Innovative Projects Realized

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

29670 Completed Projects

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Projects by Category

Comparing Climate Change Education in Canada and China: Using Climate Change Education to inspire hope through action

Based on various research papers, present methods of Climate Change Education have been noted to instill feelings of eco-anxiety ultimately leading to avoidance of the topic. For students to be inspired to take meaningful action for a sustainable future, hopeful education is needed. Current methods of Climate Change Education will be observed in Canada and China, and lesson plans will be developed to make it more meaningful, relevant, and hopeful. The ultimate goal is to connect students with nature and inspire attitudinal changes through collaboration with local/global communities.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shijing Xu

Student:

Partner:

Southwest University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Exploring Motivation Factors in Young EFL Learners in China

For my proposed research, I will primarily make participant observations in Chinese schools and classrooms to study the motivation factors that influence young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in China, focusing on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and their impact on language learning outcomes. Two specific motivation strategies I am planning to focus on, but not limited to, are gamification and physical education. I will identify and understand the motivation factors that drive young EFL learners in China and assess the influence of these motivation factors on language learning progress and achievement. By exploring potential variations in motivation factors based on variables such as demographics, regions and cultures, mixed with my background in Canadian schools, I can provide cross-cultural recommendations to educators, parents, and policymakers to enhance motivation, equity and learning outcomes for EFL learners in the ever-growing culturally and linguistically diverse landscape of Canadian schools.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shijing Xu

Student:

Partner:

Southwest University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Food For Thought: A Comparison of Food Education in Chinese and Canadian Public Schools; the Argument for a Canadian National School Food Program

This project will explore the differences in food education between China and Canada. The intern will research how food-related education is implemented in Chinese public middle schools. This may appear in formal learning (eg home economics or nutrition class), or informal learning (eg, through government subsidized school lunch programming, or opportunities outside of school for young children to interact with food).The intern will also gather qualitative data on Chinese public school food programs, and compare and contrast them to similar programs in Canada. Expected outcomes of this research is data that reinforces the argument to support the need for subsidized public school lunches in Canada. The research may also help identify possible roadblocks in implementing such policy. The research also expects to be able to gain new insights into food education curriculum.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shijing Xu

Student:

Partner:

Southwest University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Comprendre les mécanismes d’adaptation des plantes au stress osmotique pendant le développement des feuilles

Il existe peu de méthodes pour mesurer la pression de turgescence dans les cellules végétales vivantes et évaluer les forces qu’elles imposent aux parois cellulaires environnantes. Cette pression de turgescence est essentielle au fonctionnement des organes végétaux, car elle est le principal facteur responsable de la croissance des plantes et contribue également à maintenir leur structure et leur forme. Le projet consistera à tester et à développer une nouvelle méthode de mesure de la pression de turgescence cellulaire dans une espèce modèle, Arabidopsis thaliana. L’étudiant mesurera la pression de turgescence dans les cellules végétales à l’aide d’une méthode non invasive basée sur des traitements osmotiques, la microscopie 3D en direct et l’analyse d’images. Différents types d’osmolytes seront utilisés afin d’évaluer leur capacité à déclencher des réponses osmotiques chez les plantes. En utilisant des techniques de micro-dissection, l’étudiant évaluera le rôle potentiel d’organes spécifiques en tant que réservoirs de sucre lors de l’osmo-régulation par transfert d’osmolytes. Le projet proposé nous aidera à disséquer la croissance cellulaire à un niveau spatio-temporel, sous stress osmotique, et son effet sur le développement des organes chez les plantes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Kierzkowski

Student:

Partner:

Sup'Biotech

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Development of genetic engineering in microalgae

Biopharmaceuticals are pharmaceuticals that are produced in biological systems, as opposed to being made synthetically using purely chemical approaches. Biopharmaceuticals are becoming increasingly important today, as biological systems are very good at making pharmaceuticals with very precise activity within people and with fewer side effects. However, most of the conventional approaches used to make biopharmaceuticals suffer from shortcomings such as high cost and the need to remove human pathogens. On the other hand, microalgae overcome many of the limitations of the current systems. They are low-cost, safe to humans, and even edible. Microalgae are like very small plants, and plants were the original source of biopharmaceuticals, including the cancer drug, taxol. However, in spite of their many advantages, microalgae have not yet been used commercially for biopharmaceutical production. The purpose of this Mitacs Accelerate proposal is to develop tools which are crucial to harnessing the potential of microalgae for making biopharmaceuticals.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Perry Chou

Student:

Partner:

Algaeneers Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Accelerate

Cultural Canvases: A Comparative Analysis of Arts Curricula and Attitudes in Chinese and Canadian Primary Schools

This project will compare and contrast how students in grades 4-6 learn art in Canada and China. This study explores how students in Canada and China learn art, how it’s taught and tested, and how their cultural backgrounds affect what they learn. How people in both countries think about art will also be explored. We want to understand if there are differences in how art is valued and understood. Moreover, the study will touch on how art can make people care about the environment. The question of if art can inspire individuals in both Canada and China to become more environmentally conscious and take action to protect nature will be investigated. In summary, the research has three main parts: 1) How students learn art, 2) What people in Canada and China think about art, and 3) How art can encourage people to care for the environment in both countries.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Shijing Xu

Student:

Partner:

Southwest University

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Automated Single-Crystal X-ray Diffraction Platform for High-Throughput Structure Determination

