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

Discovery and validation of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes

The global challenge for COVID-19 is to create a vaccine. A key step in the development of a subunit vaccine is the identification of the parts of viral proteins (epitopes) that will trigger immune protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The purpose of this work is two-fold: 1) On the computer, we will develop and test the functionality of a new algorithm for selecting optimal epitopes for vaccine construction and for creating a diagnostic assay; 2) In the lab, we will identify SARS-CoV-2 peptides directly from cells infected with the virus or challenged with viral proteins. These two parallel streams will inform one another, ultimately leading to identification of candidate epitopes that will be tested in vaccines and put to use in diagnostic assays.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Leonard Foster;Wilfred Jefferies

Student:

Iryna Saranchova

Partner:

Microsoft Canada

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

COVID-19 Grocery Response NDG

Grocery Response NDG is a grocery ordering and delivery program for seniors 70+ who are confined to their homes during the pandemic. The project is a joint initiative of Concordia University (Ageing + Communication + Technologies – ACT) and New Hope Seniors Centre. The Québec response to the COVID-19 pandemic requires seniors 70 and over to self-isolate Seniors with limited or no social networks and no access to the Internet are especially at risk. The intern for this project is working to set up a telephone line that is accessible to seniors, work with a team of volunteers who take their grocery orders and relay it to a partnered Provigo grocery store. The store then delivers the groceries to isolated seniors.This project offers a friendly check-in and remote shopping experience for the senior at the same time as it provides support to existing grocery stores and their employees. The project has three main goals: To help reduce the infection rate among older adults and supporting seniors in their self-isolation measures; To enable seniors to access food safely during the pandemic; To build and share approaches and tools that can be used to support similar actions in various locations.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Kim Sawchuk

Student:

Nicole Fornelli;Andrea Tremblay

Partner:

New Hope Senior Citizens’ Centre

Discipline:

Journalism / Media studies and communication

Sector:

Health care and social assistance

University:

Concordia University

Program:

Accelerate

High-T2hroughput Rapid Detection of Infectious Diseases such as COVID-19

The project is a high-throughput method to detect and identify infectious disease such as COVID-19 based on advanced optical technologies developed by Manitoba based Adva Diagnostics Inc. The Adva technologies use the interaction of light with a patient sample to produce a spectral “fingerprint” in minutes without the use of reagents. The spectral “fingerprint” is compared with a library of virus spectral “fingerprints” to test for a match. Five University of Manitoba Mitacs interns together with collaborators Prof. Peter Pelka (Microbiology) and Prof. Cyrus Shafai (Electrical Engineering) are helping with “fingerprinting” virus samples and fabrication of certain optical components for the system.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Peter Pelka;Cyrus Shafai

Student:

Drayson Graves;Nikolas Akkerman;Elnaz Afsharipour;Ramin Soltanzadeh;Danika Phiona Buhr

Partner:

Adva Diagnostics Inc

Discipline:

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Development of wearable QR-RFID trackers for prevention of spreading of COVID-19

Social distancing and case tracking are effective steps to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 and prepare for the recovery of economy. QR code scanning is applied in many countries for case tracking purpose; however, as a smart phone is required and concerns of the privacy have raised, a simple-to-use and cost-effective approach based on non-contact functional system is proposed. By combining QR code with chipless RFID in one tag, a personal information can be read and uploaded automatically before entering into crowded places. Thanks to the sensing function of RFID, too close contact can be detected, and the system will remind or warn the person. In this project, a printed-electronics-solution building upon a react-on-demand (RoD) inkjet printing technology is used for printing chipless RFID. This method not only provides high resolution manufacturing of silver traces through on-site synthesis, but also lower the cost for the whole tag.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jun Yang

Student:

Junfeng Xiao

Partner:

Canadian Two-Dimensional Barcode Technology Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

Western University

Program:

Accelerate

Development of Thin Polymer Strips for COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery

This project will develop thin polymer strips that dissolve rapidly in the mouth and can deliver a therapeutic payload. Specifically, the proposed strips will be loaded with vaccine particles that can be delivered directly to the bloodstream via the sub-lingual mucous membranes. It has been previously shown that sub-lingual vaccination is effective for a number of infections. We believe that, even after a vaccine for the current pandemic is found, administration of the vaccine using traditional methods will take a very long time. The proposed polymer strips will allow people to become vaccinated in a rapid and convenient manner, without the need for medical staff.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Alex Adronov

Student:

Stuart McNelles

Partner:

Rapid Dose Therapeutics Corp.

