Innovative Projects Realized

Structural testing of Basalt Fibre Reinforced Precast Concete Sandwich Panels

A new load-bearing precast concrete wall panel system has been proposed that uses composite materials instead of steel for reinforcement to reduce the level of heat loss through them and increase their R-Value. The panels will undergo destructive structural testing to determine how well the composite material system compares to a similar wall design that uses steel reinforcement. Bending tests, axial tests, and combined bending/axial tests will be preformed. The test results will allow for the development of a design aid for engineers that will tell them the bending strength of the wall under various axial forces. The partner organization, through the course of the internship, will learn the fabrication process for the walls and can then apply this process to future mass production. The resulting wall design aids can be presented to consulting engineers and customers that wish to use this system as promotional material.

Video Wall Controller

AEI&D is a small Ontario company seeking to supply computer-based controllers for videowall displays. AEI&D is aware of a growing trend to deploy video walls in a variety of sectors including the retail, educational and entertainment sectors. Requirements of a suitable display include brightness, contrast and resolution similar to existing LCD displays, but in a much larger size range of 100 to 300 inches diagonal. Such video walls require  suitable controllers which enable user-dependent interface for convenient uploading of video content as well as high quality stationary images.

Effectiveness of a Compassion Fatigue Reduction Workshop in Reducing Compassion Fatigue at Mount Sinai Hospital

Healthcare professionals treating trauma patients can vicariously experience trauma from long term exposure to suffering, resulting in compassion fatigue. The impact of compassion fatigue on the psychological well-being of healthcare workers is detrimental, decreasing patient care and retention of healthcare providers. In an effort to reduce compassion fatigue, Mount Sinai Hospital has implemented a 4-hour workshop for employees to increase professional’s knowledge of compassion fatigue and improve worker’s skills for dealing with stress in the workplace. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the program was effective in imparting the knowledge and skills to deal with stress in the workplace and reducing compassion fatigue of employees attending the workshop. The pre-posttest and one month follow up data will be analyzed by the intern. Based on the results and a literature review of compassion fatigue and related interventions, the intern will make recommendations to inform future implementation of the workshop. This study will have an impact on improving the quality of patient care within the hospital and improving the mental health of healthcare professionals.

Business Transformation: Forest Firms

Business transformation involves firms changing their business models to pursue new opportunities. The ambitions of transformation are to  enhance a firm’s competitiveness. Transformation is risky— literature highlights that transformation efforts often fail; reasons include firms not having the sufficient competencies or enough capital to carry the changes through. As Canadian forest sector firms look to new opportunities in the bio-economy, they must change their business models to successfully compete in these new segments. The research of Cohen and Nikolakis (2012) has identified 6 areas a forest firms must focus on to successfully transform. Each of these areas requires different levels of attention. The  researchers have undertaken benchmarking of transformation in Northern European and North American forest firms against these six ‘gears of change’. The researchers will apply their 6 transformation enablers and empirical findings from their benchmarking survey to guide Conifex, as it transforms to compete in the bio-energy and bio-products sector. 

Statistical Analysis of Prostate Brachytherapy Treatment Data

Using data obtained over a period of 15 years from Brachytherapy procedures used on patients to treat prostate cancer, statistical analysis will be carried out to confirm the hypothesis that Brachtherapy treatments offer the best outcomes at the lowest cost incomparison to other treatment modalities. The first stage of the project will be to review the scope and objectives of the study with the stakeholders and finalize the methodology for this analysis. It is suggested that this analysis start initially with logistic regression, which would be used for estimating the probability of being in remission after a certain period of time following treatment. We then propose to continue with a more detailed analysis using transition models. Such models are used to analyze the data where a strong dependence is suspected between successive observations on a patient. These models distinguish themselves from survival models by allowing for transitions into and out of a set of states defined by the response variable instead of focusing on the time for a certain event to occur. The probability estimates derived from this model could enable the determination of expected years gained in remission by one treatment over the other as well as a comparison of expected costs for these treatments.

Efficacy of Self Myofascial Release Techniques

Roller-massager is a convenient tool that uses upper body strength (rather than body weight) to move the roller across a muscle to imitate massage effects. Massage has been used to remove the knots and tensions sometimes found in muscle that can lead to pain and stiffness. It is not known if a roller massager can on its own or when used with massage can help alleviate the pain and stiffness associated with these muscle restrictions (knots or cramps). To date there are no published studies to validate the effectiveness of the roller massager. Therefore, the aims of the present study are to investigate the effectiveness of using Roller-massager as a technique similar to massage (i.e. removal of trigger points) to improve muscle pain, range of motion (ROM), strength, endurance and muscle activation. Secondly we will compare the results of the roller-massager as a follow up protocol after trigger point release by a massage therapist (combination of two techniques). Hopefully these results will provide insights into how the roller massager works and the best ways to use it in order to alleviate pain and stiffness.

