Success Stories

Interactive Media Design (IMD) is now accepting Applied Research Project Applications for Winter 2022 In-Class Projects

On behalf of the Office of Applied Research, Innovation & Entrepreneurship (ARIE) at Algonquin College, I am pleased to announce this call for proposals for in-class client projects for the Winter 2022 semester.

Interested companies can apply using the application form HERE. Our onboarding practice is to screen the online applications and invite the most promising proposals to a ‘Pitchfork’ session. Candidates are asked to do a 15-minute pitch via Zoom Meetings with interactive Q&A. The review panel is comprised of ARIE project managers, facilitators, and professors from the School of Media and Design who collectively select the projects that are ‘best-fit’ for our programs.

Key dates for Winter 2022 projects:

  • The deadline for applications is Friday, December 10th
  • ‘Pitchfork’ sessions will be scheduled between December 20th – 31st for invited candidates
  • Chosen candidates will be notified by January 7th
  • Projects starting the week of January 28st
  • Projects to be completed by end of term (mid-April)

Types of projects considered:

  • Websites (New designs and re-designs)
  • User interface prototypes for web and mobile apps
  • Animated videos

If your organization is looking for any of the above, we encourage you to submit an online application. In addition to registered for-profit businesses, we will be able to support a limited number of not-for-profits and social enterprises.

Have any questions? Contact David Solomon, Professor & IMD Applied Projects Facilitator – solomod@algonquincollege.com

Algonquin College’s Social Innovation Lab is now recruiting for Winter 2022 positions

We're Hiring! SliDE - Social Innovation Lab

Want to Make our World a Better Place? Join Algonquin’s Social Innovation Lab – SLiDE is Hiring for Winter 2022 positions.

The Lab operates SLiDE (Service Learning in Design & Engineering) with a mission of “Empowering our community by sharing student creativity and technological knowledge to drive social change”. We are looking for students that demonstrate Authenticity, Integrity, Ambition, Curiosity and Humility and want to help others in our community. #slideintoimpact Open Positions: All positions are part-time (~20 hours a week) for current Algonquin College Students and paid at Ottawa’s current Living Wage ($18.60/Hour).

The target start date for Winter Interns is January 10, 2022.

Note* All positions offer flexibility to meet students’ schedules and tentatively will include both in-person (Social Innovation Lab, Woodroffe Campus) and remote work components. All positions will be subject to the College’s Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.

To apply, email your CV and a cover letter by the deadline of December 10, 2021: SLiDE@algonquincollege.com

Details can be seen on HireAC – Job ID 70117: https://hireac.algonquincollege.com/home.htm

IBM/SLiDE Intern – Social Sector Client Projects (5 Positions)

Applicable for students with digital technology skills (design, development, mobile, integration, adoption) or communications skills (branding, marketing, social media, written word, and videography).

Please note Intern Eligibility Requirements:
  1. Proof of full-time enrollment at Algonquin College in an Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, STEM or Business program during the internship period
  2. Proof of Canadian Citizenship/ Permanent Residency/Refugee Status, Unfortunately, due to 3rd party funder requirements, International Students are not eligible for these positions at this time.

Students who self-identify within one of the following under-represented groups are encouraged to apply: Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), Indigenous students, Newcomers (immigrants who immigrated within the last 5 years), students with disabilities, visible minorities and first-year students.

SLiDE Partners, CHEO and Eco-equitable (EE) are levelling up the mask game!

AC Student in mask

Last year, Algonquin College helped respond to the Ottawa/Canada PPE shortage assisting with efforts to create and decontaminate shields, and medical-grade mask. As part of this response two SLIDE partners, CHEO and Eco-equitable (EE) also initiated research into the design of a high performing re-usable mask for the community. After almost a year of development and testing, we would like to get the masks to the Ottawa public, with the goal of reducing COVID transmission during the third wave. To achieve this masks will be sold as part of a fundraiser for CHEO.

The masks are very comfortable, have an amazing fit and achieve > 80 % particle penetration (new) while retaining > 70% particle filtration after 50 machine washes. The mask easily meets the 50% particle filtration efficiency specification recently set by the ASTM for consumer/community masks. The vast majority of community masks only achieve 30-50% PFE.

CHEO and EE have manufactured an initial lot of 1000 masks and will be selling them through Ecoequitable’s website. They will also be available at Kardish Health Food stores.

