Innovative Projects Realized

Market Research, Analysis and Business Plan Development

We are requesting an MBA student to conduct the market research on whether adding coffee as a product to our water delivery service is a feasible revenue stream for our business within our territory. We have lost a few long-time bottled water delivery customers to another company because we could not provide our customers with the “all in one” service of water and coffee for their offices. We have also lost out on RFPs for the same reason. Should the MBA student find that there is enough market share to expand into this product/service line, we would want them to then create a business plan, including research and discussions with local coffee vendors to see if a partnership can be created.
As a side note, 2 of our main revenue streams are not running at peak efficiency and could use this side revenue stream to move towards a more profitable outcome. There are some cross over skills that our current employees have that would allow us to service this new business line, without increased overhead. Ideally, it would be desirable to use the existing resources (human and otherwise) in this new venture.

Advancing the IPSA World Congress: Integrating Technology and Education

The International Political Science Association (IPSA) is a global organization dedicated to advancing the discipline of political science worldwide. The IPSA World Congress, a major event that brings together over 3000 participants, scholars, analysts, policy makers and students, will be held in Seoul, South Korea in July 2025. To enhance the Congress experience for the participants, IPSA, in partnership with Concordia University and Mitacs, offers an internship for a World Congress Assistant. The intern will integrate innovative technologies and methods to make the event more interactive and accessible. Key objectives include developing a mobile app with real-time updates and networking opportunities, improving the website with AI tools, and organizing educational activities such as workshops and pre-congress courses.

The project timeline runs from August 2024 to post-Congress in August 2025, covering planning, app development, website enhancements, and event execution. Deliverables include a customized mobile app, an enhanced website, and a comprehensive educational program, all documented in detailed reports post-Congress. This project will benefit Canada by advancing digital solutions for conferences and professional development, setting new standards for accessibility and interactivity. The intern will gain valuable skills in project management, technology application, and educational program design, directly applying her knowledge in a real-world setting. Additionally, she will expand her academic and professional network by connecting with diverse scholars, policymakers, and educators, providing opportunities for future collaborations and research partnerships. Regular meetings with IPSA and academic supervisors will ensure the project’s success and provide a rich learning experience for the intern.

Farpoint Alaas Platform Development

The AIaaS (AI as a Service) project aims to develop an advanced, scalable platform to host and manage AI models, ensuring high performance and efficiency. This open-source system will leverage the latest AI technologies and distributed computing to deliver fast and reliable AI services. Key features include automated load balancing, dynamic resource allocation, and real-time monitoring to optimize performance and minimize costs. The platform will significantly enhance the partner organization’s ability to deploy and scale AI applications, leading to improved operational efficiency, reduced latency, and the ability to handle increasing workloads seamlessly.

Rajender Aidhi – BioAro

BioAro Inc. is a biotech startup that provides valuable health insights through genetics and microbiome testing, helping people understand their health risks and make better decisions about diseases, medication, and nutrition. They have recently launched two new products: PanOmiQ, a software that gives quick insights into the human genome, and BioSport, which offers personalized health plans for athletes. BioAro faces challenges in entering the market, setting the right prices, and optimizing their supply chain. Engaging an intern from the Haskayne School of Business, with skills in brand management, strategic planning, and supply chain management, will help BioAro develop market strategies, identify target clients, set competitive prices, and choose the best sales channels.

Mapping sea ice roughness for Inuit Nunangat communities using synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Travelling on ice is central to Inuit well-being, identity and culture. Rough sea ice can pose as a hazard, or impediment to travel. Currently, regular, quality, high-resolution information is difficult to obtain from satellite instruments, but synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has shown potential in all these aspects. In this project, the intern will analyse the relationship between data from RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) and Sentinel-1 SAR and roughness information obtained by the ICESat-2 instrument. Based on these relationships, a model will be developed to produce maps of sea ice roughness from SAR imagery. After testing and validating the model with independent data, a pipeline to produce regular maps of ice roughness adjacent to Inuit Nunangat communities will be developed. These maps will be distributed to Nunangat communities through SMARTICE’s web platform.

Centre for Local Innovation & Collaboration Cohort 4

The Centre for Local Innovation & Collaboration (CLIC) project will team up with small businesses from Richmond Hill’s Small Business Enterprise Centre. Interns from OCAD University’s Strategic Foresight and Innovation (SFI) Master of Design program will (through research) help these businesses with their innovation challenges using various methods like human-centered design, futures thinking, and strategic planning. This collaboration aims to boost growth and innovation for the businesses, producing action plans and strategies for success.

