Innovative Projects Realized

Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA) project

SNA’s core challenge is around internal and external information resource utilization. With a lean staff team managing multiple programs across three locations simultaneously, SNA lacks consistent service navigation, resource documentation, and inter-agency coordination. There is no centralized, up-to-date system connecting community members to the full range of available services across health, addiction recovery, housing, employment, and newcomer settlement. This gap results in missed referrals, duplicated staff efforts, and reduced ability to serve the growing number of vulnerable residents accessing SNA programs daily.

This project will focus on strengthening how information is collected, organized, and used within SNA. By improving resource organization, data collection and identifying common patterns in client needs, the project will support more effective and consistent service delivery.

SEE expanding supports

The Social Enterprise Enclave (SEE) is a Manitoba-based non-profit organization dedicated to atypical entrepreneurs, including non-conforming youth, 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, Indigenous people, people of colour, and women facing systemic barriers. Emerging from research led by Social Innovation Canada’s Manitoba team, SEE was created to respond to identified gaps in support for Indigenous entrepreneurs and social innovators. The organization provides holistic, wrap-around support—ranging from ideation and prototyping to customer discovery and investment readiness—while also prioritizing mental, physical, and spiritual well-being alongside traditional business development.

There is a clear need to strengthen delivery capacity, enhance program resources, and maintain SEE’s relationship-based, community-centered approach.

Species At-Risk Technician – Nature NB

This internship program will provide Nature NB will staff capacity to help address real-world conservation research questions and challenges. Our intern will work with our team to advance projects related to Monarch butterfly, Bobolink, and other species at-risk conservation. Work will include conduct biological surveys to help address research gaps related to species conservation and assisting with public education, outreach, and stewardship activities to advance species at-risk conservation in New Brunswick.

Data-Driven Optimization of Cannabis Drying

The project will focus on optimizing drying conditions to enhance product quality while minimizing the risk of microbial cross-contamination. The extensive expertise of Dalhousie University researchers in drying will provide essential support to the Truro Cannabis company to meet regulatory standards. This collaborative project will enhance the existing drying process without requiring significant capital investment, while also strengthening partnerships between industry and academia.

Towards conversion of OAM-entangled states through stimulated Raman scattering in H2-filled hollow-core PC

Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum can be tailored using different methods and devices, such as spatial light modulators (SLM). Beams with engineered OAM have been widely used in quantum optics in the single- and multiphoton regimes to explore high-dimensional quantum information. One drawback is that the OAM modes are usually generated at one fixed wavelength that does not necessarily coincide with the frequency range where they are used, i.e. telecom range, and wavelength conversion remains challenging.
We aim at using specialty fibers to manipulate states carrying OAM, leveraging on stimulated Raman scattering in H2-filled hollow-core fiber. As pump and Stokes co-propagate in the fiber, they create a moving refractive index grating. The moving coherence wave yields Doppler frequency shift of any weak signal.
Previously, this scheme was employed to shift single photons from pairs of entangled photons. It was shown that the correlation number is preserved in the process. Since the process requires phase-matching, we envisioned to not only convert the frequency of the input photon but also its OAM order. We want to analyze the effect of twisted hollow-core fibre on the quantum state carrying OAM.

AI-Enabled Salmon Morphometry Model for the Freshwater Breeding Program

This project will develop an AI-enabled system to help Cooke Inc. automatically measure important physical traits of Atlantic Salmon from standardized images. Today, these measurements, such as weight, length, and body shape, often require manual review or separate scripts, which takes time and can be difficult to scale. The project will create a more efficient and consistent workflow by training machine learning models to extract these measurements and by integrating the process into Cooke’s Snowflake cloud environment for batch processing. This will help Cooke reduce manual effort, improve consistency in data collection and analysis, and support more timely breeding decisions for its freshwater breeding program ahead of the October 2026 spawning season. The project will also create a foundation for future expansion of the same workflow to other species and broader operational use.

