Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

30156 Completed Projects

2861
AB
5059
BC
812
MB
673
NL
842
SK
8957
ON
9368
QC
96
PE
579
NB
1120
NS

Projects by Category

Exploring Progressive Solutions: Innovating within the Regional Cannabis Sector

Prior to cannabis legalization the regional cannabis industry in the Central Kootenay Boundary Region was flourishing with an estimated 2,500 small grey-market producers who were an integral part of the socioeconomic fabric. Legalization offered the potential to transition the regional cannabis economy from an illicit to a legal sector, bringing with it potential for economic development. However, due to uncertainty and volatility the regional cannabis economy has dramatically changed bringing concern over losing unique Kootenay genetics, expertise, knowledge, and resources if a viable path forward cannot be found. The purpose of this project is to co-create, pilot, and evaluate innovative opportunities for the rural cannabis sector in the Central Kootenay Boundary using the smart specialization framework. The Mitacs student interns will be critical to the delivery and implementation of the pilot projects; they will support ongoing outreach with project stakeholders, administer various surveys for feedback, support the organization of sub-committees for each pilot, help create validated methods to assess the pilots, and summarize and export findings to other jurisdictions and sectors. These activities will support the regional cannabis sector, provide work-integrated learning experiences, and supply data for evidence based-decision making, which is essential for the partner organization, KAST, to help move the sector forward.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Tracey Harvey;Sarah-Patricia Breen

Student:

Partner:

Kootenay Association For Science and Technology

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Selkirk College

Program:

Accelerate

Fast approximate solutions to large and sparse systems of equations via convex optimization

Many effective Convex Optimization techniques face a common bottleneck: the resolution of large, sparse systems of equations. Despite the important advances in the state-of-art at theoretical and algorithm development, a significant challenge persists in the tendency to overlook the commercial viability of these algorithms.
Recent strides in computer hardware, driven by advancements in AI and cryptocurrency, have made small clusters of GPUs or FPGAs viable for addressing high-value optimization problems encountered by Kinaxis customers. If these hardware configurations can significantly reduce computational time, they offer a promising solution.
The collaboration between uOttawa, Kinaxis, and MITACS aims to bridge the gap between academic research and industry in high-performance computing. This partnership focuses on developing efficient, sustainable, and scalable optimization methods and computational algorithms tailored to real-world challenges convex optimization.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Augusto Gerolin;Aaron Smith

Student:

Partner:

Kinaxis Inc.

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

University of Ottawa

Program:

Accelerate

Bone targeted EP4 Agonist as muscle anabolics In muscular dystrophy

The overarching project goal is to validate the compound’s use as a management strategy for muscular dystrophy, opening the path to its clinical testing in a rare disease and expanding its commercialization potential beyond bone-related conditions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Fabio Rossi

Student:

Partner:

Mesentech Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Elevate

Amelioration of marginal soil for cultivation of Camelina sativa

There is growing interest in biofuel as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels, which could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hence climate change impacts from transport. Marginal land presents an opportunity for the production of bioenergy feedstocks while minimizing competition with food crops for productive agricultural land. Examples of marginal soils are those that have any combination of low organic matter content, poor drainage, and high salinity, sodicity, pH and clay content, which make them less suitable for conventional food crops. Some biofuel crops, such as camelina (Camelina sativa), have been shown to grow well in marginal soils with minimal fertilizer inputs. Therefore, amelioration of marginal soils has potential to enhance the yields of such crops. The overall objective of this greenhouse experiment is to investigate the potential of soil amendments to restore the productivity of a marginal soil for cultivation of camelina as a biofuel crop. Treatments will include biochar, biostimulants, and gypsum. Camelina will be grown to physiological maturity in the potted soil and assessed for total biomass and seed yields, oil content, fatty acids, and protein content. Treatment effects on nitrous oxide emission and ammonia volatilization (from urea application) will also be tested. Results will assist the partner organization formulate strategies for improved biofuel crop production on marginal land.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Francis Zvomuya

Student:

Partner:

Imperial Oil Resources Ltd

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Mining

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Assessing threats to salmon and Tla-o-qui-aht priorities for restoration in the ha?ukmin (Kennedy) Watershed

