Innovative Projects Realized

L2M – VoltVerify

Lithium-ion batteries are becoming increasingly common as the demand for energy storage in vital sectors like automotive and grid storage is on the rise. Each year, lithium-ion battery manufacturers dispose of 2% to 10% of their products, leading to financial losses of up to billions of dollars. Our research group recently found that inactive components in commercial lithium-ion cells can substantially impact their performance. However, there are no companies offering a service to test these inactive components, and most battery OEMs need more knowledge to test them. Introducing rapid and cost-effective initial testing for these cell components could potentially greatly reduce scrap rates and the associated costs for battery manufacturers. This proposal aims to gauge the interest of lithium-ion battery OEMs in such testing and explore the potential for a business case. The partner organization’s (Springboard Atlantic) mission is to translate research into business, making this project mutually beneficial for the partner institution and the project team.

DIY Air Cleaner Project

Periods of extreme heat and firesmoke are becoming more frequent in British Columbia with devastating consequences. People living at the intersections of poverty, medical vulnerability and low quality housing are often disproportionately impacted by these events. Our research seeks to answer the following questions: 1) How do communities currently navigate these exposures, 2) How can we best provide education and tools at the community level to people most at risk from fire smoke and/or extreme heat? 3) What recommendations can we provide to local governments and community service providers to support resilience around extreme smoke and heat for priority populations?
For more than 110 years, BC Lung has been a leader in the fight for healthy lungs and healthy air.This proposal builds off of work done in 2023 where an in-person workshop template was created at BC Lung Foundation that teaches people how to help themselves during periods of extreme smoke and heat. The workshop pilots were done with seniors, families of children with asthma and those living with lung disease in the Fraser Valley. The goal of this year’s (2024) summer project is to expand the program to include priority populations in Metro Vancouver and ensure that the workshop model is adapted for and responsive to the needs of people living at the intersections of poverty, medical vulnerability and poor quality housing.
The data generated by this research will be mobilized to policy makers, public health officials, and governments with the aim of developing policies and practices to reduce the mortality and morbidity from extreme climate events in the Metro Vancouver region.

Affordability and Climate with BC Climate Emergency Campaign

The Climate Emergency Unit (CEU), in collaboration with the BC Climate Emergency Campaign, seeks to understand how politicians, media, and civil society organizations in British Columbia frame the connection between affordability and the climate crisis, aiming to shift public perception towards viewing climate spending as an investment in the future. By exploring successful framing strategies used elsewhere, the research intends to inform election strategies and enhance the narrative surrounding climate action in the upcoming provincial election. Methods might involve reviewing the literature (whether academic or grey literature) to see whether other places have done work in this area, as well as climate campaigns and platforms of successful climate champions (i.e. Green New Deal work in the United States). The results will be disseminated to affiliated groups, including approximately 50 organizations in the Full Table of the BC Climate Emergency Campaign and a wider list of 570 organizational signatories, to shape future communications and events, ultimately strengthening the mobilization efforts around climate change awareness and action.

Comparative international jurisdiction scan of business continuity planning statutes and regulations

DRI Canada is a non-profit association of private and public sector employees, dedicated to business continuity, disaster recovery and emergency management. DRI Canada provides graduated training and certification in business continuity planning, emergency management, risk management, disaster response, crisis management and resilience, as well as two specialized certificates in business continuity for healthcare and cyber resilience. DRI Canada’s board and I ask: what are the government-mandated business continuity and business continuity planning requirements in Canada, and how do these mandates compare to other jurisdictions?

There is a growing number of business continuity planning professionals – many of them are associated with DRI Canada or its sister branches in other countries. DRI Canada’s board has noted a key knowledge gap within their membership: business continuity professionals do not have a clear understanding of government-mandated business continuity requirements in Canada. As a professional association, they also want to get a benchmark assessment of where Canada ranks in this area in relation to other countries – are we leaders, stragglers, or followers?

