Innovative Projects Realized

PRISM Development/Enhancements

PRISM is a proprietary LAMP stack-based platform developed by Levis Tech, a software development consultancy headquartered in Saskatoon. Serving as the backbone for approximately 90% of the company’s projects, PRISM represents over 15 years of accumulated intellectual property and technological advancements.

This project focuses on enhancing key components of PRISM to ensure continued innovation and usability. The planned improvements include:

1. E-commerce Module Enhancements: Refining cart functionality to improve user experience and streamline the checkout process.
2. Modular Extension Improvements: Optimizing module extension capabilities to accelerate the development of new applications by leveraging existing features and modules.
3. Code Modernization: Adapting the platform to align with new industry standards, improving the quality, security, and maintainability of the generated applications.
These upgrades aim to strengthen PRISM’s core functionality, maintain its competitive edge, and support the delivery of high-quality, secure solutions for clients.

Surface modification of Petcoke Activated Carbon for Removal of Recalcitrant Naphthenic Acids from Oil Sands Process Effected Waters

The oil sands industry in Alberta, Canada, generates large amounts of wastewater, known as oil sands process-affected water (OSPW), which contains high levels of toxic naphthenic acids (NAs). NAs, which can reach concentrations of up to 120 mg/L, are the main contributors to the water’s toxicity, posing significant risks to nearby ecosystems like the Athabasca River. This research seeks to develop a cost-effective remediation solution by using adsorbent activated carbon materials made from petroleum coke (petcoke), a waste by-product of oil sands extraction. While traditional petcoke-based activated carbon can absorb many contaminants, certain complex NAs are difficult to remove. The study aims to enhance these activated carbon adsorbents by chemically modifying them with amines, nitrogen-containing compounds that improve the capture of stubborn NAs. Various chemical methods will be explored to attach these amines to the carbon surface, and the modified materials will be tested to measure their effectiveness in removing NAs from OSPW. The goal is to create an affordable and scalable treatment process that can significantly reduce the environmental impact of OSPW, offering a sustainable solution to wastewater management in the oil sands industry.

Researching strategic and business opportunities: using AI to foster animal (pet) health

Empawerpet (empawerpet.com) is pioneering the field of canine mental health diagnostics through their veterinary clinic-based biomarker testing platform. While they have established a foundation in biochemical analysis, they recognize the need to expand their diagnostic capabilities through a new AI non-invasive, accessible methods. The company is therefore interested in expanding their current clinic-based biomarker testing platform techniques by adding an AI-powered video analysis platform that can evaluate dogs’ behavioral patterns to assess their mental well-being, complementing their existing biomarker testing.

Expanding virtual learning and teaching resources at VanDusen Botanical Gardens for formal and non-formal learning spaces.

The Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) is a non-profit organization that collaborates with the Vancouver Park Board to manage both the Bloedel Conservatory and VanDusen Botanical Garden. Their goal is to help people of all ages understand the importance of biodiversity and to inspire a lasting love for plants and gardens through various programs and services. The VBGA offers educational programs, volunteer opportunities, memberships, and fundraising initiatives to support their mission. In response to the growing interest in environmental education, they provide engaging field trips for students and teachers. Building on a successful project support by Mitacs that created virtual field trips for the Bloedel Conservatory, the VBGA is now working with our returning intern, Poh Tan, to make VanDusen Botanical Garden more accessible to students and teachers, especially those from rural and remote areas who may face challenges such as travel costs and availability of chaperones. Together with the educational team, Poh plans to develop virtual and blended field trips aligned with school curricula for kindergarten to grade 12 students across British Columbia. By partnering with international botanical gardens and environmental organizations, the VBGA aims to create enriching learning experiences that deepen understanding and connection to plants and the environment. This initiative aligns with VBGA’s strategic goals and involves collaboration with educational teams and community stakeholders to offer virtual field trips that explore topics like British Columbia’s coastal temperate rainforest and the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Through these efforts, the VBGA seeks to provide free virtual access to the gardens for classrooms beyond the Lower Mainland, fostering environmental awareness and education among a broader audience.

Business Model Innovation with the Cansbridge Fellowship

The Cansbridge Fellowship, a leading Canadian non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurial leadership, seeks to modernize its operations and programs to better serve students and ensure long-term sustainability. This project will bring in specialized interns to tackle key challenges, including redesigning the business model for financial stability, optimizing programs to meet the evolving needs of students post-pandemic, and improving marketing strategies to boost visibility and engagement. By leveraging expertise in areas like financial modeling, design thinking, and digital marketing, the project aims to create innovative solutions that strengthen the Fellowship’s impact and solidify its role in developing Canada’s next generation of innovators.

