Advancing municipal natural asset management in engineering practice and beyond

Canadian local governments are seeking new strategies to deliver their core services in more financially and environmentally sustainable ways, including turning to infrastructure asset management as a key tool to manage infrastructure. Municipalities are increasingly recognizing that natural assets such as aquifers, forests, streams and foreshores can provide equivalent or better services to many engineered […]

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Retrofit of Switcher Locomotive: Clean Energy Hydrogen Fuel Cell/ Battery Hybrid (Hydrail) with Innovative High Density H2 Storage

The H2M project, with the assistance of University of British Columbia Okanagan, will demonstrate a scaled down fuel cell powered rail locomotive (Hydrail) (250 horse power) and solid-state hydrogen storage retrofit solution on a Southern Railway of BC (SRY) diesel-electric switching locomotive. If the scaled down trial is successful, the project will proceed to scale […]

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Health Records over Blockchains

It is hard to understate the critical role access to a patient’s comprehensive medical history plays in diagnosing (and treating) patient illness. For a doctor, knowing the latest prescribed drugs of his patient might, for example, point directly to the cause of an illness — which might be just a drug side effect. Yet patients […]

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Adapting Human Performance Techniques, Illusion Aesthetics, and Specialized Apparatus from the World of Stage Conjuring to Contemporary Circus Disciplines – Year two

The vast majority of performance techniques, illusion aesthetics, and specialized apparatuses used by stage conjurors are still unknown and remain unexplored by the circus world. The tacit knowledge that magicians exchange amongst themselves is rarely transferred to members outside of their subculture, which leads to creative stagnation in their communities and beyond. The purpose of […]

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The virtual fitting of clothing to a custom avatar

The proposed research involves the development of software capable of fitting a piece of clothing to an avatar based upon customer measurements. The development would include the creation of avatar geometry from photographic information and the computer simulation of fabric based on physics. The project would also include interfacing with clothing merchants through the partner […]

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Feasibility assessment and development of knowledge, technology, and tools for mercaptan natural gas odorant monitoring

FortisBC Energy Inc. is exploring novel technologies and methods for mercaptan monitoring to detect natural gas leakage in industrial, field, and household settings. Since commercial mercaptan detectors are bulky and expensive, there is a need for low-cost and miniaturized mercaptan detectors. The proposed project will lead to the development of a handheld mercaptan detector which […]

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Quantitative modelling of habitats for fish, macroinvertebrates, and macrophytes: Assessing potential impacts of hydropower’s proposed environmental flows and climate change in the Saint John River

Ecohydraulic modeling has become a powerful tool in river science, particularly in the management of regulated systems. For example, habitat modeling is used to predict effects of habitat alteration on aquatic organisms, since it links abiotic processes on multiple spatial scales with biological habitat requirements. This methodology enables predicting the spatial distribution and abundance of […]

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Health Equity and Barriers to LDKT in South Asian Communities

As of 2012, about three million Canadians suffer from chronic kidney disease. Patients with kidney failure need dialysis or kidney transplantation to survive. LDKT (LDKT) is the best treatment option for many patients with kidney failure, however, it is not used as much as it could be. Patients who belong to ethnic minority groups are […]

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Exploration of Hybrid Bio-Nanocomposite Materials for Smart Textiles and Wearable Health Technology

Wearable technology is contributing to the movement toward seamless connectivity. In the health industry, applications of wearable technology, and functional ‘smart’ fabrics more generally, are improving lives every day. Merging biotechnology with nanomaterials science is one avenue along which scientists are pursuing advanced materials with enhanced functionalities. From anti-bacterial activity to protection from the sun, […]

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OPTIMIZATION OF A HEAT TRANSFER SYSTEM

Heat exchangers, used in building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to transfer heat from hot to cold fluids, are designed to operate under ideal conditions. However, in practice operating conditions may vary with ambient temperature or humidity. HVAC system efficiency can be improved significantly if fluid flow rates are adjusted in response to […]

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