Innovative Projects Realized

Solid State Business Strategy Internship

Solid State, based in Surrey, provides support to BIPOC and racialized communities through cooperative development and social enterprise incubation. To meet our goal of onboarding 12 new cohorts annually, we need to build capacity within our development team by training young post-secondary students in cooperative development, a field growing in importance as communities seek sustainable economic solutions. Hiring an intern from Surrey aligns with our community-centred approach, as a local intern will connect with our Surrey-based cohorts, facilitating stronger community connections. The intern will be trained in cooperative development and business strategy, helping Solid State maintain momentum with new cohorts and building our future pool of cooperative developers.

Joining lifestyle and cognitive assessment with Fit Brains Trainer data: Can Fit Brains brain fitness apps tell us what a “smarter” lifestyle look like?

Rosetta Stone Canada collects user demographic and performance data from Fit Brains Trainer (brain fitness training games), Cognitive Assessment, and Lifestyle Assessment mobile apps. Data from the three apps can be linked and analyzed to answer research questions such as how lifestyle factors can influence brain training habits and outcome. This internship will: 1. Statistically explore raw data in Cognitive and Lifestyle Assessment databases 2. Statistically normalize data in Cognitive and Lifestyle Assessment databases 3. link users from the Trainer, Cognitive and Lifestyle Assessment databases 4. analyze the data to find a “smarter” lifestyle and training habits The deliverable for this internship will be a manuscript, a conference abstract, and analysis packages for future collaborators. The expected benefit to the partner organization are 1) expanded research capacity, 2) scientifically based recommendation for a “smarter” lifestyle and practice habit to customers, and 3) research publications.

Integrating conversational AI for accurate psychiatric diagnosis in primary care

This research project will explore how advanced artificial intelligence technology, specifically large language models (LLMs), can improve the Mental Health Assessment Tool (MHAT) developed by Harrison Healthcare. MHAT is a secure online tool designed to help primary care doctors identify and diagnose mental health conditions based on structured questionnaires and clinical guidelines. The project will test whether adding LLMs to MHAT can make the tool more effective by providing more personalized, empathetic, and flexible assessments. This improvement could lead to better patient experiences and more accurate mental health diagnoses.

A doctoral intern will work with Harrison Healthcare over a 12-month period to integrate and test the enhanced MHAT. The expected benefits include reducing the time doctors spend on assessments, improving the accuracy of mental health diagnoses, and helping patients feel more heard and supported during their care. This work will also position Harrison Healthcare as a leader in digital mental health innovation while contributing to the broader field of trustworthy AI in healthcare.

Systematic comparative analysis of GitHub Actions security analysis techniques

Continuous Integration is a software development practice where each member of a team work independently and then merge their changes into a common codebase, at least daily. Each of these integrations is verified through an automated build pipeline, whick consists of a sequence of actions such as compilation, testing, addition of third-party components. The key benefit of continuous integration is to reduce the risk of errors due to incompatible changes by different team members. Meanwhile, modern build pipelines have grown into complex program that schedule tens or hundreds of different tasks. In the open source platforms, such as Github or Gitlab, these pipelines have become targets for malicious actors. They inject vulnerabilities that are hard to detect because of the complexity of the pipelines. With this internship, we will map and benchmark the state of the art techniques to detect these vulnerabilities, in order to better guide developers in their choice of safeguard and to identify research gaps.

Pasture Poultry Market Potential and Cost of Production Assessment

After several years of exploration, SSMPA members believe there to be opportunity for growth of the pasture-based poultry sector in BC, given an increasing number of small-scale poultry farmers, increasingly adequate processing facilities and access to the significant consumer markets. This belief was confirmed in 2022-2023, when SSMPA leadership met with producers all over BC. SSMPA representatives also learned of the impediments perceived by small-scale meat producers in the province. It was ascertained that while small scale poultry sector senses there is opportunity to expand actors need critical decision-making information. Generating this necessary information is the purpose of this project. Specifically, they conveyed need for a scalable, manipulatable enterprise budget and a comprehensive assessment of the market on a regional basis (pasture poultry producers do not supply the commodity market, rather they supply, are part of regional food system markets). For the proposed project the Mitacs intern will contribute to the conduct of a pasture poultry market analysis and development of a pasture poultry enterprise budget.

Mobilising Cycling Economies for Safe Cycling Networks

A lack of physical infrastructure and the corresponding fear of harm are a significant barrier to urban cycling, and an impediment to the expansion of Curbside Cycle’s target demographic. Using outreach and education through a collaborative process involving partners Curbside Cycle and Cycle Toronto we will empower local experts, enlist local businesses as powerful community stakeholders, and foster coalitions of community support for improved bicycle infrastructure. Through engagement and capacity-building sessions we will share up to date research on the positive impacts of bicycle infrastructure for urban business communities and build skills for group facilitation, civic engagement and conflict mitigation. The documentation and assessment of the processes involved in this initiative will be academically relevant in the fields of community capacitation and participatory planning, and will also help inform the strategic planning that Cycle Toronto will pursue following the completion of all engagement sessions.

Towards a Theory of Blockchain as a Socio-Informational-Technical System: Perceptions and challenges of adopting verifiable credentials in the public sector.

