundation, supports a small community-based hospital which provides in/outpatient care to PLHIV with complex needs. This research will investigate the opportunities and challenges of implementing HR services from various unique perspectives (i.e., physicians, clinical and foundation staff, clients, donors) and collaboratively create a framework for evaluating these services. The foundation supports HR interventions to optimize safety and retain clients in care, and wishes to introduce these services in ways that also increase collaboration, expand clinical expertise, and engage donor support.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Carol Janice Strike

Student:

Katherine Rudzinski

Partner:

Casey House

Discipline:

Epidemiology / Public health and policy

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Elevate

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