Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

13270 Completed Projects

1072
AB
2795
BC
430
MB
106
NF
348
SK
4184
ON
2671
QC
43
PE
209
NB
474
NS

Projects by Category

10%
Computer science
9%
Engineering
1%
Engineering - biomedical
4%
Engineering - chemical / biological

Mechanisms and Application of MFD Catalyst on the Leaching of Secondary Copper Sulfide

Cu and Ni minerals that have great economic value mostly exist in the form of sulfides, making them difficult to extract using hydrometallurgical processes. Currently, heap leaching is the most economical way to extract these metals from low grade ores. Copper recoveries of many chalcocite heap leaches report around 70% copper recovery. However, the chalcocite leaching reaction has several stages. The first stage leach is characterized by 50% copper extraction and the conversion of chalcocite into a second stage of covellite (CuS) which is very difficult to leach at ambient temperature. In our preliminary test using acidic ferric sulfate as lixivant, addition of MFD catalyst increased the rate of chalcocite leaching by 5 times in the first 8 hours of reaction in stirred reactors. A similar test using a stirred reactor was also performed on pure covellite, improving its leaching rate by 36 times in the first 8 hours. Therefore, there will be imminent application for MFD catalyst in heap and dump leaching of copper sulfides.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Edouard Asselin

Student:

Zihe Ren

Partner:

Jetti Services Canada Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Program:

Elevate

Design, optimization and testing of baffle-type parallel-channel flow field plates within a 200-cm2 fuel cell short stack with a highly-active catalyst

Enhancing the current and power density in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is one of the main challenges to their large-scale commercialization and hence in tune with the pending needs of the PEMFC industry. The volumetric power density in PEMFC stacks is strongly affected by the flow field plates due to their critical impact on the reactants distribution over the electrodes and their bulky size. In the proposed research, baffle-type parallel-channel cathode, anode and cooling flow field plates are designed with a small thickness. The flow distributions over these thin plates are optimized through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations combined with experimental verifications and flow visualization. Since the flow field plates in stacks behave differently than in single cells, both original and optimized plates are tested within a fabricated 200-cm2 short stack. Comparative study of the polarization curves for the two original and optimized plates provides an in-depth understanding of the impact of the flow field design on the stack performance. An in-house high activity core-shell catalyst is tested with the optimized plates within the fabricated stack in the hope of achieving a current density as high as 1.5 A/cm2.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Student:

Hamidreza Sadeghifar

Partner:

Vancouver International CleanTech Research Institute

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

Program:

Elevate

Impacts of tidal turbines on marine mammals

Canada’s coastal regions are an excellent source of marine renewable energy. These regions are also popular with marine mammals, providing good feeding opportunities. However little is known about how marine mammals will be affected by tidal energy developments. Concerns include the impacts of sound on animals’ ability to find food and navigate, the indirect effects of changes in prey distribution and abundance, and the direct impacts of collision with tidal energy structures in the water column. The objectives of this project are to better understand how marine mammals interact with tidal energy devices using a combination of traditional passive acoustic monitoring and novel sonar imaging methods. This study will improve our understanding of environmental effects and will contribute to the development of crucial collision risk models. This project will allow SMRU Canada to help move marine renewables forward into a cleaner future, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Isabelle Cote

Student:

Frances Robertson

Partner:

SMRU Canada Ltd

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

Program:

Elevate

Preclinical evaluation of novel meningococcal vaccines

Neisseria meningitidis (Nme) is a bacterial pathogen that often colonizes the upper respiratory tract of humans without symptoms, but which may also develop into rapidly-progressing sepsis and meningitis that can be fatal. Nme has evolved elegant means to specifically interact with human cells and proteins in order to colonize, survive and the evade host immune system. In partnership with Vaxiron Inc., we are developing a novel class of vaccines that target systems involved in Nme acquisition of the essential micronutrient, iron, during infection. The goal of this program is to perform pre-clinical studies using humanized mouse models to evaluate the potential of these novel vaccines to elicit an immune response that can protect against invasive infection and prevent nasal carriage.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Trevor Moraes

