Innovations 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

Investigation of possible surface contamination from a deep waste disposal injection well in Northeastern, British Columbia, Canada

In British Columbia, highly saline waste water produced as a by-product of oil and gas operations are injected into deep geological formations via injection wells. The purpose of this research project is to investigate whether or not these injected fluids remain at depth as intended or rather, can return to the surface and contaminate water resources. In particular this project aims to evaluate the role that surrounding active and abandoned wellbores play in acting as vertical conduits for subsurface fluids to leak to the surface. In order to address this question we will focus our study on the largest volume injection well in the province, located in a 50 year old active gas field. This study will help the scientific community to understand the long-term environmental consequences of deep waste disposal, and will provide a base for future policy and decision making.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Romain Chesnaux

Student:

Joshua Wisen

Partner:

David Suzuki Foundation

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Examining salmon population dynamics on the Central Coast of British Columbia to inform conservation and management

Pacific salmon play an important economic, ecological, and cultural role throughout their range. However, declining salmon populations have diminished this role in many regions. The factors responsible for declines are poorly understood but are of great interest, particularly for First Nations, who have a large role in salmon management. To inform management and conservation, I propose to synthesize salmon population data from the Central Coast of British Columbia, in collaboration with the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance, an organization representing resource interests of First Nations in the region. I will (i) quantify patterns in abundance and survival of salmon over space and time; (ii) determine the population status of salmon stocks; and (iii) test hypotheses to explain the observed patterns in abundance, status, and survival. This work is a critical first step towards understanding

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Faculty Supervisor:

John Reynolds

Student:

Eric Hertz

Partner:

Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Natural resources

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

Robust and Automatic Knee Cartilage Segmentation on MRI Images Segmentation robuste et automatique du cartilage du genou sur des images d’IRM

In order to produce orthopedic knee prostheses for a patient, it is necessary to produce an accurate three-dimensional model of the knee cartilage. The overall goal of the project is to develop a new segmentation method of knee cartilage on MRI images that is both automatic and robust. Laboratoires Bodycad inc. is currently developing innovative technology for orthopedic domain. In this way, the company is a leader for image processing, CAD software development, and manufacturing domains.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Bergevin

Student:

Ali Hajiabadi

Partner:

Bodycad Laboratories Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Development, application, and testing of an environmental fate model for assessing wastewater remediation capacity of treatment wetlands

The development of the oil sands has led to a large consumption of freshwater in Canada. The wastewater that is produced is contaminated with many industrial pollutants leading the provincial government of Alberta to issue a “zero-discharge” policy for untreated wastewater. This project will investigate treatment wetlands as an option for reclaiming oil sands-related wastewater. To investigate the efficiency of treatment wetlands to safely reclaim wastewater, a model that describes the behaviour of chemicals in a wetland environment will be developed, and tested against empirical data gathered from a pilot-study constructed wetland at the Imperial Oil Ltd. Kearl Lake site. The model’s performance will be evaluated, and novel approaches will be tested to calibrate the model with the real-world pilot wetland. The objective of this project is to build a tool that allows decision-makers to evaluate the feasibility of treatment wetlands based on site-specific conditions, chemical properties, and reclamation objectives.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Frank Gobas

Student:

Alexander Cancelli

Partner:

Imperial Oil Ltd.

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

Evaluation and Identification of Gaps and Technical Challenges in Candidate Carbon Capture/CO2 Conversion Technologies

In the wake of the Paris meeting on global climate change in December of 2015 (COP21), commitments to drive down greenhouse gas emissions have escalated around the world. Man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are accepted as the largest contributor to climate change. Promising next-generation technologies for decreasing CO2 emissions are being investigated at the lab scale. Unfortunately, the technology developers often lack next-step projects and connections with industrial end-users to allow the technology to advance and become commercialized. CMC is committed to accelerating innovations associated with industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The overall approach is to focus on rapid and cost-effective reduction of uncertainties to enable earlier decision making. This project will focus on working with technology developers to identify critical limiting uncertainties and develop pathways to address them, including through integration, adaptation, application development, pilot testing, and scale-up projects.

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Faculty Supervisor:

George Shimizu

Student:

Roger Mah

Partner:

Carbon Management Canada

Discipline:

Chemistry

Sector:

Energy

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

Evaluating Performance of Polymer Membranes for Fuel Cell Humidifier Applications

Hydrogen fuel cells require humidification in order to operate effectively, yet, at the same time produce a constant stream of moisture through their exhaust. Membrane fuel cell humidifiers provide a method of ‘recycling’ this moisture, thereby saving energy. They work similarly to heat exchangers, but take advantage of special polymer membranes in order to exchange moisture. Fuel cell environments can be very taxing on membranes, reaching temperatures of 95C, so selecting the right membrane material is of utmost importance. In this project, two test stations will be constructed to evaluate candidate membrane materials. The first will test for permeability to moisture under high temperature conditions. The second will create an accelerated aging environment, simulating the effects of extended use in the field. In conjunction, these two stations will be able to thoroughly evaluate candidate membrane materials for membrane-fuel cell humidifiers.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Steven Rogak

Student:

Alexander Sylvester

Partner:

DPoint Technologies Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Alternative energy

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Accelerate

The use of assistive technology in school-aged children with learning disorders

Assistive Technology (AT) allows children with Specific Learning Disabilities (LDs) to adequately access school curriculum. There is a paucity of literature addressing perception of use and training for teachers to support use. Studies suggest that children with AT like their devices and find them useful. The proposed study will examine the ages of children provided AT devices, the types of AT hardware and software being used by children with various learning limitations in a school environment, and children’s perception of their AT devices. Archival data collected from school-aged children referred to the Learning Disability Association of Windsor-Essex County (LDAWE) will be statistically analyzed. The proposed research will increase the understanding of current practices of the distribution and utilization of AT.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Joseph Casey

Student:

Lynette Kivisto

Partner:

Learning Disabilities Association of Windsor - Essex County

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Windsor

Program:

Accelerate

Surgical prehabilitation of cancer patients undergoing surgical resection. Modalities to mitigate the level of anxiety and depression prior to surgery

There is emerging evidence from studies at the Montreal General Hospital supporting the effect of prehabilitation (also referred to as preoperative conditioning) on postoperative outcomes. Increasing physical fitness and optimizing nutrition in cancer patients before surgery can help patients feel physically stronger, return to their community functions sooner and potentially undergo adjuvant cancer treatment earlier than expected. However, a great level of preoperative anxiety and depression exists in our cohorts, and standard strategies, such as deep breathing exercises, are not enough to mitigate the impact of psychological distress. As the literature suggests, high preoperative anxiety and depression are associated with prolonged functional recovery, depressed immune function, more complications, and poorer quality of life. The present study has been designed to assess patients’ psychological status before beginning a 4-6 week prehabilitation program and to determine the impact of structured psychological intervention on functional, clinical and societal aspects of postoperative outcomes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Leon Tourian

Student:

Meagan Barrett-Bernstein

Partner:

Peri Operative Program

Discipline:

Psychology

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

McGill University

Program:

Accelerate

External Cavity Laser Integrated with Silicon Photonic Systems

The project aims to develop a novel optical device for use in high-bandwidth data-communications. Such applications feed the insatiable desire for data transfer fuelled by the ever-expanding demand for social networking, video-over-internet and the emerging internet-of-things. The intern will gain invaluable industrial experience in a rapidly growing area, while the company will obtain an insight into the potential expansion of its product line into new applications.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Andrew Knights

Student:

Zhao Wang

Partner:

RANOVUS Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

Best Practice Models for Compliance to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the Alberta Business Environment

The way banks account for potential losses are changing, and financial institutions are proactively adapting existing methodologies and developing new methodologies to remain compliant with regulation. The key ingredient of the myriad of evaluations of bank’s activities that are required for compliance is risk assessments. The purpose of this research project is to review the best practice risk models and adapt them to the financial profile of the business partner, and to the economic reality in which it operates. Given the importance of the state of the domestic (i.e., provincial) economy for ATB Financial, testing risk measures will be tailored to account for local economic conditions, for the conditions of the Canadian economy, and for the dynamics of global markets, with a focus on energy indicators. Increasing in-house competence in risk assessment is an ongoing process in all leading financial institutions, prodded by the increasing requirements of the regulating authorities. Regulators’ efforts to decrease aggregate financial instability make stress testing an integral part of risk management for Canadian institutions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Valentina Galvani

Student:

Mohammad Hossain

Partner:

ATB Financial

Discipline:

Economics

Sector:

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Accelerate

Interaction-Indexed Search for Classroom Electronic Whiteboards

Recent technological advancements have led to widespread usage of interactive and collaborative systems in educational settings. In particular, SMART Technologies’ interactive products are being widely used at schools and universities across the country. Although this is a valuable achievement, it also presents new challenges to evolve these systems to new user needs. For example, one of the main challenges of the teachers using SMART systems in classrooms is the need to “go back in time” and review missed meeting or class material. This process requires significant time and effort, since there are pauses, exercises, and discussions that are less-important to the content of a session (e.g., when students are encouraged to discuss a subject in groups, then the teacher answers a question raised by a student, etc.) and do not necessarily need to be included in the session summary. Throughout this internship, we will investigate, design and test possible mechanisms to address this requirement. We expect to employ the results for further enhancements of the existing tools developed at SMART Technologies.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Anthony Tang

Student:

Omid Fakourfar

Partner:

SMART Technologies

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

Methods for constrained scheduling optimization

This project involves researching and integrating constraints into existing route and schedule optimization software. The partner organization (Western Heritage) has developed software that calculates the shortest route and optimal daily schedule for home care workers visiting patients in their homes. These schedules must consider constraints for each worker and patient, such as: smoker, pet in the house, lifting requirements, gender requirements, etc. as well as constraints for multiple starting points for each worker. Integrating these constraints in to the existing algorithm requires research by someone with an advanced understanding of mathematics and geographic information systems. This research project will provide this. The expected benefit to the partner organization is development of a more valuable piece of software that will create revenue.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Raymond Spiteri

Student:

Wenxian Guo

Partner:

Western Heritage Services Inc

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program:

Accelerate

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