Innovative Projects Realized

Fraser Health Authority – Communication & Knowledge Exchange and Workforce Development Initiative Internship

Fraser Health Authority is the largest regional health authority in British Columbia and is dedicated to delivering top-quality healthcare services to over 1.9 million people across 20 diverse communities. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we are enhancing our workforce development and communication strategies. The Workforce Development Initiative Intern will support the integration of a structured project framework, ensuring alignment with the Mental Health and Substance Use strategy and standards. This includes developing clear terms of reference, work plans, and evaluation processes. Meanwhile, the Communication & Knowledge Exchange Intern will focus on enhancing internal communication processes and expanding the capacity to effectively communicate information about services. Both roles are pivotal in driving innovation and excellence in healthcare delivery while prioritizing the well-being of patients, families, and communities.

Discovery & optimisation of bacterial lignin degradation pathways for the manufacture of value-added chemicals

The design of sustainable manufacturing processes that convert renewable feedstocks into valuable products under clean and ‘green’ operating conditions is essential to ensuring continued economic development and stewardship of the environment. To this end, the use of engineered biological systems to convert biomass into useful chemicals could greatly diminish society’s dependence on petroleum and improve its environmental footprint. Accordingly, we propose to leverage recent developments in biotechnology to unearth novel bacterial enzymes that can efficiently degrade lignin into the value-added molecule, vanilla, and subsequently genetically engineer the simple bacterium E. coli to express these vanilla-producing enzymes, thereby developing a microbial-based vanilla production process. We will achieve our aims in collaboration with our partner organization, MetaMixis Inc., a Canadian corporation that aspires for world leadership in the flavours and fragrances market. Saliently, our proposal to produce vanilla using engineered microorganisms is vastly more efficient than the current manufacturing practice. By assuring reliable and sustainable production of the world’s most popular flavour, this project greatly advances the commercial interests of MetaMixis, Inc.

Correa Equity Partners Ltd – Brand & Social Media Coordinator Internship

Correa Equity Partners is a real estate investment firm committed to investing with purpose, creating safe, beautiful living spaces, and positively impacting Canada’s rental landscape. Despite our success, we face challenges in managing social media, brand development, and content creation due to time constraints. To address this, we are interested in bring a Brand and Social Media Coordinator on board, who will play a vital role in shaping our company’s narrative, enhancing online visibility, and building credibility with the audience. The intern will work closely with Michele Correa, the founder, and will also collaborate with a virtual assistant to execute various tasks, gaining valuable experience in marketing, real estate investing, and wealth building.

Evaluation of an Automated Tooth Segmentation Tool

In dentistry, communication between dentists to plan treatment is very important. Originally, treatment planning involved communicating information by speaking or writing, often resulting in communication errors and misaligned expectations. The partner organization is involved in the development and provision of solutions for treatment planning and the development of software that can be used in dental specialties. Their ultimate goal is to allow dentists to communicate with each other through a web application that displays 3D results and can also produce treatment tools based on the created treatment plan.
The preparation of data for use in orthodontic dentistry is complex and has a high probability of error. It also takes time to prepare the data, including learning how to use the program. The developers, therefore, saw that if the complexity and time required to prepare the data could be reduced, it would be beneficial both for treatment and for learning. To address this need, the partner organization has developed an AI for tooth segmentation to work on complex parts and reduce the working time. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the tooth segmentation algorithm through the use of 3D imaging collected at the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. The supervisors are experienced in developing similar ML algorithms for image segmentation tasks. They will supervise the task for a graduate student who will benefit from the learning experience in validating an external and commercially developed algorithm.

GELP Global Virtual Summit

Global Emerging Leadership Programs (GELP) focuses on developing leadership and practical skills for students and young professionals through educational initiatives and opportunities abroad (Bisht, 2023). They host workshops, conferences, and provide mentorship and guidance, allowing participants to earn micro-credentials and expand their professional network. GELP also has campus chapters that promote leadership and skill development, aligning with UN sustainability goals. Participants benefit from extensive workshops, professional events, digital badges, and personalized guidance meetings. This internship project enhances GELP’s ability to deliver these programs and expand their reach.

The internship project will focus on the GELP Global Virtual Summit 2024 on June 9 which will include 1) Summit Coordination and 2) University Outreach. Summit coordination will entail orchestrating the event, curating the theme, ensuring the participation of global thought leaders in over 15 participating countries, and facilitate the contributions of more than 30 global speakers. This includes designing social media campaigns across platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as directly engaging with panelists and moderators, and overseeing the selection and recognition of delegate research papers as part of the awards process. University Outreach includes extending GELP’s network by connecting with universities in Mexico and the UAE. This role will highlight the value of experiential learning opportunities that GELP provides, such as work-integrated learning and professional development workshops.

COO

The project will focus on using AI to make better credit decisions for businesses. By looking closely at lots of company data, like financial records, the intern will help create smart computer programs that can quickly tell which businesses are good to lend to. This will make NetNow’s process of deciding who gets credit faster and more accurate. The aim is to help NetNow trust the right businesses more easily, leading to smoother and safer business deals. This is not just about building new tools; it’s about making sure they work well in the real world, improving how businesses work with each other.

Business Strategy Internship

Project Name: Enhancing the M&A Process with Data Analytics

Project Description: We developing a joint product offering, combining the data consulting team’s use of data science and analytics with the M&A team’s advisory services.