L’anthropologie de David Graeber face à l’épistémologie féministe

Dans le cadre de la bourse Mitacs Globalink, cette recherche vise à rédiger et publier un article scientifique sur la notion de valeur chez David Graeber, en dialogue avec les théories féministes de l’économie politique. L’article, provisoirement intitulé “La valeur du point de vue et le point de vue de la valeur chez David Graeber”, explorera comment une approche critique enrichit la compréhension de la valeur au-delà de sa seule dimension économique. Ce projet sera mené sous la supervision de la Professeure Pascale Devette, membre et future directrice du Centre de recherche sur les politiques et le développement social (CDPS) et membre du Centre de Recherche en Éthique (CRÉ) à l’Université de Montréal, reconnue pour son expertise en sciences politiques et en philosophie critique. Une première version de l’article sera présentée dans le cadre d’un séminaire qu’elle organise autour de Graeber, permettant un échange constructif avec chercheurs et étudiants. Le séjour offrira un cadre idéal pour approfondir cette réflexion interdisciplinaire, en intégrant des perspectives philosophiques, anthropologiques et politiques. Il s’inscrit dans une dynamique d’internationalisation des recherches sur la valeur et contribuera au développement des études sur Graeber dans l’espace académique francophone.

Gamified rhetorical figure harvesting

This project will design and deploy a citizen-science game to harvest passages of language for a database to support Advanced Natural Language Processing.

Reproduction artificielle du loup tacheté: efficacité de différents produits pour le dégommage des oeufs

L’aquaculture est une industrie à forte croissance à l’échelle globale mais qui tarde à se développer au Québec. L’élevage de nouvelles espèces pourraient aider à diversifier et stimuler cette industrie. Le loup tacheté est une espèce marine d’eau froide qui possède d’excellentes caractéristiques pour l’élevage commercial. L’étape de reproduction est maîtrisée, mais le succès d’incubation est encore trop faible pour maintenir une production commerciale viable. Afin de résoudre des enjeux de survie dans les incubateurs d’oeufs de loup tacheté, des produits de dégommage seront testés pour permettre aux yeux de recevoir une meilleure oxygénation. Une amélioration entre 10 et 30 % de survie est attendue, ce qui représente entre 500 et 3 000 alevins de plus par masse d’oeufs.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem & supports for women entrepreneurs

The Forum is a Canadian national charity dedicated to empowering self-identifying women, non-binary, and trans-femme entrepreneurs by addressing gender-based inequities in the entrepreneurial landscape. Through its innovative programming, strategic partnerships, and commitment to intersectional approaches, The Forum provides comprehensive support to women entrepreneurs. This research project asks: How can entrepreneurial support organizations like The Forum increase impact on equity for women entrepreneurs, with particular focus on addressing inequities in business continuity and growth rates and on founders’ income and asset levels? Research deliverables include an analysis of the key equity issues in entrepreneurship with a gender plus intersectional lens, mapping the ecosystem of support for women entrepreneurs in Canada, and identifying critical challenges and enablers at pivotal moments in the entrepreneurial journey from an equity perspective. This research will generate data and actionable insights that will inform The Forum’s strategy and programming design for increased impact. This project furthers The Forum’s mission to support women entrepreneurs in overcoming systemic barriers, particularly those faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, to achieve sustainable business growth and equitable access to resources.

Personnalisation des prothèses unicompartimentales du genou : Estimation des contraintes articulaires durant diverses tâches de la vie quotidienne

Ce projet vise à évaluer l’efficacité fonctionnelle des prothèses unicompartimentales personnalisées (PUCP) pour le genou, en comparant leurs performances à celles des prothèses standard (PUC). À partir de l’analyse biomécanique de diverses tâches fonctionnelles (marche, montée d’escalier, squat et lever de chaise) de 22 patients opérés (avec PUCP et standards) et 22 participants sains, des données sur la cinématique, les moments articulaires et l’activité musculaire sont déjà collectés dans le cadre de mon projet de doctorat seront utilisées. Un modèle musculosquelettique estimera les forces de contact au genou pour identifier les bénéfices des PUCP, notamment une meilleure redistribution des charges articulaires et une réduction des forces de contact sur le compartiment latéral. Ces résultats contribueront à optimiser les traitements de l’arthrose sévère en améliorant la durabilité des implants et la qualité de vie des patients, tout en réduisant les risques de révision chirurgicale et les coûts associés pour le système de santé.

Mind-sets at White Water West: Analysis and Instructional Intervention

This research project will investigate the attitudes and beliefs towards learning and different kinds of training programs at a company called White Water West, with the intention of then addressing any identified problem through the design, development, and implementation of learning programs and materials. This proposal is for a single internship unit of four months, focused on analyzing the situation for a potential problem, and the design of a recommended solution. A second proposal will be made for a second four-month internship in which to develop, implement, and evaluate the recommended intervention. The result for White Water West should be a corporate culture better oriented towards learning and growth, in addition to the development of learning materials that can be re-used for on-boarding and training purposes and inform managerial practice.

Associations between sleep disturbances and cognitive performance in Parkinson’s disease: a multimodal neuroimaging study

This project aims to explore the association between sleep disturbances and cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease (PD) through multimodal neuroimaging. Sleep issues, including insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, affect a significant portion of PD patients and are linked to cognitive impairments. This project will investigate how these sleep disturbances interact with cognitive deficits and the underlying brain regions, using advanced imaging techniques to understand the relationship between disrupted brain connectivity, dopamine deficits, and cognitive decline. The findings will enhance our understanding of the neural mechanisms involved, in order to help improve the quality of life and care for PD patients. This research is expected to benefit the participating institutions by contributing valuable insights into PD’s complex neurobiological processes and, eventually, offering potential targets for therapeutic interventions.