Key Notes - Issue 4
Holiday Wishes from the VPRI
Thank you for another successful year. On behalf of my office, I wish you all a restful holiday season with your loved ones. Thank you for your dedication, creativity, and such a great can-do attitude that make this office a wonderful and productive place to work. Our offices are successful because of you, our excellent staff. I hope that you take time for family, friends, and well-being this holiday season, and I wish everyone a happy and festive holiday and a new year filled with fun times and great success.
Save the date for Research talks: The AI tsunami - Where will it take us?
You are invited to a panel presentation and discussion featuring members of Waterloo.AI and local industry representatives who will speak about the future of AI onTuesday, January 24, 2023, from 6-8 p.m. at Jobsite Brewery, 45 Cambria St, Stratford. Detailed information will be posted soon on the Research Talks webpage.
Collaborate with Waterloo International
At Waterloo International (WI), we develop relationships with institutions and governments around the world to internationalize the work of the University of Waterloo. We actively engage with these partners to increase awareness of our scholarship, research and service activities with the aim of advancing and stewarding the university’s strategic goals.
As part of our work to support and progress Waterloo’s internationalization efforts, we look for opportunities to advance individual unit’s global prominence on campus. There are three key ways we can support you and your unit in promoting your presence on a broader scale.
Amplification
First, we can amplify messages involving internationalization through Waterloo International’s Twitter account, reaching broader international audiences and augmenting the global awareness of your work.
Example:
Collaboration
Second, we can co-create internationalization messaging with you through a written piece, presentation, or other communications to broaden your network, increase your connections on campus, and open doors for further collaborations.
Example:
- The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) published an article in ACS Nano – an international forum for communicating ways in which various disciplines in the sciences and engineering connect for impact. Dr. Sushanta Mitra (executive director, WIN) and Dr. Ian Rowlands (associate vice president, international) collaborated on a short article that was cross posted on WIN’s site and on Waterloo International’s site.
Facilitation
Finally, we can work collaboratively to seek out an opportunity to present your international work on a global stage. Such longer-term collaborations can result in multiple ways of showcasing both your work and the work of your collaborator(s), fostering additional global connections, and offering opportunities for international work to be explored and shared in greater detail (potentially leading to other projects etc.).
Example:
- Waterloo International and the University of Waterloo’s Water Institute presented together at the conference of the Americas on International Education (CAEI). They were joined by the Groundwater Research Center (CEPAS/USP) in presenting at the University of São Paulo and São Paulo’s State Government.
If you are interested in any of these options, please reach out to Waterloo International’s communications specialist, Tawnessa Carter, to discuss further. We would be delighted to work with you.
Up Start welcomes new cohort
Velocity and its partner WatCo are pleased to announce the first cohort accepted to Up Start. Up Start is for Waterloo students and recent graduates wanting to transform their work into real world commercial ventures. The ten projects listed below will each be awarded $15,000 in funding and will work through Up Start programming presented by Velocity and WatCo.
- Intelligent AI-driven software for anomaly detection in metal additive manufacturing –industry demonstrator
Gijs van Houtum, PhD student, Additive Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering
Mihaela Vlasea, Ph.D., Associate Research Director, Assistant Professor
A customer facing software solution that uses an adaptive machine learning (ML) model to visual image and model track objects with the ability to incorporate human feedback in real time. Currently they are working to support Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) in Multi-scale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM).
- Aqua-Cell Energy
Presented by: Keith Clelland, Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Ellsworth Bell, Faculty of Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Aqua-Cell Energy is building saltwater batteries for commercial buildings, small industrial facilities, and remote communities to store solar power and save money.
- Cortical Challenge and Recovery Test (CCaRT)
Mohammad Nazmus Sakib, MBBS MSc PhD, Faculty of Health, PostDoc
Peter Hall, Professor, School of Public Health Sciences
The cortical challenge and recovery test (CCaRT) is a next-generation cognitive assessment system involving transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and mobile neuroimaging. It enables the detection of cognitive brain disorders much earlier than self-indicated issues are investigated.
