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

Machine learning-based optimization of a small-molecule suppressor of the cellular prion protein

A reduction in the levels of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is expected to ameliorate cellular toxicity in both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and prion diseases. The latter are invariably fatal diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as ‘Mad Cow Disease’, in cattle. To identify a rational method for reducing PrPC levels, the Schmitt-Ulms group has been studying the evolution, function and molecular environment of PrPC for more than ten years.
These efforts culminated recently in a rational small molecule-based strategy that accomplishes a profound (>50%) reduction of PrPC levels. The current proposal describes an academic-industry partnership between the Schmitt-Ulms group and Cyclica. It pairs the machine learning-based discovery platform of Cyclica for the prediction of optimized drug-like molecules with cell-based screening, pharmacological and toxicological analyses. Its overarching goal is to identify an optimized small molecule lead compound that exhibits most favorable characteristics for the intended indication. Its success will represent an indispensable milestone for moving this treatment approach to the clinic.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gerold Schmitt-Ulms

Student:

Xinzhu Louisa Wang

Partner:

Cyclica Inc

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Surface property optimization of an insulation coating for glass

The handling and storage of perishables like vaccines are critical to retain medical potency and effectiveness for patient administration. The delivery of vaccines can succumb to several pitfalls such as physical damage, losses in transit and expiration. One of the primary causes of vaccine wastage is a result of heat and freezing of the biological products. These sensitive perishables quickly spoil if not maintained in the correct temperature range of a refrigerator that is kept to +2°C to +8°C. [1] As a result of vaccines being exposed to temperatures outside of this 6-degree range can reduce the protection that vaccines provide against such diseases like diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus. Clear visual differences can be observed from within vials that show large precipitates of crystalline structures of the affected vaccine when exposed to freezing temperatures. [2] These unfavorable conditions irreversibly ruin the vaccine for immunization. Ensuring proper vaccine temperature conditions in-transit have mainly been done through cold-chain delivery and the use/management of expensive purpose-built refrigerators.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Foucher

Student:

Farhan Yusuf;Amir Tehrani

Partner:

VivaVax Inc.

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Other

University:

Ryerson University

Program:

Accelerate

A Novel AI-Based LED Grow Light

Indoor farming offers the opportunity to grow produce close to the consumer and has recently been gaining attention due to its efficiency, controllability, and sustainability. In indoor farming, food is grown indoors in a controllable environment, with stable environmental conditions. This approach reduces the land footprint required, the demand for energy and water, the nutrient input requirements, and can eliminate the need for pesticides. Food can be locally produced, picked, packed, and quickly delivered to neighbouring communities.
In this research program, next-generation AI-based LED grow lights tailored for future vertical farming will be designed and developed. The proposed solution will offer high efficiency and great flexibility as it can adjust the light intensity and spectrum accordingly. The firmware embedded in the proposed AI-based LED grow lights can identify issues in the growth process and adaptively change the outputs.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Majid Pahlevani

Student:

Behzad Poorali Raibi;Ramu Nair;Ujwal Thakur

Partner:

Genoptic LED Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Accelerate

Evaluation of CH148 Rear Crew Hoist Mission Training Simulator

Indoor farming offers the opportunity to grow produce close to the consumer and has recently been gaining attention due to its efficiency, controllability, and sustainability. In indoor farming, food is grown indoors in a controllable environment, with stable environmental conditions. This approach reduces the land footprint required, the demand for energy and water, the nutrient input requirements, and can eliminate the need for pesticides. Food can be locally produced, picked, packed, and quickly delivered to neighbouring communities.
In this research program, next-generation AI-based LED grow lights tailored for future vertical farming will be designed and developed. The proposed solution will offer high efficiency and great flexibility as it can adjust the light intensity and spectrum accordingly. The firmware embedded in the proposed AI-based LED grow lights can identify issues in the growth process and adaptively change the outputs.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Heather Carnahan;Heather Carnahan

Student:

Michael King

Partner:

Bluedrop Training and Simulation Inc

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

Other

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Implementation and deployment of a multi-modal underwater network

This project is intended to support the deployment of an underwater communication network, that is multi-hop and multi-modal. It relies on the combination of acoustic propagation and magnetic-induction to send the information from a remote instrument through a set of relay nodes and to a destination. To enable end-to-end transmission over a secured link, secured communication technologies will be adopted.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jean-Francois Bousquet

Student:

Hossein Ghannadrezaii;Cole Ferguson;Adam Forget

Partner:

Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Dalhousie University

Program:

Accelerate

Assessing the impact of cell positioning via micropatterning on throughput, precision, and reproducibility of cell-based tests

In recent years, the concern with data reproducibility in preclinical research data has increased significantly. A survey performed by Nature showed more than 70% of published research is not reproducible and the issue is more concerning when it comes to biomedical research with only 10% of published work able to be reproduced. Scientists study the effect of drugs on cells before human trials and market entry. While the biological complexity of cells allows for drug response modeling, it also introduces a large number of potential sources of noise and variability that can hamper their predictive potential. The overall goal of this proposal is to study the influence of 2-dimensional geometrical confinement of cells on precision and reproducibility of cell-based tests. If successful, the innovative platform will be commercialized by TissueX Technologies as a new standard platform for cell culture systems in preclinical drug development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Axel Guenther

Student:

Nimalan Thavandiran;Mohsen Afshar

Partner:

TissueX Technologies Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - biomedical

Sector:

Other

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Validation of SIMBA capsules for small intestine sampling

The aim of this research and development project for the intern student is to assist in validation tests (both in-vitro and in-vivo) of a GI sampling capsule device being developed by the organization and translate the testing results and the new knowledge to technical documents for the potential customers and partners of the organization. In-vitro tests involve a series of functional tests of the capsule components and the performance tests of the capsule assembly. The safety validation study will be performed in a small patient populationto verify that the capsule passes safely through the digestive tract. The study will also demonstrate collection accuracy in a first North American data set and will verify that the samples collected in the small intestine are representative of gut status.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kristina Rinker;Christopher Andrews

Student:

Jacob Kennard

Partner:

Nimble Science Ltd.

