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

Development of Loop Modeling and Sidechain Packing Algorithm for Protein Structure Prediction.

Proteins play crucial roles in almost every biological process. The function of a protein depends on the specific spatial shape that a protein takes in nature. The Protein Structure Prediction problem is to predict the tertiary structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence. Experimental methods (NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography) are slow and expensive. There is an increasing gap between the number of existing protein sequences and that of the known protein structures. Computational methods have the potential to rapidly and effectively annotate these protein sequences. We proposed a new method for loop modeling that uses Weighted Multidimensional Scaling (WMDS), a statistical technique for exploring similarities in data. Using WMDS, a gap is first fitted with suitable loop candidates from database, and later relaxed iteratively to return the loop to its original size. Bioinformatics Solutions Inc (BSI) offers a Protein Structure Modeling solution in RAPTOR packages that contain a loop modeling module called OWL. The loop modeling module OWL uses Cyclic Coordinate Descent (CCD) technique to close a loop. However, we observe that in some uncommon situations, OWL fails to close the gap properly. Successful development and implementation of a better loop closure algorithm will enable BSI to commercialize and market the program as a module of RAPTOR package. This will enhance the functionality of the highly regarded RAPTOR with a better 3D structure prediction module that will eventually help in expanding RAPTOR market among academics and pharmaceutical laboratories.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ming Li

Student:

Mohammad Ziaur Rahman

Partner:

Bioinformatics Solutions Inc.

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Wireless Sensor Networks for Forest Monitoring

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have been considered for various applications including forest monitoring. WSN allow the user to have real-time spatial monitoring of the parameters of interest. For instance, with forest fire detections, the sensor nodes measure weather parameters such as temperature, humidity, precipitation and wind speed. Then, these parameters are forwarded to the control units to detect and/or predict forest fire risk. In this project, we aim to design algorithms and protocols for WSN-based forest monitoring systems. Furthermore, we plan to design and implement a WSN prototype to test and analyze the scalability and economical factors. The project can benefit the partner by addressing the problems of forest fire, pollutions and wild life violations. These problems cause significant losses including human injuries, life causalities, resident evacuation, financial losses and ecological damage. The proposed monitoring system aims to minimize these losses and damages.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Mohamed Hossam Ahmed

Student:

Mohammad Abdul Azim

Partner:

Natural Resources Canada

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Forestry

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Producer and Consumer Attitudes towards Forest Product Biomass for Renewable Energy Generation

 

Nova Scotia woodland owners will be surveyed to explore their attitudes towards forest product biomass as a renewable energy resource. The four A’s of energy security: accessibility, acceptability, affordability and availability (Asia Pacific Energy Research Council, 2007), provide the framework for the survey questions. In contrast, selected community members from the same counties as the woodland owners will be asked to participate in focus groups to discuss biomass and their attitudes towards its role as a renewable energy resource as well. By discovering how available, acceptable, accessible and affordable the woodland owners perceive biomass to be, then Nova Scotia Power Inc (NSPI) will have much greater insight into how to best utilize this resource. As well, by better understanding the woodland owners and public concerns it will help improve NSPI’s ability to effectively engage with their stakeholders.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Michelle Adams

Student:

Margo MacGregor

Partner:

Nova Scotia Power Inc.

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Vehicle Class Identification Via Footprint Pressure

 

The existing systems count the number of vehicles on the road by measuring the number of air pressure spikes experienced by a rubber tube that lies across the road. This project aims to improve this system by analyzing the pressure signal to determine the type of vehicle and its speed. The knowledge of the type of vehicle and its speed is useful in a number of applications, such as highway traffic modeling, highway safety, etc. In this project the classification of construction vehicles will be the primary focus. This will create an easy to use and accurate record of vehicle movements in and out of job sites and material yards. By tracking the type of vehicle and its direction it is possible to track the number of loads (eg. Fill, A gravel, B gravel, stone, etc.). Different vehicles are designed for different load capacities. Therefore being able to identify the type of vehicle will make it possible to more accurately estimate the total volume of material being moved to and from job sites. This can compliment the hand kept records which can be lost or incomplete.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Lian Zhao

Student:

Thomas S. Behan

Partner:

Behan Construction Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

Ryerson University

Program:

Accelerate

Traditional Knowledge: A Blueprint for Change

 

This project is set in the Inuit community of Northwest River, Labrador and will focus on current and historic Inuit land and resource use of the region.  In involves training local Inuit youth to collect and document traditional knowledge on the location, importance and threats to fresh water, sea ice, sensitive habitats and species; and the development of that knowledge into various media formats (including a GIS database). Data collection will rely on community meetings, surveys, individual interviews, and mapping. Video and audio records of the research will be maintained and archived. The results of the project will be used to direct future research, both traditional and scientific; and will assist Sivunivut in the development of a local climate change adaption plan. It will also be available for others to use in local, regional and national climate change and cultural education and research.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Keith Chaulk

Student:

Scott Neilsen

Partner:

Nunatsiavut Government

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Fisheries and wildlife

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Costs Associated with Ensuring Accessibility, and Ideal Models for Aging-in-place

 

. The general aging of Canada’s population drives a need for accessible housing strategies in British Columbia. This need is especially imperative in the social housing sector. Technicalities concerning accessible housing design are well researched (e.g., ideal ramp design, hallway width, and wheelchair turning radii). However, less information is available on the costs associated with incorporating varying degrees of accessible and aging-in-place features into the home. This project will provide CMHC and BC Housing with costing information as well as an optimal model of how social housing units can adapt to the needs of variety of household types over time. In addition, occupants of social housing units already equipped with accessible and aging-in-place features will be surveyed about their sense of place – an important attitude that can help BC Housing and CMHC to understand how residents feel when accessible and aging-in-place design principles have been accounted for.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Robert Gifford

