Innovative Projects Realized

Mxpert Comprehensive Digital Marketing Campaign Plan

The project objective is to hire a business intern who will enhance Mxpert’s digital footprint and customer engagement by contributing to digital marketing efforts, industry and audience analysis, customer onboarding, and internal training. The intern will also utilize analytics tools to provide actionable insights for website and brand optimization.

Centre for Local Innovation & Collaboration

The Centre for Local Innovation & Collaboration (CLIC) is a shared, co-creative partnership between OCAD University, the City of Richmond Hill, and eCampusOntario (the funder). Graduate researchers from OCAD University (graduate researchers and faculty) will work with businesses to scope out innovation projects and together identify key areas of need and optimize opportunities for innovative project development. The businesses will then be onboard onto eCampusOntario’s, Ontario Collaboration & Innovation Platform (OCIP) where their innovation project will be matched with a HEI for specific research/prototyping and/or potential government to develop their innovation.

Intra-arterial therapeutic dissolution of plaques in coronary and peripheral arterial diseases.

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by chronic inflammation and LDL deposition in the lumen of the arteries. This process can result in stenosis or thrombosis. More than 33% of Canadian deaths in 2011 were due to cardiovascular events (major chronic diseases surveillance online). Canadians lose an average of 4.5 years of life expectancy due to CVD. In this respect, we strongly believe that development of the stent with a design to local and sustained release of statin and also, in the future, for proliferation of stem cells, can avoid the open heart surgery, which nowadays has elevate costs with the hospital and involves a high risk of a secondary infections during the rehabilitation of the patient. In this project we will develop a polymeric and biodegradable stent for sustained release of statins and also, in the future, for proliferation of stem cells.

Regulatory and Technological Evolution of Decentralized Finance: A Comprehensive Timeline

Our research initiative, titled “Tech-Law Synergy: A Roadmap for Blockchain Regulatory Compliance,” aims to bridge the gap between blockchain technology and Canadian and Ukrainian legal frameworks. Interns on this project will explore the most recent advancements in blockchain while scrutinizing existing laws that apply to this technology. Through interviews with industry professionals and hands-on workshops, the team will pinpoint areas where blockchain innovation is either restricted or inadequately governed by current laws. The ultimate objective is to produce a strategic roadmap that aligns blockchain development with legal compliance. This roadmap will offer actionable recommendations for businesses and policymakers, ensuring that blockchain technology can advance in a legally compliant manner.

Développement d’une procédure technique de contrôle qualité (CQ) des recettes de mélanges de remblai rocheux cimenté (RRC) basée sur la prédiction de leur résistance mécanique

L’industrie minière réutilise les roches stériles dans la fabrication des remblais rocheux cimentés (RRC) afin d’assurer un support secondaire des épontes des excavations minières souterraines. Toutefois, la qualité du durcissement du RRC reste incertaine du fait de la grande hétérogénéité des roches stériles. À ce jour, l’industrie minière ne dispose pas d’une méthode standard de préparation des RRC. L’objectif principal du stage est de proposer une procédure générale de contrôle qualité (CQ) des RRC dans le but d’optimisation les cycles de minage. À l’issue de ce stage, des outils d’aide à la formulation de recettes de RRC et de CQ de la préparation des mélanges de RRC seront développés. De plus, l’industrie minière pourra disposer d’un modèle de prédiction de la performance du RRC seulement à partir d’essais réalisés sur du coulis de ciment et en connaissant plus ou moins la distribution granulométrique des roches stériles par simple analyse d’images.

Cross-sea Wave Analysis and Prediction System (CWAPS)

The main topic of this project is to detect the presence and direction of cross-sea waves on the sea surface using X-band radar images. The cross-sea wave pattern may have significant energy and instantaneous irregularity, making it potentially dangerous. The target customer groups of this project include the shipping companies and shipowners,
fishing industry, and water sports enthusiasts and surfers. The size of the problem is significant, as cross-sea waves can
occur in various oceanic regions and at different times, posing risks to a wide range of customers engaged in marine
activities. Thus, the estimation of the cross-sea wave can effectively enable customers to access timely marine wave
forecast information for activity areas and avoid hazardous areas or take necessary precautions. This could lead to a
reduction in accidents and incidents, boosting customer confidence in marine activities and enhancing overall marine
safety.

Discovery of tumor antigens in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The standard chemotherapy treatments for pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) now achieve high cure rates. However, such aggressive chemotherapy in children has significant consequences on their quality of life. Moreover, the prognosis in case of relapse is very poor, with treatment resistance suggesting that chemotherapy fails to target leukemia stem cells.

The objective of this project, in collaboration with Dr. Perreault’s team, is to identify tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) that can trigger an anti-tumor immune response, being absent in normal cells. To accomplish this project, patient-derived leukemia cell xenograft models (PDX) will be established in immunodeficient mice to perform a proteogenomic analysis of the immunopeptidome, high-throughput transcriptome sequencing, and analysis of drug response in cells derived from PDX.

