Innovative Projects Realized

Determining Optimal Study Design Utilizing Synthetic Data

Realistic data generation has become a hot topic in health research, especially to determine optimal randomized clinical trial design. A growing field of research is “virtual” trials, which are trials conducted through computer simulations to generate synthetic data such that the generated distribution mimics the original data distribution without simply copying the original observations. Especially in more complex trials with multiple treatment arms and treatments that can change over time, it would be of great benefit to study different iterations of study designs in a timely, efficient manner to determine which study design to implement in a full scale, real-life trial. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to harness synthetic data to inform trial design, especially within the context of time-varying treatments that are commonplace in treating chronic illnesses. This project aims to develop a statistical framework for utilizing realistic synthetic trial data to inform optimal trial design. This work will be of value to both institutions, as governmental bodies in both places (North America and Europe) have recently provided guidelines to clinicians regarding implementing trials that utilize external (including synthetic) data.

Atlantic Coast Arboretum Catchment Area Ecosystem and Forest-focussed Cultural Heritage Survey

The project will identify and then collate information from a variety of ecological, arboreal, and forestry history sources which will provide foundational documentation about the Atlantic Coast Arboretum Catchment Area, that in turn will be used create an arcsGIS publicly accessible storymap, as well as providing a comprehensive guide to the species to be included in the creation of the Atlantic Coast Arboretum.

High-frequency monitoring of the start-up and temperature impacts of a biofilm-enhanced

Lagoons are the most popular wastewater treatment technology in Canada with hundreds of installations across the country. Most of these systems will require upgrades in order to increase their treatment capacity or to comply with new regulations such as the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations registered by the Government of Canada. Bionest is developing at the present time the BIONEST KAMAKTM technology to enhance lagoon capacity. Automated monitoring stations will be used in order to better understand the BIONEST KAMAKTM treatment capacity, especially during start-up of the system and under decreasing temperature conditions. As the quality of the data collected with monitoring stations is sometimes suffering, automated data quality assessment tools will be developed to ensure good water quality time series. This project will provide guidance to Bionest in making required changes to the technology to improve its wastewater treatment capacity and enhance its competitiveness on the national and international scene.

Enhancing Post-Surgical Recovery and Patient Satisfaction: Investigating the Impact of a Post-Surgical Bra on Breast Cancer Patients’ Healing Journey

Breast cancer treatment often involves surgery, which can lead to post-operative discomfort and challenges in physical mobility. Previous research has identified the potential impact of post-surgical undergarments on the quality of life and recovery process. As part of our commitment to enhancing post-operative care, the research team have developed a specialized surgical bra aimed at improving comfort and functionality during the recovery period. The purpose of this study is to gather in-depth feedback from patients in the immediate post-operative period about their experiences using the bra. Patient insights will help the team optimize the bra’s design and functionality, potentially benefiting future breast cancer patients during their post-operative recovery.

Evolve Micromobility Inclusive Mobility Program

BCAA is working on creating the systems, processes, and frameworks to enable high barrier individuals to use our new shared e-bike and e-scooter services and seeking support from subject matter experts in the areas of equity, innovation and technology to help develop our “Inclusive Mobility Program” offered to communities and individuals.

BCAA will be using the engagement with Mitacs and SFU to ultimately develop a set of technical features, policies, and a framework that we use to implement inclusive business practices in all of the communities that we operate in, in B.C. These features, policies and framework will be compiled together to create a playbook for our business teams to implement when we launch and operate a shared micromobility program in a city. This playbook will be used internally to ensure we are both delivering and measuring our impact with the Inclusive Mobility Program so that we can provide meaningful results to the municipalities that we operate in.

AI Chatbot for HGS Website

The AI-driven chatbot role is designed to efficiently respond to a variety of queries related to HGS, including its capabilities, products, offerings, sales support, and case studies. Additionally, the role involves providing detailed information about the company, such as job openings, application processes, and general inquiries. A key objective is to assist in generating leads and promoting open positions, thereby supporting the company’s growth and recruitment efforts. This role is crucial in ensuring that users receive accurate and timely information, enhancing their overall experience with HGS.

Demtroys: Détection d’anomalies énergétiques. Notifications intelligentes

Demtroys est une entreprise operant dans le domaine de l’lnternet des Objets (loT) avec une specialisation dans les systemes de chauffage. L’equipe, composee de professionnels dedies, travaille sur l’elaboration de solutions pour optimiser l’efficacite energetique de batiments residentiels et commerciaux.