The ha?ukmin (Kennedy) Watershed is vital to Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation as a source of food and culture. The goal of this research, led by a Tla-o-qui-aht member and under Tla-o-qui-aht guidance, is to support the Nation’s fisheries and restoration decision-making for ha?ukmin. Specifically, the research will investigate two factors: the diet of Peamouth Chub (who may compete with salmon for food) in ha?ukmin and the Tla-o-qui-aht community’s priorities for their salmon hatchery. Diets will be assessed by sampling stomach contents from ha?ukmin chubs throughout a year, while Tla-o-qui-aht values for the hatchery will be investigated with a series of interviews. This project will be a partnership between the UBC Centre for Indigenous Fisheries and Ha’oom Fisheries Society. Ha’oom, an organization that supports the rights-based fisheries for five Nations including Tla-o-qui-aht, benefits from this work through its potential to increase salmon returns and support Tla-o-qui-aht’s relationship to the salmon and waters.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Andrea Reid

Student:

Partner:

Ha’oom Fisheries Society

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

Advanced Matrix Computation Methods for EMT Simulations

Computer simulation of transient events in an electric power system requires advanced modeling and computational tools. Introduction of renewable resources, such as wind and solar power, has caused fundamental changes to our power systems, thereby rendering many of our existing simulation tools inadequate. This research aims to solve some of the underlying shortcomings of power systems computer simulation tools through advanced computational methods and modern computing hardware so that simulations of large, complex systems is possible with efficiency and speed.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shaahin Filizadeh;Ian Jeffrey

Student:

Partner:

Manitoba Hydro International Ltd

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services; Utilities

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

MALDI mass spectrometry technologies for investigating tumor metabolism

Cancer treatments that stimulate the immune system, called immunotherapies, have shown promise in fighting cancer. However, the success of immunotherapy depends on many factors, including tumor’s metabolism and the surrounding environment—the tumor microenvironment (TME). The TME is a complex mix of different cell types, including those that support the tumor’s growth and others that fight it. Cancer cells change the way they use energy and build new molecules, which creates a unique metabolic signature. This metabolic signature can affect how well immune cells called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can attack the tumor. Tumors that have TILs, called ‘hot’ tumors, usually have better outcomes for patients than tumors without TILs, called ‘cold’ tumors. By understanding the metabolic differences between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ TMEs, we can develop more effective immunotherapies. To study the metabolic profiles of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ TMEs, we need highly sensitive techniques like mass spectrometry (MS). One powerful MS technique is matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging (MALDI-MSI), which can create detailed maps of the distribution of metabolites within the TME. The goal of this proposed research project is to improve the sensitivity of MALDI-MSI so that it can be used to detect biologically important metabolites in ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ TME.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Goodlett

Student:

Partner:

BC Cancer

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Elevate

Real-time Wind Calculations based on AI and CFD

Un-crewed Air Vehicles (UAVs) have many applications in different sectors, such as security, surveying, and logistics. However, the flight autonomy of the UAVs is a key factor that can limit their mission potential. Shearwater Aerospace is a Canadian company based in Montreal that develops autonomous operating software based on artificial intelligence, Smart Flight, for professional and commercial drones. Smart Flight improves drone capabilities, allowing them to achieve longer flight durations, higher speeds, and more frequent operations through the integration of advanced artificial intelligence and wind-powered autonomy. The proposed research project aims to expand the capability of Smart Flight by using a Neural Network (NN) that can estimate the wind speed over any terrain in real-time. The NN will produce the three-dimensional wind velocity field over a specific area that is given as an input. The NN would be much faster than the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation where a velocity field will take about one second to generate. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that is trained on CFD data based on a high-fidelity turbulence LES model. By enhancing Shearwater’s ability to measure the wind speed and direction before and during flight operations, they will be able to give drone operators accurate estimates of the flight performance. This is vital for successful mission planning, as well as improving flight safety, operational efficiency, and overall performance. The project will also lead to a significant increase in flight time and a decrease in energy consumption.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Marius Paraschivoiu

Student:

Partner:

Shearwater Aerospace

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Accelerate

Further enhancements of machine learning strategies for hematology analytics with near-field microscopy

