Innovative Projects Realized

Defining and Computing True Clinical Trial-relevant Causal Estimands in Simulation Studies

Simulation studies are widely used in pharmaceutical research to evaluate operating characteristics of statistical methods proposed for regulatory analyses. Central to such studies is the ability to compare against a known “truth” implied by assumed the data-generating mechanism. In practice, however, this advantage is often limited than assumed, as the target is not a simple function of data-generating parameters. This challenge is well illustrated by oncology trials in which patients randomized to control are allowed to switch to the experimental treatment after disease progression. Regulatory analyses in such settings often targets questions concerning what the treatment effect would have been had switching not occurred, however this is not a simple number that can be derived explicitly from parameters of the data-generating model.
Simulation studies are thus often used to try to determine the “truth” up to some reasonable level of precision. However, when the relationship between the type of treatment effect, the assumed data-generating mechanism, and the numerical procedure used to compute the “truth” are not explicit, simulation results may conflate approximation error with estimator bias, leading to potentially misleading conclusions.
This project will develop more precise approaches for determining “truth” in the context of longitudinal data.

Triboelectric nanogenerators-new materials development (AB+EC)

Clean electricity is energy that is both sustainable and non-polluting. Such sources of energy are ideal for mitigating climate change. For the full benefit of clean energy generation to be realized, sustainable practices must be integrated into the development of clean technologies. This requires using materials that are both renewable and recyclable. These can indeed offset the otherwise large carbon footprint of clean energy generating technologies. The project will endeavor to integrate sustainable materials that are also compatible with electricity generation by mechanical actuation. Elastomers that are ideally suited for such actuation will be developed exclusively from renewable materials with the advantage of being compostable. The project will evaluate how renewable materials can be compounded to maximize electricity generation without sacrificing sought after elasticity. The capacity of the elastomers to generate electricity by mechanical actuation will also be evaluated. A major benefit of the project will be zero polluting technology for generating electricity that can be recycled by composting.

Designing and Validating Scalable Ecosystem Adoption Frameworks for a Multi-Sided Sports Technology Platform

This project will design and test scalable ecosystem adoption frameworks for a Canadian sports technology platform. Through structured market research and pilot experiments, it will develop repeatable go-to-market models that support multi-stakeholder growth across North America.

Le régime juridique nigérien des investissements étrangers au prisme du développement : une analyse critique et transversale inspirée du régime canadien

Malgré ses ressources naturelles abondantes (uranium, or, pétrole), le Niger, pays d’Afrique subsaharienne reste confronté à un taux d’extrême pauvreté de 52 % et peine à attirer des IDE. Ceux reçus, concentrés dans le secteur extractif, sont très volatiles et peu bénéfiques pour l’économie, un paradoxe dû à un cadre juridique peu contraignant, de faibles exigences de durabilité, des politiques de contenu local inefficaces, des incitations déséquilibrées et un environnement juridique international asymétrique. À l’inverse, le Canada, grâce à des réformes de sa Loi sur l’investissement conciliant attractivité économique et protection des intérêts nationaux, est un exemple d’équilibre entre ouverture et souveraineté. Il se place comme l’un des pays où les IDE contribuent le plus au développement économique. Malgré les disparités socioéconomiques entre les pays, ce modèle offre des pistes d’inspiration pertinentes pour le Niger. Il en est de même du Brésil, 1er destinataire des IDE en Amérique latine. Acteur clé de la facilitation des investissements à l’OMC, le Brésil est un exemple emblématique incontournable pour la recherche sur les IDE. Le projet propose une analyse critique du régime nigérien des IDE, inspirée de ces cadres et vise à identifier les meilleures pratiques pour proposer des réformes contextualisées au Niger.

