Manure from a digestion plant has been sampled with a viable substrate (wood chips) in order to promote/quantify the biomethane potential of the bottles of manure. In a closed system an anaerobic setting allows microbes to consume carbon sources to produce energy rich gases such as methane.
Reaction All Years
Creative Collisions is an Algonquin College project run through a partnership between the Centre for Accessible Learning, Student Support Services and the MakerSpace that aims to “transform spaces throughout the college to allow for the creation, expression, and showcasing of art and creativity on campus”.
As project management students we are responsible for the planning and execution of the year-end Creative Collisions Presents: Art Showcase which will feature the artwork of 30-40 Algonquin College students (and other Algonquin College community members) at March 29th 2023.
At the core of Creative Collisions is a “sense of inclusion, respect and learning,” by creating “opportunities of dialogue, skill-sharing, and art-making between people of different socio-economic backgrounds, ages, cultures and abilities”. The goal of this project is to “promote mental health and resilience, and contribute to a sense of community, belonging, and a more inclusive culture within the college”.
Carbon monoxide (CO) is old news, right? That’s what we heard from the literature and from our research speaking with recent Canadian home buyers. In general, people are aware of the colourless, odourless, toxic gas. So why study it?
Well… Awareness is only one piece of a concept that is of special interest to public health organizations today: literacy. In particular, health data literacy (HDL) refers to the ability to read and understand health data—statistics, quotes, infographics, etc.—and to apply them to one’s health-related decision making. HDL includes the capacity to determine the credibility of a source and to critique false and/or misleading information. It is a complex skill beyond mere awareness.
Our client, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), approached us with the prompt to understand the challenges to raising HDL and to identify opportunities for improving access to literacy-raising initiatives.
Consulting the literature enlightened us on one challenge: the many facets of literacy. It also told us that literacy is the responsibility of not just individuals but society at large. It is mediated by one’s unique health beliefs, tapping into things like perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy. To ensure a feasible, scalable project outcome, we narrowed the scope from HDL in general to one that had value for our client and that was accessible to us: residential carbon monoxide. As our interview data would later validate, our suspicion that preventive actions toward CO were lacking made this an excellent case study for exploring HDL.
We designed a mixed methods study comprising an online survey, interviews with recent home buyers, and subject matter expert (SME) interviews. This approach allowed us to paint a fuller picture with both quantitative and qualitative data, and both lived experience and professional expertise. In total, we had 139 survey responses, 13 participants, and 4 SMEs, spanning different demographics. While we cannot claim that our research represents the entirety of Canada, it provides groundwork that can be scaled to larger, more varied populations.
Through this research, we explored homeowners’ knowledge of carbon monoxide (both self-reported and objective knowledge) and learned of their information sources, their risk perceptions, whether they had taken any precautions against CO at home, and what influenced their behaviours. Emerging themes (which presented both challenges and opportunities) included a reliance on professionals, the importance of context, and the mindset that “seeing is believing.”
From these insights, we developed tools in the form of experience principles, how-might-we statements, and a journey map) that bridged our problem space and solution (design) space. We propose two interventions: (1) a carbon monoxide safety challenge for school children and their families, delivered through fire education services, and (2) an appliance tagging system, conducted by home service technicians as a part of home maintenance visits. Both involve people beyond the homeowners themselves, both are designed to have emotional resonance, and both are a strong attempt to make the invisible visible—all important considerations for a future health data literacy initiative.
Ontario homeowners complain about the complexity and obscureness of obtaining information on how to reduce their carbon emissions and monthly energy bills via eligible retrofits and how to qualify for grant amounts provided by NRCan. Our application, EnerPik, aims to solve this by being a “one-stop-shop” for all users involved.
We at StackLabs, comprised of Tyler Griffin (Team Lead), Jasreet Kaur (Development Lead), Ksenia Chornokondratenko (UX Lead), Yasir Elamin (Developer), Jay Jao (Developer, Designer), Alex Oestreicher (Developer), and Sai Charan (Developer), worked cooperatively with our client to achieve his vision of an accessible, minimalistic cross-platform mobile application that not only connects both homeowners and contractors, but guides homeowners through its knowledge base to qualify for eligible grants.
Our team prioritizes reliability, innovation, and teamwork as core values, and we have incorporated these values into the development process of the application. We conducted thorough testing and took into account our client’s preferences and requirements to ensure that the application meets their wants and needs.
With EnerPik, homeowners can learn about energy-efficient retrofits with or without an EnerGuide pre-audit, track their progress with a step-by-step checklist of retrofits needed to qualify for grants, and connect with reputable contractors to carry out their retrofits.
For contractors, EnerPik provides a unique opportunity to access a new customer base of Ontario homeowners who are committed to reducing their carbon footprint and energy bills, and showcase their expertise in energy-efficient retrofits.
Through our innovative platform, homeowners can access information about energy-efficient retrofits, including which retrofits are most effective and which contractors are reputable. Our easy-to-use interface guides homeowners through the retrofit process, so they can feel confident in their decisions and track their progress along the way.
We built our design with figma based on feedback from user testing. To implement this front end, we used React and Tailwind with GitHub for concurrent processing. On EnerPik’s back-end, AWS and its many services were used for a seamless user experience. API Gateway facilitated communication between EnerPik and AWS, while Amazon Cognito secured sensitive data access. AWS Lambda processed user requests for real-time updates via API Gateway. User data was stored in S3 and MongoDB Atlas and AWS Textract enabled easy data extraction from uploaded EnerGuides.
With our project’s MVP phase nearing its end, we can confidently say that this was the most ambitious project we have had the opportunity to collaborate on.