Alentic Microscience Inc has developed a highly portable device that performs complete blood counts and other in
vitro diagnostic tests based on the lensless microscopic imaging of blood and reagents. The system uses
proprietary sampling techniques and unique analysis software based on advanced machine learning techniques.
The software has been designed as a multistep process of artifact removal, recognition of cell localization, image
enhancement, and classification.
We have previously investigated several possible advancement techniques within a two-term internship of a
Master student. Some of the anticipated improvements such as vision transformers have not shown major
improvements, but we made progress with multi-stage processing for recognition of difficult classes. Also, the
investigation of uncertainty within class shows important potentials that we will further develop in this internship. In
addition, we have devised several new potential improvement strategies specifically on the super-resolution
strategy as well as the processing of context in different clinical settings.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Thomas Trappenberg;Dirk Arnold

Student:

Partner:

Alentic Microscience Inc

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Quantitative analysis of forestry effects on Pacific salmon abundance

The decline of Pacific salmon on the south and central coast of British Columbia has resulted in well-recognized economic, ecological, and cultural impacts. Numerous factors are considered to have contributed, including marine conditions, climate change, and changes to freshwater habitats. Forest harvesting is often considered to have altered freshwater habitats where salmon spawn and rear via changes to temperature, flow regimes, erosion, and sedimentation. This project will use multiple time-series of salmon abundance and spawner-recruit analysis to characterize the impacts of forestry on wild salmon populations. As iconic populations with unique cultural, economic, and environmental impacts in western Canada, wild salmon have many Canadian groups who are highly motivated to help protect their health and long-term viability. These groups include First Nations, government, industry, environmental NGOs, and academics. This project, in partnership with environmental NGO Salmon Coast Society, will engage and collaborate with such groups, including Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw Fisheries Group Society, Pacific Salmon Foundation, Ecofish Research Ltd, and the Universities of Victoria and Toronto.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Mark Lewis

Student:

Partner:

Salmon Coast Society

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Elevate

Beyond Criminalization of Indigenous Fisheries: Documenting injustice and envisioning just futures

Our project seeks to document the criminalization of Indigenous fishers and fisheries in so-called Canada and beyond, and use equitable knowledge-bridging and research co-creation tools to explore possibilities of transformation towards justice. The criminalization of Indigenous fisheries (among other cultural,
spiritual, and subsistence practices) is a destructive colonial practice that leads to inequity, loss of subsistence and cultural practice opportunities, and foments incendiary conflict between Indigenous and non-Indigenous governments and peoples. Coupled with exploitative colonial fisheries management and environmental practices, the unjust criminalization of Indigenous fishers has led to personal trauma and incarceration, the usurping of Indigenous rights, colonial violence, and attempted destruction of millennia-old relationships between Indigenous Peoples and Fish. In partnership with and guided by the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR; our partner), and in service primarily to the five Mi’kmaq communities in Unama’ki/Cape Breton (in so-called Nova Scotia, Canada), we intend to together document historical and modern unjust colonial practices of criminalization of Indigenous fishers, with focus on shedding light on the just futures and transformative approaches that Indigenous Elders, youth, and knowledge holders envision for their fish, fisheries, communities, and selves. Ultimately, we hope our collective work will contribute materials, methods, approaches, and praxis to aid in confronting on-going colonial harm and pernicious power imbalances in the
context of fisheries management and beyond, with particular focus on Indigenous rights resurgence and fisheries management, conflict transformation, and Indigenous approaches to equity and relationship-building.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Andrea Reid

Student:

Partner:

Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Agriculture; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Elevate

Development of a ZrO2/sericin-membrane-enhanced integrated mobile system for decentralized wastewater treatment with energy recycling and emission reduction

In Canada, there is still a lack of wastewater treatment systems for enormous number of remote communities and industrial sites. Therefore, a mobile and cost-effective waste treatment system is urgently desired for scattered water treatment demands. This project aims at the development of a ZrO2/sericin-membrane-enhanced integrated mobile system (IMS) for decentralized wastewater treatment with energy recycling and emission reduction. The developed IMS system will consist of (1) a multi-source power supply module, (2) a wastewater treatment module with electrocoagulation as a pretreatment and ZrO2/sericin (zirconium oxide/sericin) membrane for fine treatment, and (3) a smart operation and management system. The developed IMS can be powered by various power sources such as fugitive gases from oil and gas production, and quickly deployed at remote sites for on-demand wastewater treatment The system efficiency will be maximized through process integration/optimization in terms of IMS operation and route planning. Major efforts will be made to evaluate and enhance the cost-effectiveness of the IMS under multiple site conditions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gordon Huang

Student:

Partner:

Petroleum Technology Research Centre

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Regina

Program:

Accelerate

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