Innovative Projects Realized

Does intensive tree maintenance increase microhabitat diversity in old urban trees?

The proposed research will take place in the City of Mississauga. A recent study by Gro?mann et al. concluded that heavy levels of tree pruning leads to an increased number of microhabitats, compared to trees pruned less often (2020). These trees are often called ‘veteran trees’ in North America, and are very important for urban biodiversity (CITE). They provide homes, food, and other resources to many plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles (CITE). Unfortunately, trees with these microhabitats are often considered a risk by the municipality to keep standing, despite their importance. The goal of the proposed research would be to verify the results of Gro?mann et al. to help increase the pool of knowledge on the relationship between pruning and microhabitats. This will help municipalities decide if and when a veteran tree should be removed.

The partner organization is expected to benefit by being 3rd author on the publishing of the results of this research in a peer-reviewed journal.

Assessment of metabarcoding eDNA as a strategy for risk evaluation and biomonitoring at disturbed environmental sites in Canada

Industry and environmental consultants are increasingly using environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding approaches to complement traditional environmental risk assessments. However, the application of these technologies to field locations where sampling is limited due to access to secure sites, or remote locations where the environment is very heterogenous, poses challenges to acquiring representative eDNA samples. Furthermore, the interpretation of amplicon sequencing data from environmental samples presents extreme analytical challenges. In this project we will work with industrial partners to examine three diverse field sites with the goal of developing an eDNA biomonitoring workflow for sampling and bioinformatics pipeline that will be useful for site-specific risk assessment programs.

Sa?nya?ola Project: Being Creative Together-Indigenous Language Revitalization in BC

This Indigenous language revitalization project consists of four sub-projects that together have the potential to significantly support the revitalization of Kwak’wala: the language of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations. Exploring the vital link between Indigenous holistic wellness and language revitalization will be a central theme of the project. The project will rely on active
community engagement, youth capacity development and an action-based, braided approach that will have the potential to provide a model for the reclamation of endangered Indigenous languages in general and may have international implications. The four sub-projects include: development of a multi-year strategic language revitalization plan, exploration of Kwakwaka’wakw pedagogy rooted in land-based settings, exploration of how immersive technologies can support the reclamation and resurgence of Indigenous, pedagogy and worldview encoded in language, and the exploration of how youth leadership and language fluency buidling programs are enahnced by the resurgence and infusion of Kwakwaka’wakw
worldview and pedagogy.

Supercritical water gasification of bio-oils for synthetic jet fuel – Year two

Greenfield Global is currently developing a conversion process to produce jet fuel from renewable feedstocks. Collection and densification of different biomass waste materials and municipal waste at satellite facilities to produce bio-oils, which are then processed at a central facility, is expected. The first processing step at the central facility is supercritical water gasification and it is the focus of this project. The bio-oils are converted by supercritical water gasification to produce synthesis gas. After removal of potential contaminants, the synthesis gas is converted by Fisher-Tropsch synthesis and appropriate refining steps into jet fuel. Improved understanding of how bio-oil composition affects gasification, gasifier operation, and product yields is one of the deliverables of this work. Specific attention will be paid to trace products that could affect downstream processes. The second major deliverable from this work is to establish a relationship between bio-oil properties and synthesis gas contaminants, which is critical to the appropriate design and sizing of the gas cleaning step, and would potentially qualify or disqualify bio-oils as feeds. The work will involve both experimental investigations and engineering work to integrate the know-how into the Greenfield Global process.

Understanding how river bank side slopes and sediment size control failure thresholds in steep streams – Year two

Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd. (NHC) is often involved in the restoration and design of steep streams. To date when assessing these river channels, NHC has relied upon experimental results conducted with fixed vertical river banks and a series of assumptions have been used to figure out how to make river channels with sloped banks. These assumptions introduce risk into the design process and likely result in the rock used to make the channel banks being over-sized. We plan to address this issue through a combination of physical experiments and field data collection. In this project we will (a) run experiments in the UBC laboratory facilities under different channel geometries (such as channel width and bank angle) and particle size conditions, (b) inform and validate experiments with field data collected in British Columbia and (c) update the design tools used by NHC to design steep channels. As part of this research project the water velocity, water depth, river bank angles, and range in sediment size will be evaluated. The project will increase our knowledge on the factors that influence stability of mountain streams and produce a quantitative design tool readily available for fluvial geomorphologists.

