Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

13270 Completed Projects

1072
AB
2795
BC
430
MB
106
NF
348
SK
4184
ON
2671
QC
43
PE
209
NB
474
NS

Projects by Category

10%
Computer science
9%
Engineering
1%
Engineering - biomedical
4%
Engineering - chemical / biological

Enzyme-aided Hydrogen Peroxide Bleaching of Mechanical Pulp

Irving Paper Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers in the world in making value-added specialty paper (SC) from mechanical pulp which is conventionally used for newsprint. SC paper requires not only more refining (energy) in fibre preparation but also higher brightness of the produced pulp, which adds more to the pulp production costs. Dr. U’s group at the University of New Brunswick has been collaborating with Irving on improving refining energy efficiency through applying biotechnologies (enzymes) in the mechanical refining process. The positive research results has inspired this further research collaboration, i.e, applying biotechnologies in pulp bleaching process. This proposed Mitacs internship project will particularly investigate how enzymes can be utilized for improving bleaching performance and for reducing the overall bleaching cost. The project will also thorough investigate the current bleaching process at Irving and develop strategies for improving the bleaching efficiency through simple process modification.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kecheng Li

Student:

Yu Zhao

Partner:

Irving Paper Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program:

Accelerate

Metagenomics to assess impacts of the Mount Polley Mine tailings dam breach onassociated ecosystems

The Mount Polley tailings impoundment failure released 24 million m3 of mine-influenced water and sediment into the surrounding watershed. The scale of this spill is unprecedented in BC history, and the effects on current and future ecosystems are unknown. Of paramount concern is the containment of toxic metal-containing compounds that threaten aquatic life. My research addresses the role of wetlands and riparian soils in remediation of this spill. I established permanent monitoring sites under a Mitacs Accelerate award to track the progression of contaminants throughout the watershed. Extension of this work will allow us to track responses of these ecosystems to physical and chemical stress, and conduct a bioaugmentation trial to determine the best approaches for remediation. Our research outcomes will provide Imperial Metals with a clearer understanding of the effects of the spill and will inform Imperial Metal’s decisions on how best to stimulate ecosystem recovery .

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Faculty Supervisor:

Lauchlan Fraser

Student:

Heath Garris

Partner:

Mount Polley Mining Corporation

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Thompson Rivers University

Program:

Elevate

Creating a Novel Framework: Managing a Tribal Park for Biocultural Conservation

The Dasiqox tribal Park, one of Canada’s most exciting current initiatives, was established in 2014 by the Tsilhqot’in First Nation following the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark recognition of Tsilhqot’in Title in their territory. Dr. Bhattacharyya has been invited to work with Yunesit’in Development Enterprise, in collaboration with partnering First Nations and organizations, to develop a management plan for the Dasiqox Tribal Park. The purpose of this project is to design a new management planning framework based in Tsilhqot’in governance and cultural values, that will support a sustainable local economy. Yunesit’in Development Enterprise will benefit from Dr. Bhattacharyya’s professional expertise and long-term research experience engaging Tsilhqot’in communities. By creating a strong management plan that sustains natural systems while addressing local economic, cultural and livelihood needs, this research project is poised to set new precedents that are locally beneficial, yet broadly relevant nationally and internationally.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Nancy Turner

Student:

Jonaki Bhattacharyya

Partner:

Yunesit'in Development Enterprise

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

University of Victoria

Program:

Elevate

Towards adaptive radiation therapy using real-time USprobe

In radiotherapy, patients receive treatment doses daily, often for many weeks. Every day, the same treatment plan is delivered and the assumption is that the patient anatomy is fixed and always identical to the anatomy at the time of the early planning stages. Adaptive radiation therapy offers a new paradigm by estimating the real daily dose delivered to the patient, taking into account the specific deformation and displacement of the various volumes. The objective of the research project is to use real-time ultrasound imaging to locate and study the target volume – for prostate and cervix patients – to ultimately develop adaptive radiation therapy techniques. Trans-perineal ultrasound will be used for prostate while trans-abdominal ultrasound will be used for cervix. This project is a collaboration between an industry-based engineering partner and a clinical-based academic collaborator.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jean-Francois Carrier

