Innovations Realized

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 less likely to receive LDKT compared to Caucasians. Currently, there is limited research to help us better understand what prevents access to LDKT in patients from the South Asian community. The purpose of this research is to engage the South Asian community to understand social, cultural, and religious barriers to LDKT while also raising awareness of kidney disease and LDKT. This research will also engage different stakeholders to help develop a Health Equity Strategy for the South Asian communities in Ontario.

Risk assessment and population viability for the critically endangered Taiwanese white dolphin

The Taiwanese white dolphin is a subspecies only found in Taiwan. Since 2008 it has been listed as Critically Endangered in the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), meaning that it is globally recognized as facing an extremely high risk of extinction. The dolphins face a plethora of human human threats, such as fisheries mortality and habitat degradation. This research aims understand how different threats may impact the persistence of this small population, both temporally and spatially. This research will contribute to local conservation actions and help in evaluating recovery goals for the Taiwanese dolphin population and can be applied in Canadian waters to help save endangered species with similar traits.

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 biota in a river. The study evaluates the effects of management scenarios regarding the future of the aging Mactaquac Hydroelectricity Generating Station (MGS), on its surrounding ecosystem, the Saint John River. Here, we implement a novel approach, combining high resolution hydrodynamic modelling with biota habitat predictions, to quantify existing and future habitats in the river, considering the effects of dam operation and hydro-climatically driven flow regime variations. Results gained from this study will be used as a model system for dam decommissioning and river restoration projects facing similar issues.

Modeling local tone-mapping for raw image reconstruction-aware deep image compressors

Cameras apply a lot of processing on the raw image recorded by the sensor to enhance the brightness, contrast, and colors, and make the output image visually pleasing. The image is also finally compressed to make the file size smaller. These operations make it difficult to reverse to the raw sensor image which is necessary for several computer/machine vision tasks. Existing AI methods to invert from the camera’s compressed output image to the raw sensor image assume that only global color and tone manipulations are applied. However, most present-day consumer cameras perform local tone adjustment to further improve picture quality. The goal of this project is to devise an AI algorithm that allows accurate recovery of the raw sensor image from the camera’s locally-tone adjusted compressed output image. This project will help Samsung Electronics Canada develop an improved and more practical raw recovery AI algorithm applicable to modern DSLR and smartphone camera images.

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 will integrate a highly sensitive and selective microfluidic-based mercaptan sensor. The successful execution of the project will enhance FortisBC’s innovative initiatives portfolio and lead to the development of technologies and products of commercial interest in the natural gas sector.

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 organization in order to obtain sample clothing data (material type and dimensions). For this project, the focus would be developing the software for t-shirts. Anticipated future projects would extend the software to other clothing articles and the graphical rendering of the simulated fit onto the avatar. The partner organization would benefit from obtaining software marketable to both the individual consumer and retail vendors for internet shopping. The software would reduce the occurrence on product returns which improves customer experience and reduces costs for the vendor.

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 this project is to create an intensive and sustained collaboration between North American illusion experts and elite circus artists to produce new physical vocabulary for new equipment. The prototypes produced will be disciplinary hybrids. The specific magic/circus combinations proposed for this project are: 1) manipulation techniques for an optical illusion wheel apparatus, 2) movement vocabulary for a color-changing aerial rope apparatus, and 3) movement vocabulary for a color-changing silks apparatus. Cirque du Soleil, as industrial partner, and graduates of Montreal’s National Circus School will be the first to use and diffuse the physical vocabulary and special apparatuses developed. The collaboration of magic and circus specialists will be facilitated through the organization of an international academic and industry conference held in Montreal in the summer 2020.

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 often do not know the names of the drugs they take or even the dates of surgeries and other medical procedures.

A Health register covers the entire log of patient medical treatments, from surgeries through periodic health check-ups and other medical interventions. These records are commonly paper registers, smart cards or online private databases, often owned by hospitals, and not always available on need. Publicly sharing these databases could address the problem — but it would create a new one by violating personal privacy (and Canadian privacy laws).

This project intends to employ blockchain technology to develop a platform that can integrate health registers and enable hospitals and other medical service providers to access health registers securely and promptly. Notwithstanding, the technology we are going to develop is applicable in various research fields.

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 up to a full powered locomotive (700 horse power). The project is expected to be complete by March 2022. H2M’s application includes local partners: University of British Columbia Okanagan and Southern Railway of BC. Research problem to be addressed: To reduce cost of H2 storage and dispensing, thereby increasing locomotive range and improving economics for NA fleet conversion. At $1 to 2 million/conversion, across all 24,000 locomotives, this approaches a $50 Billion commercialization potential for BC industry.

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 assets. Municipal natural asset management offers a sustainable solution to the multifaceted problems of supplying municipal services in the face of aging infrastructure, urban growth, and declining budgets. As this approach is being implemented in a growing number of Canadian municipalities, it is important to monitor results and outcomes in a rigorous manner to facilitate widespread adoption of municipal natural asset management. This project will address this by developing a framework for monitoring as well as result tracking, and report to stakeholders and the public on what is happening in key local governments with which MNAI is involved.

Ice Hazard Drift Model Study #4 (IHDM4)

Massive drifting icebergs frequently threaten offshore operations on the Grand Banks because of their massive size, and great mechanical strength. These ice hazards move erratically, which complicates efforts to modify their trajectory or undertake evasive action. This MITACS project aims to further improve security of offshore workers and help protect wildlife and the environment by allowing refined prediction of short-term iceberg drift. The funding partner, ASL Environmental Sciences, will benefit through improved capability to provide world-class services to their clients.

Increasing winter wheat selection efficiency via genomic selection

Winter wheat is crop that is growing in popularity in Quebec, as it produces more grain per hectare than spring-planted wheat and has many positive effects on soil health. However, many of the varieties used by farmers are not actually bred for this region, and are often maladapted to the local environment. The Center for Grain Research of Quebec (CEROM) is dedicated to bringing new, better varieties of winter wheat to the Quebec and has partnered with McGill University to use the latest genomic techniques to ensure that this process is as efficient as possible. Through the development of genomic prediction models, which find associations between thousands of genomic markers and plant traits, we should be able to identify superior genotypes easier and greatly reduce the time required to develop a new varie