Blockchain technology and VCs, in principle, can enhance the security, privacy, efficiency, and trustworthiness of the digital exchange of credentials. However, several challenges hinder the adoption of VCs and blockchain, including resistance from the public and some authorities driven by a lack of understanding of the technologies and political motives. There is a limited empirical and contextual understanding of these barriers, mainly relying on anecdotal narratives and inferences from emerging literature. This study aims to provide one of the first empirical studies of the institutional actors’ perspectives, challenges, and concerns about VC adoptions. The study uses a qualitative approach of participatory observation, document analysis, and interviews to explore stakeholders’ perceptions and approaches to VCs. The insights will contribute to a sustainable design and promotion of VCs in the public sector that can leverage the technologies’ strengths and ensure alignment with the regulatory and institutional values.

Hot Topics: Co-Creating Equity-Informed Emergency Planning and Policy with Affected Communities to Address Heat-Related Crises in British Columbia

Extreme weather events from heat domes to storms to flooding signal the pressing nature of the climate
emergency. These events often leave citizens scrambling to respond and public officials in a reactive mode. This is becoming increasingly true with the intensity and unpredictability of environmental hazards. A prime example is the June 2021 extreme heat event, dubbed the “Heat Dome,” that impacted British Columbia. In one week, there were 619 deaths from heat stroke and other heat- related illnesses caused by sustained high temperatures. Most of the people who died were elderly or had other determinants of health that made them vulnerable to heat. In addition to the direct impacts of extreme heat events, heat-related crises, such as drought, wildfire smoke and food systems die-off, are also having an increasingly large impact on human health. To better prepare for these events and plan for protecting those most vulnerable to negative health impacts, our research partnership is informed by a planetary health and intersectional policy lens to create safe spaces for affected communities to tell their stories so that policy-makers can learn from their lived experiences and improve outcomes, with findings relevant to local governments and across jurisdictions in British Columbia.

Mobilizing the health benefits of being in nature through community-based participatory research and Indigenous youth engagement

Spending time in natural environments and nature-based programming is associated with significant health benefits. These outcomes are particularly important for Indigenous youth, whose mental health and wellbeing continues to be a priority for healthcare in Nova Scotia (NS). There is a need for further research that includes NS youth perspectives and identifies their experiences, needs, barriers, and enablers for sustained participation. This study will engage a group of Indigenous youth from Eskasoni First Nation in a photovoice project to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences of nature and nature-based programming, and the disparities that exist in access and provision.

Convection in porous structure for cooling heat sink

The proposed scientific collaboration is toward developing a new class of porous structure using mathematical design. The structure must be lightweight and capable of removing heat. This structure is advantageous in engineering, such as heat enhancement, heat exchangers, and biomedical engineering (hip, jaw, or femur replacement). The global importance of the proposed research is in developing a structure capable of being excellent in heat removal and lightweight. This material’s strength is also essential and applies to biomedical engineering.

Émission de gaz à effet de serre par les sols suite à l’application de cendres de bois dans les érablières estriennes

L’application de composés alcalinisants tels que la chaux ou la cendre est de plus en plus envisagée dans les érablières du Québec afin d’améliorer le statut acide-base du sol et la nutrition des forêts. Il est possible, cependant, que ces composés provoquent un accroissement de l’activité microbienne du sol, ce qui pourrait augmenter la production de gaz à effet de serre par les sols forestiers. Le présent projet vise donc à quantifier les émissions de gaz à effet de serre pouvant survenir à court terme suite à l’application automnale de différentes doses de cendres et de chaux dans des érablières appartenant à la papetière Domtar située à Windsor en Estrie. Cette dernière produit, annuellement, d’importantes quantités de cendres et leur valorisation comme agent alcalinisant dans les érablières pourrait être très avantageuse pour l’entreprise. Toutefois, en accord avec sa politique environnementale, celle-ci souhaite comprendre pleinement les conséquences d’une telle pratique sur les sols forestiers.

« Lieux de mémoire » et transmission aux générations futures : une perspective archéologique. Études de cas sur des sites autochtones et euro-canadiens au Québec

Ce projet s’intéresse aux « lieux de mémoire » au Québec. La transmission volontaire d’une mémoire et d’un héritage par les populations passées aux générations futures crée des sites archéologiques particuliers, dont les traces sont délibérément conçues pour traverser le temps.

La découverte en 2023 d’une « capsule temporelle » dans le « monument Price », obélisque construit à Chicoutimi en 1881 en hommage à la famille Price à la tête de la compagnie du même nom, active dans le commerce du bois, des pâtes et papiers, est un double exemple de ces « lieux de mémoire » québécois ; à la fois par le monument lui-même et par la capsule temporelle qu’il renferme. Bien qu’un engouement se développe au XIXe siècle pour les capsules temporelles, les « lieux de mémoire » peuvent prendre des formes multiples et préexistent à la colonisation du Québec. Par l’art rupestre, les Premières Nations ont volontairement marqué la pierre. Ce mode d’expression symbolique ancestral est présent partout dans le monde sous différentes formes ; et contrairement à l’art pariétal en grotte, les sites d’art rupestre du Bouclier canadien sont bien visibles en pleine lumière.