Innovative Projects Realized

Preparing Nurses to Work in Technology Enabled Healthcare Environments

The proposed project provides new nurses with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to work in clinical practice settings in British Columbia, Canada and Internationally. The project will lead to the development of nurses who can not only articulate how nursing practice can be captured in health information systems (HIS) and telehealth applications, but can also use technology to enhance the safety and quality of their practice. The project will also allow for a new typical curriculum to be disseminated widely by providing faculty from BC’s Schools of Nursing with curriculum components or learning activities/teaching tools that can be used to integrate informatics and information management content into nursing courses.
Objectives of the Project:
The objectives of the proposed project are to: (1) identify nursing informatics and information management competencies required of undergraduate baccalaureate nurses in BC, (2) identify teaching/learning activities that can be used to develop these informatics competencies within the context of a typical undergraduate nursing curriculum, (3) develop a laddered curriculum that leads to the development of these competencies, (4) pilot and evaluate the curriculum components (i.e. teaching/learning activities), and (5) use a “train the trainer” approach to disseminate the curriculum.
Background:
National nursing bodies have identified a critical need to integrate informatics and information management competencies into nursing curricula. Many undergraduate nursing informatics competencies have been identified, but they have not yet been fully identified, defined, integrated, evaluated or disseminated to Schools of Nursing internationally (Weaver et al., 2010). The development of a curriculum that supports informatics competencies development is critical to today’s and tomorrow’s nursing practice [Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2010]. The project is unique as it has high impact and volume, having the potential to bring Schools of Nursing into the 21st century healthcare environment.
Methods:
The project will take place in 4 Phases. Phase 1 will consist of a systematic review of the literature focusing on nursing informatics and information management competencies at the baccalaureate level. Phase 2 will involve focus groups (with key policy, professional and academic stakeholders) to identify current and future information management and informatics competencies for nurses working in BC. In Phase 3 the researchers will integrate nursing informatics and information management components into a typical nursing curriculum, and in Phase 4 they will evaluate these curriculum components for their ability to develop undergraduate nursing informatics competencies.

Nanotechnology for biomedical applications

the project concerns the preparation, characterization and in vitro evaluation of drug delivery systems.

Techniques for Mapping, Analyzing and Improving Complex Multifunctional Product Development Processes

The  objective  of  this  work  is  to  develop  methods  to  map  and  improve  the  Aeroelasticity  SIPOC process at Bombardier Aerospace.  Existing  methods  and  techniques  for  process  mapping  will  be  considered  to  develop  a  process framework  which  will  be  adapted  to  perform  analysis  and  provide  improvements  to  the  process.  Analysis  techniques  will  be  applied  to  detect redundant,  duplicated  or misaligned  process  activities.  Results will provide means to assess and evaluate the discrepancies between the actual and desired processes.  Solutions  will  be  developed  to  reduce  these  discrepancies  to  obtain  a  smoother,  leaner and faster process.  The  process  map  to  be  built  consolidates  different  viewpoints  of  the  process  and  the  engineering knowledge to reflect the interdependencies and the information flow throughout the process. This will contribute to improvement of the structural awareness across different functions that contribute to the process, thus foster more effective coordination of the work.  Application  of the  process  suggestions that  will  given  as  the  deliverable  of  the  project  will  allow  faster  and  leaner  development  process through (1)  better scheduling of tasks and resource allocation (2)  a more streamlined PO  process.

Terahertz surface plasmon near-field sensor for material sensing applications

In this project, we plan to address the specific problem that TeTechS Inc is facing at this stage of its product development project, which is collecting a complete set of measurement data for an array of organic materials with different levels of purity and demonstrate the capability of its proprietary terahertz sensing techniques to qualify and quantify purity and integrity of organic LED (OLED) materials with the level of precision required in OLED deposition and material purification processes. Materials used in organic electronics pose a significant opportunity for terahertz measurement applications. TeTechS have performed research on a subset of materials used in organic electronics can demonstrate the effectiveness of its measurement system in detection and quantification of the materials signatures. We believe that TeTechS’ technology can serve in many stages of organic electronics production and enhance the quality of end products in the organic electronic industry. There is currently no terahertz system on the market to address this problem in the OLED market.

Experimental investigation of the flow fields within novel compact compressor stages

The aim of the internship is to conduct airflow velocity and turbulence measurements within a novel, compact aircraft engine compressor stage, using a non-intrusive technique, and then compare the results with those obtained from numerical (computational fluid dynamics, CFD) models, thereby developing an understanding as to how the different models deal with turbulence and with the strong curvature of the flow present in such compressor stages. The main result of the research is expected to be recommendations to the industrial partner as to how to improve their CFD modelling approaches in order to achieve more accurate simulations and, hence, optimized and efficient “green” designs.

Computer-aided spinal disease diagnostic system

This proposed research aims at developing a fully automated computerized system for multiple spinal disease diagnosis. It improves the efficiency of the current clinically workflow. The development of the research is based on the state-of-the-art computer vision and image processing techniques. To the best of our knowledge, our group is the first group focusing on this direction. Once success, it will not only improve the clinician’s accuracy, inter and intraobservability, but also promote the technical advancement in the computer vision and image processing.