Student:

Alexandre Labine

Partner:

Elekta

Discipline:

Visual arts

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Drying Fuel Alcohols and Natural Gas with Biosorbents Based on Agricultural By-products

Saskatchewan is one of the key provinces in Canada to produce canola, flax, barley, wheat, and other agricultural products. In this research work, high performance bio-adsorbents will be formulated from the agricultural by-products for drying bio-alcohols and natural gas at low costs. These biosorbents are re-usable for dehydration and regeneration cycles. The exhausted biomaterials may be used for fuel bio-alcohols production through gasification or fermentation. The technology generated from this research will make it possible to dehydrate water containing bio-alcohols and natural gas to achieve fuels of high purity. Use of the biosorbents for this purpose will not require any new facility other than that in the molecular sieves process for drying bio-alcohols or natural gas in industry. In addition, in this research will the biosorbents be characterized. Investigation of adsorption kinetics and equilibrium will contribute to the knowledge of adsorption using biomaterials. Results obtained from this project are expected to provide important information on improving the performance of dehydration of bio-alcohols and natural gas in the current industry. The implementation of this technology will benefit partner industries as well as Sasktchewan agrucultural industries economically.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Catherine Niu

Student:

Pravakar Mohanty

Partner:

Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

Imaging Biomarkers for Nanotherapeutics

Poor drug accumulation at tumor sites negatively affects the efficacy of many anti-cancer therapeutics. Development of non-invasive strategies that can effectively monitor drug biodistribution is important, especially given the increasing number and complexity of nanotherapeutic agents in clinical development. The use of positron emission tomography in conjunction with a radiolabeled drug delivery system has the potential to achieve accelerated clinical translation. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals focuses on the development of nanotherapeutic platforms for cancer therapy and imaging. Their liposome-based chemotherapeutics have shown clinical benefit in breast and pancreatic cancer patients. However, the overall efficacy of these compounds has been limited due to high inter-patient response variability. Merrimack and our research group believe that the development of robust imaging-based methods to quantify the drug distribution in patients can positively affect the therapeutic outcome as it allows for investigation of patient-specific drug deposition and its potential for prediction of treatment response.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Jaffray

Student:

Manuela Ventura

Partner:

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Elevate

Understanding of key cognitive components of aviation training in the context of an e-learning environment

Complex learning environments that are mediated by technology require distinct concurrent methodologies that reveal when and where learning may occur (Azevedo et al., in press; Lajoie, Gauthier, & Lu, 2009). In this research, we use methods that are rooted in the learning sciences in order to identify, assess, and validate the instructional and learning components of an e-learning environment developed by CAE Corporation, which is aimed to train pilots. These models are intended to inform CAE designers about the different features of the system that promote and support proficiency within the system for different levels of learners (e.g., novice, intermediate, experts). Recommendations will be made for moving forward the e-lesson from a multimedia environment to an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that provides personalized feedback according to the learner performance.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Susanne Lajoie

Student:

Ilian Cruz-Panesso

Partner:

CAE Inc.

Discipline:

Education

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

McGill University

Program:

Accelerate

Development of bio-based wood adhesives with low formaldehyde emission from liquefied crop residues

Phenol formaldehyde (PF) resins are catalyzed poly-condensation products from phenol and formaldehyde. The annual global production and consumption of PF resins is over 3.0 Mt and valued more than $2 billion. However, the World Health Organization’s International Agency has classified formaldehyde to be carcinogenic to humans. Therefore, it is of great interest to produce green PF adhesives with low or no formaldehyde emission. The main objectives of this research project are to develop low-temperature/low-pressure catalytic liquefaction process to produce phenolic bio-oil at a high yield from crop residues, modify commercial PF resin by formulation with the crop residue-derived phenolic oil to reduce the costs of the PF adhesives while markedly decreasing the free formaldehyde emission from the bonded wood products, and design/construct/operate a pilot-scale process for the production of phenolic bio-oils from crop residues. It is expected that, successful completion of this project would contribute to creation of eco-friendly wood adhesive products with sharp reduced free formaldehyde emission, from crop residues. Collaboration in this MITACS project will benefit ACE Econergy Inc with development of new technology and marketable green products and Canada’s agricultural sector by valorizing the abundant crop residues and creation of new revenue streams and employment opportunities.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Xu

