Innovative Projects Realized

The role of dairy products on body weight and metabolic health in Families

Obesity is a major global epidemic and is prevalent in Canada. A growing body of prospective cohort studies has shown that dairy products may reduce the risk of weight gain and obesity as well as type 2 diabetes as outlined by Systematic Reviews (Kratz M et al., 2013; Drouin-Chartier JP et al., 2016). As well, research from several short term randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as outlined in a recent Meta-Analysis, has shown that dairy products are beneficial in helping with weight loss efforts (Geng T et al., 2018). However, this research is limited and with regards to weight gain and obesity risk, it is mainly in the form of prospective cohort studies. There is also very few evidence that have looked at the effect of low vs. full-fat dairy on health outcomes. Scientific research in the form of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs), that can prove cause and effect relationships (i.e. causality), is needed to substantiate this potential health claim as outlined in Health Canada’s Guidance Document for Substantiation of Food Health Claims (Health Canada 2009).

Mineral chemistry as an exploration tool for gold and copper deposits

Canada is a world leader in mineral exploration and mining technology, but the discovery of new mineral resources is declining. The development of new mineralogical tools which guide exploration is becoming increasingly important for the mining industry. This study will investigate the potential to use mineral chemistry to develop vectors around Au and Cu deposits in Ontario and BC. We will combine traditional core logging and mapping methods with state-of-the-art mineral chemistry techniques to assess the alteration halo around two styles of mineralization, porphyry copper and orogenic gold. The research will be completed by three master’s students, who will be trained in advanced research methods, making them highly skilled assets for industry, academia, or government surveys. This study has the potential to lead to new discoveries by developing tools that can be used to vector towards mineralisation in covered terranes that can be applied elsewhere within Canada and by Canadian companies working overseas. At a broader scale, the tools generated by this project will help Canadian mining companies enhance exploration efficiency and reduce both the time and capital cost for the discovery of mineral resources.

SSE_BERNIER_MAJ_Duprez – Projet de créations artistiques et exposition au musée avec des groupes de femmes incarcérées ou anciennement incarcérées.

Projet de créations artistiques et exposition au musée avec des groupes de femmes incarcérées ou anciennement incarcérées.

Re-evaluating Urban Green Space Accessibility in the Post-COVID Era: Insights from Multicultural Toronto

This project revolves around creating a data analysis tool that combines socio-demographic metrics with indicators of park accessibility, focusing on Toronto, Canada. The goal is to closely examine and understand the disparities in access to urban parks among diverse groups of people. The research includes exploring various factors influencing green space accessibility, evaluating private park ownership, considering safety in park access, and identifying any potential elements. Through desktop research, expert interviews, and data integration, the project seeks to aid planners in making informed decisions that promote fairness and equality in park accessibility. Currently, creating equitable urban parks is a major concern in Canadian green space research, and this study aims to be at the forefront of these efforts. According to the 2023 Canadian City Parks Report, over 70% of surveyed cities in Canada are prioritizing the development of equity-based tools for guiding park investments. By centering the research in Toronto and considering the local context, including immigration policies and societal issues, this project has the potential to influence urban planning across Canada, addressing environmental, land use, and social challenges. Ultimately, the participating institutions stand to benefit from innovative approaches to urban planning and the enhancement of equitable green space accessibility.

How List-based and Queued-based Lead Management Systems Drive inside Sales Performance

Sales-based CRM tools have given sales representatives the ability to utilize customer information and selling strategies to facilitate cross-selling and up-selling activities from inside the organization. This concept, known as “inside sales”, is a fast growing trend and its key success is reliant on how efficiently generated leads are managed. Leads are information about potential customers and are managed either through a “list-based” platform which offers a long list of leads and it is upon the sales representative to filter and select which lead to manage, or a “queued-based” platform which uses a designed workflow sequence to automatically filter and select the next-best lead for a representative to manage. This project seeks to identify the best lead management system (List-based or Queued-based) to use as part of an inside sales tool to achieve an optimal sales performance.

Augmentation de la puissance du produit

Fondée en 2020, AWL-E a pour mission de commercialiser des solutions de transmission d’énergie sans fil grâce à sa technologie unique offrant une plus grande distance, puissance et efficacité à ses utilisateurs. L’entreprise se concentre sur la mise en oeuvre de ses inventions dans des applications ayant un fort impact social et économique.
L’entreprise a recruté des étudiants pour soutenir le projet de développement d’un chargeur sans fil par couplage capacitif pour un nouvel appareil électronique.