Health Research Assistant

The internship will be a single internship for July Health – a digital health startup on a mission to fill the gap in diagnosis and care for women’s chronic hormone conditions. July Health delivers telemedicine services across Canada with a medical team that includes registered dietitian, social workers, and nurse practitioners. As a growing virtual healthcare company, they are looking towards improved approaches to evidence gathering to support rigorous evaluation of clinical outcomes, patient experience, and the effectiveness of their integrated, patient-centred care model.
The health outcomes analysis project is aimed at filling this area of need within the company. The position will include remotely conducting patient experience surveys, gathering qualitative and quantitative data, analyzing clinical outcomes, and developing and publishing a clinical health outcomes report demonstrating the efficacy of July Health’s integrated “anti-dismissal care model” and support in further improvements, within the company and through stakeholder collaboration.
The goal of this internship with July Health is ultimately to demonstrate how integrated, virtual, patient-centred care models can improve health outcomes and care experiences for women with PCOS. By strengthening the evidence base for digital healthcare delivery, this project will support July Health’s growth and scalability while contributing to improved responsiveness, and effectiveness within the system through patient-centred evidence gathering and collaboration.

ESROP – Permanence and Periodicity: An Analysis of Structural and Cyclical Changes in Macroeconomic Aggregates

With the rise of protectionist policies in the United States, rapid integration of artificial intelligence in business, and demographic pressures from an aging population, Canada finds itself at the intersection of several powerful economic forces. These dynamics blur the distinction between long-run structural change and short-run cyclical fluctuations in macroeconomic data, increasing the risk of misinterpretation and policy miscalibration.

This project seeks to develop modernized analytical models that more effectively disentangle structural and cyclical components in macroeconomic data by leveraging time-series unsupervised learning models and graph neural networks. Existing economic models rely heavily on traditional statistical decomposition methods and the adoption of machine learning remains limited and transitional. This research addresses that gap by integrating advanced time-series machine learning with established macroeconomic theory.

Building on the combined expertise of researchers at KMUTT and the University of Toronto, the project employs a multi-phase methodology that pairs machine-learning model development with social-science case studies. The result is an advanced model designed to improve macroeconomic analysis while fostering research collaboration between Canada and Thailand.

Ultimately, this research aims to strengthen the analytical tools available to central banks, supporting sound monetary policy decisions, economic resilience, and confident navigation of an increasingly complex global economy.

Stage de recherche sur la rétroaction des noyaux actifs de galaxies (AGN) et la dynamique du milieu intra-amas de galaxies

Le projet de recherche proposé vise à comprendre comment un trou noir supermassif influence son environnement et la formation des étoiles dans la galaxie centrale NGC 4696, au cœur de l’amas du Centaure, en utilisant des données inédites du télescope spatial James Webb. Le stagiaire participera à l’analyse de ces observations afin de séparer, à l’aide de méthodes avancées d’intelligence artificielle, la lumière émise par le gaz chaud et froid de celle des étoiles, et d’étudier des signatures stellaires surprenantes qui pourraient indiquer un mode de formation stellaire inhabituel. Ce travail permettra de mieux relier le refroidissement du gaz, l’alimentation du trou noir et son impact sur la galaxie, un problème central en astrophysique moderne. Les avantages escomptés sont doubles : sur le plan scientifique, le projet pourrait apporter des résultats majeurs sur la formation des étoiles et la rétroaction des trous noirs, et sur le plan de la formation, le stage offrira une expérience de pointe en analyse de données JWST, en astrophysique observationnelle et en intelligence artificielle, au sein d’une équipe de recherche internationale de premier plan.

ESROP – Unobtrusive Visual/Walking Guidance in Mixed Reality

Mixed reality (MR) based visual guidance enables intuitive interaction between the user and the environment and has various applications (e.g., picking tasks, navigation, and surgical support). These applications require highlighting physical objects, and many existing techniques utilize obvious virtual elements such as outlines and arrows. While effective, they significantly increase visual clutter when conveying a large amount of information, thereby detracting from the actual scene. Therefore, we aim to control the “saliency” of the scene, the distinctiveness of certain elements in a visual scene that naturally attract human attention, using methods that are less perceivable to users, such as blur, without introducing additional virtual objects. We explore the potential for naturally guiding users’ walking behavior by manipulating “saliency” to direct their gaze. This project will contribute to the advancement of MR technologies by exploring subliminal visual guidance techniques that can enhance user experience and interaction in MR environments. The findings from this research can inform the development of more intuitive and user-friendly MR applications, which can have significant implications for various industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and education.

