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

Bivariate Density Estimation for Interval Censored Data from Complex Surveys

The nature of Statistics Canada's National Population Health Survey (NPHS) allows the use of event history analysis techniques to study relationships among events. The output from a series of health related questions to explore an association between pregnancy and smoking cessation was of especial interest. A methodology was proposed based on the notions of time order. In essence, the research team investigated whether one of the two events tended to precede the other closely in time. In this way, a causal interpretation of an association between these events would be more plausible. An important characteristic of the event times is that they are interval censored so that the exact times of occurrence were not known. Therefore the problem involved estimation of the joint density of the times to event taking into account the interval censoring and the complexities of the survey design. The result of the research was a new methodology for the analysis of interval censored data collected from complex surveys, which may have a variety of applications to research questions in the social sciences. Since the methodology was also extended to an application that considers an association between job loss and divorce using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), the techniques that were developed may also be useful to other types of problems in the analysis of complex survey data. The team’s findings, which enable the study of relationships between important events, illustrated the value of complex surveys in general as well as the applicability of the survey's data in health and social program planning.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Mary Thompson

Student:

Norberto Pantoja Galicia

Partner:

Statistics Canada

Discipline:

Statistics / Actuarial sciences

Sector:

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Automatic Map Layouts for Social Coordination with Location-Aware Mobile Devices

The research will identify aspects of a location-aware map application that could be automated (either directly or with user guidance) to reduce the amount of interaction required and to make effective use of the display space for smart phones. The research will involve designing a prototype location-aware map application and extending the prototype to include intelligent zoom features to effectively and intelligently present pertinent location information. In addition, the team will develop automatic map layout approaches to provide appropriate location-awareness information to support users’ social coordination. They will incorporate these algorithms into Locator, a prototype application for smart phones that will provide context-appropriate, location awareness information. The Locator prototype will build on the results from earlier work in this area and will involve close collaboration with industrial partners.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Kori Inkpen

Student:

David Dearman

Partner:

Intel Seattle Research Labs

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Analysis of Transaction Data on Graph Structure

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is Canada’s national cryptologic agency. CSE is mandated to acquire and provide foreign signals intelligence and to provide advice, guidance and services to help ensure the protection of Government of Canada electronic information and information infrastructures. It also provides technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies. The intern’s research centred on developing a model, or clustering technique, that will enable CSE to predict communications activity. Using toy data sets, the intern graphed correspondence data with a goal of enabling the identification of clusters of activity during a set period of time, indicative of repeated communication. This will enable CSE to infer communication activity based on probabilistic modelling.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Hugh Chipman

Student:

Erika Nahm

Partner:

Communications Security Establishment

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Acadia University

Program:

Accelerate

A Putative Genetic Disease Model of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide. Although research on schizophrenia is ongoing, little is still known about its origin. Schizophrenia is thought to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors that ultimately lead to decreased brain volume and cortical thickness changes in energy metabolism or altered synaptic functioning. Several schizophrenia susceptibility genes have been discovered that encode proteins involved in synaptic plasticity, energy metabolism, transcription, apoptosis and neurogenesis. Stable Tubule Only Polypeptide (STOP) is a protein that has been shown to play a crucial role in neural development, normal synaptic functioning, and neurotransmission. In animals that lack STOP protein (STOP ko mice), profound abnormalities in synaptic transmission, metabolism and neural plasticity are found within the brain. In addition, these mice display several behavioral abnormalities, which have been correlated with deficits reported in human schizophrenic patients. Thus, the purpose of this research for the Brain Repair Centre was to compare total gene expression in the prefrontal cortex between STOP-knockout mice and their wild-type littermates. Since STOP ko mice provide a suitable model to investigate schizophrenia, it is of considerable interest to determine how a lack of this protein leads to abnormalities observed in these mice. A cDNA microarray was used for this investigation, which allows researchers to simultaneously assess changes in expression of over twenty-two thousand genes. The research revealed some novel insights into the alterations in signal transduction, energy metabolism, and synaptic plasticity that may contribute to schizophrenia neuropathology as well as validating the relevance of the STOP null mouse as an animal model for this psychotic disorder.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. George Robertson

Student:

Michael Thorne

Partner:

Brain Repair Centre

Discipline:

Pharmacy / Pharmacology

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

A Mathematical Model Describing the Dissociation of Natural Gas Using Non-thermal Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas have been studied for a variety of industrial applications such as pollution control, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal, car exhaust emission control and polymer surface treatment. For decades, non-thermal plasmas have been used to generate ozone for water purification. Non-thermal plasmas may be produced by a variety of electric discharges or electron beams. The basic feature of these technologies is that they produce plasmas in which the majority of the electrical energy goes into the production of energetic electrons. These energetic electrons produce chemically excited species – free radicals and ions – as well as additional electrons through electron-impact dissociation, excitation and ionization of background gas molecules. These excited species, in turn, oxidize, reduce or decompose the pollutant molecules in pollution control applications. The partner, Atlantic Hydrogen Inc., is conducting research and experimentation into the dissociation of natural gas by non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure. They are looking to reduce the associated development time by building a theoretical model of the process. The intern research project involved building an initial model of the physical processes extant within the non-thermal plasma that could be used in later studies of the effect of the plasma on the chemical dissociation process.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Bruce Colpitts

Student:

Srikanth Valluru

Partner:

Atlantic Hydrogen Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program:

Accelerate

A Hierarchic Parametric Geometric Modelling for Aerodynamics Shapes

Bombardier Aerospace, a world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, is interested in technology developments that improve aerodynamic design methods. One of their objectives is to improve the process in which aerodynamic parameters are introduced within the optimization process to facilitate the application of geometric and aerodynamic constraints. Since École Polytechnique has been developing for some years methods which represents aerodynamic surfaces using parametric modelling, it was natural to get a MITACS intern who would specifically bring this expertise within the design environment of Bombardier Aerospace Advanced Aerodynamic Department. The research team from École Polytechnique began the project by using a newly developed wing geometric modelling module to study the behavior of different interpolation techniques and to determine which one provided the best representation for a wide range of aerodynamic shapes. Secondly, the team implemented this new tool within the company's optimization software to enable aerodynamic optimizations using on-site Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools. This allowed testing of the module's performance in comparison to existing approaches in use at the company. Based on these tests, modifications will be added in the parameterization to better meet industrial needs.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Jean-Yves Trepanier

Student:

Sylvain Marier

Partner:

Bombardier Aerospace

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

Polytechnique Montréal

Program:

Accelerate

Physical Properties and Geophysical Correlations of the Lac de Gras Kimberlites and Host Rocks at Diavik Diamond Mines

The Diavik Diamond Mine is located in Canada's remote North, 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, NWT. In this project, the intern will collect and analyze samples of Kimberlite from the Diavik property to determine their physical properties. The data will then be carefully analyzed to look for trends regarding new information that could lead to a new Kimberlite discovery.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Hugh Miller

Student:

Carla Kennedy

Partner:

Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Statistical Modelling for Nursing Human Health Resources

This research project is part of a research study funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care in Ontario. It examines the relationship among nursing service utilization, patient outcomes and population health care needs in long-term care/chronic care and community care/home care sectors in Ontario. It seeks to provide a needs-based Health Human Resources Planning approach to help policy makers in developing human resource strategies that target the nursing shortage and respond to the changing needs of the population over time.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Drs. Paul Cabilio & Ying Zhang

Student:

Jingyu Bu

Partner:

Nursing Health Services Research Unit

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Acadia University

Program:

Accelerate

Trends in Redfish Sebastes spp. Abundance in the Northwest Atlantic and the Relative Importance of Fisheries and Environmental Variables

While the collapse of Atlantic cod is the most well-known and studied, other less studied species, such as redfish Sebastes spp., have experienced comparable declines. These declines have resulted in the closure of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northern and eastern Grand Bank and Labrador Shelf redfish fisheries since the mid-1990s, while reduced quotas are in place for the Laurentian Channel. While some redfish stocks declined, other stocks with more southern ranges remained stable or showed increased biomass. These dynamics and their potential causes have not been rigorously investigated. Our objective is to determine if complex dynamics in abundance can be described using two newer approaches of time series analysis for a single species whose population units are distinctly defined. We will use these two newer types of analyses, designed for relatively short, multivariate, non-stationary time series, to analyze trends in abundance for stock units of redfish Sebastes spp. in Canadian waters of the Northwest Atlantic and will relate these trends to external factors. We believe there will be distinct differences in which factors are most significant for each population unit.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Richard Haedrich

Student:

Jennifer Devine

Partner:

World Wildlife Fund

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Transportation Optimization Model

The Day & Ross Transportation Group, one of the largest transportation firms in Canada, employs over 4100 people, maintains a fleet of over 3300 vehicles and trailers, and has over 80 terminals and other operations across Canada and the US. This project will focus on technical improvements and modifications to the company’s load optimizer, thus assisting with daily operational decisions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. James S. Christie

Student:

Salim Satir

Partner:

Day and Ross Transportation Group

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Automotive and transportation

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program:

Accelerate

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) Technique for Autonomous Operation of Mining Robots

This project proposes an application of Fuzzy-Evolutionary Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm for autonomous navigation of mining robots in underground mines. This project aims to develop techniques that are useful for mining automation activities, particularly for infrastructureless navigation of load-haul-dump vehicles and drilling equipment. The intern will use current equipment facilities available with the intelligent systems group at C-CORE to collect data and to validate the proposed SLAM algorithm. In addition, the intern will work collaboratively with other research engineers at C-CORE and will explore other possibilities of integrating some of the Artificial Intelligent techniques that are developed under this project to other on-going research activities in the intelligent systems group.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. George Mann

Student:

Momotaz Begum

Partner:

C-CORE

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Nonlinear Shape Statistics for Analysis of Musculoskeletal Structures and Anomalies

This internship will undertake an investigation of novel 3D shape descriptors relevant to three musculoskeletal disorders. The first is an investigation of the relationship between the shape of the bicipital groove of the proximal humerus (a groove in the head of the upper arm bone) and the incidence of injury to the long biceps tendon which is retained in the bicipital groove. The second is to characterize the shape of the spinal canal with the objective of correlating this characterization to a clinically-established measurement for spinal stenosis, or a narrowing of the spinal canal. The third is to perform shape analysis of the rotator cuff (a shoulder muscle) in order to aid in the assessment of the cuff to differentiate between retraction and atrophy. The intern will validate the results of the studies against clinically-established measurements and diagnoses of the disorders.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ghassan Hamarneh

Student:

Aaron Ward

Partner:

Hospital for Joint Diseases New York University Medical Center

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

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