Student:

Epshita Islam

Partner:

University of Toronto

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Program:

Elevate

Rotational Doppler shift with optical vortices in the backward-wave phase-matching process, as probe for improved vibration sensing

Optical vortices have recently attracted great interest in many fields of scientific and technologi-cal research. The proposed project aims to experimentally verify the rotational Doppler shift in the nonlinear optical regime using optical vortices. The frequency shift sensed through optical vortices in the nonlinear interaction is expected to be proportional to the order of the optical vortex. We will apply this experimental demonstration to the design and realization of a proto-type for a high precision Doppler vibrometer, which will be used by the industrial partner to improve their line of sensor products. This nonlinear rotational Doppler shift mayfind applica-tions in, e.g., metrology, Doppler cooling and rotational Doppler spectroscopy. The proposed project relies on novel backward-wave phase matching (BWPM) condition and processes, which have so far not gained the much deserved attention in the nonlinear community, so that the pro-posed experiments may lead to applications in several other fields as well. Besides its practical applications, this project is also of fundamental scientific interest as it will provide the first ex-perimental study of the conservation of angular momentum and the observation of rotational Doppler shifts in the backward-wave phase matching condition.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Roberto Morandotti

Student:

Aadhi Abdhul Rahim

Partner:

QPS Photronics Inc.

Discipline:

Journalism / Media studies and communication

Sector:

Advanced manufacturing

University:

Program:

Elevate

Wide Area Measurement Based Robust Damping Controllers for Power Systems with Embedded Power Electronic Devices

This research will investigate Wide Area Measurement based controllers for improving stability in systems with HVDC and FACTS devices embedded in AC networks. The approach will extend the candidate’s Ph.D. research which introduced a new method that is always able to guarantee improved damping of all modes in the face wide changes in the network. The approach will lead to controller designs which are robust against configuration or operating point changes, or communication loss. Small signal analysis using simplified and manageable models of the network will be carried out for designing controllers to improve damping of electromechanical swing modes of the network. Validation will be conducted using Electromagnetic Transients Simulation. An automated design tool will be developed so that an engineer can easily design and implement such controllers. This research will benefit the industry sponsor MHI to supply its clients with a superior product for network modeling and stability solutions.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Aniruddha Gole

Student:

Prashant Agnihotri

Partner:

Manitoba Hydro

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Energy

University:

Program:

Elevate

Assessing the risk of abrupt climate changes resulting from cumulative emissions and their effect on the occurrence of extreme events

Human influence on current climate change is now unequivocal. The rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to increase, and climate models and observations show that climate changes are accelerating in response to these emissions. In this context, the rate of the current climate change strongly modifies the frequency and the intensity of extreme events, such as droughts, heat waves or extreme precipitation. Strong rates of GHG emissions can cause a destabilization of a component of the climate system (e.g. the sudden melt of the Arctic sea ice), a phenomenon referred to as an abrupt change. The aim of this internship is to create a catalogue of changes in the characteristics of climate events (mainly extremes, their intensity, their duration and their frequency) due to an abrupt change. The project aims to create new tools for the partner organization to meet the different challenges of local and national policy-makers and private companies regarding climate change. A focus will be specifically conducted over the Eastern part of Canada (mainly Quebec, maritime regions and the eastern part of Ontario).

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Damon Matthews

Student:

Yann Chavaillaz

Partner:

Ouranos Inc

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Program:

Elevate

Ecosystem Value Accounts – Tools to Advance the Green Economy and Sustainability Agenda

The project will develop ecosystem value accounts of land owned by the forestry company Kenauk Canada ULC (Kenauk Canada) using a variety of ecological economic approaches. The emphasis is to capture the broader value of ecosystem goods and services as opposed to equating value with the price of standing timber. Approaches under consideration include: net primary productivity, development of biocapacity accounts, and development of ecosystem service indicators. The project will also contribute to economic and sustainability discourse by exploring the normative underpinnings of how we assign and determine ecosystem value.
Kenauk Canada recently took on the mandate of transforming from a traditional forestry business into a sustainable conservation operation. Kenauk Canada will use the accounts to communicate the ecological importance of land they own and inform the new strategic direction of the company. Communicating the ecological significance is further regarded as a key strategy to leverage partnerships with conservation groups and economic development agencies. In addition, the ecosystem value accounts will include a carbon inventory which will be used to explore participation in carbon trade. Kenauk Canada understands that environmental risks and climate induced changes require forestry companies to create new business models based on principles of integrity and sustainability.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Raymond Paquin