Strategic development and implementation of B2B growth frameworks for enterprise resource management software

This project involves a student intern working with QReserve, a Canadian technology company that provides sophisticated resource management and scheduling software. The intern will focus on a “Growth and Marketing” initiative designed to translate QReserve’s complex technical features into clear, professional, and human-centric content for the B2B market. By developing strategic communication frameworks—including technical writing, multimedia assets, and data-driven outreach—the intern will help build professional trust within the community. This project will directly benefit QReserve by enhancing its brand presence, refining its client acquisition strategies through data analysis, and ultimately expanding its user base in the competitive enterprise software sector.

Platform Optimization and Clinical Readiness Development for the WithinStride® Smart Insole System

PROVA Innovations Ltd. is developing WithinStride®, a Canadian-designed smart insole system that supports gait rehabilitation using wearable technology and connected digital health tools. The system is intended to help individuals with mobility challenges improve their walking patterns and support recovery in both home and clinical environments.

This project will focus on strengthening the overall performance, reliability, and usability of the WithinStride® platform as it advances toward broader clinical adoption and commercialization. Activities will include enhancing system functionality, improving how data is collected and presented, and refining the user experience for patients and clinicians.

By optimizing both the physical device and its supporting digital components, the project aims to ensure the technology is effective, accessible, and ready for real-world use. The internship will support the continued development of a Canadian medical innovation that promotes mobility, healthier aging, and scalable rehabilitation solutions.

Les patrimoines des couples de fait : patrimoine d’union parentale et patrimoine indivis

Aujourd’hui, de plus en plus de couples choisissent de vivre ensemble sans se marier. Ils achètent des biens, fondent parfois une famille et organisent leur vie commune… sans toujours mesurer les conséquences juridiques de ces choix. En cas de séparation ou de décès, le partage des biens peut devenir source d’importantes difficultés, particulièrement entre les conjoints de fait.

Depuis 2025, le droit québécois prévoit un mécanisme inédit au bénéfice des conjoints de fait ayant un enfant commun : l’union parentale, qui crée un patrimoine commun destiné à assurer protection économique et égalité entre les partenaires. En revanche, les conjoints de fait sans enfant relèvent principalement de l’indivision, forme de propriété commune moins protectrice et souvent mal comprise.

À travers l’analyse de situations concrètes et de la pratique juridique, le projet vise à mettre en lumière les forces, limites et zones d’ombre tant du patrimoine d’union parentale que du patrimoine indivis. Par ailleurs, cette étude poursuit un objectif de comparaison entre le droit français et le droit québécois pour évaluer les modèles d’organisation patrimoniale des couples de fait et contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des règles applicables, tant pour les professionnels du droit que pour les citoyens.

Electric and Hybrid Electric Aircraft Design: Partnership between the University of Stuttgart and the University of Toronto

The global shift to sustainable energy and climate consciousness as lead to the innovation and development of unique technologies that challenge societal norms. One such technology is electric and hybrid electric aircraft. With the advancement of this transportation type comes the advent of new challenges in energy storage and thermal management. Once such problem is the creation of unusable heat in the fuselage that must be dissipated to the external atmosphere. This project focuses on the development of a composite fibre fold Skin Heat Exchanger (SHX) that can, in theory, effectively dissipates heat without creating an excessive amount of cooling drag and aerodynamic inefficiency. This project focuses on the development, design, and integration of an SHX onto an experimental electric aircraft, known as the e-Genius. A proposed collaboration between the University of Stuttgart and the University of Toronto, the advancement of electric aircraft technologies can shape the future of sustainable design, and make combustion-based aircraft a thing of the past.