Developing auto-annotation of actions in movies assisted by a haptic track

D-BOX is designing and manufacturing home theater and movie theater motorized seats. These seats are used to create an immersive environment for users by generating movements and vibrations that are synchronized with the action in the movies. Right now, making these seats vibrate in the right way takes a lot of manual work. This project consists specifically in the action detection part of the process. The goal is to develop deep learning models using the sound and the images from the movie to detect a series of events and their timing, such as gunshots, explosions, fights, car engine sounds, etc. The approach is to use a two-stream topology with sound and video as the input streams. The sound will be processed as spectrograms frames making both streams process image-like content and leverage two cues for understanding the action in the movie. RNN and LSTM models will be explored and other options, such as YOLO, SSD, FASTER R-CNN and even the latest Transformer-based models. This project is beneficial to D-Box Inc. since it has the capability of automating the haptic effects generation.

Medventions: Orthopedic Surgery

Medventions is a full-time 14 week paid program that allows students and new graduates to take part in physician-led, hospital-based fellowship training. Fellows come from different areas of study and will get hands on experience in a clinical setting with innovators and experienced mentors. It equips fellows to identify priority healthcare needs and develop their own prototypes to help solve pressing issues in our healthcare system. At the end of the program, the interns will present their final innovation at the Innovation Showcase, which will celebrate the interns and the work they have done over the past four months. Here, they will present their prototype and business model, and field any questions from an audience comprised of those engrained in the health innovation ecosystem in Nova Scotia.

This cohort will be comprised of 4 fellows and our academic supervisor for this cohort is Clifton Johnston from Dalhousie University. The fellows will be shadowing their clinical lead Dr. Andrew Glennie who specializes in orthopedic surgery and are expected to start in early January.

Long-term storage of sugar beet mash while maintaining the integrity of the sucrose

Sugar beets are a vital crop for Southern Alberta farmers and are the source for sugar products from the refinery in Taber, Alberta. This is only one sugar beet processing plant in Alberta, and though it accounts for 10 per cent of the total Canadian sugar production (100,000 tons of sugar per year), it has a limited amount of daily processing capacity (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, 2017). This presents a challenge because as a seasonal crop, beets are harvested during late fall, stored in open ground piles where they freeze during the winter months and can begin to spoil upon thawing once the weather warms. Finding alternative long-term storage options and end uses for sugar beet will benefit growers and allow for the potential for production expansion in the region.

L2M – Strategic Development of Protease-Resistant ADAMTS13 as a Therapeutic for Cardiovascular Disorders and Sepsis

This project aims to develop a novel therapeutic drug aimed at revolutionizing the treatment of severe cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and sepsis. Our project focuses on the modification of the ADAMTS13 protein, an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the blood clotting process. In patients with severe CVD or sepsis, ADAMTS13 is rapidly degraded, leading to an increased risk of life-threatening complications. Our solution is an injectable form of modified ADAMTS13, engineered to be resistant to degradation even in the most severe cases.
This project aligns with the Mitacs Business Strategy Internship (BSI) program’s objectives by bridging the gap between advanced scientific research and practical market application. We aim to validate and refine this therapeutic solution through extensive market research, prototype testing, and feedback integration from medical professionals. A key goal is to establish a clear pathway from laboratory research to real-world healthcare settings, addressing an unmet need in the treatment of severe CVD and sepsis.
Additionally, the project entails engagement with stakeholders and potential partners, leveraging networking opportunities provided by the Mitacs BSI program to foster collaborations essential for commercialization. Our third objective focuses on developing a scalable commercial strategy, including navigating regulatory pathways and understanding market dynamics.
This innovative project promises significant health benefits by providing a new, effective treatment for severe CVD and sepsis patients.

What do you lose when you lose a hotel?: Assessing the impacts of hotels in rural Manitoba

This project will demonstrate how the ability to host overnight guests in rural hotels, as well as host events within these communities, truly impacts local economic revenue. By conducting key informant interviews with hotel staff and community/ event organizations, alongside written surveys with hotel guests, this project will highlight the importance of including accommodations with event facilities in rural communities. The Intern will be engaging in both quantitative and qualitative data collection, building their research skills. As well, these findings may be useful for the Manitoba Hotel Association, as they will be able to demonstrate the ways in which registered members allow for economic development across the province.

Development of Colour-Changing Indicator Label

Lunanos Inc. and Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management are seeking to collaborate on a six-month project to develop an innovative colour-changing indicator label that will be used in healthcare facilities to track the cleaning of various equipment and surfaces to reduce the frequency of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). In Canada, 1 in 10 patients admitted to a hospital picks up an infection and it is estimated that 30-50% of these cases are preventable through better infection prevention and control. In this project, Lunanos will be able to access Ryerson University’s School of Graphic Communications Management’s unique combination of expertise, experience, and equipment in modern printing, manufacturing, and post-processing methods in order to scale-up their production to produce labels with consistent characteristics needed for a planned field testing project.