Student:

Shanghuan Feng

Partner:

ACE Econergy Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Western University

Program:

Accelerate

Retention of Bioactives in Haskap Berry Powder Produced by Refractance Window Drying

Haskap berries are a recent arrival to the North American market. They have extremely high levels of bioactive compounds that are associated with various health benefits including antioxidant activity and the reduction of many degenerative diseases. This research investigates the use of Refractance Window (RW) drying for the production of a high quality haskap powder for LaHave Forests Inc. Benefits to the company include an assessment of the bioactive quality of the powder throughout the manufacturing process and during various storage conditions. In addition, the potential use of the powder in beverages will be assessed and bioactivity determined. The results from this research will aid LaHave Forests Inc. in the development of new healthy haskap berry products.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Su-Ling Brooks

Student:

Giovana Bonat Celli

Partner:

LaHave Forests Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Tall buildings, reinforced concrete, wind, earthquakes,high-performance systems, resiliency, safety

Recent years have witnessed a boom in the construction of modern high-rise buildings in megacities around the world. It is important to design a high-rise building that can effectively withstand both wind and earthquake loads. Nonetheless, in current practice, the design of highrise buildings for wind and earthquakes is done independently. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop a set of integrated design guidelines for both wind and earthquake loads. The proposed research is focused on the development of tools and methods for efficient and reliable simulation, which will lead to an analysis platform for the understanding of the response of highrise buildings, subject to both wind and seismic loads. Kinetica is a leader in the design of tall buildings and the simulation tools developed during this project will create working platforms for Kinetica to advance its competitiveness and understanding of tall building design

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Faculty Supervisor:

Evan Bentz

Student:

Deepak Raj Pant

Partner:

Kinetica Dynamics Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Accelerate

Slab Bands and Punching Shear

Slab bands are a common structural system in North America due its general economy. At the slabband/column connection, unbalanced moments are being transferred that could lead to a common failure mechanism termed punching shear failure. This type of failure occurs when the column and a portion of the slab punches through the remaining slab. Thus, it is critically important from a design prospective to identify and quantify how these unbalanced moments are being transferred, specifically as shear stresses at the slab-column connection. Current design code practices used for punching shear design of slab bands may lead to an unsafe design and thus its review is warranted. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate punching shear of slab bands, specifically the fraction of unbalanced moment transmitted to the slab-band/column connection by shear. The research will be approached through numerical investigation to develop analytical models representative of the slab band column connection, and the project outcome shall be summarized through design guideline used for punching shear analysis and design of slab bands.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Raafat El-Hacha

Student:

Khaled Abdelrahman

Partner:

Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

Somatostatin Receptor Mediated Modulation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors Signaling

The work proposed here is based on a novel and innovative approach which has not been addressed till today. We propose that developing a combined therapy to inhibit ErbBs and activate SSTRs, might be useful approach to control tumor progression and better hormonal therapy response in breast cancer. The outcome of the present study first, will uncover novel molecular and cellular mechanisms for SSTR and ErbBs functional interaction in pathophysiological conditions such as in breast cancer. Second, it is reasonable to contemplate the unappreciated role of SSTR subtypes in a broader sense to other tumors such as pancreatic, colon and lung cancer which are also ErbBs positive. Most importantly, the consequences of protein-protein interaction (SSTR/ErbBs) and the mutational analysis in SSTR subtypes is often overlooked and need to be addressed as proposed in this application.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Ujendra Kumar

Student:

Jiemin Zhou

Partner:

Lipont Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Discipline:

Pharmacy / Pharmacology

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

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