Innovative Projects Realized

Knowledge-Graph Grounded Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Hallucination-Resistant AI Systems in Public-Sector

The partner organization, Solutions B-CITI Inc. (Bciti+), is a Canadian technology company specializing in smart community platforms that connect citizens, cities, and organizations through a universal digital citizen card and an AI concierge called ATNA. Its mission is to enhance citizen & membership engagement and trust while enabling services & data-driven, transparent decision-making for public and private partners.
Through this project, Bciti+ seeks to address a critical challenge: the rising impact of misinformation and lack of trust in digital communications between citizens and institutions. As Bciti+ evolves into an AI-powered platform (ATNA), it must ensure that information shared through its systems is verified, contextualized, and trustworthy. Developing an Intelligent Disinformation Detection using LLMs will help the organization automatically identify misleading or incorrect content, explain its reasoning, and provide confidence scores for transparency.
This innovation will strengthen Bciti+’s role as a trusted digital intermediary for cities, associations, and communities. The anticipated benefits include improved information reliability, higher citizen trust, and enhanced platform adoption and economic value. On a broader scale, this project will position Bciti+ as a pioneer in ethical and explainable AI applications for civic communication and public information integrity.

Premier Lighting Solutions

Premier Lighting is a lighting solutions provider based in Burnaby, BC, specializing in commercial and residential installations, with a commitment to quality, safety, and customer satisfaction. As the company grows, it faces challenges typical of expanding Canadian SMEs: ensuring best practices in workplace safety, modernizing employee hiring and onboarding, and maintaining equitable workplaces through clear policies, especially in areas such as warranties, workplace safety and harassment, hiring standards, and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI).
To address these needs, Premier Lighting is seeking to improve and formalize its internal policies. These improvements go beyond routine operations and will allow the organization to align with industry best practices, federal and provincial regulations, and emerging norms relating to EDI and workplace safety. The intern, with academic training in Policy Studies, will bring specialized expertise in public policy and regulatory analysis, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based drafting, allowing the company to address these innovation challenges. Modernizing and formalizing policies in key operational areas is not only a compliance exercise but a driver of business innovation. By adopting clear, up-to-date, and customer- or employee-centric policies, Premier Lighting will enhance client trust, improve operational efficiency, and create an inclusive and safe workplace, resulting in a more attractive offering for both customers and talent. This capacity for innovation supports business growth, market differentiation, and long-term profitability.

Vers une plateforme pédagogique intelligente intégrant le microlearning

La transformation numérique de l’enseignement supérieur transforme profondément les modes d’apprentissage et le développement des compétences des étudiants. Face à des parcours d’apprentissage de plus en plus diversifiés et à une forte demande de flexibilité, les universités doivent repenser leurs pratiques pédagogiques. Le microlearning, fondé sur des contenus courts, ciblés et accessibles à la demande, représente une approche innovante adaptée à ces nouveaux besoins. Parallèlement, l’intelligence artificielle (IA) offre des possibilités importantes pour personnaliser les parcours d’apprentissage, fournir un accompagnement en temps réel et renforcer l’engagement des étudiants.

Ce projet vise à concevoir et développer une plateforme pédagogique intelligente intégrant le microlearning et des outils d’IA afin de soutenir l’apprentissage des étudiants en gestion des technologies d’affaires à l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). Cette plateforme proposera un environnement d’apprentissage flexible, interactif et centré sur l’étudiant, favorisant le développement de compétences techniques, analytiques et managériales essentielles dans un contexte organisationnel de plus en plus numérique.

À terme, le projet contribuera à améliorer l’expérience étudiante, à renforcer l’autonomie des apprenants et à formuler des recommandations concrètes pour une intégration responsable, efficace et durable des plateformes pédagogiques intelligentes dans les programmes universitaires.

Youth Engagement in Gender Transformative Climate Justice in the Caribbean

This project explores how young people in the global South, especially young women and girls, are taking active roles in addressing climate change and gender inequality. It focuses on youth groups and networks in the Caribbean and looks at how they bring gender concerns into climate action in ways that can open new paths for meaningful change and respond to wider social issues. The study reviews existing youth-led projects, gathers young people’s views on the opportunities and challenges they face, and examines the approaches they use in their work.

