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

Performance prediction and fault diagnosis in photovoltaic systems for optimal energy management

In this project, we will develop software-based models to monitor and to predict the performance of Perovskites-based
PVBlindsTM for optimal energy management and optimal integration into buildings, as well as to diagnose faults of PV cells for
safe, efficient, and reliable operation. The PVBlindsTM are developed by Solaires Inc. and will be deployed at various locations
within the Greater Vancouver area, and in various types of buildings. To develop the software-based models, machine learning
approaches will be studied and implemented. In addition, we will identify the best sets of model parameters to optimize the
accuracy of prediction and fault diagnosis, and to ensure a balance between electricity production and building energy
consumption.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ahmad Al-Dabbagh

Student:

Marzieh Kooshbaghi

Partner:

Solar-Ventures

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Energy

University:

University of British Columbia Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate

Speech enhancement and recognition with generative adversarial network

While taking foreign language tests, people may record responses with different background noises. The contaminated audios can lead to unusual results in speech recognition and scoring by the scoring systems. Pearson would like to develop a more robust system for the automated speech recognition machine to work with clean and noisy records. Audio files are typically from 5 to 90 seconds long. There are popular softwares which are built to address these problems, but their results need to be tested with the particular kinds of inputs that is obtained as test responses. These may have varies types of noise, distortions and various other complicating factors. Improving these systems would greatly benefit Pearson’s competitiveness in the market and would also contribute towards expanding the boundaries of knowledge in speech enhancement.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gerald Penn

Student:

Zibin Yang

Partner:

Pearson Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Atmospheric stirred tank leaching of chalcopyrite concentrate in ferric sulfate media catalysed by iodine with air/oxygen injection

Leaching of primary copper sulfide (chalcopyrite) using ferric as the oxidant at ambient temperature and pressure exhibits slow kinetics and poor leaching efficiency. In collaboration with LeadFX, this project aims at developing an atmospheric tank leaching process for copper extraction from chalcopyrite concentrate with iodine as the catalyst. The temperature used will be higher than a typical heap leach process. Air/oxygen will be injected to the reactor to maintain the solution potential through continuously oxidizing ferrous to ferric. The anticipated outcome will advance understanding of the fundamental processes that control the performance of chalcopyrite leaching catalysed by iodine in a tank reactor leaching environment, which will assist LeadFX to scale up the process to industrial scal

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Faculty Supervisor:

Wenying Liu;David Dreisinger

Student:

Muhammad Reza Kurniawan

Partner:

LeadFX

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Synthesis and characterization of a new generation of bone targeting anabolic prodrugs – Year two

Prostaglandin E2 stimulates bone formation in vivo and exerts its effects through the EP4 receptor. Unfortunately prostaglandin E2 and agonists for the EP4 receptor also cause unacceptable systemic side effects which have limited their clinical use as anabolic agents. We developed novel bone-targeting prodrugs that can deliver EP4 agonists selectively to bone and liberate active drug slowly in situ to effect bone formation while avoiding the side effects. These prodrugs rely on enzyme activity in the bone to liberate the drug and it is not clear if active drug liberation will be replicated in humans. The subject of this project will be to synthesize a new class of prodrugs designed to liberate the active EP4 drug spontaneously and thus do not require enzymes for hydrolysis. Preliminary studies identified several candidates and we will now scale up the synthesis (including radiolabelled prodrugs) and test these compounds to demonstrate that they bind to bones in vitro and in vivo, liberate the active drug in vivo with a predictable and consistent half-life and are effciacious. Several analogs will be tested and the optimal release rate of 200 hr (suitable for once-weekly dosing) will be the goal.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Young;Robert Britton

Student:

Srivinas Kantham

Partner:

Mesentech Inc

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Elevate

Towards improved fittings, better outcomes and increased cognitive capacity with bone conduction devices

