Grants and Contributions

Acquire Robotic Equipment and Build Expansion

Construct a rail-connected grain handling facility to support enhanced grain exporting by rail to expand the region's agricultural sector.

This project aims to advance the Firm's metabolomics profiling system into a scalable, high-throughput platform for clinical and precision health applications. Building on foundational work completed in the first year, the focus now shifts to upgrading lab methods and bioinformatics tools to support the processing of over 300 samples per day, validating the system with large-scale cohorts (~30,000 samples), and developing a prototype precision health platform that integrates analytics, a database, and AI-driven health assessment tools. The outcome will be a fully validated and operational system ready for commercial use in population-scale diagnostics and health monitoring.

Enhancement of Official Languages Program - Promotion of Linguistic Duality

Astronauts need to know where they are relative to their spacecraft as they move about in microgravity. The Principal Investigator (PI) team’s previous experiments demonstrated that astronauts adapt quickly to the novel perceptual environment of the International Space Station (ISS) and can reliably estimate how far they have moved in a straight-line using vision alone. However, other experiments have demonstrated that the perception of self-rotation in microgravity may be disrupted. The PI team’s proposed experiment assesses how effectively an astronaut can keep track of their starting position (their “home-base”) after experiencing a combination of linear and rotational visual information indicating motion along a three-dimensional path typical of that experienced in the ISS. Motion will be experienced passively and participants will judge the distance travelled and the direction of home-base following the motion. Keeping track of one’s home-base is a critically important skill for emergency egress or efficient travel. Understanding errors made will suggest compensatory strategies.

This study aims to promote performance, health, and well-being among astronauts aboard the ISS. To this end, the Principal Investigator (PI) team will explore the complex interplay of stress, coping strategies, meaningful work, and self-transcending emotions (e.g., gratitude, compassion, awe). By employing both pre- and post-mission questionnaires and a novel adaptation of a "daily diary" method, the PI team aims to collect prospective, concurrent, and retrospective data over the course of a long-term mission.
When considering what predicts performance, health, and well-being, the PI team focuses on two related, but distinct processes.
- The first involves successfully navigating negative experiences. Specifically, the PI team will explore how astronauts aboard the ISS cope with daily stressors.
- The second involves successfully capitalizing on positive experiences. Specifically, the PI team will explore how astronauts aboard the ISS experience self-transcendent emotions, build meaning, and grow from their daily work.

Scalium™ is an innovative, ultra-resistant aluminum-scandium alloy, originally developed by Ferreol Technologies for the alpine skiing industry. With exceptional mechanical properties, Scalium™ currently outperforms typical aluminum alloys used across various industrial sectors. Initially produced in thin sheets, the alloy has now attracted major interest in the aerospace sector, where it could significantly reduce the weight of spacecraft components. This weight reduction would in turn lower operational costs, decrease the carbon footprint of space launches, and increase the capacity to integrate additional high-value equipment.

The present project aims to adapt Scalium™ into thick plates suited to aerospace industrial requirements. Following successful preliminary laboratory tests, the goal is to develop the large-scale manufacturing process, characterize its performance, and demonstrate its feasibility to specialized companies. One concrete application would target the next generation of Canadian satellites.

With the announcement by the Canadian Government in 2023 that it is moving forward to enable space launches from Canadian soil, Canada is poised to expand its capabilities into launch and large-scale rocket propulsion. Enabling this will require expertise in the most complex, challenging aspect of rocket propulsion: the turbopump. The “heart” of any high performance rocket engine, these powerful pumps represent a capability that has never before been demonstrated in Canada. With a network of partners and industry professionals, a team of experienced volunteers, and supplemented by top students from across Canada, this project will demonstrate the first turbopump in Canada, sized for Launch Canada’s proven 1000 lb thrust rocket engine. Leveraging advanced manufacturing methods and cutting-edge software tools, it will also be the smallest turbopump in the world, extending the performance benefits of turbopumps to new applications such as lunar transport or space tugs, while training highly qualified personnel throughout the supply chain.

Through the application of national and local priorities, the CSJ program seeks to provide youth, particularly those who face barriers to employment with access to work opportunities. Funded employers must demonstrate that they are providing quality work experiences for youth that provide opportunities to develop and improve their skills.

Through the application of national and local priorities, the CSJ program seeks to provide youth, particularly those who face barriers to employment with access to work opportunities. Funded employers must demonstrate that they are providing quality work experiences for youth that provide opportunities to develop and improve their skills.