Discipline:

Engineering - biomedical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Accelerate

Embedded Computers for Next-Generation DNA Sequencing

In 2014 a handheld DNA measurement device, the “MinION”, was commercialized. It is 100X smaller by volume and 6X faster and 20X less expensive than the next smallest DNA measurement device on the market. But its measurements are of a lower quality, about 90% of measured DNA is accurately ‘detected’ compared to 99.9% for leading machines. Further, a tremendous amount of computing power is needed to carry out the detection function of the MinION. In fact, this is done by a standalone computer or GPU. This greatly compromises the portability and inherent advantage of the MinION and technologies of the like. We propose to address this problem by creating an embedded bioinformatics computing engine that can ultimately be embedded inside a portable DNA measurement device like (but not exclusively) the MinION. The engine will be a custom complementary-medal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip that includes an embedded processor (the open-source RISC-V ISA and associated 5-stage multiple-issue in-order pipelined architecture) and on-chip hardware acceleration for executing key detection and data analysis functions associated with DNA sequencing. We anticipate a device that will reduce energy consumption by 10,000X relative to CPU-only solutions.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Sebastian Magierowski

Student:

Karim Hammad

Partner:

CMC Microsystems And Applied Nanotools

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

York University

Program:

Development and validation of natural source zone depletion quantification protocols for sustainable remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated sites

The extraction, storage, conveyance, and refining of petroleum hydrocarbon liquids (or nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs)) often result in their accidental release into the environment. Consequently, NAPLs will travel into subsurface soils and may enter groundwater, further exacerbating the extent of contamination. Aside from being energy-intensive, disruptive of the environment, and incur treatment durations that may span several years, typical engineered remediation technologies may not capture all of the NAPLs in-place. Natural source zone depletion (NSZD) considers the natural removal of NAPLs using indigenous microorganisms that can convert the contaminants into benign end-products such as CO2. In this research, robust, cost-effective, and minimally invasive quantification technologies are investigated for estimating the rate of biodegradation in-place and to identify the areal extent of contamination.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Joseph Patrick Hettiaratchi

Student:

Helen La

Partner:

Advisian

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program:

Scaling up remote camera surveys to inform human-wildlife coexistence

Protecting healthy populations of wild animals is an important goal for British Columbians and all Canadians. Wildlife provide important economic, ecological, and cultural values, yet are increasingly under threat from a range of impacts, including land use change, overharvest, climate change, and growing recreational pressure on our parks. A key challenge facing wildlife managers is a lack of reliable data on many wildlife populations at the large scales relevant to land use planning. Remote camera (aka camera trap) surveys provide an important tool for collecting reliable information on terrestrial mammal species across large areas. We have initiated a camera trap network in western Canada—WildCAM—to advance the application of camera surveys to management challenges. By conducting new statistical analyses of WildCAM data, and developing evidence-based recommendations for camera sampling designs, the intern will help develop a strong scientific foundation for the continued development of camera trapping as a tool to improve wildlife management in western Canada and beyond.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Cole Burton

Student:

Alys Granados

Partner:

BC Parks Foundation

Discipline:

Forestry

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

Program:

Landfill Odour Management Strategies

Golder Associates Inc. is the Technical Lead Consultant on the Environmental Assessment for the expansion of the W12A landfill of the City of London. One key aspect of this project is landfill design alternatives and the impact on air quality and, specifically, odour issues. The proposed project aims at providing critically valuable information regarding local air and odour monitoring at the W12A landfill site, regional air and odour monitoring in the South London area, as well as an assessment of the industry best practices not currently employed that may be applicable. Experimental and modelling work, combining data gathered with appropriate sampling and monitoring technologies, dispersion modelling and meteorological data will allow to better understand the air quality and odour issues surrounding the landfill and to recommend the most effective odour management strategies by either enhancing or implementing new operational activities or employing additional engineering controls and/or monitoring devices/programs.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Franco Berruti

Student:

Roberta Lotito

Partner:

Golder Associates

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Western University

Program:

Insight into killer whale habitat quality

British Columbia’s (BC) resident killer whales are listed under the Species At Risk Act as ‘threatened’ and ‘endangered’ for the northern and southern residents, respectively. Contaminants have been recognized as one of the main threats affecting the survival and recovery of these populations. This project will look at the levels of contaminants of concern in sediment samples collected from killer whale habitat. Sediment has been used around the world to evaluate pollutant inputs and distribution in aquatic environments as it can be both a contaminant ‘sink’ and a ‘source’ for adjacent food webs. As part of Ocean Wise’s PollutionTracker program, sediment samples have been collected at over 50 sites along the BC coast. This project is a great opportunity for Ocean Wise to compile and use the data that has been collected since 2015 and provide invaluable information on the source, transport and fate of contaminants of priority concern for the endangered southern resident killer whales.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Tanya Brown

Student:

Jun-Woo Kim

Partner:

Ocean Wise

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

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