It is well known that ‘better’ hearing aid fittings lead to ‘better’ outcomes. In recent years, ‘better’ hearing aid fittings, particularly in the bone conduction space, have benefitted from advancements in verification tools, for example the skull simulator and surface microphone. In turn, these verification tools have aided in the development of individualized prescription algorithms, namely Desired Sensation Level (DSL-BC). While these developments have been an important first step in the advancement of our understanding of bone conduction fittings, there is still a great deal to be learned about the validation of these verification tools in more complex situations. Objective 1 will address this gap via: i) the verification and fitting of the surface microphone, with the skull simulator, across a range of ages, hearing profiles and fitting approaches and ii) In-situ threshold and output considerations when skin is in the vibration pathway. Comparably, what is meant by ‘better’ outcomes has expanded beyond traditional measures such as aided thresholds, questionnaires and speech in noise performance, to include more individualize cognitive consequences as a function of being aided.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Bill Hodgetts;Jacqueline Cummine

Student:

Alex Gascon

Partner:

Oticon Canada

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

Evaluating the effects of Growth Differentiating Factor 15 (GDF15) in the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

In Canada, over 30% of adults and 10% of children are affected with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic condition often related to obesity. NAFLD refers to a range of conditions related to excess fat in the liver, unrelated to alcohol intake. NAFLD is a precursor to liver cirrhosis, end stage liver disease and is a major risk factor for liver cancers. NAFLD is also an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Despite the prevalence and serious health implications of NAFLD, weight loss through lifestyle interventions (which has low long-term success) or bariatric surgery (which has increased risk of side effects) are currently the only methods to treat the disease. Therefore, designing new therapies including medications to treat NAFLD is critical.
The development of NAFLD is complicated and involves several factors, such as the environment around us and many parts of the human body, including the liver, fat, muscle and the billions of bacteria that reside within our gastrointestinal tract or gut. A key factor causing NAFLD is altered metabolism of the adipose tissue (fat) and liver.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gregory Steinberg

Student:

Sonia Rehal

Partner:

Novo Nordisk

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Antiviral Treatments for the Development of Enhanced PPE, HVAC Filtration Technologies, and Prevention of Pathogen Transfer on High-Touch Surfaces

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the need for the development and commercialization of enhanced personal protective products, air filtration systems, and high-touch surface coatings which supplant residual disinfection and render viruses inert. The pandemic has also highlighted the need for local supply-chain establishment, including antiviral coating manufacturing and materials sourcing in Canada. This proposal is a partnership with Elizion Tech to develop novel antiviral coatings that can be applied on a wide array of porous and non-porous surfaces and integrated into paints and films to provide residual disinfection properties in myriad commercial applications. This research and product development introduces technology into the landscape that will allow Canada to better protect its citizenry as well as exporting the technology to other jurisdictions. Said technology, in addition to other preventive measures in effect already will help reduce infection rates for both COVID-19 and other transmissible virologic or microbial infections.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Norman Zhou;Stephanie DeWitte-Orr

Student:

Monika Snowdon;Ningyue Mao;Robert Liang;Pablo Enrique;Kristof Jenik

Partner:

Elizion Tech

Discipline:

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Metamaterials toolbox:Tuning heat flow at will in the Si-based materials at nano- and mesoscales

Heat management in semiconducting nanomaterials requires the design of engineered artificial structures, known as metamaterials, where thermal properties can be tuned almost at will by microstructural modifications. Testing a broad range of nanostructures for the particular device applications, with predictive behavior, is a grand challenge especially because of the difficulties associated with the experimental synthesis of the pristine samples, their char- acterization and property calculations. For example, the silicon-on-insulator technology, used as the building block of sensors designed by our industrial partner, gives rise to particularly complex phenomenology. These materials exhibit anisotropic heat flow that often greatly influences their heat transport behavior and thus impacts device performance either in a positive or negative way. Therefore, there is a strong industrial need to develop a material toolbox, with highly predictive structure-property relations to match particular device applications. Our goal is thus to respond to this need by mean of molecular dynamic simulations by constructing a multidimensional phase diagram that will incorporate a broad range of metamaterial structures and physical properties in order to explain, design, and propose experiments for new directions with the precise property predictions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

A Srikantha Phani;Alireza Nojeh;Debashish Mukherji

Student:

Céline Ruscher

Partner:

Lumiense Photonics

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Elevate

Investigating WD repeat protein function in the nucleolar biology and cancer

Ribosome biosynthesis is one of the most multifaceted and energy-demanding processes in biology. It involves over 250 factors that transiently associate with the nascent pre-ribosome in a well-orchestrated manner. Importantly, increased ribosome biogenesis has a critical role in cancer initiation and progression. Owing to the advances in cryo-electron microscopy, this pathway’s detailed mechanism started to be revealed, setting the grounds for new therapeutic interventions. The current project seeks to develop chemical probes for WD repeat proteins, a new drug target class. We are particularly interested in targeting WDR12 and WDR55—key components of a nucleolar complex that affect the large ribosomal subunit’s maturation. In this project, we will combine the latest advances in super-resolution microscopy and cell biology to assess WDR12 and WDR55 protein function and interaction networks in cells. Next, binding of inhibitors to the target proteins will be tested using a variety of techniques to establish compound activity and selectivity. Finally, inhibitors will be used to investigate their biological function in nucleolar regulation and glioblastoma tumorigenesis – the most aggressive type of brain cancer. The development of these inhibitors will reveal insights into the biology of this intricate pathway and may provide clinical-translational opportunity for glioblastoma treatment.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy

Student:

Raquel Arminda Martinez Machado

Partner:

Structural Genomics Consortium

Discipline:

Pharmacy / Pharmacology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Elevate

How are rapid environmental changes influencing Canadian-origin Yukon River Chinook declines?

Yukon River Chinook salmon have experienced devastating declines in recent years, leading to significant impacts on Yukon First Nation citizens. To address this growing conservation issue, we have collaborated with Yukon First Nations to understand their desires for improving salmon conservation capacity, and how we can support them in this endeavour. Together, we have identified some key avenues for research: first, what is responsible for salmon declines – climate change, fishing pressure, habitat loss, too many hatchery fish, or a combination? Armed with this extra information, we will create watershed-specific conservation strategies to help protect salmon and their habitats from future impacts. These strategies will be developed in collaboration with local First Nations to make sure that they are 1) desirable, 2) feasible, and 3) scientifically supported. Finally, as downstream fishing and increased climate change over the Alaskan border have been rising concerns for Yukon First Nations, we will use our data to determine if current harvest rates should be lowered in a warmer and more variable climate. Together, these actions will help Yukon First Nations maximize their local conservation impact, while also supporting their advocacy goals on the International stage.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Steven Cooke

Student:

Alyssa Murdoch

Partner:

Wildlife Conservation Society Canada

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

Carleton University

Program:

Elevate

High Fidelity Modeling, Control and Coordination of Multi-Vehicle Systems for Traversing Cluttered Off-Road Terrains

This project is on system and algorithm design for motion control and coordination in a vehicle team composed of one ground vehicle (GV) and one or multiple cooperating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The GV here is either an advanced light armored vehicle (LAV) or an all-terrain unmanned GV (UGV) to traverse a cluttered off-road terrain for surveillance, terrain mapping, and other missions. The UAVs continuously surveil the current locality of the GV and update the mapping and navigation information. The main project objectives are provision of rapid advancement of the GV over complex off-road terrains and enhancing the performance of such vehicular surveillance and mission applications. The project will achieve these objectives via optimal adaptive deployment within the vehicular network and UAV trajectory generation and tracking to optimally accommodate continuous local surveillance . The developed systems and algorith

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Baris Fidan;William Melek;Stephen Smith

Student:

Olzhas Adiyatov

Partner:

General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Automated Scanning Probe Fabrication for Atomic Scale Devices

With our increasing dependence on technology, the total energy consumption from electronic devices for computation is projected to surpass all other contributions. By creating atomic-scale devices at the fundamental limits in size and energy cost, we can reduce their overall energy consumption while increasing computational power. While proof of concept devices are already routinely created, a fully automated fabrication procedure is necessary to successfully merge this technology with current electronic manufacturing processes. By employing machine learning techniques, the successful implementation of a fully autonomous fabrication system will enable the high volume fabrication and development of these next generation atomic devices. These machine learning techniques will rely on state-of-the-art unsupervised and reinforcement learning techniques which will be used for developing a fully self-sufficient,automated fabrication process of these atomic scale devices, as well as to optimize and enhance their design and operation.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Wolkow;Mauricio Sacchi

Student:

Jeremiah Croshaw

Partner:

Quantum Silicon

Discipline:

Physics / Astronomy

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Elevate

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