Inferring 2D exsitu distribution of galaxies with AI

The proposed research project aims to gain crucial insights into the stellar assembly of galaxies using advanced machine learning techniques. Most galaxies in the Universe are not isolated systems; they grow primarily through interactions and mergers with other galaxies. While we know that mergers significantly impact galaxy evolution, quantifying the contribution of accretion to a galaxy’s total stellar mass remains a challenge. By training state-of-the-art machine learning models, such as diffusion models, on cosmological simulations, we aim to infer properties of galaxies that are not directly observable from their observational features. Specifically, we seek to predict for the first time the distribution of ex-situ versus in-situ stellar mass in nearby galaxies, providing a detailed 2D projection of these components. This project, which is part of the intern’s PhD thesis, will leverage machine learning to uncover hidden aspects of galaxy evolution. The project will offer a unique perspective on the merging history of galaxies and demonstrate the potential of simulation-based inference in astrophysical research. The insights gained are expected to significantly enhance our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution, with the potential to lead to a scientific publication.

Building locally led community health program to optimize health equity and ensure sustainable and resilient community health system in Africa: Lesson from IFRC global community health program

The continued health disparities and the recent public health challenges including COVID-19 pandemic and epidemics have highlighted for the need of more resilient community-based health system in Africa and beyond. Robust evidence is crucial by examining the lessons learned during practice of community-based health programs to build locally led better community health systems in Africa. We will organize evidence using the experience of International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and National societies (NS)in community health program in Africa. We will conduct a Key Informant Interviews (KII) with a total of twenty public health experts from the five African CDC regions and review of existing documents of community program reports. Thematic analysis will be conducted. Expected result include key results of community-based health program; the barriers to and facilitators of effective and localized community-based health programs; the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the program; and key lessons and recommendations to date from the program. The result will be disseminated in multiple ways including presentation and publication. This study will contribute to the effort to build locally led better community health systems in Africa to address the current health gaps and future pandemics. This study will inform CRC’s and IFRC’s work to support NS engagement for more localized and effective community-based health program. This project will enhance the knowledge and the skill of the poste doctoral fellow.

Understanding Statistics through Physically Manipulating Data

The rise of Big Data, social networking, and mobile interactions coupled with an accelerating increase in the amount of structured and unstructured information enabled by cloud based technologies is forcing organizations to focus on information that is most relevant, value-generating, and risk-related. Problems arise when we make decisions based on good enough metrics (e.g. means) instead of proper statistical methods (e.g. T-tests, ANOVA). The issue is that everyday business workers need to understand statistics in a cloud centered world. In this proposal we hypothesize that data that is animated through physical manipulation (e.g. metaphors such as `pulling out data’, ‘massaging the data’ etc.) will result in improved understanding of statistical methods and greater acceptance of such methods in the workplace. Our research is primarily based off the successful presentations of animated statistics by Hans Rosling at TED [9]. We propose to build upon this successful teaching technique by further incorporating commonly used physical manipulation metaphors to facilitate statistical data analysis

Attitudes féministes et image corporelle au sein de la dyade mère-fille : le rôle de l’auto-compassion

En tant que mère, il peut être normal de se sentir impuissante face aux préoccupations corporelles des adolescentes. Plusieurs parents veulent aider leur fille à développer une bonne image corporelle, mais ne savent pas quoi dire ni faire concrètement pour y parvenir. En collaboration avec la Fondation Jeunes en Tête, dont la mission est de prévenir la détresse psychologique chez les jeunes, nous souhaitons mettre sur pied une boîte à outils afin de soutenir les mères dans le développement d’une image corporelle positive chez leur adolescente. Notre projet vise le partage d’outils concrets que les mères pourront mettre en place pour aider leur fille à se sentir bien dans leur corps. L’objectif de notre boîte à outils est de susciter une réflexion féministe sur les enjeux liés à l’image corporelle afin que les mères puissent transmettre une vision bienveillante et positive du corps à leur adolescente. Par exemple, nous souhaitons aborder des situations du quotidien, comme une séance de magasinage, et outiller les mères sur ce qu’elles peuvent faire pour soutenir positivement l’image corporelle de leur adolescente à ces moments.

