Innovative Projects Realized

Elite Echinacea: Breeding for better products

Echinacea is widely used as a medicinal herb with a global market of ~$1 billion. Hundreds of Echinacea products are available but, with each made from different plant materials using different processes, chemistry- and therefore quality -varies between products. Working with Amway Corporation, a global leader in the Echinacea market, researchers at the University of Ottawa will help develop “chemically customized” varieties with increased consistency and value, leading to new/improved herbal products. The team will first characterize the vast diversity of Amway’s Echinacea stock. The plants with the best combination of chemical and agronomic traits will then be selected for further development. Through field, greenhouse, and tissue culture experiments, we will monitor trait consistency and select the best plants to “clone”, generating hundreds of plants then millions of seeds for commercial field production. Interns will benefit from the interdisciplinary skills and expertise gained in the laboratory and at Amway.

The effect of choice architecture interventions on driving sustainable food choices for heterogeneous market segments: a field experiment

Food production and consumption significantly contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions, and in our endeavor to reduce the carbon footprint of food choices, we present an innovative research project focused on promoting sustainable eating habits in restaurant settings. We aim to influence consumer behavior by harnessing the power of behavioral change interventions.
The project involves altering the food menus and promoting on-site messages to seamlessly guide consumers to make more sustainable food choices. Three nudging techniques are tested within this project: behavior-oriented (changing food options order), cognition-oriented (highlighting the carbon footprint of each option), and emotion-oriented (mirroring the feel-good aspect of eco-friendly choices).
The project will result in a road map for restaurant services to implement, contributing to the transformation of food practices towards more sustainable ones in Montreal and affirming the city’s place within the C40’s global network for leading cities in taking climate action.

Assessing the Feasibility of Solar-PV Facade Integration for Multi-Story Buildings: A Technical and Economic Study

The proposed project aims at exploring the technical and financial feasibility of integrating Photovoltaic (PV) technologies in available facades of a new multistorey building. The research consists of two main design objectives1) exploring various characteristics of available facades to functionally and aesthetically integrate PV modules, and 2) explore the feasibility of the designed PV façade based on a detailed environmental and economic investigation. Extensive review of existing technologies will be conducted, and analysis of implementation within the mentioned envelope systems, in terms of energy generation potential, impact on the building energy performance, and life cycle cost assessment as compared to existing envelope systems. This project will assist the partners Statera Dev. in addressing the challenge of developing accurate lifecycle cost and energy assessment of façade integrated PV in the design of sustainable multistory building.

Développement des modèles de classification et de prédiction en utilisant les techniques d’apprentissage machine sur les paramètres physiologiques pour le triage des patients durant les situations de catastrophes (VIMY Multi-system)

Ce stage s’inscrit dans le cadre du programme de recherche, VIMY, VIMY, un multi système de soins intensifs déployable sur le terrain capable de gérer de nombreux blessés. Il repose sur une capacité d’intelligence artificielle composée principalement de capteurs, de systèmes d’acquisition de données, de systèmes interactifs automatisés et d’algorithmes qui aident au processus décisionnel. Le coeur/la charpente principale du multi système incluant un système de carte de blessés électronique (tableau de bord) intégrant le nexus monitoring-scoring-treatment. Le stagiaire sera amené à développer la preuve de concept de l’application de l’intelligence artificielle dans le cadre de VIMY, en développant et validant des modèles prédictifs pour le triage des patients (STAT, Urgent, Non-urgent, Stable) en se basant sur le système de notation NEWS-2 (National Early Warning System) qui définit des seuils d’alertes qui estiment tant un état baseline/normalité que la sévérité clinique et la dégradation potentielle d’un patient.

Validation of a high-quality low-cost open-source electrocardiograph

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important medical device used to monitor patient’s heart health. Despite its major importance in diagnosing life-threatening heart diseases, ECG machines are not available in many health centers around the world because of their high cost. Glia’s solution is an accessible, low-cost, and high-quality ECG device. The main purpose of this project is to compare Glia’s model ECG to other Health Canada approved ECG machines. This way, the ability of Glia’s ECG device to monitor patient’s hearts can be assessed.

Assessment of bacterial cellulose production using a novel microbe

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural polymer produced by certain bacteria in the form of nanaofiber. Being a natural nanobiomaterial, it has been investigated for a broad range of applications ranging from headphone diaphragm to wound dressing and medical implant. The biochemical process for BC production using the well established bacterium, A. xylinum, is limited by the inherent kinetics and oxygen availability resulting in a relatively modest yield and high production cost. In this project, we will be investigating a recently discovered facultative bacterium for BC production. This bacterium has the potential of increasing the efficiency of BC production by more than ten folds thus significantly increase the cost effectiveness of virtually all BC applications. The BC production process will be optimized in terms of key kinetic parameters for maximum yield. Properties of the product BC nanofibers will be characterized and compared to those conventionally produced by A. xylinum.

