Innovative Projects Realized

Heavy metal sensing with terpyridines and coumarin-derivatives

Contamination of water and soil with heavy metals, particularly with mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb), is a huge problem of modern society. Rigorous monitoring of levels of Hg and Pb in water and renewable resources including food, natural and naturopathic products and/or cosmetics, is drastically important. Therefore proper methodologies for the express detection and effective quantification of target ions in the presence of multiple other competing metal ions are highly demanded. This proposal focuses on the utilization of novel well-defined molecular receptors for the creation of the materials for mercury, lead and iron detection and uptake with a short-term goal of creating low-cost express detection and express purification materials and kits for sensing, differentiation and effective removal of the target analyses from the media. The resulting technology will be scaled up for environmental remediation/ water purification applications.

9Bio : Ingénierie de protéines

En biologie, tout comme dans le monde des machines mécaniques, la fonction découle de la structure. Dans le domaine biologique, les “machines” sont constituées de protéines. En altérant leur structure, il est possible de leur conférer de nouvelles fonctionnalités. L’entreprise 9Bio combine une expertise de pointe en modélisation IA avec l’ingénierie structurelle biologique pour créer des protéines avec des capacités sans précédent. Ce stage Mitacs s’appuiera sur les capacités de 9Bio pour développer des outils protéiques de nouvelle génération. L’étudiant optimisera les modèles d’IA existants liés à l’ingénierie des protéines dans le but ultime de permettre la génération de nouvelles séquences d’acides aminés ayant une grande affinité pour les protéines cibles dans les limites d’une structure protéique plus large.

Co-creating a Community Wellbeing Framework for Manitoba Community Foundations

The Rural Development Institute (RDI) and The Winnipeg Foundation (WpgFdn) want to collaborate with Manitoban community foundations (CF) to integrate a wellbeing framework in their operations. The project uses a community-based research approach employing focus groups to investigate the CF’s understanding of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) and to reflect on their past and current impact practices (grant making and strategic initiative activities). The project’s goal is to identify how CFs can leverage a community wellbeing framework in support of their impact practices within the community and inform how the WpgFdn may build the capacity of CFs. The main deliverables include CF case studies and briefs on adapting the CIW to the CFs capacity and maturity level. The case studies will provide insights, best practices, and strategies for how CFs can positively impact
wellbeing in communities, in Manitoba and across Canada.

Production of Organic Biostimulants from Atlantic Seaweed

Nowadays, natural, sustainable, or environmentally friendly agriculture practices are becoming increasingly popular, where seaweed biostimulants could play a vital role in providing plant nutrition and responding against diseases, pests, and abiotic stresses. North Atlantic seaweeds have a high potential to be a candidate in the biostimulants market since they have a wide range of nutrients to influence plant nutrition. The available inorganic fertilizers/ biostimulants can easily upset the entire ecosystem by creating a toxic buildup of chemicals, contaminating water supplies, and disrupting aquatic life. Hence, the proposed project will develop organic biostimulants from North Atlantic seaweed species since they are traditionally used as fertilizer, though no commercial products are available in the market. A novel pre-treatment method will be used to develop biostimulants to increase the yield of extraction without disrupting any nutrients. Farmers can incorporate this sustainable approach into their farming systems and minimize the use of inorganic biostimulant/ pesticides.

Developing an AI-based modeling tool to support decision-making in iceberg tow management for the protection of subsea infrastructures

Icebergs pose serious risks to subsea infrastructures operating in the Arctic and Atlantic regions. They can damage pipelines, cables, and foundations by scraping the seabed or directly colliding with offshore structures like floating systems and platforms. To prevent such impacts, icebergs are towed away from the facilities using specialized vessels and equipment. However, this process is complex, costly, and uncertain.
This project aims to develop an AI-based tool to support decision-making in iceberg tow management. The tool uses machine learning (ML) technology to predict the iceberg draft (a submerged portion of the iceberg) using the above-water features of the iceberg, which are captured by field measurements and remote sensing technologies. The tool predicts the subgouge soil deformations and reaction forces caused by the iceberg keel as it moves along the seabed. These predictions assist in optimizing the towing strategy and minimizing the risk of damage to subsea infrastructures.

Innovation, Design, and Development of a Novel Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Prevention Device

Individuals suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea, exhibit moderate to excessive snoring which is often ignored or neglected. This neglect can increase the risk of more severe health problems such as stroke, hypertension, chronic heart failure, diabetes, and many others. Moreover, an Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) episode – characterized by periodic and repetitive collapsing of the upper airway during sleep – can be life threatening. Although solutions exist to treat sleep-related breathing disorders like OSA, such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and oral appliances including Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs), there are several issues relating to cost, comfort, and convenience with the products that are on the market today.

This applied design research project will explore the continued development of a novel snoring and obstructive sleep apnea prevention device that will address these issues. It will build upon initial concepts previously explored to advance a design solution that addresses the needs of the target user, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements of the business. This project will also explore ways to increase awareness of such issues along with the new solution being proposed.