Student:

Jeffrey Wilson

Partner:

Kenauk Canada ULC

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Program:

Elevate

Assessment and Design Advancement of a Conjugate Anvil Hammer Mill

Since energy is the major concern in current and future mining operations, energy efficient technologies are a major focus for research and development. The CAHM machine was developed based on principals of energy efficient particle breakage by compression. The machine design was based on computer simulation and modeling results indicate the potential to reduce comminution energy requirements by 50% as compared to present technologies. CAHM simulations show that the technology can achieve high reduction ratios, consuming less specific power, which translates into energy efficient operation. However, to validate modeling results, experimental program that mimics CAHM particle breakage is needed. Outcomes of the planned research will lead to the development of a physical prototype of the CAHM as part of the future research

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Bern Klein

Student:

Reem Roufail

Partner:

HATCH Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Video-Based Fall Detection for Construction Workers Safe

Fall accidents are one of the leading causes for serious work related fatalities and injuries in the construction industry. Every year, construction workers get injured due to falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in floors and openings in walls. In order to alleviate this issue, several research studies have been proposed for fall detection; however, their practical values in construction projects are still limited. The objective of this research is to investigate the fall detection with vision techniques, as video cameras are becoming more common on construction sites. The research focuses on the detection feasibility under 1) a single monocular camera and 2) a distributed camera network. The results are expected to build a solid foundation to create a vision-based fall detection solution for construction safety engineers, which could help them timely detect and rescue injured workers when fall accidents happen.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Zhenhua Zhu

Student:

Xiaoning Ren

Partner:

GreenOwl Mobile

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Impact of dietary fibre and immune challenge on threonine requirements and pig robustness

Sub-clinical disease results in reduced growth and less efficient use of nutrients, resulting in substantial impact on profitability of pork producers. With the elimination of in-feed antibiotics for growth promotion it is increasingly important to understand the interaction between nutrition and health and nutrient requirements during disease challenge events. Feeding high-fibre feedstuffs reduces the efficiency of utilization of dietary threonine for growth in pigs due to an increase in endogenous threonine loss as a result of increased mucin production. The mucus layer serves to protect the intestinal mucosal surface against threats, such as enteric pathogens. In addition to mucin production, threonine is an important precursor for the synthesis of many acute phase proteins involved in the immune response. While an increased threonine requirement has been shown with increased fibre and with immune challenge, the interaction of these factors on threonine requirements is unknown. TO BE CONT’D

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Andrew Van Kessel

Student:

Michael Wellington

Partner:

Prairie Swine Centre Inc.

Discipline:

Animal science

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Studies on the application of photocatalysis to capture methane and treat contaminated water with organic compounds

Recent developments in process industry as well as tight environmental discharge regulations required industries to recycle water which means removing contaminants and send it back to the process. Conventional treatment systems consume energy with large carbon footprint. Canadian economic movement towards decarbonization has lead us to focus our research on the development of a material and a passive system that captures energy from sunlight and converts to chemical energy, the result of which is mineralization of organic contaminants to non-toxic chemicals. The scientific theory has already been proven. Examples include self-cleaning window glass and self-disinfecting surfaces where medical applications occur under fluorescent light. This study focuses on the application of this technology to treat contaminated water such as water in the tailing ponds in a passive mode. TO BE CONT’D

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Gopal Achari

Student:

Gisoo Heydari

Partner:

CMC Research Institutes Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Previous
1…663664665666667668669…1,106
Next

Join a thriving innovation ecosystem.

Subscribe to our newsletter now!

Subscribe