Innovative Projects Realized

Prevalence and Outcomes Following Major Lower Extremity Amputation in Select Caribbean Countries

This project will study the prevalence and factors leading to preventable lower-limb amputations in the Bahamas, and how health systems can better protect patients at risk. The intern will work with clinicians and researchers at Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau to review hospital records from the past decade and identify how often amputations occur, which patient and system factors increase risk, and what health outcomes follow amputation. The goal is to generate the first longitudinal study on lower-limb amputation in the Bahamas, where diabetes and vascular disease are common but access to specialist care is limited. For the host institution, this project will provide actionable data to support better planning of limb-preservation services, improve referral pathways, and inform local clinical and policy decision-making. The initiative will also further strengthen the international research partnership between Princess Margaret Hospital and the University of Toronto, and is directly relevant to the Canadian health system, where persistent inequities in access to care contribute to higher amputation rates among underserved populations. Together, the collaboration will create a foundation for planned future multi-country studies across the Caribbean and support scalable, data-driven solutions to reduce avoidable amputations.

Development of a method for the forensic analysis of head hair to infer biological sex

The identification of a victim or suspect is often a top priority in criminal investigations. Biological sex determination can narrow down a list of potential victims or suspects. Although deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a powerful tool in identifying suspects and victims, its use in hair is limited by poor yield and degradation, often being insufficient for identification. Yet, hair is a valuable piece of evidence due to its durability, non-invasive collection, and ability to retain a record of trace elements over time. This project will validate and expand a method involving elemental analysis to enable sex determination using very small amounts of hair, which is essential in forensic contexts where only minimal trace evidence may be available. Replicating the proof-of-concept method used at Queen’s University on a different instrument in France and applying it to non-Canadian hair will allow verification of the method’s robustness while expanding it. The effect of hair dye will also be studied, as criminals may use it to alter their appearance, to identify “fingerprint elements” indicative of sex but not affected by hair dye. For the first time, this will be done through high resolution imaging of cross-sections of hair at the host institution.

Design and Development of a Product Analytics System for an AI-Powered Music Creation Platform

This project will involve designing and building an internal analytics system that helps Staccato better understand how users interact with its AI music creation product. The student will help define what product data should be collected, add tracking inside the software, and build a dashboard that turns this data into clear, useful metrics. This will allow Staccato to see which features are most valuable, how users move through the product, and what behaviors are linked to long-term engagement and conversion. The expected benefit to Staccato is improved, data-driven decision making for product development, user experience, and marketing, helping the company focus its efforts on features that most effectively support music creators and drive business growth.

L2M_NextShield PMMA-EMI Filament

This project will validate a recycled PMMA-based 3D-printing filament with built-in EMI-shielding capability, combining lab-scale material testing with customer feedback. The intern will produce and test filaments for mechanical performance, printability, and EMI-shielding effectiveness, and engage potential users to confirm application fit, performance requirements, and pricing expectations. By completing these activities, the project will help the partner organization de-risk the material for real-world use, confirm its suitability for electronic enclosures, and provide the information needed to move toward early commercialization of a sustainable, conductive 3D-printing material.

Combining sonochemistry with the electrocatalysis for hydrogen production on transition metals phosphides

Climate change and the current energy crisis require the development of sustainable and clean energy systems. It is now well established that the development of the hydrogen economy will be a solution to overcome the intensive use of fossil fuels.
The production of high-purity green hydrogen from electrocatalytic water splitting using cheap and sustainable catalysts, require the development of new electrocatalytic approach. In this proposal, transition metal phosphides (TMPs) known for their bifunctional activity, will be use to split water. To enhance their activity, the combination of ultrasound technology with electrochemical process appears as a new approach. Indeed, ultrasonication is known to accelerate electrochemical processes. Consequently, we expect that this combination increases hydrogen production during water electrolysis.

Conditions favorables aux rencontres arts science | Expéditions Bleues 2018–2024.

Dans la crise climatique actuel, artistes et scientifiques collaborent de plus en plus afin de mieux comprendre les écosystèmes et de sensibiliser la population aux enjeux écologiques. Pourtant, les conditions qui rendent ces collaborations interdisciplinaires durables et porteuses demeurent encore peu documentées.

Ce projet s’appuie sur les Expéditions Bleues, des expéditions en milieu naturel menées par Organisation Bleue, qui rassemblent artistes, scientifiques et équipes de coordination autour de la protection des écosystèmes marins. En analysant les expériences vécues lors des expéditions réalisées entre 2018 et 2024, la recherche vise à mieux comprendre ce qui favorise ou freine les rencontres entre les disciplines dans un contexte d’immersion en nature.

À partir d’entretiens avec les participant·e·s, le projet examinera comment les conditions de terrain, l’organisation des projets et les relations humaines influencent la collaboration. La photographie sera utilisée comme outil de dialogue pour soutenir le récit des expériences et rendre visibles des dimensions sensibles souvent difficiles à exprimer autrement.

