Innovative Projects Realized

Development of hyaluronan fragments for improving wound repair outcome.

We propose to identify HA fragments sizes that are useful for promoting wound repair using an assay funnel of 2 D culture screens to identify relevant reagents and then characterize their effects on wound repair using an animal model of excisional skin wounds and human 3D co-culture of skin cells.

Analysis of Guaranteed Lifelong Withdrawal Benefits (GLWB)

This project will analyze the latest guarantee feature in the variable annuities market: Guarantee lifelong withdrawal benefit. This option gives the client the right to deduct a certain amount annually from the policies account until death – even if a unit-linked account value drops to zero. We will build a stochastic framework to price the embedded guarantee for different product designs and parameters. Furthermore we will explore the impact of some of these various modeling assumptions on the policyholder’s optimal withdrawal strategy. The partner company will apply the model to price and hedge the GLWB attached to the variable annuity products it proposes.

Solar Pool Blanket Research and Development

Outdoor pools are considered as a major source of water, energy, and chemical consumption. This level of consumption is both costly for household’s economy and harmful for the environment. Considering the potential savings by utilizing a pool cover, Polyair in collaboration with Ryerson University will investigate the improved design of solar pool blanket(s) manufactured by Polyair. Polyair is the 2nd largest manufacturer of solar pool blanket in North America. It is essential to its business unit to review the design of their solar pool blanket(s) and continuously improve the performance of their offerings for different applications/markets to maintain the company’s leadership. The project aims to help develop solar pool blanket(s) as cost-effective multi-functional product that acts as solar collector for water heating as well as insulator for the reduction of water and chemical use and thermal MITACS Template Version- July 2010 12 losses from swimming pools. To achieve the project’s objectives, a theoretical model will be developed to evaluate the existing solar pool blanket performance. Also, an experimental setup will be developed to evaluate the effects of various parameters on the product’s performance.

Development of evapotranspiration estimates from class A pan

Runoff prediction from urban watersheds relies on accurate parameterization of all components of the water budget. Evapotranspiration often consumes the largest proportion of rainfall but is poorly understood because it is rarely measured and highly variable. This deficiency has been partly addressed within the Humber R. watershed with the recent establishment of two automated Bowen ratio energy balance ET monitoring systems, over an open field and impervious rooftop, operated jointly by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Geography Department of York University. Extending ET estimates to other surface types and different watersheds within Ontario would improve if the potential evaporation PET, measured using evaporation pans over past several decades could be transformed into estimates of real evaporation, ET. The objective of this project involves the experimental comparison of models utilizing class A pan evaporation, PET against real watershed ET estimates utilizing the BREB systems. This will improve the accuracy of water-budget models relying on these estimates and extend their spatial and temporal validity. Many meteorological stations world-wide measure water loss from stainless steel class A pans during the ice-free season. Therefore, this analysis holds the potential to broaden the reliability of class A pan data for estimates of actual ET as well as create historical ET datasets which could be valuable in assessing the affects of climate change on the hydrological cycle.

Evaluating the short-term structural and composition responses to riparian restoration treatments.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the short-term responses of understory vegetation to riparian thinning treatments and to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments in accelerating the development of old growth habitat. The outcome of this study has important implications for restoration ecologists and forest managers at Clayoquot Forest Management Ltd. This research can help provide the scientific guidance needed to effectively direct future restoration and silviculture initiatives.

Accelerating Automated Synchronization of Multiple-Camera Videos on multicore platforms.

This project aims to explore the feasibility of and the tradeoffs involved with accelerating multi-camera synchronization algorithms on multicore processors. Specifically, this project plans to explore acceleration using ‘traditional’ multicore CPUs and massively-parallel Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). PluralEyes, a product for synchronizing audio and video recordings released by Singular Software, a Vancouver-area company, is the software application informing this research and stands to directly benefit from the insights gained. 

Natural Language Rule Parsing for Schedule Automation

Icing Mitigation for Wind Turbines

Wind turbines in cold coastal climate experience frequent icing events. Icing may result in a variety of problems which can affect the production rate and availability of the turbines. The main focus of the proposed research is on how to deal with the icing issues at Kent Hills wind farm located in New Brunswick. Total loss of production revenue due to icing events at this wind farm was estimated to be around $2 million. The objective of the proposed research project is to investigate relationships among icing events, environmental and operational conditions, and mitigation options based on the historical data collected at Kent Hills wind farm. The results to be generated from this project will be useful for enhancement of wind turbine availability and reduction of production loss.

Gas Phase and Surface Chemical Consequences of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas

The proposed research will work to characterize plasmas of the type that form where the charging roll contacts the photoreceptor in a typical xerographic printer.  Laboratory experiments will form discharges under ambient atmospheric conditions and at the high-vacuum exit of a dielectric-barrier-discharge pulsed molecular beam.  Spectroscopic measurements will record fluorescence emission signatures of plasmas under these conditions, and time-of-flight mass spectrometry will monitor the presence of reactive intermediates.  

Autonomous Passenger Counting System with Distributed IP Cameras – Phase 2

The City of Edmonton is currently in need of an automatic passenger counting (APC) system for its Light Rail Transit (LRT). An APC will help the City with various decisions making. In this proposal we focus on automatic video processing to count passengers boarding and alighting from LRT. The proposed system is simple – it will consist of overhead inexpensive IP cameras directly looking down at the car doors. Direct top view will be able to avoid occlusions. Low-to-moderate resolution, grayscale video frames will be transferred over a network to a processing center and processed there automatically to count passengers. The goal of this four-month internship is to perform a feasibility study of the proposed setup and provide further recommendation to the City of Edmonton toward implementing a future APC.

Development of new analytical methods for Nutraceutical and Functional food industry

A series of rapid and cost effective analytical methods will be developed to enable routine screening of feedstock material and products.  These techniques include sampling with lasers so that the need for digestion with highly corrisive acids is effectively eliminated.  These techniques will have less waste and use less hazardous materials than traditional methods and this will reduce the environmental impact of critical analytical testing.   Developing these technologies will ensure that Natural Factors continues to be an industrial leader in quality assurance and control.  The new technologies will be published in scientific journals to facilitate wide adoption of the new approaches by related industries.

Investigating the effects of current forestry management practices on the quality and productivity of black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) in southeastern British Columbia

Black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) is an important wild food plant for people and wildlife in the East Kootenays of British Columbia.  Over the past 50 years changes in forestry practices, and the intensity of timber harvesting have changed the forest and the habitat where black huckleberries grow.  This research project will employ scientific and ethnographic methods to investigate the effects that clear-cutting and logging are having on the abundance, productivity and harvesting of black huckleberry in the East Kootenays.  Developing an understanding of how huckleberries are affected by forest management practices will provide information for improving forestry practices including enhancing huckleberry habitat for the benefit of local communities of huckleberry harvesters and wildlife species. The results of this project will provide Keefer Ecological Services with the capacity to restore and improve huckleberry habitat in the Flathead Valley for the benefit of grizzly bears in this area.