Student Reasoning and Revision in an AI-enabled Science Conversation-based Assessment

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have created new opportunities to design educational assessments that move beyond fixed responses to capture how students reason, make decisions, and revise their thinking. Conversation-based assessments (CBAs), which incorporate conversational AI agents, can elicit richer evidence of students’ scientific reasoning than traditional formats. However, there is limited empirical evidence about when and how conversational agents meaningfully add value in assessment contexts. This project addresses this gap by examining how AI-based conversational agents influence students’ reasoning, decision-making, and revision behaviours within a high-school science CBA focused on storm formation and prediction. By directly comparing agent-supported and non-agent versions of the same task, the research will provide evidence on the impact of conversational AI on students’ interaction trajectories and learning processes.
The project is conducted in partnership with ETS, which supports applied research internships that provide hands-on training in real-world assessment challenges. Findings will inform the responsible design of next-generation AI-enabled assessments that are rigorous, valid, scalable, and better aligned with how students think and solve complex problems.

Ka Ni Kanichihk

The two interns Jake Impey and Jorgia Doucet will work the the partner organization, Ka Ni Kanichihk as part of a work/study program designed to teach the students of the University of Winnipeg the importance of urban city care and promoting social change in the form of participating in growing communities. This proposal will benefit all the parties involved, as well as the interns. Ka Ni Kanichihk will benefit from the communication and collaboration skills the interns can provide. The Canadian government will contribute to the social, cultural and economic
health and well being of inner-city and indigenous residents, giving children in those families the care they need to become active members that will, one day, serve the country.

Techno-Economic Risk Quantification and Scale-up Analysis

Through a proprietary process, Carbonyx mineralizes CO2 into stable carbonate rock while producing valuable by-products.
Carbonyx is part of the UBC Hatch program that supports the development of a Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy. The intern, under the expertise and industrial experience of two UBC professors, will leverage a structured methodology of the UBC Accelerating Technology Readiness Launch (ATR Launch) program to create a detailed Techno-Economic Risk Quantification and Scale-up Analysis to support Carbonyx development planning.

Engineering Analysis of the Lunar Micrometeoroid Impact

Human activities on the moon will expose equipment and infrastructure to a constant stream of very small, highspeed particles called micrometeoroids. Despite their size, they strike lunar structures at very high velocities and can potentially damage surfaces or shielding. This project will use the lunar environment data provided by Foundation Space Resources (partner) to perform first order initial engineering assessments of such impacts. Simplified analytical models implemented on MATLAB will be used to estimate pressure during impact , possibility of penetration as well as likelihood of structural damage. These initial calculations will help translate environment data into engineering insight which will be crucial for early-stage design decisions. The results will also support partner organization’s longer-term goals of developing a lunar digital twin models by providing initial impact physics process that can feed into their broader simulations of lunar infrastructure performance.

Comb Fiber Design and HDF5 Data Handling in Python within OptiSystem

The project involves designing a novel optical fiber with specific dispersion properties for advanced laser applications, while also developing supporting software tools for OptiWave’s simulation platform. The fiber design focuses on achieving two special wavelengths where dispersion cancels out, with carefully controlled behavior between them. This configuration is useful for generating stable frequency combs in telecommunications and sensing applications. This requires optimizing the fiber’s internal structure using multiple layers of doped glass to shape how light propagates through it. Alongside the fiber design work, Python-based tools will be created to automate complex simulation setups within OptiWave’s software, making it easier for engineers to model similar advanced fiber designs. The expected benefit to OptiWave is two-fold: a fiber architecture that a collaborator has requested, and software improvements that make their platform more efficient and attractive to researchers working on next-generation photonics.

Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata

The intent of the project is to allow Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata to more effectively serve their youth community through the creation of new learning materials and greater outreach, specifically in their ability to reach young men. The young people who interact with these youth programs will grow up within the program and in turn will become leaders who will be able to authentically and effectively relate to and be of service to the next generation.