Les résultats mèneront à la production d’un guide pratique destiné à soutenir la planification de futures expéditions interdisciplinaires.

L2M – MSDL-CPFE: Multiscale Crystal Plasticity and Multiphysics Simulation Software

This project aims to turn an advanced research software into a practical tool that helps the nuclear industry better predict how critical reactor components degrade over time. These components operate in extreme conditions, and replacing them is very expensive, so improving lifetime predictions can lead to significant cost savings and safety benefits. The project will focus on understanding where and how the software provides the most value, and how it can be integrated into real industrial decision-making processes. The expected benefit to the partner organization is a clearer path to using the software as a reliable decision-support tool, helping reduce uncertainty, limit unnecessary component replacement, and support safer, more cost-effective operation of nuclear systems.

God’s Voice on Earth Goes Digital: Making and Mediating the Voice of the Pope

This project examines how the Vatican’s recent shift to digital audio technology is changing the way the Pope communicates with the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, including over 12 million in Canada. By studying the audio engineers who design and operate the Vatican’s recording equipment, the church officials who make decisions about how the Pope should sound, and Catholic families in Sicily and Canada who listen to Vatican broadcasts, this research explores how religious institutions use new technology to maintain their authority and connect with global communities. The project benefits the University of Toronto by bringing back specialized knowledge about audio technology and institutional communication that will enhance teaching and research capacity, while the University of Palermo gains strengthened international research partnerships and expanded networks with North American scholars studying religion, technology, and Mediterranean communities. Both institutions benefit from collaborative publications and conference presentations that position them as leaders in understanding how digital transformation affects global religious institutions, knowledge increasingly relevant as churches, governments, and cultural organizations worldwide face similar challenges in adapting their communication strategies for the digital age.

Understanding the Process and Consequences of Hybrid Governance for Water Delivery in Odisha

Research shows that gaps in urban water provision in the Global South are often linked to governance arrangements rather than only physical water scarcity or inadequate infrastructure. This has led to institutional reforms that change who plans, manages, and delivers water. However, governance transition is typically gradual rather than a single transformative event, with older practices often persisting alongside new rules and procedures. There is limited empirical understanding of how these reforms are carried out in practice and why similar reforms produce different outcomes across contexts. This project examines a governance transition in the Indian state of Odisha, where responsibility for water services shifted from a government engineering department to a publicly owned utility. Using official documents and in-depth interviews, the study traces how the transition unfolded, how older and newer organisational arrangements were adapted, combined, or continued in parallel, and how this shaped everyday service delivery. This project will generate evidence on how governance reforms affect service outcomes. The host institution will benefit from original field-based data and a process-oriented case that supports theory-building on institutional change in public services. The home institution will benefit through analytical strengthening of doctoral research and research collaboration.

Manufacturing-to-Measurement and Verification for the Harvest Platform

This project will help Harvest Systems improve how the performance of its waste heat recovery technology is tracked and reported. By creating a secure system that automatically aggregates and analyzes data from installed units, the project will generate clear reports on energy savings and system performance. This will help restaurants lower energy costs and reduce emissions, while also helping Harvest Systems scale its technology, strengthen customer confidence, and support broader commercial growth across Canada.

Beyond Carbon: Community Wellbeing in the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project

As carbon markets expand across the Global South, community-based carbon projects are increasingly promoted as “triple-win” climate solutions that mitigate emissions, support economic development, and enhance local wellbeing. In Kenya, REDD+ projects have proliferated rapidly, yet there remains limited community-centred research examining their impacts on lived experience. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative case study of the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project (CHRP). Grounded in environmental justice, the study critically examines how REDD+ projects shape community wellbeing, with particular attention to Maasai communities whose livelihoods, land relations, and cultural practices are closely tied to the landscape. It situates REDD+ within neoliberal conservation frameworks and Kenya’s colonial conservation history, highlighting how power, knowledge, and resources circulate through carbon governance. The research introduces an original conceptual framework—the “carbonscape”—adapted from Appadurai’s scapes, to examine the global–local flows of ideology, finance, actors, and technologies shaping carbon projects. Using semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observation, key interlocutor interviews, and photovoice, the study assesses wellbeing across social, economic, cultural, environmental, and political dimensions, focusing on participation, benefit sharing, land access, and cultural inclusion. The findings contribute Kenya-specific empirical insights to debates on REDD+, carbon markets, and climate justice, with implications for more equitable climate governance.

Mongolia Filmmaking Project 2026

Our goal with this project is to use filmmaking as a medium to engage in knowledge-sharing in Indigenous communities in Mongolia. In order to do this, we plan to work alongside the Frozen Commons project as they organize various workshops and and fieldwork throughout Mongolia. By working with the Frozen Commons, as well as collaborating with Indigenous communities, we aim to enter a collaborative space where films and other video-media projects can be created as a way of sharing and preserving knowledge.