Seneca Applied Research Newsletter

April 2024

Hello,

The first quarter has been a flurry of activity, with Applied Research submitting six grant proposals worth a total of about $2 million. That includes four Community Social Innovation Fund grants, from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. It’s the highest number of submissions in a year that we’ve made for the program and it’s a reflection of our commitment to foster leading-edge solutions through collaboration.

While we continue to seek and apply for funding to work on projects with our partners, we are also keen to collaborate with other organizations on their own proposals. Please reach out if you’d like to discuss how we may be able to help you. Seneca Applied Research offers expertise, research and funding in a wide range of fields including technology, life sciences and business.

Our highly qualified faculty, staff and students have a wealth of experience and potential. In March, we celebrated International Women’s Day and used our social channels to highlight some of the women who make up 45 per cent of our research leaders. We are extremely proud of them and look forward to increasing their numbers in the months ahead.

You can learn more about our projects and plans by following us on social.

Best wishes,

Namrata Barai

Director, Research Partnerships

NEW PROJECTS

TGT Solutions Inc., based in Stratford, about 150 kilometres west of Toronto, specializes in technology-driven solutions, offering highly specialized products and services. The company wants to develop an AI-based tool for manufacturing companies to analyze large datasets, from sources such as production equipment and quality records. The company is partnering with Dr. Uzair Ahmad, Professor, School of Software Design & Data Science, and a team of student researchers on the project, focusing on predicting equipment downtime. The research team will use datasets provided by Memex, TGT’s partner company, and a low-code/no-code AI platform called mlOS, provided by Braintoy.

Duration: five months

Seneca Principal Investigator: Dr. Ahmad

The CAA Club Group of Companies provides roadside assistance insurance and travel services to more than 2.3 million members of the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) in Manitoba and the south central region of Ontario. It’s working with Mark Buchner, Professor, School of Information Technology & Security and researchers to explore how AI programs like ChatGPT could lead to the misuse of private information. The team will examine and test Open AI, the research and commercial applications company behind ChatGPT, Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service and other vendors to understand systems architecture and security measures by analyzing risk and how to mitigate potential problems. The goal is to provide recommendations to safeguard sensitive information and prevent intellectual property leaks and threats. The research is being done with a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada – Applied Research and Technology Partnership grant.

Duration: three months

Seneca Principal Investigator: Mr. Buchner

Toronto Children's Services promotes access to early learning and child-care services to meet the diverse needs of families and children. It has partnered with Barbara Pytka, Professor, School of Early Childhood Education, to research methods to facilitate the collection of sociodemographic information about those who use licensed group centres and home child care. Identifying best practices to collect high quality data will ultimately lead to a better understanding of which families are accessing child care, who benefits from the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement and who is being left behind. The anticipated results of this project will lay the groundwork to advance equity in the sector.

Duration: six months

Seneca Principal Investigator: Ms. Pytka

APPLIED RESEARCH AT SENECA (April 2023 - March 2024)

UPCOMING FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND EVENTS

Seneca Polytechnic at DiscoveryX

When: April 17 and 18

Come visit us at the DiscoveryX conference hosted by the Ontario Centre of Innovation. This two-day event brings together innovators, researchers, government and industry leaders from around the province to share ideas, build partnerships and learn about the latest developments. Please drop by our booths featuring some of our remarkable work across a range of sectors. The conference is being held at the Enercare Centre, 100 Princes’ Blvd., Exhibition Place, Toronto.

NSERC College and Community Social Innovation Fund

Notice of intent deadline: April 19

The NSERC College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF) is an externally funded grant that supports well-defined and focused projects undertaken by Seneca faculty with their partners from the public, private or non-profit sectors. CCSIF grants are intended to foster community innovation by connecting the talent, facilities and capabilities of Canada’s colleges, CEGEPs and polytechnics with the research needs of local organizations. If you have an idea for a project, please reach out to us.

Seneca Applied Research SCILS Symposium

When: June 13

Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming Seneca Applied Research Symposium hosted by the Seneca Centre for Innovation in Life Sciences (SCILS). This event will showcase our commitment to research in the life sciences sector. Attendees can expect insights from industry leaders during the keynote address, explore some of the projects we have been working on and join in breakout sessions with peers. Check our website for updates.

NGen invests up to $35 million on sustainable manufacturing

Project screening deadline: June 26

NGen, an industry-led, manufacturing non-profit, is one of five national cluster networks supported by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Its Sustainable Manufacturing Challenge invites proposals aimed at accelerating cleantech to improve the environmental sustainability of the country’s industry. NGen will invest up to $35 million of Global Innovation Cluster funding and is seeking more than $65 million from industry to launch collaborative projects valued at more than $100 million.

Capstone project opportunity

When: September

Students from the Bachelor of Engineering (Software Engineering) degree program will be available to partner with industry on capstone projects this September. This is an opportunity for students and companies to work together on real world challenges. If your organization is looking for people with the latest training in areas such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, data mining, machine learning and applied mathematics, please email us at research@senecapolytechnic.ca .

SENECA APPLIED RESEARCH NEWS

Research aims to bring pay-on-demand to restaurant employees

AI research helps students and companies get ahead

Getting it right under the high-tech microscope

From disparity to dialogue: A conversation with Adenike Adesanmi, Professor, Seneca Business

In case you missed it: February's Applied Research info session

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