Innovative Projects Realized

Effects of Photobiomodulation on cognitive, physical, and cerebral neurovascular function in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is increasingly prevalent, affecting ~170 per 100,000 Canadians annually. Currently, there is no cure for PD, warranting the investigation of potential new therapeutics. Photobiomodulation (PBM) is a low-level light therapy that has been proposed as an alternative treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, such as PD. However, there is a lack of data regarding the efficacy of PBM on individuals with PD, specifically cerebrovascular function. Accordingly, our study aims to attain pilot data to complete a full randomized control trial. The objectives of the study are to determine the effects of PBM in patients with PD on: (1) cognitive function;
(2) motor function; and (3) cerebrovascular function. In our double-blind cross-over study, participants will be assigned to both the treatment and placebo groups. To determine whether there is a difference in receiving PBM compared to placebo, participants will undergo a series of cognitive, neurovascular, cerebrovascular, and physical assessments to determine their respective functional status. These data will provide insight on the potential use of PBM as an alternative therapy for PD.

Detection and Investigation of Email Exfiltration Events in Sun Life Cybersecurity Data, including Text Analysis

The current Sun Life anomaly detection methods are based on human inspection. The method is labour intensive and only a relatively small number of cases can be reviewed. There is no guarantee that the most suspicious interactions are in fact being sampled and reviewed. In this project we will focus on the develop of novel AL methods and user interfaces that can improve the process of labelling instances and recognizing if anomalies are likely to be malicious, and we improve the sensitive of automated anomaly detection models by adding text analysis into the process. Our work will involve cutting edge research in the emerging field of human-AI interaction, and improving the quality of detection our research to: a) Reduce workload for experts involved in the detection process; b) Improve trust/compatibility of the expert-model team; c) Develop new insights concerning the frequency and types of risky behaviours that are carried out by employees.

Comparaison des charges sur dos entre une barre à un appui et une barre à deux appuis chez les porteurs de barre russe

La barre russe est une discipline de cirque dans laquelle deux porteurs au sol portent une barre, tandis qu’un voltigeur debout sur la barre se propulse dans les airs. Le port de la barre sur une épaule génère une charge asymétrique sur le dos des porteurs et présente donc un risque de blessure au dos. Un prototype de barre sur deux épaules avec des manchons ergonomiques a été fabriqué. L’objectif du projet consistera à comparer les charges appliquées sur le dos des porteurs entre ce prototype et une barre russe classique. Des données du mouvement des porteurs et de la force entre l’épaule et la barre seront utilisées dans un modèle numérique multi-corps du dos afin d’estimer les efforts sur les lombaires. Les résultats de cette recherche permettront de confirmer ou d’infirmer l’hypothèse selon laquelle une barre à deux appuis peut réduire les contraintes sur la colonne lombaire des artistes.

Dry Process Electrode Manufacturing for Lithium-Ion Batteries to Improve Performance, Manufacturability and Environmental Impact

Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere in our modern world. They are used in many applications, including portable
electronic devices and electric vehicles. The current methods for manufacturing the electrodes in these batteries
involve the use of solvents, which can be hazardous and which require significant energy to dry off. This project
will focus on studying polymers for and developing a process that will avoid the use of solvent by incorporating a
polymer material that binds the component electrode powders together within a network upon dry mixing. The
properties of the polymers and the specific processing conditions will affect the microstructure of the electrodes,
which will affect the performance of the batteries, leading to potential performance improvements. Successful
completion of this research will allow a Canadian company to develop this type of next-gen technology and
incorporate it into batteries mass produced in Canada in the near future.

Methodological Framework for BIM-Based Design Automation Script Development and Testing

Building design is complex and challenging and the unique nature of each project limits the ability to automate design tasks. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is commonly to manage building design and collaboration between teams and there is a plug-in (“Dynamo”) that supports task automation. The partner organization has developed several ad-hoc BIM automation scripts, but these are typically poorly documented, support a limited number of tasks or specific project types, and many no longer function, limiting their value. To support more widespread design automation, the proposed research will develop and test a strategy to guide both the revision of these existing scripts to make them more flexible, ‘smart’, and generalizable and develop new scripts to support other design automation. The partner organization will benefit from the development of a holistic design automation strategy and supporting tools (processes, templates, and evaluation frameworks) to implement it.

Building deaf-centered, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive higher education using deaf community co-design

There is an urgent need to dismantle the structural barriers that reduce higher education (HE) access for multiply marginalized deaf adults and advance community-led transformations. Towards these aims this project asks: What would HE designed by/for/with multiply marginalized deaf learners and communities look like and how can we develop or build it? Using a community-based participatory design approach, this project will invite three stakeholder groups to collaborate on the co-design of a future deaf studies program at York University. Stakeholders include: (1) community groups serving underrepresented members of the deaf community; (2) deaf adult learners facing various and overlapping barriers to HE; and (3) university- and community-based curriculum designers. Methods including community consultation and co-design workshops will engage deaf learners and community organization partners in the co-creation of HE program design. This study will generate tools and knowledge that can be used to build more just and accessible education futures.

Improving the delivery and efficacy of in vivo gene editing

Genetic diseases are a significant health and economic burden worldwide. Treatments for the majority of these diseases remain limited or nonexistent. One treatment approach is directly editing the DNA mutations that cause the diseases. However, getting DNA editors into specific areas and cells in the body can be quite difficult. This project looks at using lipid nanoparticles to deliver DNA editors to different places in the body to facilitate gene editing. The partner organization has expertise in lipid nanoparticle formulation and will benefit from a gene editing focus of this project to expand the range of therapeutics they are working on developing.

