This proposed rural community pandemic research response at the Applied Research and Innovation Center (ARIC) aims to collectively address and support rural issues related to the pandemic through research. The main themes support sustainable economic development and diversification, community resiliency, and sustainable community indicators for development and prosperity. Economic development and diversification will entail collaboration […]

Assessing dangerous avalanche conditions requires a reliable stream of weather and snowpack data, which can be difficult and expensive to collect in many remote areas of Canada. Snowpack conditions can be simulated in these areas by coupling weather forecast models with physical snowpack models, however, this method has had limited adoption by avalanche forecasters. The […]

3D-printed personal protective equipment can provide a locally-sourced manufacturing network to address shortages for Canadian front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, however little is known about the harmful germs that can live on 3D-printed material. Certain metals-ions are known to have anti-microbial properties and can be incorporated into 3D-printed plastics. We will study the anti-microbial […]

Automation is generally perceived as the application of physical robots to replace the human workforce to complete a specific task. However, automation can also appear in the design process where it replaces the repetitive computations and lookups by a human. In the latter case, automation reduces the risk of human error and highly increases the […]

Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd. (NHC) is often involved in the restoration and design of steep streams. To date when assessing these river channels, NHC has relied upon experimental results conducted with fixed vertical river banks and a series of assumptions have been used to figure out how to make river channels with sloped banks. These […]

Prostaglandin E2 stimulates bone formation in vivo and exerts its effects through the EP4 receptor. Unfortunately prostaglandin E2 and agonists for the EP4 receptor also cause unacceptable systemic side effects which have limited their clinical use as anabolic agents. We developed novel bone-targeting prodrugs that can deliver EP4 agonists selectively to bone and liberate active […]

Rapidia has developed a water-based approach to metal 3D printing that is faster, simpler, and more cost effective than the current systems on the market. This novel approach enables printed parts to be sintered directly, eliminating the time- and chemically- intensive intermediate de-binding step required for other processes. In order to implement this technique, the […]

In today’s world, there is an increasing need for convenience and customizability in food products, though these may be competing priorities. Food on the go, such as protein bars and cereal bars, are a popular choice for convenience, but despite the enormous variety of food bars for sale, there is still a need for increased […]

Current cancer immunotherapies, although highly successful, are complex to implement, costly, and only effective in small patient populations with specific cancer types. We propose to overcome these problems by developing small molecules to induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), a cancer cell death process that engages the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells and […]

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells are a key technology in the race against climate challenge, and while commercial applications are increasingly common, challenges remain in cost, performance, and durability. Most of the issues that prevent full commercialization affect the catalyst layer, the region where the power-generating electrochemical reactions take place, like the oxygen reduction reaction. This […]

The integration of significant capacities of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as renewable wind and solar generation for a more sustainable energy future creates several challenges to the reliable and efficient operation of power distribution systems. These include: (i) Uncertain and intermittent nature of renewable generation compromises power quality for end-customers. (ii) Up-to-date distribution-system network […]

The proposed research aims to optimize the use of DMSO as a lixiviant in gold recovery. To date, mercury and cyanide are the popular lixiviants used in the gold processing industry. These chemicals are harmful to both the environment and humans, and have been the major concern in gold mining. The proposed lixiviant, DMSO, is […]