Development of model for high temperature composite materials used in aerospace

The use of composite materials for high temperature aerospace applications requires new studies in order to better understand the behaviour of these novel materials, and to generate appropriate design tools. The main goals of this project are to develop a set of numerical tools that will be used to predict the fatigue behaviour of advanced high temperature composite materials. The first step will be to complete the development of the tools. Then, the tools will be implemented into existing software currently used by the industry partner. Finally, the procedures for using the tools will be documented. The numerical model will be used by the industry partner for the development of new gas turbine engines that utilize high temperature composite materials. This research is part of a larger collaborative project and is therefore of considerable interest to the industry partner. The research is significant because it will lead to optimal light-weight composite component design, which will increase fuel economy and therefore benefit the environment.

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) as an alternative decision making framework for health technology assessment in Canada

Decision-making frameworks for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) have become a major topic in developed nations in recent years. Indeed, the quest for more rational and transparent HTA decision led many jurisdictions to investigate the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) as an alternative decision-making framework. In Canada, the development of a MCDA framework for HTA decision-making is in its infancy. Indeed, to our knowledge, only one MCDA framework has been proposed and tested in the country. This framework is based on a specific model of the broad families of MCDA methods while other methods that might be well suited for different decision-making contexts remain largely unexplored. This study will show the extent to which MCDA can help make rational and transparent decisions in Canada, by means of practical examples and case studies. A pilot test using the most appropriate MCDA model for the Common Drug Review (CDR) process in Canada will be carried out.

Study on molecular level events during fouling on quartz sleeves in UV disinfection photoreactors

Ultraviolet (UV) photoreactors for water treatment comprise UV lamps encased in quartz sleeves, immersed in the water to be treated. Over time, these quartz sleeves become fouled with materials from the water, reducing the amount of UV available for treatment. This phenomenon requires that the systems be over-sized and often include costly automatic cleaning systems to restore system performance. This proposed project will study the molecular processes that result in fouling on the quartz surface, and investigate the effectiveness of anti-fouling coatings. Previously, we have utilized in-situ atomic force microscopy to investigate initial molecular level events of fouling. This project aims to build on previous work by studying the interfacial chemistry and speciation of the initial foulant material through the use of advanced surface characterization techniques.

Combined Building Integrated PV/Thermal (BIPV/T) collector for net-zero energy building applications

Incorporating the Two-stage Variable Capacity Air Source Heat Pump (TS-VC-ASHP) into Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (BIPV/T) system has the potential to reduce building heating and cooling costs and dependence on non-renewable heating fuels. ASHPs could boost the quality and quantity of heat output of a BIPV/T system by delivering a seasonal Coefficient of Performance (COP) of between 2.0 and 4.0, which means 2-4 times more energy output than the amount of energy (electricity) consumed.

When used in Canada’s cold climates, however, ASHPs alone have been found to underperform at low temperatures due to the scarcity of heat that may be pumped out of the atmosphere. One solution to this is the two-stage VC-ASHP which can provide a higher COP at very low winter outdoor temperatures. The incorporation of PV/T and two-stage variable capacity ASHP into building integrated sloped roof, flat roof and curtain wall solutions in existing residential and commercial buildings will furthermore have the potential to lower overall costs of such systems, significantly reduce GHG emissions and provide significant economic and other benefits for Canada in general and for southern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in particular. The proposed research project is to seek the optimal system configuration(s) of the integrated BIPV/T+ASHP system suitable for southern Ontario climate in new and retrofitted house and small commercial building applications through both numerical and experimental studies. The outcomes of the proposed project are expected to be further promoted and marketed by our partners (local governments, industries and industry associations) for quick and broad adoption of the proposed system(s) in the building sector.

Multi-host firmware for TCi controller

C-Therm Technologies' TCi Thermal Analyzer, measures quickly and non-destructively the thermal properties of liquids, powders, pastes and solids with very low conductivity and up to 120 W/mK. The TCi controller currently communicates with a single PC host using a limited resource 8 bit microcontroller. In this project we will investigate the firmware changes needed to accommodate a second tablet computer connected via a USB dock and/or a WIFI link.

A novel analgesic in a surgical model of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of joint disease affecting over 80% of the human population above 75 years old and burdening health organizations worldwide. Osteoarthritis is characterized by progressive joint degeneration resulting in chronic pain and loss of joint function. Currently there is no cure for osteoarthritis; available treatments are only symptomatic targeting pain and are associated with significant side effects, emphasizing the need for new treatments.

Isovaline is a novel analgesic which showed remarkable effects in several pain models without producing central nervous system side effects. The current study will examine the analgesic profile of isovaIine in mice; we will assess the efficacy of isovaIine in alleviating the signs of osteoarthritis and restoring the ability of the mice which underwent surgical destabilization of the knee joint to exercise voluntarily. The effect of isovaline will be compared to dicIofenac, and morphine the currently drugs of choice for osteoarthritic pain.