Mécanismes de transfert de chaleur et performance des systèmes géothermiques installés dans des mines à ciel ouvert abandonnées et inondées

Cette recherche a pour objectif d’améliorer les connaissances entourant le potentiel énergétique des mines à ciel ouvert abandonnées et inondées. Les mécanismes de transfert de chaleur susceptibles d’affecter la performance des systèmes géothermique seront étudiés. La ressource géothermique de basse température permet non seulement aux utilisateurs de bénéficier de retombées économiques, mais aussi de réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Ainsi, la promotion de cette technologie dans les secteurs miniers favorise la réduction de leurs empreintes environnementales. En connaissant mieux le potentiel énergétique de tels environnements, les entreprises spécialisées en géothermie pourront mieux accompagner la décarbonation du secteur minier.

Stage en IA et IoT appliqué au nettoyage commercial intelligent

Nous sommes à la recherche d’un candidat(e) pour rejoindre notre équipe et travailler sur un projet avant-gardiste de développement de solutions de nettoyage intelligent s’appuyant sur l’IA et l’IoT qui seront appliquées dans un premier temps au domaine aéroportuaire. Le candidat idéal aura une solide expérience en technologie de l’IoT, en particulier la géolocalisation avec la technologie BLE et LoRa, une expérience en optimisation de processus pour améliorer l’efficacité des employés, ainsi qu’une expertise en intelligence artificielle et en analyse prédictive.

Responsabilités principales :

Concevoir, développer et mettre en œuvre une solution de nettoyage intelligent en utilisant la géolocalisation avec la technologie BLE et LORA, ainsi que plusieurs capteurs IoT pour collecter des données sur l’achalandage, le niveau de déchet dans les poubelles, le niveau de fourniture sanitaire, etc.
Utiliser l’intelligence artificielle pour analyser les données collectées et prédire les besoins en matière de nettoyage, afin d’optimiser les routes de travail des employés et d’améliorer l’efficacité du nettoyage.
Travailler en étroite collaboration avec les équipes de nettoyage et de gestion pour comprendre les besoins et les défis spécifiques des espaces à fort achalandages et proposer des solutions innovantes.
Documenter le processus de développement et les résultats obtenus pour faciliter la maintenance et l’amélioration continue de la solution de nettoyage intelligent.

Tennis Canada – Developing and Applying an Analytics Strategy for Participant Management

Data analytics is an integral tool for organizations to optimize their performances. Namely, it is critical in identifying and understanding patterns and trends within data in order to optimize business performance, understand markets, reduce costs, and forecast future outcomes. Understanding the potential to advance and revolutionize their ability to effectively manage participant experiences, Tennis Canada seeks to embrace analytics with respect to participant management.

Tennis Canada, a non-profit sport organization, supports the development, promotion, and advancement of tennis within Canada. Since its foundation, Tennis Canada has strived to grow tennis in Canada, with the vision of Canada becoming a world-leading tennis nation, while valuing teamwork, integrity, passion, excellence, and innovation. Yet, due to the resource constraints and knowledge gaps that plague many non-profit sport business, Tennis Canada has had limited uptake of data analytics within participant management.

Therefore, this application supports Tennis Canada in the introduction, development, and application of a data analytics strategy within the business operations around participant experiences. Working alongside Tennis Canada, this project will assess the current status of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Data analytics will be used on existing data to identify important insights available. Finally, a data-driven decision-making strategy will be developed that outlines the potential of data analytics within Tennis Canada’s participant management. Overall, successful completion of this application will allow Tennis Canada to harness data analytics to achieve it’s mission and vision with respect to participant experiences.

Addressing Coffee Production Challenges with Canadian Biotechnology Knowhow

This project applies Canadian biotechnology solutions in the areas of genomic and molecular biology to provide improvements in the agricultural sector, in particular in the production of coffee crops. As a result of climate and environmental changes, coffee production has affected coffee crop production in many agricultural locations in emerging nations such as in one of the key suppliers to Canadian consumers, the Mexican agricultural regions. Applying Canadian biotechnology product innovations from their center of biotechnology expertise at the University of Guelph, the intern will research the existing gaps and challenges with coffee plantations and match appropriate Canadian knowhow in biotechnology to the challenges. Innovation and commercialization expertise as guided by the University of Guelph, supervisor will be critical in the market analysis and the proposal of appropriate solutions that match biotechnology knowhow with commercialization techniques.

Analyse et classification d’adresses blockchain grâce à l’IA (axé sur les Tokens Transfers)

Pinax exploite des solutions technologique qui permettent d’enregistrer et partager les données des blockchains publiques en temps réel. Nous assurons la diffusion et l’indexation des données des blockchains publiques par l’entremise du protocole technologie The Graph. Nous analysons également les données et développons des solutions personnalisées spécifiques à l’industrie. Actuellement, il est difficile de différencier les différents types de transfert sur les blockchains publiques. En utilisant l’intelligence artificielle et le machine learning, le projet d’analyse et de classification des transactions blockchain ajoutera une fonctionnalité précieuse a notre plateforme d’exploration des données blockchains en proposant une visualisation détaillé et en temps réel des transactions ce qui facilitera leur utilisation et compréhension par les utilisateurs.