Student:

Lindsay McCunn

Partner:

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation And BC Housing

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Accelerate

Property Insurance Pricing Investigative Research

As the insurance industry embraces predictive analytics, the Gore Mutual Insurance Company (simply "the company" below) is interested in exploring data-driven and computer-intensive methods for risk evaluation and product pricing. Recently, the company ran a 6 month pilot study to investigate the use of a piece of predictive-analytic software called Talon (created by EagleEye Analytics), but in the end decided not to deploy it. By focusing on one or two specific business problems. we will first try to understand why the company found Talon inadequate. Did classical models such as the logit prove insufficient? Would modern ensemble technology such as boosting provide a better solution? Was there a need for better optimization tools? We will then propose and implement a more satisfactory solution. 

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Mu Zhu

Student:

Zhou Ye

Partner:

Gore Mutual Insurance Company

Discipline:

Statistics / Actuarial sciences

Sector:

Finance, insurance and business

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Farming Land Use Analysis in the Greater Peterborough Area

 

Sustainability is a large concern for a number of communities as fossil fuel reserves are in decline, and water resourcse are becoming scarce. To that end, it is becoming increasingly important for communities to have sustainable solutions to food and energy. This initiative will explore agricultural, energy and other market opportunities and their impact on alternative land uses. Through working with Millen Farms, who is just one of a number of farmers that have expressed interest in the project, the study will be undertaken to look at feasibility of various alternative land uses.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Asaf Zohar

Student:

Paul S. Grieve

Partner:

Millen Farms

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Trent University

Program:

Accelerate

Clinical and Economic Assessment of Vitaphone 3100 BT External Loop Recorder

 

Vitaphone 3100 BT is a portable outpatient heart monitor that can be used to detect disturbances to the normal rhythmic beating of the heart (arrhythmia). Arrhythmia is associated with heart disease, heart failure and stroke. A clinical effectiveness and usability study will be conducted as well as an economic evaluation on the Vitaphone 3100 BT, and will be compared to other devices and techniquesfor detecting arrhythmia. The Vitaphone 3100 BT has the potential to produce more successful and accurate recordings of arrhythmia than its comparators, and if so, it could possibly lower morbidity and mortality rates. M-Health Solutions holds the rights to the Vitaphone 3100 BT in Canada and will benefit from these studies by having a more thorough understanding of the comparative effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the device.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Ron Goeree

Student:

Meghann Gregg

Partner:

M-Health Solutions

Discipline:

Epidemiology / Public health and policy

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

3D Reconstruction from Underwater Video

Robotic underwater inspection is a growing industry, as many submerged assets require inspection and maintenance in areas that are out of reach for divers. The state of the art is video inspection by a remotely operated vehicle. Because of poor visibility the result is often long, close-up videos that are difficult to interpret. 2G Robotics is pioneering an underwater inspection technology that will automatically build a full-colour CAD model of a submerged asset using only the inspection video. This software will provide inspection technicians with an intuitive 3D representation of the asset that they can zoom and rotate in order to take in the asset as a whole or easily inspect sections of interest in detail. Less technician time will be spent reviewing hours of video, and more will be spent understanding the asset’s state and required maintenance. Less expensive, more accurate underwater inspection will be made possible.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. David Clausi and Dr. Paul Fieguth

Student:

Neil Cavan

Partner:

2G robotics Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Advanced Modeling for Diagnostics and Optimization of Oil Wells

 

Several thousand new pumpjacks are installed in Alberta oil fields each year. Hence, for obvious reasons, developing efficient Pump-jack technology is important to the oil and gas community. The project investigates the process and control systems with particular applications in dynamic modeling of oil and gas well pump-jacks which is also known as the sucker-rod pumping systems. The objective of the MITACS Accelerate Internship is to develop a robust data- driven, realtime modeling methodology of pump-jack systems using the data of the gathering downhole well characteristics. The information from the developed real-time monitoring system will play an important role in designing and implementing suitable control schemes to optimize the pump-jack process. The anticipated results will be potentially useful to oil and gas industry in developing an efficient pump-jack system so that the productivity can be maximized.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Stevan Dubljevic and Dr. Yau Shu Wong

Student:

James Ng

Partner:

JackTek Systems Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

The role of novel red yeast rice formulations to modulate lipid metabolism and reduce dyslipidemia and vascular disease in the JCR:LA-cp rat.

The primary objective of this MITACS study is to utilize a novel animal model with high blood lipids to assess the potential lipid lowering efficacy of red yeast formulations developed by SinoVeda Canada Inc. The intestine is the first-pass organ for the metabolism of dietary lipids and has an important role in whole body cholesterol homeostasis.  While the intestine is known predominantly to absorb and secrete cholesterol and contributes to faecal sterol removal, it has also been proposed to contribute to the regulation of plasma cholesterol concentration.  Funding from my NSERC Discovery grant, has revealed that the intestine can modulate it’s secretion of cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) under different metabolic and dietary fatty-acid conditions.  The purpose of this new MITACS application is to utilize the expertise that my group and interns have developed to partner with a provincial company to exploit this new knowledge to develop a new Natural Health Product (NHP) for cholesterol lowering.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Spencer Proctor

Student:

Faye Borthwick and Sheng Wu

Partner:

SinoVeda Canada Inc.

Discipline:

Agriculture

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

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