UW Commercial Viability V3

This project focuses on assessing the commercialization viability of Rogers Communications’ investments in 5G technology. The project aims to support ongoing innovation projects in partnership with the University of Waterloo by evaluating their commercialization potential through qualitative research. The project will benefit Rogers Communications by providing them with a better understanding of how to leverage their 5G research findings to develop and productize innovative solutions that can be deployed at scale to serve their customers.

Interrogation d’un corpus de documents à l’aide de LLM, afin faciliter la prise de décision

La transformation numérique et le développement de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) atteignent la société tout entière. Plus précisément, l’IA est en train de transformer les façons de faire pour de nombreuses professions. Les organisations vont avoir recours de plus en plus aux modèles d’intelligence artificielle pour les aidés dans leurs prises de décisions. Le projet consiste à déterminer de quel façon l’IA peut assister l’analyste à prendre une décision dans un contexte légal.

L2M- Machine learning based point-of-care device for rapid diagnosis of clinically relevant fungal pathogens

This project aims to develop and bring to market a point-of-care test (POCT) device driven by artificial intelligence to identify pathogenic yeast species from microscopy images collected from clinical samples (blood and urine). We will evaluate the efficacy of microfluidic devices to aid in the capture of microscopy images of different yeast species and their classification using machine learning models. Furthermore, we will survey end users (clinicians, hospital management, and diagnostic laboratory technicians) and incorporate their feedback into our design of our POCT device. This device will enable healthcare providers to diagnose invasive fungal infections quickly and accurately, leading to better patient outcomes. The expected benefit to the partner organization includes an enhanced reputation by assisting innovators to develop cutting-edge, medical diagnostic technologies.

Severe Acute Respiratory Illness at The Hospital for Sick Children: A systematic review of SARI case definitions, and development of a novel child-specific case definition

Following the relaxation of policies mandating COVID-19-related non-pharmaceutical interventions, Canadian paediatric hospitals experienced unprecedented volumes of patients hospitalized with acute respiratory infections (ARI) such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Clinical presentations among these patients were often more severe, and patients were typically older and with fewer pre-existing conditions than expected based on pre-pandemic trends. In 2022, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) launched a cohort study of ARIs among hospitalized children, to study changes in disease epidemiology and severity. This project will utilize this existing database to: a) analyze and identify risk factors for severe disease among patients with respiratory viruses; and b) systematically review existing case definitions for ARIs, and to use machine learning to develop a novel child-specific syndromic ARI case definition. Findings from this project will inform recommendations for childhood immunization programs and use of other products (e.g., for RSV). An updated understanding of risk factors during the period of COVID-19 co-circulation will also guide decision-making for patients with risk factors for severe disease at SickKids and beyond. Furthermore, development of a new child-specific syndromic case definition for ARIs will contribute to more responsive and sensitive outbreak detection of respiratory viral infections.

Understanding intersectionality in the context of long term care: The intersectionality, aging, and social mobility (iAM) platform

This project aims to improve how the long-term care (LTC) sector, generally, and Thrive Group, specifically, understand and implement equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) practices for staff and residents. Thrive Group recognizes the need for co-designed EDI strategies that advance inclusive excellence in LTC and create a sense of belonging for all staff and residents of Thrive. The intern will work with Thrive to understand staff and resident’s diverse experiences and needs, trialing various tools (such as the intersectionality, Aging and social Mobility [iAM] platform designed by McMaster researchers), to co-design inclusive policies and practices that can make LTC more inclusive.

Development of an Automated Platform for the Production of Muscle Cells

Tissue engineering involves extracting cells from patients, growing them in a laboratory setting, and subsequently employing them for disease treatment . However, cell expansion encounters various obstacles, such as significant expenses and labor requirements, resulting in increased treatment costs. Moreover, the industry struggles with challenges such as skilled personnel shortages and difficulties in scaling up the manufacturing process. Octane has developed a groundbreaking automation technology platform that facilitates the automated production of cell therapies. This innovation not only reduces production costs but also minimizes operator time, facility footprint, and enhances product consistency by eliminating operator variability. There is currently no other automation platform on the market that can automate a complex cell culture process from start to finish. Octane’s automation platform is clinically employed for manufacturing cells utilized in immunotherapy treatments, and is currently in the late development stage for cartilage cell manufacturing used for treatment of cartilage lesions in the knee. The objective of the present project is to expand Octane’s portfolio by leveraging its automation platform to produce muscle cells used in muscle regeneration therapies. The intern will perform a feasibility study to translate a manual cell culture process using muscle cells to Octane’s automated platform.