This research visit is a continuation of a collaboration initiated in June 2025 between researchers at McGill and University of West Indies under the Queen Elizabeth Scholars program, in which I have been deeply engaged through research design,implementation, and preparing the initial research findings. During the research visit in Barbados, I will conduct interviews and focus group discussions with youth leaders, analyze the findings together, and identify messages and potential next steps for strengthening gender-responsive climate action. The work will benefit both institutions by deepening collaboration, expanding shared research, and helping build future partnerships that support youth-led climate and gender justice efforts in the region.

Exploring the Intersection of Folklore and Landscape Concerning Forested Areas in Upland Ireland

This study examines the intersections and overlapping knowledge between Irish folklore, understandings of landscape and lived realities, and historical sources concerning communities in north county Cork. With an eye to contemporary statements that claim a need to build a “Irish Forest-Culture”, this project aims to investigate the historical and cultural roots of what that might mean and to who. This research asks the following questions, is there historical documentation, narratives, and folklore about forests and the environment in north county Cork? And if so, what do they contain? How do these historical narratives and pieces of folklore converge and/or diverge from contemporary narratives around landscape, folklore, and sense of place? The proposed research builds on a broader project, led by Dr. Jodie Asselin at the University of Lethbridge, which focuses on re-storying places that have been impacted by the establishment of Sitka spruce monoculture forest plantations. The research will include three months of fieldwork in Ireland conducting archival research, semi-structured interviewing, and participant observation. This project will help foster a continued relationship between Irish and Canadian studies, creating spaces where people can learn, share, and reflect on what it means to do research at local, national, and international levels.

Constructing Global Competence: An Observational Study in Chinese K–12 Education and Implications for Ontario, Canada

This project will compare how Canadian and Chinese primary and secondary schools teach students aged 10-15 to develop global competence, understand and engage with the world. By observing classrooms in China and conducting a document analysis of the Ontario curriculum, the research aims to identify the most effective teaching methods from each context. The primary benefit for participating institutions is strengthened reciprocal insights that improve cultural sensitivity and global competence in teacher preparation programs and K-12 classroom practices in both Canada and China, thereby preparing students for an interconnected world with a shared future.

Design and development of a pillowcase for capturing EEG signals

CortexCare is a health-technology company focused on developing non-invasive and consumer-ready solutions for sleep improvement and neurological wellness. Their core activities include designing wearable and textile-integrated devices that combine sensors, stimulations, and analytics to support individuals with sleep disorders such as insomnia.
The company has previously developed a pillowcase capable of generating low-intensity electromagnetic fields that promote the onset of sleep. Its effectiveness, however, depends on accurately synchronizing stimulation within the user’s brain activity. CortexCare aims to address the lack of real-time EEG monitoring in their current system through the development and integration of a device into the pillowcase that is capable of capturing brain activity comfortably and reliably during sleep.
This project will provide CortexCare with a safe and commercially-scalable solution that enhances product efficacy, increases user safety, and strengthens the company’s competitive position in the growing sleep-technology market. The resulting innovation has a strong potential for economic return and broader social benefits through improved sleep health.

Listening to Music for Sleep Improvement: A Comprehensive Systematic Review

This research project aims to better understand whether listening to music can improve sleep and daytime functioning, such as mood, fatigue, and concentration, in the general population. The project will consist of a systematic review of scientific studies that have examined the effects of music listening on sleep across different age groups and health conditions. By bringing together results from a wide range of populations, this review will provide a clearer and more comprehensive picture of how music may support sleep health. The expected benefits of this research include improving scientific knowledge about a accessible, and low-cost approach to support sleep, identifying gaps in current research, and helping guide future studies and interventions aimed at promoting better sleep and overall well-being.

Investigate Synthetic Texture Generation Application for Integration into the Synthetic Data Pipeline

Applied Recognition Corp. (ARC), a Canadian software company based in Oakville, Ontario, develops facial recognition technology solutions designed to be both accurate and practical, enabling organizations to adopt biometric systems in a simple and cost-effective manner.ARC’s machine learning models depend on high-quality human facial image datasets to ensure reliable performance and accuracy in image detection and recognition. However, the limited availability of diverse, high-quality real-world facial data presents an ongoing challenge for training and testing purposes.ARC is collaborating with WIMTACH-CEDA to examine the technical limitations and operational challenges with generating synthetic face images using various artificial intelligence-based generation approaches.Building on previous research, this initiative focuses on identifying and documenting key system parameters and control features that influence consistency, scalability, and usability within the synthetic face image generation process.