Sensitivity analysis on ammonia shipping as a hydrogen carrier

The Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance commits to export clean Canadian hydrogen by 2025. It is critical to evaluate the life cycle carbon emissions associated with hydrogen transmission at sea. In this project, we will focus on analyzing ammonia as a hydrogen carrier for the shipping purpose. A sensitivity analysis will be conducted to evaluate the life cycle carbon emissions in hydrogen and ammonia production in different provinces for shipping, long distance transmission to different markets and ammonia conversion to hydrogen as a final product. We will also study the impacts of using ammonia as a shipping fuel. This project is an extension of an existing NRC-MITACS-RWTH Aachen Globalink project on transatlantic ammonia shipping. The host (Prof. Wu) at the University of Waterloo will lead the collaboration and supervise the student, while the NRC PIs, Dr. Bensebaa and Dr. Mak will provide guidance on NRC life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) framework and ammonia shipping, respectively. This project complements by adding a commodity and potential fuel, i.e., ammonia to NRC’s current work with respect to ships and shipping. This project will inform the potential of Canada to transport hydrogen in the form of ammonia by ship.

Étude de marché pour une plateforme de découvrabilité de contenus culturels locaux (OuiTogether)

Réaliser une étude de validation de marché pour un projet de plateforme de découvrabilité de contenus culturels locaux. En effet, les contenus culturels et artistiques locaux, issues des artistes de nos territoires et des communautés ethnoculturelles de nos villes font face à des barrières de présence, de visibilité, de répérabilité, et de recommandation sur les plateformes de streaming. Les algorithmes de recommandation des plateformes dominantes favorisent les habitudes de consommation de contenus américains ou déjà populaires plutôt que des contenus culturels liés à la localisation territoriale ou à l’identité culturelle des utilisateurs. Il existe des barrières à la découvrabilité numérique des contenus culturels locaux qui affectent la mise en lumière des artistes locaux et la diversité des expressions culturelles. Cette étude nous permettra de disposer de données pertinentes permettant de documenter les tendances locales du marché de la consommation culturelle en ligne pour les entrepreneurs qu’ils accompagnent.

Business interns within cross-functional teams to develop and commercialize AI-powered solutions – Part 4

AltaML is an innovative company capitalizing on a major technological trend: artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, enabled by big data, are driving a fourth industrial revolution. AI will transform all industries, but traditional industries face challenges in implementing AI. AltaML has a unique business model to overcome barriers to adoption of AI solutions by industry, which is to bring the innovating startup together with the large organization, thereby bringing together rich datasets, AI talent with a playbook for industry application and the close collaboration of subject matter experts and AI experts–with a mindset for change. In addition to AI expertise, we bring agility that our large, corporate partners often lack, and which is so essential for innovation. With a strategic focus on AI adoption and product, AltaML works across industries as well as with the public sector using a co-development approach to create applied AI solutions as well as joint AI ventures. This rich, complex multisectoral environment provides the breadth that enables insights in one area to be applied in new areas, leading to ever increasing opportunities for innovation.

The project comprises internships in a variety of technical and business roles, which are: associate machine learning developer, business development associate, communications associate, finance associate, associate business solutions consultant, and project delivery associate. Outcomes will include algorithm creation and deployment, data visualizations, market research reports, sales collateral, competitive landscape analysis, feasibility analysis; key messages and content writing such as case studies and feature articles, financial model development, data analysis, financial reports and variance analysis, customer workflow mapping, business case reports, resource allocation plans, project update reports, and project plans.

Development of peptide formulations to treat antimicrobial resistant infections

Excessive use of antimicrobials results in the evolution of antimicrobial resistant microbes, and the infection caused by such microbes are known as antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections. AMR infections are on the rise and has a negative impact on the quality of life, healthcare system and ultimately on the economy. The current proposal aims at the external activation of one’s immune system as an alternative to the use of antimicrobials to treat AMR infections. The objective is to develop a topical formulation that can trigger a controlled activation of immune cells, which will fight clear the microbial load and consequently, aid in the healing of infected wound. The formulation will consist of nanoparticles made up of bioactive peptides and a base material, which will be applied locally to clear the infections.

Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia Vital Signs Report

The Vital Signs Research Project aims to understand how well communities in Nova Scotia are doing in different areas, like education, healthcare, jobs housing and the environment. We will gather information for the report from
surveys, interviews, and online sources to create a report that shows the quality of life of people living in Nova Scotia. By doing this research, we want to help make positive changes for communities in Nova Scotia and
suggest ways to make things better. The partner organization, which helps rural communities, will benefit from this research because it will provide them with important data and insights to support their work. They can use
this information to talk to policymakers and others about the needs of these communities and find ways to make life better for the people living there.

Evolution tectonique et métamorphique d’une portion de croûte à l’Archéen; exemple de la ceinture de roches vertes de l’Abitibi : implications sur les minéralisations aurifères orogéniques

Ce projet scientifique, qui se déroulera entre juin 2014 et mai 2016, comprend 8 blocs de stage Mitacs-Accélération répartis entre 3 stagiaires, en maitrise, doctorat et postdoctorat. Il vise à mieux comprendre la structure et le métamorphisme d’une portion de croûte archéenne, ainsi que les relations géométriques et chronologiques avec la mise en place des indices d’or orogéniques, en prenant l’exemple de la ceinture de roches vertes de l’Abitibi. Pour mener à bien ce projet, les trois études menées par les stagiaires prévoient des analyses structurales de secteurs clefs, des études pétrologiques fines, l’acquisition de données géochronologiques, et la compilation de données géologiques pré-existantes. Ces travaux se dérouleront en étroite collaboration entre l’UQAM, le MRNQ et deux partenaires miniers, Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. et Exploration Typhon Inc.