A new tool for managing introduced Phragmites australis in Ontario: assessing invasion impacts and implementing biological control – Year two

Introduced Phragmites australis (common reed) is one of the most invasive plants in North America. Existing management is costly, can negatively affect other species, and is often only effective for small infestations. Classical biological control (i.e., introducing herbivores from the weed’s native range) is a promising tool for P. australis management that can contribute to a broader program of integrated pest management (IPM). Our goal is to partner with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) to implement biological control of introduced P. australis in southern Ontario. Our first objective will be to document the impacts of introduced P. australis to inform effective management and monitoring, locating and describing the different lineages of the species found in southern Ontario (native, introduced, hybrid) and their ecological interactions. Our second objective will be to develop and experimentally test the protocols needed to implement biological control of introduced P. australis in southern Ontario at a pilot scale, including methods for rearing, storing, releasing, and monitoring biocontrol agents at experimental nurse sites. As leaders in wetland conservation, DUC will be able to participate in the first biological control program for introduced P. australis and gain a promising new tool for managing this challenging, widespread, and costly invader.

Development of Signal processing techniques for blood sample transport

This research project involves the development of signal processing techniques in order to analyze the integrity of blood specimen during blood sample transport in hospitals using the pneumatic tube system.

Development and Applications of Hybrid Metabolic Flux models for Monitoring and Optimization of Bioprocesses

Academic research breakthroughs have transformed the biopharmaceutical industry. Already, the majority of the top 10 best-selling drugs in the world and 40-50% of new drugs are biologics. A major and profound challenge is that the cost for the development and production of biologics is extremely high. This high cost is not sustainable since it will prevent millions of patients from getting access to life-changing treatments. Different activities such as monitoring, control and optimal operating conditions are all contributors to overall bioprocess optimization.
The overall goal of this research cluster is the development and application of mathematical models in combination with advanced analytical tools, such as systems of microreactors and monitoring probes, to optimize large scale manufacturing bioprocess operations. This matches the business of Sartorius by creating a set of software tools that in combination with key Sartorius products such as bioreactors and AMBR systems will be used by their customers to design optimal bioprocesse

Interactive and Intermedia Score Authoring

This project aims to address questions relative to the authoring and specification of interactive media art pieces through the means of domain-specific visual programming languages. These specifications will be called “interactive scores” throughout this proposal.
The overall goal is to research and improve usability and ergonomy of software environments dedicated to this authoring task by examining their use against various artistic practices. ossia.io develops the ossia software suite, a set of free and open-source software tailored for interactive score authoring and aims to leverage the Topological Media Lab’s strong and varied experience in new media arts in order to ensure that the specification, authoring and creation process for advanced, interactive and intermedia scores is as straightforward as possible, with the end goal being enabling as many creators as possible to build their own scores.

AI-Powered Dispute Settlement

The objective of this project is to develop an algorithmic system, trained on both public legal data and proprietary negotiation data, that will provide tailored predictions of likely court-based dispute resolution outcomes and optimal settlements. In the proposed sub-project, a team of interns (JD students) will be modelling and labelling dispute-resolution data on complaints against hospitals and municipalities. We anticipate that a first dataset, ready for algorithmic model testing, will be completed by the end of the internship.

Development of an integrated foundation for precision medicine for the Atlantic Region with a focus on Colorectal Cancer and Lung cancer

Atlantic Canada has the highest rate of CRC in Canada and NL has the highest incidence of familial CRC worldwide. This study is being undertaken primarily to reveal the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with the high rate of CRC in Atlantic Canada, particularly the well-documented familial CRC in NL. We expect to define novel genetic and epigenetic lesions in tumors that may help inform treatment for patients in the Atlantic region and elsewhere. Additionally, Atlantic Canada already has an established system of lung cancer molecular profiling but, the conventional approaches fail to capture additional molecular lesions that are emerging as having clinical implications, including global assessment of tumor mutation burden (TMB). We aim to achieve adequate tissue sampling for diagnosis and molecular profiling and implement advancements through specialized tools.

Machine Learning-Enhanced Anomaly Detection and Performance Optimization for Enterprise WiFi Networks

solutions for large-scale WiFi deployments where the performance of the network changes dynamically. The industry partner has an enterprise WiFi solution that collects Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), logs and WiFi configuration parameters in the cloud. There is an immediate need for automation platforms that can use these data to detect anomalies such as sudden performance degradation, understand the reasons of such poor performance and change programmable configuration parameters to mitigate the problem. This project will use machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies, perform automated root cause analysis to bring self-healing features to WiFi, as well as, developing machine learning based self-optimization solutions that will reconfigure the WiFi parameters. The project will bring competitive edge to the industry partner within the emerging market of telemetry and autonomous networking.