This proposed project targets a critical operational challenge within ARC’s synthetic data pipeline: the need for scalable, consistent, and controllable texture generation methods. While the current pipeline supports variations in facial geometry and structure, limitations in texture consistency and bias control affect the reliability and repeatability of synthetic facial datasets at scale. Accordingly, the project aims to evaluate, optimize, and refine texture generation settings to enhance output consistency, reduce processing inefficiencies, and support large-scale data production aligned with ARC’s business and deployment requirements.The anticipated impact on ARC includes improved product scalability, accelerated model development, and enhanced revenue growth. By strengthening its synthetic data pipeline through improved texture control, ARC can efficiently expand training datasets and shorten development cycles, enabling faster deployment of facial recognition solutions. This approach reduces reliance on costly and sensitive real-world data, lowers compliance and acquisition costs, improves profit margins, and supports market expansion. The use of privacy-preserving synthetic data further strengthens customer confidence and reduces adoption barriers, contributing to sustainable long-term growth.

Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation for Sustainable Fuel Synthesis: Characterizations (Canada-France 2)

This project brings together a multi-institutional collaboration among the University of Toronto (Canada), the Technical University of Munich (Germany), and the Université de Paris Cité (France) to investigate the role of reactive hydrogenation intermediates in the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of lignin-derived phenolic compounds. Understanding these intermediates is critical for advancing sustainable catalytic pathways for biomass valorization.
The proposed Globalink Research Awards will support the mobility of PhD and undergraduate students across the three institutions, enabling hands-on training in sustainable catalysis research. Students will engage in complementary activities encompassing nanomaterial synthesis, advanced characterization, and kinetic investigations, fostering interdisciplinary skill development and international research exchange.
Within this tri-partite collaboration, the University of Toronto will contribute advanced kinetic and mechanistic analysis strategies; Université de Paris Cité will lead catalyst fabrication and materials characterization; and CRC-TUM will provide expertise in electrochemical techniques applied to catalytic systems. Together, these integrated efforts will accelerate fundamental understanding of catalytic hydrogenation processes while training the next generation of researchers in sustainable chemical technologies.

Personalized Virtual Patient Simulation for Decision Support in Intensive Care Units

Challenges in today’s Intensive Care Units (ICUs) involve the management of patients’ life critical physiological systems. ICUs must constantly make fast and personalized treatment decisions (e.g. ventilation settings, fluid management, and vasopressors) that require constant monitoring, patient specific response predictions, and real time decision support. This project explores the use of Cellular Discrete Event System Specification (Cell-DEVS) as a formal modeling framework to develop personalized virtual patient simulations for ICU decision support. The project will identify important physiological processes in ICU care and define discrete representations that capture their spatial and temporal dynamics. Strategies for mapping continuous ICU measurements into discrete Cell-DEVS state transitions will be investigated, alongside parameter personalization approaches and traceability. In order to validate the final framework’s functionality, it will be compared to existing physiological, machine-learning, and agent-based virtual patient models. Overall, this project aims to establish Cell-DEVS as a complementary modeling approach for personalized ICU risk scenario simulation and AI-assisted clinical decision support.

Boronate Ester-Based Strategies for Controlled Therapeutic Protein Release

The proposed project is focused on developing an improved therapeutic protein for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). More than 10% of the world population (primarily those over the age of 50) are impacted by OA, an inflammatory joint disease that affects all the joint tissues due to cartilage loss and to date lacks curative treatment.
We propose to develop a new strategy for the controlled intra-articular release of a protein that has demonstrated promising activity, and prolonged OA treatment. This protein works by stimulating chondrocytes, specialized cells that are responsible for forming, cartilage.
We hypothesize that engineered protein tethered to a hydrogel, a polymeric network in water, to enable sustained release of bioactive protein over 2 weeks. Our objectives to address this research question include:

1) Determine the yield and bioactivity of human natural and engineered protein.
2) Establish a potency for protein variants containing functional groups to immobilize and release it from hydrogels with reversible chemistry.

The Globalink Research Award will be used to facilitate collaborations between Dalhousie University and Nantes University with exchange of knowledge related to hydrogel formulation, protein expression and controlled release. Achieving these objectives will enable future research to focus on achieving potent protein-based therapeutics against OA.