L2M – Carbon Dots of Asphaltenes Origin for Friction Reduction

My technology introduces AsphaDots, a lubricant derived from asphaltenes-based carbon dots. This innovative product aims to address friction and wear issues in steel and related materials, commonly found in sliding, rolling, or contact interfaces in industrial machinery, as well as in natural and biological systems. Water-based lubricants have become alternatives to petroleum-based lubricants in a range of industrial applications. There is great need to solve this problem because friction and wear in moving mechanical systems have negative effects on durability, environmental compatibility, and efficiency. Most commercial lubricants are petroleum-based with inherent environmental concerns, difficult to dispose waste (used) lubricants, and easily attract and retain dirt and wear particles. The increasing scarcity of petroleum resources and growing environmental concerns have prompted the development of alternative solutions for friction reduction.
The key concept in dealing with these friction, wear, and attendant environmental problems is the replacement of petroleum-based lubricants with water-based analogues like AsphaDots. Water offers several advantages as a lubricant including low cost, abundance, environmental friendliness, effective cooling, easy cleaning, and enhanced thermal conductivity. As customers are searching for petroleum-based lubricants alternatives, AsphaDots-based lubricants are non-toxic, cheap, and easily re-usable as their impressive hydrophilicity allows filtering of wear particles and dirt in waste AsphaDots lubricants.
Two companies have already shown interest in the technology. Currently, 10 g AsphaDots per batch can be prepared in our laboratory. And we hope to develop a prototype that enables the preparation of 10 kg per batch.

L2M – A light-based device and accompanying App for breast cancer screening based on machine learning

Breast cancer is a leading cause of female cancer deaths, but early detection significantly reduces mortality rates. Annual mammograms are common for women aged 40 and older, but those under 40 often go undiagnosed. False negatives are a concern, especially with dense breast tissue. Many women with detected lesions or genetic risk experience stress during follow-up and have difficulty with self-examinations. Limited access to reliable diagnostic systems increases undetected cancer risk, influenced by ethnicity and socio-economic factors.
We propose a portable, rapid, non-invasive, low-cost, and user-friendly tool for early-stage breast cancer detection. This device helps women familiarize themselves with their breasts. Specialists can also use it for screening and follow-up. The device uses a red-light source to illuminate the breast, with malignant tumors absorbing light and appearing as dark shadows. A mounted camera captures images, which are analyzed using image analysis and deep learning. This semi-automatic approach sends images and analysis to physicians for further evaluation. The App allows for additional services and features over time.
Commercializing such a device poses significant challenges. Medical assistive devices carry high commercial risks, and the business model is complex. The highly competitive medical device market requires extensive market research and thorough data collection, analysis, and integration before manufacturing. This project allows for the development of a business model, focusing on legal procedures and standards for medical device development. Additionally, it involves gathering and analyzing market research data to assess the feasibility and success of commercialization, aiming to find a safe path to market.

L2M – Smart Logistics Optimization System Using Artificial Intelligence

The logistics industry faces significant inefficiencies due to lengthy planning and dispatching re-optimization processes, resulting in delays, increased compensations, and suboptimal transit times. These challenges arise from difficulties in assessing resource status, managing incoming requests, and coordinating communication between dispatchers, drivers, and resources. Our smart logistics optimization system leverages real-time data and advanced Artificial Intelligence algorithms to optimize resource dispatching, thereby improving overall operational efficiency and significantly reducing planning times. By adapting to real-world conditions, our system ensures efficient resource use, minimizing downtime and maximizing productivity. Improved visibility into the supply chain allows for proactive problem-solving, preventing issues before they become significant. This leads to timely deliveries and consistent service quality, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.

L2M – EcoTruck Smart Navigator: An AI-powered software for range map prediction and route optimization for electric trucks

The proposed project, EcoTruck Smart Navigator, aims to develop an AI-powered software solution that helps electric truck fleets optimize their routes and improve range estimation. By refining and testing our prototype, we will provide fleet operators with a tool that reduces travel time and energy consumption, addressing key challenges in the transition to zero-emission vehicles. This project will enhance the partner organization’s operational efficiency, support their sustainability goals, and contribute to meeting regulatory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.