FirePower is creating a joint product offering between two departments – a data science consulting unit (the team in which the intern would work) and an investment banking unit, adding a more data-heavy rigor to our M&A (mergers and acquisitions) process, ultimately increasing enterprise value for our Canadian mid-market client base. This is important as it strengthens the competitive positioning of both service offerings, especially as other financial firms (especially in the United States) augment their offerings with AI. This will require taking novel approaches in data science and developing use-cases within the M&A process. Some have already been identified that will require further development, such as sales forecasting and customer retention. Others will need to be suggested and developed from scratch.

AI-Driven End-to-End Platform for Strategy Optimization and Consumer Insight Analysis

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Caractérisation et application de décharges à barrière diélectrique coplanaires diffuses à pression atmosphérique au traitement de matériaux pour le photovoltaïque organique

Avec le réchauffement climatique et les objectifs de réduction des émissions de CO2 à zéro d’ici à 2050, la transition vers l’utilisation de sources d’énergie propres est devenue une réalité incontournable. Le photovoltaïque organique (OPV), développé récemment, s’avère être une excellente alternative vers des matériaux durables et des procédés écologiques. Toutefois, ces cellules sont construites en empilant différentes couches, créant des interfaces et entrainant des pertes ou une mauvaise adhésion. Pour remédier à cela, les couches sont traitées chimiquement, générant des déchets, ainsi qu’un risque pour les opérateurs.
L’utilisation de plasmas froids s’avère être une alternative propre, économique, et efficace. Mais l’interaction d’un plasma-matériau est complexe. Il est donc nécessaire, afin d’optimiser le traitement des matériaux, de comprendre les mécanismes à l’œuvre.
Ce projet s’intéresse à la caractérisation des propriétés de plasmas froids, et leur application pour l’OPV. Plus précisément, des décharges à barrière diélectrique coplanaire. Ces dernières seront caractérisées optiquement et électriquement. Les matériaux traités seront caractérisés à l’aide de différentes techniques. Leurs caractéristiques seront reliées aux propriétés des plasmas. Permettant d’optimiser les couches pour les cellules et, à terme, d’avoir des outils de caractérisation des plasmas pour le traitement de ces matériaux à une échelle industrielle.

Role of local knowledge and adaptation to environmental change: A case study of Chilika Lagoon small scale fishery, India

This project is based on how the fisher community of Chilika Lagoon, India cope with and adapt to the degrading social, ecological and economic conditions in the lagoon. Using Local ecological knowledge I will analyse environmental changes, their drivers and the impacts on the local fisher communities. Further, I will analyse the adaptation strategies used by fisher communities to address the ongiong changes. The possible outcomes may help in analysing the recent environmental changes in the lagoon, give a broad view of the local ecological knowledge of the fisher community, help to identify which adaptation strategies worked and what can be done to improve future strategies for adaptation. Particular attention will be to come up with specific management and policy recommendations that will not only be relevant for sustainable use of the Chilika lagoon resources but also make useful contributions to other lagoons in the world that are undergoing similar porcesses of change.

Décoder la représentation de la température par les neurones de projection de la moelle épinière à l’aide de l’imagerie cellulaire fonctionnelle in vivo

La thermoception consiste à détecter les changements de température ambiante et provoque des réponses volontaires et involontaires adaptatives, cruciales pour notre survie et notre bien-être. Les neurones de la moelle épinière reçoivent l’entrée des afférences primaires thermosensibles, modulent et intègrent le signal avant de l’envoyer au cerveau pour qu’il y soit décodé pour générer une sensation. Au cours des deux dernières décennies, des progrès ont été réalisés pour identifier des mécanismes moléculaires et cellulaires de la thermoception. Dans ce projet, nous utiliserons des souris transgéniques pour exprimer spécifiquement un indicateur de calcium génétiquement codé dans les neurones de projection spinaux. Hugo (moi-même) réalisera ensuite une imagerie du calcium in vivo à partir de ces neurones chez des souris anesthésiées. Une série de stimuli thermiques, allant du froid nocif à la chaleur nocive, sera délivrée sur les pattes postérieures de l’animal et les réponses au niveau spinal seront quantifiées et cartographiées. Les résultats obtenus devraient révéler comment une population de neurones de projection de la moelle épinière représentent différentes températures, ce qui fera progresser considérablement notre compréhension du codage des stimuli thermiques et de la thermoception en général.

Caractérisation de l’anisotropie de profilés extrudés en aluminium

Lors de ce projet, le stagiaire sera chargé de caractériser l’anisotropie (variation des propriétés mécaniques selon la direction étudiée) des profilés extrudés en alliages d’aluminium fabriqués dans différentes conditions, en réalisant des essais de micro traction par rapport à la direction d’extrusion des profilés. Pour cela, il devra effectuer une série de mesure des propriétés mécaniques de ces échantillons au cours de la déformation dans le but de fournir une base de données dépendante des paramètres d’extrusion. Ce stage s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un projet visant à développer et à valider des outils permettant de prédire le comportement de profilés extrudés, dans le but d’en optimiser la conception et les performances.
Ces recherches offrent non seulement des opportunités en termes de recherche académique, mais également des défis technologiques significatifs pour les acteurs de l’industrie de l’aluminium. Elles permettront également d’acquérir des connaissances en matière d’optimisation, de contrôle et de prédictibilité du procédé d’extrusion. Les principaux bénéficiaires des solutions proposées dans ce projet sont les producteurs de billettes, les extrudeurs, les fabricants de filières ainsi que les utilisateurs de profilés extrudés.