We wish to extend our appreciation to Shakir Ismail, our esteemed client, for the opportunity to contribute to this project. We also express our profound gratitude to our applied project professors, Adam Robillard and Adesh Shah at Algonquin College, for their diligent guidance in navigating these challenging times.
Our proposal is to create an autonomous unloading, loading and storage vehicle that will transport shipping container safely through storage yards.
Process:
General
• Floor plan/Scaling.
• Create the frame of the cart.
Robotics Course
• Create/install an input and output box for FANUC Arm.
• Create/install an end effect for the FANUC Arm.
• Create/scale the movement of the demonstration block and cart space.
• Program FANUC Arm.
Micro-Controller & Interfacing/Programming
• Setup Arduino.
• Program the driving motor.
• Program the steering motor.
• Program sensor (Proxy to detect block in Cart)
• Line following sensor.
SCARA Robot
• Create SCARA in SolidWorks.
• Create Assembly in SolidWorks.
• Print Components.
• Assemble.
• Use Arduino to program the movement of the SCARA using a stepper motor.
• Create end effect with pneumatics.
The Make-A-Wish Fundraising Event at Tailgators is an initiative to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a non-profit organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses. The event features a pool tournament and raffle draw that provides a fun way for participants to contribute to the cause. All funds raised will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help grant wishes for children. This project is aimed at promoting awareness of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and its mission while raising funds to support critically ill children.
Our team recently organized a comedy night fundraiser for Make-A-Wish that was a resounding success. The event was designed to raise funds for a worthy cause, and we were delighted with the response from our community. The night was filled with laughter, excitement, and generosity, and we are proud of the contribution we were able to make to charity.
One of the key elements of the event was the talented comedians who performed throughout the night. We left no stone unturned to sell the tickets and convince people to take part in the raffle. The audience was in stitches all night, and the comedians kept the energy high and the laughter rolling. Their performances were a crucial part of the success of the night, and we are grateful for their participation.
Darlene Bennett from Make-A-Wish’s development team also joined us at the event and shared a few words about the charity at the end of the show. People were moved by her speech, where some of them also made their contributions towards donations.
Another important part of the fundraiser was the raffle we organized. A master card worth CAD$50, was kept as the price for the raffle. The raffle was a huge hit with the crowd, where a lot of people showed interest in buying the tickets as the price per ticket was just CAD$5.
The combination of the comedic performances and the raffle created a lively and festive atmosphere that encouraged our community to come together and support our cause. We were thrilled with the turnout and the amount of money we were able to raise. The funds we raised will go a long way in supporting the cause we were raising money for, and we are proud to have made a valuable contribution.
Throughout the project execution, we learnt the importance of marketing through the appropriate channels. We also learnt the importance of effective communication with the team members and the stakeholders, in order to execute the project as per the plan and managing risks throughout.
Overall, the comedy night fundraiser was a triumph. It was a true team effort, with everyone involved working hard to ensure the event was a success. We were able to bring together our community for a night of laughter, fun, and support for a worthy cause. The generosity of our community was inspiring, and we are grateful for the opportunity to make a difference. We hope to organize similar events in the future and continue to build a stronger, more connected community.
A fundraiser event for the Make-A-Wish foundation we aim to raise a minimum $1,000 or more in support of the cause of children with critical illnesses. We have gathered local Ottawa performers to present their talents to you. In addition, we have collected gift cards and coupons from local business owners that we have auctioned to all attendees.
Our client is the National Research Council Canada (NRC). Specifically, we are working with the aerospace department in the NRC. The NRC is looking to improve their ability to detect and simulate corrosion of aerospace materials. The paint currently used to paint air crafts is not eco-friendly. We will be testing various paints to see which one is the most corrosive resistant. This will save money and increase safety for the NRC and their contractors. Currently corrosion is very difficult to simulate under stress. The NRC aims to create a programable environment chamber that can be used in parallel with a hydraulic arm without damaging the arm.
Before this to better understand how to create a chamber we were tasked with setting up and calibrating a existing programmable environment chamber, a cyclic UV chamber, and 2 corrosion sensors. The 2 corrosion sensors are made by the same company and operate largely the same way, with the exception of one being wireless and the other needing constant USB connection.
Multiple tests were done on the corrosion sensors to test if they work properly. These included different salt concentrations, different temperatures, for varying lengths.
Overall it was a great experience to be apart of and a great opportunity, and many thanks go out to our client and contacts at the NRC, as well as all of our teachers over the years.
E-cigarettes are a prevalent health concern in today’s world. They are commonly marketed as a healthier alternative to regular cigarettes, this marketing is simply untrue and harmful to the masses that partake in vaping. The liquid used in vapes contains harmful chemicals, which when heated into an aerosol, produce dangerous toxic aldehydes that are inhaled into the lungs. Given how new vaping is to the public, there are many unforeseen health hazards that will begin to negatively affect the population in the future. Unless proper research done to prove that they are dangerous, the general public will see a decrease in overall health. This research is being done by measuring the aldehyde production from an E-cigarette at different wattages to determine the effect wattage has on aldehyde production. This is done by trapping the samples into a DNPH cartridge using tubing and a 500ml syringe connected to the cartridge and vape to pull the gas into the cartridge. The samples will then be eluted and ran through an HPLC to determine the concentrations of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein for all the wattages being tested. The samples will be run through the HPLC to obtain results that can be compared to each other to show the increase in aldehydes as the wattage increases. This research should move to push the public into understanding the implications of using E-cigarettes and just how harmful they may end up being to their future and the future of the people around them.