Towards Development of a Decision Making Tool for Owners, Designers and Municipalities: Surveying Current Domestic Water Conservation Technologies and Tools for Single Family Residential Dwellings

The proposed project will survey “best-in-class” decentralized water conservation technologies and approaches such as rainwater harvesting systems and greywater recycling systems for use in single family residential dwellings in Canada. The proposed project will also survey all tools and resources provided by water conservation authorities such as CMHC to homeowners, building designers and municipalities. The proposed project will work with S2E to develop a final comprehensive report which will allow for the research results to be applied to S2E’s Project Smart Community. This project is providing the basis for comparisons between the available water conservation technologies and will act as a background for development of a decision making tool which could be used by the building industry.

Studying the Effect of a Thermal Storage in a Combined Building Integrated PV/T and ASHP systems

Combining Building Integrated Photovoltaic / Thermal (BIPV/T) system and Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) with a thermal storage potentially can increase the efficiency of the heat pump and therefore reduce cost of heating and cooling for the building. In addition, this system potentially can reduce the GHG emission. A hollow core concrete floor can be used as a heat storage. Excess heat during the day can be stored in the concrete and be used during the night when the heating demand of the building is higher. This thermal energy can be used to increase the temperature of the inlet to the ASHP and as a result increase the efficiency of the heat pump.

Extraction of energy and value-added products from municipal wastewater

In effort to reduce the environmental footprint and improve the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants, this study is focused on the production of energy and the recovery of value-added products from municipal wastewater via the chemical precipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite). The method employs the controlled addition of a suitable magnesium compound such as magnesium oxide to wastewater at moderate to high pH values in order to promote the formation and precipitation of struvite. The extracted struvite may be directly used as fertilizer or heated to release the ammonia for on-site use and storage. The remaining crystalline may be recycled within the same process for additional recovery of ammonia from wastewater.

The aim of the project is to develop and experimentally validate an analytical model to predict the nucleation and precipitation of struvite in wastewater. Unlike other wastewater treatment technologies, this promising method is distinguished by the prospects of selling the struvite in fertilizer market for revenue generation as well as the possibility of utilizing the extracted ammonia as fuel in combined heat and power (CHP) application.

Effect of Wax Inhibitors on the Flow behavior of the Caledonia Field Paraffinic Oil in Consolidated Porous Media at Reservoir and Production Conditions

The proposed research activities aim the chemical and physical characterization of the wax contained in the Caledonia crude oil for the establishment of customized wax remediation alternatives. It also proposes the evaluation of the effectiveness of the optimum remediation treatments through the establishment of the flow performance of the original oil and treated oil in porous media at actual reservoir and production conditions. The results of this experimental work would allow establishing the actual applicability of the identified remediation techniques and consequently the cost-effective production of the waxy oil in the Caledonia oil field. 

Modeling and Optimization of roof based BIPV/T with air source heat pump

Incorporating the Air Source Heat Pump (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 ASHP which can provide a higher COP at very low winter outdoor temperatures. The incorporation of PV/T + ASHP into building integrated sloped roof, 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. The outcomes of the proposed project are expected to be further promoted and marketed by our partner industry S2E Technologies Inc. for quick and broad adoption of the proposed system(s) in the building sector.

Investigating the feasibility of and the implementation of pre-implantation genetic testing at Atlantic Assisted Reproductive Therapies

Atlantic Assisted Reproduction Therapies (AART) is the primary facility located in the Atlantic Provinces capable of assisting reproductively challenged couples. Fertility Pharmacy Services(FPS) is an onsite subsidiary of AART. AART offers a wide range of services, however, AART currently does not have the capacity to assist individuals who require preimplantation genetic testing. Clients who require such genetic testing include persons with known genetic conditions and/or individuals who have suffered repeated miscarriages. The overall objective of this project is to investigate the feasibility of establishing a preimplantation embryonic genetic screening program at the AART center, located in Halifax. The project will be carried out through a number of stages, from researching the genetic tests best suited to FPS/AART’s clients, to establishing the equipment and facility, to finally performing new services for FPS/AART clients. This project will be highly beneficial to the region as it will allow AART to assist a new group of clients, therefore building the clientele serviced by the FPS.