Purchase a mask here: https://ecoequitable.ca/collections/ecoequitable-products/products/cheo-fundraiser-mask

Check out the full article in the Ottawa Citizen: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/cheo-doc-and-local-sewing-organization-help-tame-the-wild-west-of-masks

 

CHEO, Algonquin join forces to create scientific literature review software platform

Algonquin College

A group of students and researchers at Algonquin College has teamed up with CHEO to create a new software platform aimed at speeding up the often-laborious process of reviewing scientific research.

Launched in 2017, insightScope allows researchers, students, health-care professionals and citizen scientists to collaborate online to conduct systematic reviews of scientific literature. Such reviews are a regular part of the scientific process, allowing doctors and researchers to stay on top of the latest developments in medicine and other fields and help determine courses of treatment.

Read the full article here

Hey Ottawa! We’re looking for local Makers with 3D Printers!

we need your help poster

We are in this together!

The Canadian government is procuring medical supplies to address the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). To address any shortage, groups of makers, engineers, and medical professionals are collaborating to find a way to address the PPE shortage here in Ottawa.

The Algonquin College MakerSpace has teamed up with CHEO, Hacking Health Ottawa, Thistledown Foundation and University of Ottawa medical students to lead the 3D print Maker community in the coordination and the rapid development of protective face shields.

Want to help? Are you an experienced Maker? Based in the Ottawa area? Have access to a 3D printer? Get in touch!

Register Here: www.ottawamakesppe.com

RE/ACTION Showcase Winners (August 2019)

Musclebound Mama Process Explanation Video

1st Place Winning Project

A live-action video explaining the 60-day challenge process with a combination of on-screen and full-screen overlay motion graphics. The graphics will define and help clients understand difficult and complicated concepts in a simple and effective way.

Industry Partner: Musclebound Mama
Presenters: Morgan Nordskog, Mona Eltahery, Stephen Gagne, Frah Aliaman
Professors: Adam Jarvis & Ken McGinn

Musclebound Mama Process Explanation Video group

Energy Efficiency and Performance Simulations of PEX Water-Heating Systems

2nd Place Winning Project

The aim of this project is to validate the performance of new hot water delivery (HWD) technology-both quantitatively and qualitatively. In particular, the study is to test, categorize, and benchmark the performance of new HWD systems using Cross-Linked Polyethylene (PEX) Piping against conventional piping materials and their associated installations.

Industry Partner: Uponor.inc
Presenters: Karl Murray, Kuwar Dalal, Michael Stevens
Professors: Ali Elwafi

Energy Efficiency and Performance Simulations of PEX Water-Heating Systems group

ARCC – Autonomous Robotic Chimney Cleaner

3rd Place Winning Project

We have developed an autonomous chimney cleaning robot intended for the consumer market. It is capable of scaling the walls of a chimney, measuring distance both above and below, all while cleaning the walls of the chimney.

Industry Partner: Algonquin College
Presenters: Steve Sokolowski, Dhaval Khodiyar, Rajesh Kangar, Venkata Sai Yath Chakka
Professor: Gino Rinaldi

ARCC - Autonomous Robotic Chimney Cleaner group

Musclebound Mama shows strength at RE/ACTION August 2019

Musclebound Mama group at RE/ACTION August 2019

The live-action video—built to provide fitness and nutrition coaching for women—placed first at Algonquin’s summer Applied Research Showcase. It was one of 36 projects featured at RE/ACTION on Aug. 9. The event drew a crowd of about 300 people to the DARE District to check out the innovations from more than 100 students and roughly 37 faculty members.

“It’s a nice surprise. I don’t believe it,” said the winning project’s video editor, Mona Eltahery. It’s a day she’s not likely to forget anytime soon. Aside from being awarded top honours, she was also awarded her Canadian citizenship the same day.

The team created the video for Musclebound Mama, a subscription-based, online nutrition-coaching business for women to help change their relationship with food. Their client, Musclebound Mama founder Sophie Smith, said the video does away with documents and 17-minutes of video explaining the “60-day challenge process.” In its place is a live-action video that explains how women can change the way they feel and think about food. The video combines full-screen overlay motion graphics and animation to help clients understand difficult and complicated concepts in a simple and effective way.

