Throughout Western North America with few exceptions all species of Pacific Salmon stocks have been in steady decline for over 50 years. On the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Chinook salmon stocks are of particular concern. These fish provide ecological, cultural and economic value to the region and current numbers are at an all-time low. […]

Noise from human activities negatively affects the well-being of humans and wildlife alike. In rural areas, ecosystems that are relatively undisturbed by human activities may still be subjected to noise exposure from vehicles passing nearby, industry-related noise (e.g., compressor stations), or from airplanes overhead. To date, however, little work has been done to quantify what […]

As Games User Research (GUR) becomes a mature and essential pillar of game development, the challenges of performing rigorous qualitative and quantitative research in small teams are exacerbated by the disruption caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Research methods such as heuristic evaluation, think-aloud usability testing, initial experience testing, playthrough observation, and post-launch data analysis […]

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and/or chronic kidney disease (CKD) affect more than 5 million Canadians. Progression of CKD is the primary cause of end-stage renal disease while NASH is now the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and liver transplant. Despite their high prevalence and severe impact on morbidity and mortality, current therapies are largely ineffective and […]

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has enabled development systems such as autonomous vehicles (AVs). However, like any other technology, AI systems suffer from security vulnerabilities, and they can be easily fooled by a smart adversary. Malicious attacks on AI systems in safety-critical system such as AVs can be life-threatening or result in financial […]

Continuous monitoring of health allows for early diagnosis and tracking of disease progression, thus enabling timely medical intervention. However, continuous monitoring of the patients’ health is conventionally conducted in hospitals or long-term care facilities with expensive, bulky, and unobtrusive systems, which require skilled professionals to operate. In this work, we propose an affordable, small-in-size, and […]

Mines generate metal-contaminated wastewater that needs to be cleaned before it can be re-used by the mine or discharged into the environment. There are several ways to remove this metal, but many of these technologies are expensive and require non-renewable materials to work. Biological methods to remove these metals are promising renewable alternatives, but they […]

Heme is a naturally occurring molecule found in our blood and as well as in animals, responsible for carrying oxygen throughout our body. Interestingly, heme has been commercially used in various products such as in cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and food. The traditional production of heme however often involves animal slaughter and harsh chemical processing, which is […]

The underlying technology will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze oculomotor (eye movement) data to learn and extract human translatable features/symptoms of concussion. The software is computationally light-weight that is capable of running on portable hardware with minimal computational power. The intern will examine the system’s commercialization by conducting interviews with potential customers and identifying […]

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality internationally. Current CVD diagnostics are limited to basic tools that provide a generalized number without quantitative indication of overall health, such as blood pressure, or lifestyle risk scores. More invasive diagnostic imaging can be done, but at great cost to the healthcare system. We […]

The proposed research project is to design a microfluidic contact lens that will be used to track the fluctuations in intraocular pressure. Intraocular pressure is the primary factor to monitor the progression of glaucoma, which is a chronic disease that leads to permanent vision loss and currently has no cure, making early and frequent testing […]

Whisky is made by a process of fermentation, distillation, and maturation. The last step is by far the most time-consuming part of this process. In order for maturation to occur, the distilled spirit must sit in a wooden barrel for years, during which the spirit takes on the familiar colour and taste of whisky. This […]