L’objectif de ce projet est de minimiser le gaspillage energetique. En identifiant les evenements de perte d’energie, Demtroys vise a permettre a ses clients d’informer leurs locataires commerciaux sur les pratiques d’efficacite energetique. Cela contribue a l’adoption d’un mode de vie plus durable et respectueux de l’environnement. Demtroys vise a etre un acteur significatif dans la transition energetique grace a ses solutions loT pour le chauffage.

Enabling Customization of OS Memory Eviction Policies

The project aims to optimize memory management in operating systems by allowing user-space applications to design custom memory eviction policies. Traditional memory management policies, embedded in operating systems, often perform well on average but fail to deliver optimal performance for specific applications. This research will explore the use of eBPF technology to create more tailored memory management solutions with a particular focus on eviction policies, improving performance and reducing memory usage in data centers, where memory costs represent a significant financial burden.

LastMile AI Project

Our research aims to address the trustworthniess, scalability and interpretability of LLMs in the RAG enviroment by generating not only novel academic insights but also practical technology that helps enterprise AI users better understand, evaluate, and debug. By achieving a deeper, theoretically and empirically grounded understanding of how LLMs behave within RAG systems, we seek to provide actionable insights directly to users of industrial systems. Current technical approaches to evaluating LLM responses are often limited to coarse-grained classifications, which can be inaccurate, difficult to interpret, and not easily actionable. Our goal is to develop technology that provides users with fine-grained, interpretable, and actionable information, allowing for meaningful improvements to production systems that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

Non-invasively guided ultrasound hyperthermia mediated treatment of cancers in vivo using drug-loaded temperature sensitive liposomes

Chemotherapy uses drugs to treat cancer, but often causes significant side effects as the drug can spread throughout the body and affect healthy tissues as well. These side effects can be reduced by capturing drugs into nanoparticles such as liposomes that can enter tumors directly, but are too large to accumulate in healthy tissues. However, releasing the drugs from these liposomes is still a challenge. Heat treatments are often used in combination with these liposome nanoparticles to release drugs from liposomes directly in the area of heat treatments. As an added challenge, the risk of overheating can also damage surrounding healthy tissues. This project aims to develop an integrated ultrasound system that takes temperature images using an ultrasound imaging device to control heat treatments in real-time using a second ultrasound treatment device. The integrated system will be used to treat tumors grown on mouse models by releasing drugs contained in liposomes. This is expected to yield publications and a new IP for Cancer Rx, as well as a new feature for ultrasound systems developed by FUJIFILM VisualSonics Inc.

Improvement in 3D printability and functional properties of plant and algal proteins by cold plasma technology

The three-dimensional food printing (3DFP) offers the food industry and consumers customizable food preparation and manufacturing possibilities. Several food products including plant proteins have been utilized in 3DFP applications. However, the printability of plant proteins needs to be enhanced to develop novel food structures with improved stability. Our previous research showed that atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) as a novel pre-treatment technology can be used to improve the 3D printability and stability of plant protein structures. However, more research is needed to expand the application of ACP pre-treatment to improve the printability of a wide range of plant proteins.

This research project aims to advance our understanding of the application of ACP technology to improve the 3D printability and functionalities of plant and algal proteins. In this international collaborative project, we plan to utilize the crops and resources in Canada and Chile. The outcomes of this project can introduce new tools and opportunities for Canada’s and Chile’s food sectors, enhancing their ability to produce and export value-added products. In the long term, we aim to establish the 3DFP Network, a new initiative designed to foster collaboration between industry and academic partners, creating a global hub for 3DFP research.

Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for improved and sustainable swine production

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven decision making are booming in all sectors, and pig production makes no exception. In this fast-evolving landscape there is a need to assess which areas would benefit the most from AI and have an impact on productivity and sustainability of the Canadian swine industry. There is also a need to objectively evaluate new tools available in controlled environments, and assess whether they are practical, accurate, affordable and sustainable in commercial settings, with a focus on the use of real-time data in a production context. In a project led by the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement, in collaboration with Prairie Swine Centre, the intern will work on collecting, annotating and analyzing data collected in pig barns, as well as developing and testing new algorithms to automatically predict pig health status and welfare.