Windsor, Ontario is recognized for its prowess in advanced manufacturing and automation and this project with PROTO Manufacturing Ltd. aims to draw from the innovative atmosphere of our region. PROTO is in the midst of developing a state-of-the-art robotic platform aimed at revolutionizing molecular structure determination—a vital component in diverse domains such as drug discovery and materials design. Beyond the technological marvel, this platform seeks to address the prevalent challenges in the industry, including the heavy dependence on manual operations that can be prone to inconsistencies. By championing automation and embedding expert logic into the system, PROTO’s initiative promises not just precision but also a newfound efficiency. More than a technological stride, this venture stands as a testament to Windsor’s innovation spirit. It holds the potential to further solidify the region’s global reputation, stimulate job creation, and amplify socio-economic growth, weaving a brighter future for both the scientific community and the local innovation ecosystem of Windsor-Essex.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Vedran Nicholas Vukotic

Student:

Partner:

Proto Manufacturing Limited

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Elevate

The implications of foreshocks on mainshock triggering

Large earthquakes (mainshocks) are sometimes preceded by small-magnitude events called foreshocks. Foreshocks are the only detectable earthquake signals before the mainshock and thus, attract interest in using foreshocks’ properties to predict mainshock. It has been hypothesized a two end-member triggering mechanisms of foreshock, the cascade model and the aseismic slip model but results are often controversial and may be a combination of both models. A comprehensive analysis of the foreshock-mainshock sequence helps us deduce the contribution of each model. In this study, we are going to use the spatiotemporal evolution of foreshocks, seismic waveform analysis, and stress change to deduce which model is the best explanation of the triggering mechanism of the targeted sequence and aim at using the findings in this study to apply on future earthquakes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Semechah K.Y. Lui

Student:

Partner:

The University of Tokyo

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award

CanDo: A Smart App for Cognition

We propose to leverage social networking in a series of apps designed to improve the quality of life for persons with cognitive disabilities. We believe the success of companies for recreational athletes, some with over 15 million users, is linked to motivation and partnering, in addition to the analysis and tracking features. Building on our previous research and these applications for recreational athletes, we plan to evolve our user-centric model for personalized interfaces, data collection, and analytics for persons with cognitive disabilities and their caregivers. The methodology research advances the understanding of not only how to create intelligent apps for persons with cognitive disabilities but also in multi-user scenarios such as between the person with cognitive disabilities and their caregivers. Our investigation for the proposed app includes designing to support both the planning phase and the excursion phase of a local outing that might also involve public transit.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Yvonne Coady

Student:

Partner:

Barrodale Computing Services Ltd

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Accelerate

Modeling the Evolution of Embedded Star Clusters

Groups of stars (star clusters) that we see throughout the Universe form inside giant clouds of molecular gas inside galaxies. After a few million years, clusters can disperse surrounding gas through a combination of stellar winds, radiation, and supernovae, making them easier to observe (stellar feedback). While clusters are embedded inside molecular clouds, it is difficult for observations to determine their dynamics or spatial distribution. I will perform numerical simulations of young clusters that are still embedded inside their host molecular clouds. My simulations will model the evolution of the stars and gas in the cluster while including effects from stellar feedback. I will focus on the growth of small star clusters, through cluster mergers, and gas accretion, into more massive. My work will be the first to analyze the dynamical imprint of mergers and gas accretion on young clusters. I will compare these results to observations of older clusters to constrain their formation mechanisms. This work will result in at least one paper published to the Astrophysical Journal.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Alison Sills

Student:

Partner:

The University of Tokyo

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Privacy preserving for genomic data analysis and sharing

Genomic data is a rich source of knowledge that can reveal important details about a person and their ancestry. However, accessing and sharing genetic datasets is essential for advancing research and enhancing healthcare outcomes. Allowing sharing, accessing, and analyzing the genomic data while preserving users’ privacy is challenging. Differential privacy (DP) is a promising lightweight technique for privacy preservation in the genomic domain which relies on adding noise to the data or the
trained model weights. However, relying on adding a static privacy budget to the models and query results no longer benefits the adaptive mode for genomic analysis as the sensitivity of the query can change over time, and queries can be correlated with each other in genomic analysis.
In this research, we aim to add an adaptive noise scaling to help strike a better balance between privacy and utility in DP under genomic analysis and model training so we can better quantify a privacy loss over time for each query with a privacy filter formulation.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ziad Kobti

Student:

Partner:

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Discovery platform for aptamer-based luminescent sensors for protein detection

Diagnostics are critical to our healthcare infrastructure, with substantial impacts on patient care and public health policy. Proteins have been used as diagnostic markers for disease monitoring for nearly 200 years, however, current analytical methods require expensive equipment and expert technicians. This restricts the use of such methods to centralized laboratories where they process samples sent from local collection facilities. Consequently, low resource areas experience limited diagnostic access and long wait times from sample to result. Cell-free technology uses purified biological components to enable transcription and translation in hours instead of days. This technology can be leveraged to develop low-cost, portable molecular diagnostics as these systems can be freeze-dried and distributed without a cold chain. The proposed project aims to leverage the principles of synthetic biology to establish a platform to rapidly discover aptamer-based luminescent sensors for biomarker detection, ultimately, such point-of-care systems could have major impacts on global health.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Keith Pardee

Student:

Partner:

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Biotechnology; Other

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Globalink Research Award