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

McMaster University

Program:

Accelerate

Novel mechanisms and anti-platelet therapies of COVID-19-associated thrombosis

COVID-19 patients have a higher incidence of thrombotic events. Increased hypercoagulability was found in severe COVID-19 patients, but the mechanism of how SARS-CoV-2 virus affect our blood coagulation system is not fully understood. Platelet activation and blood coagulation are complementary, mutually dependent processes in haemostasis and thrombosis. Platelet contains large amount of integrin ?IIb?3 on the surface which is required for platelet aggregation/thrombus formation. The Receptor Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein contains a highly conserved RGD (Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic acid) motif, which is the classical recognition site for integrins. This project aims to investigate 1) whether ?IIb?3 integrin is a novel co-receptor of SARS-CoV-2; 2) whether SARS-CoV-2 viruses activate platelet via spike protein-?IIb?3 interaction; 3) the therapeutic potential of anti-?3 integrin monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection and related thrombosis.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Haibo Zhang

Student:

Chuanbin Shen

Partner:

CCOA Therapeutics Inc.

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Broad Spectrum CoV Therapeutic; rhACE2 Immunoadhesin to treat COVID19

Over the last decade, multiple pandemic events have highlighted the vulnerability of the world to existing and emerging infectious threats. Currently, COVID19 has infected >4M people resulting in >300K deaths. Although there are candidate drugs in development, the projected term until an effective COVID therapy or vaccine is available is projected to between 1-2 years. COVID19 marks the third coronavirus outbreak (preceded by SARS and MERS) within the last 20 years and suggests spillover of animal to human coronavirus will occur again. Therefore, in addition to conventional practices (social distancing and quarantining), other strategies to prevent death and spread are needed. The ability to have a ready-made coronavirus solution in place could provide an effective tool in the early phases of future outbreaks and protect front line workers and naïve populations. The Therapeutics Business Unit (TxBU) within Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc. is proposing a proof-of-concept program to address current and future Coronavirus infections. Chimeric variants of recombinant human ACE2 receptor will be evaluated and downselected to a lead candidate(s) to assess efficacy in vivo for treatment and prophylaxis modalities (against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS) with implications for addressing future coronavirus outbreaks.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jason Kindrachuk;Peter Pelka

Student:

Andrew Webb;Scott Bachus

Partner:

Emergent BioSolutions

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Manitoba

Program:

Accelerate

Hunt for the Super-Spreaders — A Complex Networks Approach

Contagious diseases, such as SARS and COVID-19, bring a large amount of damage to human’s life and world economy. Pathogens spread among individuals through the contact network. It is observed that most social networks show a power-law degree distribution, implying that hubs exist in these networks. Finding underlying super-spreaders (hubs) and isolating or immunizing them can decrease the pathogen spreading dramatically. In this project, we propose a new framework based on “Biased Friendship Paradox” (BFP) to identify latent super-spreaders effectively and efficiently with- out global knowledge of the network. Using this method to guide isolation and immunization will save a large amount of time and resources.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Yuanzhu Chen

Student:

Zhihao Dong

Partner:

Verafin Inc.

