Innovative Projects Realized

Integrated Resource and Energy Recovery System from Organic Slurries.

This is the first time that leading edge technologies are being put together: a microwave (MW) treatment process, a struvite crystallizer and an anaerobic digester, as a total manure treatment system for typical dairy farm operations. The new 915 MHz microwave unit will provide efficient nutrient solubilization and the resulting solution is suitable for generating struvite (fertilizer). Due to the efficient breakdown of solids particulates by the MW process, methane production via anaerobic digestion will be highly efficient with reduced digester footprint and huge savings in capital cost. This project will provide an opportunity for Opus DaytonKnight to penetrate and lead in the provision of waste management services within the agricultural sector in North America. Opus DaytonKnight will be benefitted by being suitably positioned in the market place to provide added value by energy and nutrient recovery from agricultural waste streams through transfer of knowledge from their municipal and institutional ties.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw derived xylo-oligomers stream into monomeric sugars

“KnowMe Privately” – Conceptual design and prototypical implementation of a privacy-preserving, consumer-facing health portal service for active patient engagement and increased provider awareness

The aim of the project is to design effective informational security and privacy controls for a new type of patient health portal that will empower patients to share contextual information about their values, priorities and beliefs with members of their extended circle of care. Knowing “what matters” to patients is important for clinical decision-making in order to achieve the best possible outcomes from a patient perspective. However, such information is commonly not readily available to clinicians. The industrial partner in this project is developing the “KnowMe portal”, a Web-based service that empowers patients to register and share with their caregivers what matters to them. This internship project will design effective, yet easy to use mechanisms for protecting patient privacy in this portal solution.

Distribution feeder voltage control with a high penetration of distributed generation

In this project, a methodology for controlling the distributed generation resources connected to the distribution system level will be developed. This control strategy will improve the efficiency and reliability of the operation by decreasing the losses, managing the assets, and increasing the system reliability. There are currently several feeders in the BC Hydro distribution system with considerable amount of distributed generation installed. This has caused voltage problems at the feeder level and also control issues at the substation level. This project is supposed to overcome some of these challenges and increase the penetration level of distributed generation without jeopardizing the system operation limits.

IMMERSe: the interactive and multi-modal experience research syndicate

The purpose of this project is to provide insight into how game-based learning can be used to motivate positive workplace behaviour and learning over time. The intern will work with an established industry partner that has deployed a game-based learning platform for the workplace, and analyze user performance and motivation data that the industry partner has gathered from their platform. The intern will assess the effectiveness of the learning platform from the user data, and help the industry partner determine which areas of their learning platform are working well, and which areas can be improved.

Development and Implementation of a Water Analytics Framework: Intelligent Operations for Water (IOW)

Within a watershed, data are collected on various aspects of water (amount, withdrawals, returns, contaminant concentrations) by multiple groups, yet rarely shared at the basin scale. To reduce data “siloing” and make collected data available to multiple users interested in water management within a watershed context, data from multiple sources must be combined. Advancing Canadian Wastewater Assets (ACWA) and IBM will partner to create Intelligent Operations for Water (IOW), a data sharing platform that will allow multiple users to contribute to, and benefit from, multiple sources of data related to water in the Bow River Basin. The platform is general and can therefore be used in other basins where end users want to make smart decisions with multiple sources of data.

A Healthy Workplace for a Healthy Workforce: Identifying Predictors of Health Impacting Workplace Productivity in the Mining Industry of Saskatchewan

The mining sector plays a huge role in the Saskatchewan economy, in addition to being the largest private sector employer of Aboriginal peoples in the province. It is important economically and socially for the mining workforce to be healthy and productive. Yet we know little about the impacts of physical and mental health on productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism and disability within the industry. Effective health promotion is particularly important given the predominant demographics of the mining workforce: men, and in particular rural, Aboriginal and blue collar men, are far less likely to have regular physical exams, seek health care, or proactively address mental health issues of excessive stress or depression. This project will identify existing predictors of health and health behaviours that are impacting the productivity of the mining workforce. The goal is to determine ways to maximize health promotion and worker wellness within a mine environment as a way to increase productivity by linking healthy workplace environments with healthy employees.