- ThermOcular
Paul Murphy, Professor; Graduate Officer, Optometry & Vision Science, BSc (Cardiff), MBA (South Wales), PhD (Glasgow Caledonian), PGCE (TLTM) Glasgow Caledonian), FCOptom, FAAO, FEAOO, FBCLA
Alexander Wong, Professor, Canada Research Chair in AI and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Engineering
Ehsan Zare Bidaki, Post Doc, Faculty of Science, Vision Science
A system and method to for imaging, segmenting, temporal and spatial tracking, and analysis of visible and infrared images of the ocular surface and eye adnexa. A thermal and a visible camera synchronously records video files from the eye surface. ThermOcular is the first system that can accurately extract corneal temperature information
- Microfluidic viscometer for measuring microliter-volume liquid samples
Wasim Kapadia, Alumni, Faculty of Engineering, MASc, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Waterloo’s Microfluidic Viscometer provides a disruptive microfluidic design and methodology that allows for the viscosity of small volumes of fluids (i.e., a few microliters) to be measured.
- Cauchy Analytics
James Lowman, PhD candidate, Faculty of Engineering
Kebert Joseph, non-University of Waterloo
Rakshit Shetty, non-University of Waterloo
Non-invasive ultrasound coupled with robotics and machine learning to continuously measure a patient's blood flow directly inside the heart. Designed as an ICU diagnostic tool that is placed on the patient at intake and provides comprehensive information to doctors and nurses continuously until discharged.
- AM Ultrasonics
Alejandro (Alex) Martinez, PhD, Faculty of Engineering, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Novel material conveyor system using an ultrasound array, that can be used instead of the nozzles typically used in metal directed energy deposition 3d printers. Lower cost and more efficient for companies. The technology allows for higher speed and quality output and simplification.
- Mechano-metamaterial spinal implants
Jonah Leinwand, Faculty of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Stewart McLachlin, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Artificial disc replacement using mechano-metamaterials that offers customization, support and mobility. Mechano-metamaterial spinal implant is a single part movement which means no wear and sharing of particles. The design allows for Polymer overprinting.
- Coastal Carbon
Thomas Storwick, Masters, Faculty of Engineering, MASc in Chemical Engineering (Nanotechnology)
Kelly Zheng, Faculty of Engineering, PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Data-as-a-service solution for companies interested in a blue carbon project. Coastal Carbon will us satellite imaging combined with in-the-water IoT sensors to create a real-time AI driven model of how much carbon a particular project produces as it grows. - Blackbird
Robert Chlumsky, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Engineering
James Craig, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Hydrologic Modelling and Analysis, Faculty of Engineering
Dr. Bryan A. Tolson, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo
A new technology method and software for hydraulic modelling to offer real-time flood mapping and flood forecasting.
Tamvoes partners with Grand River Hospital
Waterloo-based health technology startup TAMVOES, full-time founder company at Velocity, is launching a partnership at Grand River Hospital to test the company’s technology built to empower patients on their healthcare journey.
Grand River Hospital will use TAMOVES’ platform through a pilot project at one of their cancer care clinics to measure the impacts on patients and their caregivers.
TAMVOES President and Co-Founder Jessica Lunshof started the company after her own experience as caregiver to her mother and grandmother revealed inefficiencies and gaps in the continuity of care, a common problem patients and caregivers face.
The platform gives patients access to their own health care information, allowing them to track and share care plans and appointments with ease and efficiency. This will relieve patients and their caregivers from having to repeat the same information at different points in their healthcare journey and potentially prevent gaps in care.
Lunshof said TAMVOES’ connection to Grand River Hospital has been there since the company’s inception, relating to her own journey as caregiver. And Velocity’s mentorship has greatly supported the company’s growth.
“TAMVOES is at a very serious growth stage and the mentorship at Velocity has and will continue to be key for the future growth of the company,” Lunshof said. “During our three months at Velocity we have been able to focus on important shifts in business operations and development and made connections with other hospitals — the value of being at Velocity is evident and this project at Grand River Hospital is just the start.”
The pilot is funded by The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO®), a not-for-profit organization advancing health tech innovation and commercialization.
Moazam Khan, Velocity Director, Health Startups, said Jessica and her team at TAMVOES are empowering patients with a data driven solution.
“At Velocity we are proud to support founders like Jessica that are solving big problems,” Khan said. “In addition, the proximity to an innovation-driven community partner like Grand River Hospital accelerates time to market and provides early validation for our health tech founders.”