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Program:

Accelerate

Development of hand hygiene disinfectant using natural and non-flammable active ingredients

The use of hand disinfectant appears to have become a common practice for infectious as well as non-infectious individuals across the world for years now. Recently, a strong push to enforce the usage of hand disinfectants after touching any surface in public places due to the pressure of Covid-19 pandemic was seen worldwide. Many varieties of hand disinfectants for killing bacteria and viruses have been in use across the world. However, most of them use flammable solvents including alcohol as the main disinfectant. In this project, we develop and design an effective and acceptable disinfectant having broad-spectrum disinfectant properties using nonflammable active ingredients from plants. Various types of natural compounds having bacterial and viral killing properties will be tested to advance the disinfectant efficiency as well as replace maximum alcohol content. The demand for disinfectants is bound to strongly increase as the world is looking forward to re-opening. And the use of developed disinfectants using nonflammable and natural active ingredients will tackle the scarcity of hand disinfectants. Use of natural ingredients for formulating disinfectant using tools and techniques of Probiosphere Inc. will give the new direction to the Probiosphere R&D ream and their biological formulations.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Satinder Kaur Brar

Student:

Rama Pulicharla

Partner:

Probiosphere

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Management of companies and enterprises

University:

York University

Program:

Remote health monitoring and rehabilitation of patients with neurological conditions to minimize the risk of COVID-19 spread in Canadian hospitals

Social distancing is recommended globally to slow down the COVID-19 virus spread in order to prevent the healthcare system overload. Particularly, hospital visits increase the risk of infection for non-infected patients and healthcare workers. Therefore, virtual healthcare can help the healthcare system in many ways. This project aims to develop a user-friendly, low cost, and medical-grade wearable sensor system for 1) remote health monitoring of patients with neurological conditions such as MS patients, 2) early signs of symptoms, and communicating them with healthcare providers, and 3) providing the patients with feedback to minimize their visit to hospitals. The outcome of this research enables remote health monitoring in real-time without direct physical interaction with patients. Hence, the proposed technology can be lifesaving for both patients and healthcare workers and significantly reduce direct and indirect healthcare costs while improving health outcomes.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Hossein Rouhani;Chester Ho

Student:

Vahid Abdollah;Somayeh Norouzi

Partner:

PROTXX

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Alberta

Program:

Development & manufacture of a scFv antibody therapy for COVID-19

The current project will assemble a library of molecules known as single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies to treat COVID-19. The scFv antibodies will neutralize the SARV-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19 by targeting its spike (S) glycoprotein. ScFv antibodies offer numerous advantages compared to other treatment alternatives such as small-molecule drugs and monoclonal antibodies, and are arguably the cheapest and most efficacious option to fight the pandemic. The antibodies will be rapidly designed, selected and optimized using a workflow rooted in computational protein modeling and synthetic biology. The BioFoundry at the University of British Columbia, which will lead the project, ranks among Canada’s leading research groups in synthetic biology and possesses unique expertise in the experimental methods required to generate a catalogue of promising scFv candidates. The project also involves an industry partner, Sanofi Pasteur. The company is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and will provide in-kind support and technical advice to develop an economical and large-scale scFv manufacturing platform. We anticipate generating the antibody library within a short period of 6 months, following which the library and manufacturing protocol will be transferred to Sanofi Pasteur for clinical and commercial development.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Vikramaditya Yadav

Student:

Athanasios Kritharis;Carmen Bayly;Kevin Salim

Partner:

Sanofi Pasteur

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

University:

Program:

Accelerate

Simulating consumer demand and automaker compliance under climate regulation: Developing the Automaker-consumer Model

The overall objective for this project is to support the research of one PhD student to advance the methods for modelling energy-climate policies, a field in which START in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at SFU is one of the leading research units in the country and in which Navius Research Incorporated is the leading Canadian consulting firm. The project focuses on developing a novel technology adoption model (AUM) and demonstrating its applicability by using it to model a Zero-Emissions Vehicle sales mandate in Canada. The internship will allow the student to refine and validate a key component of the AUM model (the consumer choice component) and to validate AUM by comparing it to Navius’ gTech model – under the guidance of leading modellers in the field. In turn, Navius will learn about the intern’s modeling techniques, which will improve their ability to provide climate transport policy analysis.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jonn Axsen

Student:

Chandan Bhardwaj

Partner:

Navius Research Inc

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

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