Bare glass: electro-optic integrated circuits for a software defined networking capable Tbit/s transceiver

The only constant in communications networks is change. Software defined networking (SDN) and elastic optical networking (EON) technologies enable adaptation to change but their implementation is impeded by the rigidity of network infrastructure and specifically the optical transport layer. Analogous to the term ‘bare metal’ used to describe commodity electronics, ‘bare glass’ photonics technology is need be developed so that all network functions electronic or optical are software defined. This project will contribute to this goal by demonstrating a software defined networking elastic optical network capable transceiver enabled by emerging universal linear coherent optical systems technology. The partner company will use the results of this project to inform its > 100 Gbit/s product development plan.

Improvement of Technology for the Development and Production of Specialty Chemical Products

High-end chemical products, such as specialty polymers and pharmaceuticals, are important to provide a high quality of life. The effectiveness of these products is dependent on intensive development and consistent production. The focus of this project is developing new technology to improve both development and production of these products. To address product development issues, we are developing, modeling, experimental design and optimization tools that allow the rapid development of products. These tools will allow companies to optimally select raw materials, formulations and manufacturing conditions that lead to new and improved products at lower cost. Once a product has been developed, it needs to be consistently produced. To address this we are developing new control technology and software to eliminate discrepancies in the final product. Specifically, this is done by taking measurements during the early part of the production process and using them to automatically decide how to adjust the remaining production steps.

The role of integrins in stretch-induced activation of TGF-?1 and pulmonary fibrosis

Fibroproliferative disorders are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A large group of interstitial lung diseases (ILD) can cause progressive scarring of lung tissues, affecting the ability to breathe. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is one of the major forms of ILD and is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function. Although the pathogenesis of IPF is not completely understood, work from our group and others suggest that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-?1) is involved in the fibrogenic process. In this project, we will assess the contribution of the Integrins to the stretch-induced activation of TGF-?1 and the fibrotic process and we will examine the anti-fibrotic effect of specific Integrins Antibodies that are developed by GSK plc. In a TGF-?1-mediated animal model of lung fibrosis. This work will increase our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in pulmonary fibrosis and potentially lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for IPF.

Genetic monitoring of a sockeye salmon repatriation to improve interactive fisheries management

Re-establishing salmonid populations to areas historically occupied has substantial potential for conservation gains, however, such interventions also risk negatively impacting native resident stocks. An on-going reintroduction of anadromous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) to Skaha Lake, British Columbia is succeeding, with large numbers returning to spawn. However, a recent genetic study detected strong evidence of hybridization and introgression with native kokanee (freshwater obligate form of O. nerka), yet was unable to determine what the ultimate fitness impacts are, if any, on the population health of Skaha Lake stocks. Here we propose to use morphological and genetic analyses to better understand hybridization and introgression trends between spawning reintroduced sockeye and indigenous kokanee in Skaha Lake. Results will directly inform fisheries management decisions for minimizing fitness consequences and maintaining genetic diversity within kokanee. Additionally, these data will assist in developing size thresholds for differentiating mature kokanee and sockeye, a critical input for setting recreational fishing regulations.

An analysis of Delivra LivSport PreWorkout Cream combined with oral creatine to improve muscular performance and alter arterial stiffness

Creatine is a supplement known to improve performance over repeated high intensity exercise, seen in most sports. Typical creatine supplementation involves ingesting large amounts of the supplement, leading to side effects of weight gain and GI distress. Delivra™has formulated a new way to supplement creatine through a topical cream applied to the legs, which can potentially eliminate these side effects. This research will test this new creatine cream compared to oral ingestion to determine if it can improve high intensity performance, by generating more power and reducing fatigue. It will also research how this new method of creatine supplementation can improve vascular health associated with high intensity exercise. This will benefit Delivra™, as this product may be a new method by which athletes can supplement to improve in their sport as well as improve health of certain at risk populations who participate in exercise.