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


Interactive Media Design (IMD) is now accepting applications for Spring/Summer 2020In-Class Projects.

Interactive Media Design (IMD)

Building your brand? We’re looking for projects.

Interactive Media Design (IMD) is now accepting project applications for Spring/Summer 2020In-Class Projects.

Interested companies are encouraged to apply by clicking the button in the right sidebar on the ARIE website or Click Here for the ARIE Project Application Form.

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 15minute pitch 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 Spring/Summer 2020 projects:

  • Deadline for applications is Friday, April 17th

  • ‘Pitchfork’ sessions will be scheduled for the week of April 27th for invited candidates

  • Chosen candidates will be notified by May 4th

  • Projects start in the week of May 25th

  • Projects to be completed by end of spring/summer semester


Types of projects considered:

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

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.

If you have any questions, please contact:
David Solomon, Project Coordinator for the Design Centre
solomod@algonquincollege.com


RE/ACTION Showcase Winners Dec 2019

IT, Mobile & Web

Senator Web Application

A web-application that organises and presents parliamentary, senator and legislative data in meaningful ways to the user.

Industry Partner: Global Affairs Canada
Presenters: Jacob McSheffrey, Ikram Mohammed-Navaz, Cory Chenier, Marco Gregory, Adam Nguyen, Chris Beck, Vicknesh Babu
Professor: Todd Kelley

RE/ACTION Showcase

 


Arts, Design & Business

Dooring in the City of Ottawa

In this study, we were tasked to create a safer cycling experience in Dooring zones by improving its road signage. The purpose is to understand why these accidents occur and answer the question “Why are cyclists and motorists not aware or paying attention to dooring road signs and dooring zones?”

Industry Partner: City of Ottawa
Presenters: Nila Babaei, Braden Shay, Fatima Khan, Tyanna Bourguignon, Sebastian Turner
Professors: Jed Looker

Dooring in the City of Ottawa study

 


Science, Engineering & Construction

Zip-Zap the Electric Scooter

The Zip-Zap, an electric two wheeled scooter, is built and tested on the basis of load, speed and range in order to provide compact transportation in heavy populated urban areas. It has been specifically design from scratch to incorporate recycled batteries used in various electric vehicles.

Industry Partner: A-I-M Recycling Ottawa
Presenters: Cristopher Gore, Leander Christy, Antony Babu, Hansley Pataroo
Professor: Hooman Abdi

Zip Zap the Electric Scooter group

AC ranked No. 1 for Completed Research Projects and Paid Student Researchers

Algonquin College has been recognized as a national leader in applied research.

The College is ranked No. 1 nationally in two key areas: Number of Completed Research Projects and Number of Paid Student Researchers.

The results were published Tuesday by Research Infosource Inc. in the 2019 edition of Canada’s Top 50 Research Colleges.

Read more >


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.