Clean Ocean Watch (COW) Platform: Advancing Oil Spill Detection and Real-time Monitoring using Sentinel-1 Satellite Imagery

Clean Ocean Watch (COW) Platform is a solution designed to tackle the critical problem of oil spills in our oceans. Oil spills have destructive consequences for marine ecosystems, coastal communities, and economies worldwide.
We are going to design a platform that utilizes the power of Sentinel-1 free-of-charge satellite data, which provides high-resolution radar imagery, allowing us to monitor vast oceanic regions in near real-time, even in adverse
weather conditions. This platform addresses a critical market gap — the lack of swift and precise oil spill detection. One of the important features of COW is its crowdsourcing capability. It means that we empower users like
fishermen, boaters, and coastal communities to actively contribute to our efforts. They can report oil spills using their smartphones with GPS, which complements our satellite-based observations. This near real-time collaboration means we can respond faster to incidents and minimize the damage caused by spills. Another point is AI-driven predictive analytics. By analyzing historical oil spill data, environmental conditions, and maritime traffic patterns, we can identify high-risk areas. This predictive approach allows us to take preventive measures and reduce the chances of spills occurring in the first place. This system will be capable of providing not only the location of

Innovation, Design, and Development of a Novel Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Prevention Device

Individuals suffering from sleep-related breathing disorders, such as sleep apnea, exhibit moderate to excessive snoring which is often ignored or neglected. This neglect can increase the risk of more severe health problems such as stroke, hypertension, chronic heart failure, diabetes, and many others. Moreover, an Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) episode – characterized by periodic and repetitive collapsing of the upper airway during sleep – can be life threatening. Although solutions exist to treat sleep-related breathing disorders like OSA, such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and oral appliances including Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs), there are several issues relating to cost, comfort, and convenience with the products that are on the market today.

This applied design research project will explore the continued development of a novel snoring and obstructive sleep apnea prevention device that will address these issues. It will build upon initial concepts previously explored to advance a design solution that addresses the needs of the target user, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements of the business. This project will also explore ways to increase awareness of such issues along with the new solution being proposed. Both objectives will be addressed through an iterative, cyclical methodology including four main

Safe Reinforcement Learning for Robot Manipulation

In recent years, reinforcement learning has shown great promise in solving sophisticated decision-making problems and has also demonstrated impressive results in robotic settings since it provides robots with novel skills without tedious modeling from human engineers. The objective of this research project is to develop a pipeline that autonomously generates a control policy for a given task through reinforcement learning. This pipeline should feature: (1) a reinforcement learning strategy that learns a control policy while guaranteeing the stability of the learnt policy, (2) efficient learning strategies such as curriculum learning which automatically increments the complexity in simulation, and (3) the rapid deployment and integration of new robot skills.

Investigating the Influence of Trenching/Backfilling on Pipeline Response and Seabed Failure Mechanisms to Ice Gouging

The research project aims to make pipelines in the Arctic safer and more cost-effective. It’s like finding the best way to protect a vital lifeline underwater from ice bumps. By studying how the ice, the seabed, and the pipeline interact, we’ll figure out the smartest way to bury the pipeline and the material to put around it. The partner organization, like an oil and gas company, will benefit greatly. Our research will help them optimize burial depths, avoid costly damage to their pipelines, reduce environmental risks, and keep energy resources flowing smoothly. In simpler terms, we’re working to make sure their pipelines stay strong, safe, and also cost effective in the challenging Arctic conditions.

The Effects of A Novel Outdoor Naturalistic Enclosure On The Welfare Of The Sumatran Orangutans Of The Toronto Zoo

Will a new outdoor enclosure make zoo orangutans more active, visible, and behave naturally? We aim to answer this question using behavioural observations as the Toronto Zoo introduces their orangutans to a new outdoor habitat. The Toronto Zoo has invested a significant amount of resources on a new outdoor exhibit to ensure that their orangutans are healthy and have good welfare. It is important to understand how the orangutans adapt and use the habitat to identify if any adjustments are required to ensure the animals have choice and control of their environment.
The Toronto Zoo orangutans have never been outside. Monitoring how orangutans will react to an entirely new outdoor enclosure will help keepers and other zoos manage orangutans when they get introduced to other new enclosures. Additionally, comparing the orangutans’ use of the new habitat and the existing habitat will help assess how big and complex exhibits improve the welfare of zoo orangutans.

Developing an Advanced Vessel Relocation Tool for Extending Subsea Riser’s Lifetime

Subsea steel catenary risers (SCR) transfer the hydrocarbons from seabed reservoirs to floating vessels
for processing, storage, and eventual transportation to shore. These risers are under wave and current
loads and have a limited lifetime. There is strong demand from oil and gas companies to safely prolong the
operational life of steel catenary risers. “Vessel relocation plan” is the repositioning plan that can be
implemented to extend the riser lifetime by distributing the fatigue damage in the seabed zone, which is the
area where the riser comes into repeated contact with the seabed soil. This project will employ advanced
techniques to incorporate the realistic riser-soil interaction mechanisms as observed by subsea surveys to
the vessel relocation strategies. Additionally, our research introduces an innovative technique referred to
as the “Hybrid Trench Model,” which offers a reliable means of incorporating the trench profile beneath
subsea risers.