Research profiles

What do the Canadian Olympic Snowboarding Team, the Canadian Coast Guard and people with multiple sclerosis have in common? They are all benefiting from research conducted at the Environmental Ergonomics Laboratory at Brock University. There, researchers are studying the impacts of extreme temperatures on the human body. To date, these findings have already enabled more accurate predictions of search and rescue survival times, supported the creation of more effective life-saving equipment, and have helped to reduce heat stress during exercise for people with multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects an estimated 65,000 Canadians.

Université de Sherbrooke researchers have developed a composite-materials technology for replacing steel that has the potential to quadruple the serviceable life of concrete structures. These more durable fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebars are considerably less expensive than steel reinforced rods and their structural properties can be preserved for 100 years or more, whereas steel reinforced concrete starts deteriorating after 10 to 15 years. Most recently, in a collaborative project with Public Works and Government Services Canada, FRP rods have been used in underground parking facilities in Gatineau with similar projects planned for Montreal and Quebec City.

Researchers at the Institut national de recherche scientifique’s doping control laboratory perform routine drug tests for more than 12,000 professional athletes each year including members of the NHL. Research in the area of organic chemistry have led the team to develop more accurate methods for conducting drug tests using blood and urine samples. Their leading edge work also contributed to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to establish headquarters in Montreal in 2002, and in 2010, this research team oversaw all drug tests for the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Researchers at McGill, Concordia, the Wilfrid Laurier and the University of Lethbridge have designed an interactive web-based program, Abracadabra, which is improving literacy across Canada. This free tool offers resources for teachers, is fun and engaging for children struggling to learn to read, and is now in use around the world.

In 1989, the I.H. Asper School of Business opened The Centre for Entrepreneurship to increase awareness about entrepreneurship and its importance to the Canadian economy by reaching out to the local community through non-traditional means. In 2008, it was renamed the Stu Clark Centre, but the mandate didn’t change. Now, in 2010, The Centre has helped launch more than two dozen businesses, including one currently listed on the TSX. The Centre also runs the Curry BizCamp, which targets underprivileged youth with behavioural challenges. Using real life problems, the BizCamp builds their individual self-confidence, and provides them with options for dealing with life’s issues. More than 1,300 students have participated in the program since 1998, and the model is now being adopted in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa, Israel, the West Bank and the Philippines.