This project aims to determine whether chemotherapy could influence the abundance of TSAs or induce the emergence of new TSAs, thus enabling a possible combination with immunotherapy.

A comparison of the solvent extraction of betulin and betulinic acid from tree bark with a bark oil containing a complex mixture of compounds

B. W. BioEnergy Inc. produces high-quality carbon from renewable hardwood trees (birch, alder, willow and maple) in a patent-pending torrefaction process. The trees are debarked to produce the carbon which is 10-times more effective than commercial coconut carbon. Tree bark is a waste product and currently used to fuel the torrefaction process.
Mi’kmaq and other folk medicine use birch bark extracts for topical skin treatments for centuries. The active ingredients, betulin and betulinic acid, are reported to be anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, anti-HIV, antineoplasic, anti-tumor, analgesic, astringent and depurative agents and function as a hepatoprotector for hepatitis C infections.
This proposed Mitacs project will develop dry distillation reactors and extraction techniques to obtain biologically active ingredients. Bark extracts will be analyzed using analytical equipment and extraction processes are optimized for the production of bark extracts into soaps (cosmetic industry) and as pure compounds (pharmaceutical industry). The distillation reactors will also oxidize betulin to more potent betulinic acid.

Prédiction de la résistance mécanique des remblais miniers en pâte cimentés à l’aide des approches de l’Intelligence Artificielle (IA)

Le remblai en pâte cimenté (RPC) est le matériau le plus utilisé dans les mines souterraines pour combler les vides créés à
la suite de l’extraction du minerai grâce à ses performances mécaniques bien établies. Afin d’assurer une stabilité des terrains
lors de l’exploitation minière, il est nécessaire d’étudier les propriétés mécaniques de ce matériau de remblayage, plus
particulièrement sa résistance à la compression uniaxiale (UCS). Vu que les modèles empiriques classiques de prédiction de
l’UCS ne prennent pas toujours en considération les propriétés physico-chimiques et minéralogiques des ingrédients des RPC
(résidus, liants, eau), l’utilisation des nouvelles approches de l’intelligence artificielle (ex. Machine Learning – ML, Deep
Learning – DL) permettent de prédire l’UCS et d’optimiser les recettes de mélanges de RPC. Ce projet de recherche vise à
implanter des modèles en ML et en DL pour prédire l’UCS s RPC en s’appuyant sur des données réelles de mine partenaire,
Agnico Eagle.

Developing a method for crack arrest test at microscales

Zirconium alloys are widely used in nuclear reactors due to their low absorption cross section against thermal neutrons and good mechanical properties. Inside the core of reactors, the hot water coolant reacts with zirconium and releases hydrogen into the zirconium lattice. With time, hydrogen concentration increases leading to the formation of a brittle phase known as hydrides. This process reduces the fracture toughness of zirconium alloys leading to formation of micro-cracks that can eventually lead to the costly replacement procedures. This research focuses on the development of an experimental method for determining arrest properties of zirconium and hydrides at microscales. Advanced numerical methods and experimental techniques will be used to determine under what circumstances a crack may propagate or arrest in zirconium and hydrides. The output of this project is an experimental method that helps provide better understanding of cracking mechanisms in zirconium and hydrides.

Shaping the Future of Shrimp Waste: Hydrothermal Technologies for Valuable Hydrochar and Chitin

Our research project aims to transform shrimp waste into valuable resources, chitin, and hydrochar, benefiting seafood companies by improving waste management and profitability. The problem we are tackling is the harmful
disposal of shrimp waste by these companies, causing environmental damage, economic losses, and missed opportunities. Hydrothermal uses heat, pressure, and water to potentially separate chitin from shrimp waste and
produce a hydrochar. Our research aims to determine the feasibility of chitin and/or hydrochar quality as a function of HTC conditions in order to provide a potential profit stream from “waste”. The benefit to the partner organization is significant, as they can use our system to turn waste into profit.

Accelerated Testing of Microbial Dyes for the Textile Industry

The dye and pigment industry continues to be identified as one of the biggest pollutive and toxic industries. Textile dying is the second largest water polluter and produces 20% of the world’s wastewater using almost a million tons of synthetic dyes annually. Because many of the dyes and chemicals used in this industry can cause permanent damage to the environment as well as to communities near the industrial facilities, alternative sources of non-toxic dyes must be found.

Lite-1 is using bacteria to produce natural, colourful, non-toxic dyes in an eco-friendly manner. Lite-1 dyes greatly reduce water pollution, are safer use and eliminate the dependence on non-sustainable resources.

In this project, Lite-1 will develop structure-function-relationship maps for the dyes and dyed textiles so they can be used in practical applications where they will be exposed to extreme conditions (temperature, sunlight, chemicals). In this partnership with 4D LABS and Neil Branda Lite-1’s microbial dye performance will be assessed by exposing them to extreme conditions using environmental chambers, and solar simulators and monitoring degradation using a combination of spectroscopic methods. The dyes will be integrated into fiber materials commonly used in the textile industry so that additives such as UV-blockers and absorbers can be evaluated for the ability to enhance dye performance.