“Our team has Mona, who did video editing for 30 years in Egypt, so she did the bulk of the editing work,” explained Media and Design student, Stephen Gagné. “I’m a photographer. I did the green screen replacement, some of the colour keying and a few of the graphics. Frah (Ali Aman) drew everything, and Morgan (Nordskog) who is our lead, did all of the animations, said Gagné. Nordskog couldn’t be at the event because she is currently in Toronto working on a photography project. (Professors Adam Jarvis and Ken McGinn were the project’s faculty advisers.)

Taking to the podium to announce RE/ACTION’s top three winners, incoming President Claude Brulé couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the crowd.

“It’s a real pleasure for me to attend these events. It’s a combination of a lot of effort on our students’ parts, our faculty’s parts and staff, and it shows!” he said proudly. “You guys go all out to create a wonderful moment for our community and for our industry partners to come and visit, explore and discover Algonquin College. This is where the magic happens. This is where discovery happens. This is where development happens in applied research and today is no exception.”

Claiming second place was Energy Efficiency and Performance Simulations of PEX Water-Heating Systems by students Karl Murray, Kuwar Dalal, and Michael Stevens and Professor Ali Elwafi. Their project validates the performance of new hot water delivery (HWD) technology — both quantitatively and qualitatively. In particular, the study is to test, categorize, and benchmark the performance of new HWD systems using Cross-Linked Polyethylene (PEX) Piping against conventional piping materials and their associated installations.

Third place went to Autonomous Robotic Chimney Cleaner (ARCC) by students Steve Sokolowski, Dhaval Khodiyar, Rajesh Kangar, Venkata Sai Yath Chakka, and Professor Gino Rinaldi.

Their “autonomous chimney” functions as a cleaning robot intended for the consumer market. It is capable of scaling the walls of a chimney, measuring distance both above and below, all while cleaning the walls of the chimney.

“This edition we are featuring a very impressive list of projects. The quality of the projects speaks to the calibre of all of you students,” said Cristina Holguin-Pando, Director of Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, during her opening remarks at the tri-annual AC Applied Research Day.

Algonquin’s applied research projects created a lot of media buzz this week. If you missed any of the headline-making projects you can catch them here:

Watch Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technician students demonstrate their Voice-Activated Bionic Arm, featured on CTV Morning Live on Aug. 8.

Listen to the CBC Morning Ottawa segment from Aug. 8 about Vision glasses, a prototype for the blind that allows the user to identify objects, read text, and identify faces.

Photo: Left to Right: Frah Ali Aman, Sophie Smith-Doré (industry partner & founder of Musclebound Mama), Mona Eltahery, Stephen Gagné and incoming President Claude Brulé.

Algonquin College and George Brown College form new Research & Innovation partnership

Algonquin College and George Brown College research alliance

Algonquin College and George Brown College have formed a research alliance to explore new ways to collaborate and redefine the Canadian College research landscape.

By utilizing in-house expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, Canadian colleges help industry partners design, prototype and take new products and services to market, playing a critical role in social and economic development. The unique partnership between Algonquin and George Brown marks an important step forward, where two colleges will explore opportunities to share resources, develop best practices and enhance applied research across the region.

Under the agreement, Algonquin and George Brown plan to develop, implement and test new models for innovation and collaboration for applied research. They will look at ways of aligning their centres of excellence to share best practices, build each other’s strengths and minimize competing interests.

“We are proud to partner with George Brown College to pursue new, dynamic applied research opportunities,” said Doug Wotherspoon, Vice President, Innovation and Strategy at Algonquin College. “This agreement will allow us to further hone our capacity to innovate and discover different avenues for collaboration. Algonquin College continues to build on its reputation as a centre of excellence in applied research, and as such, we look forward to working with George Brown.”

Other benefits of the partnership include the possibility of pursuing joint application and grant proposals, and connecting faculty and students with similar interests, to enhance collaboration across institutions.

“This is what the future of research and innovation looks like – interdisciplinary collaboration across jurisdictions to leverage our unique individual strengths and expertise to their greatest potential,” said Dr. Rick Huijbregts, Vice President, Strategy & Innovation at George Brown College. “The George Brown-Algonquin partnership will better position both of our institutions as catalysts of Canadian innovation, leading to high-quality, high-impact outcomes for industry and the communities that we serve.”

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 28 by Algonquin College President, Cheryl Jensen, Senior Vice President Academic, Claude Brule, George Brown College President Anne Sado, and Vice President Academic Dr. Cory Ross. The partnership officially kicked-off on July 15.