Grants and Contributions

Research on flexible and stretchable electronics can bring about new materials with light weight, mechanical flexibility and durability, allowing simple device integration, along with low-cost and processability. They can be used in a wide range of applications such as flexible displays, energy generation and storage, E-textiles , sensors, especially in the field of sensors, health care and smart human-machine interface. Innovation of material design, synthesis, and fabrication holds the key to the development in this area and the biggest challenge is to allow the entire electronic system to be bent and stretched. Printed electronics is an emerging technology that enables printing of processable materials (organic, inorganic and hybrid) and electronic devices. The project proposes a new strategy to design and test new molecular ink formulation to achieve elastomer enhancement of such materials and devices. The new printable molecular ink will incorporate monomers and photo-initiators. UV irradiation will allow a photopolymerization process to produce elastomers incorporating conductive traces with enhanced stretchability. This process will enable the incorporation of a selection of desirable amount of elastomer monomers into inks that were previously unattainable because it is only limited by the solubility of elastomer polymers in the ink carrier solutions. The new materials are expected to improve the general performance of wearable electronic devices so that sport garments and personal healthcare devices can remain functional following repeated stretching cycles. The development of the molecular ink will differentiate the new technology from competitors and lead to future commercialization of the products. Young researchers will be trained for the research and development of new materials and new technology in the project.

To emulate neural networks, it is essential to reproduce the functions of biological synapses in physical devices that could be fabricated on a larger scale. artificial synapses will be developed using printable materials made of carbon nanotubes and photoactive dyes. The synapses will consist of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as the active channel material and a layer sensitive to light to impart synaptic weight control and potentiation / depression ability through optical and electrical gating. This structure is called an optically-gated carbon nanotube network field-effect transistor (OG-CNN-FET). The main task will be to develop the photoactive materials that will be incorporated into OG-CNN-FETs and thus to create a library of various photoactive materials inks. The optical properties of the SWCNT-photoactive materials system will be tested to optimizie the synapses and to better understand their physical interaction.

The goal of this project is to develop alginate-based bioinks tailored for specific applications in bioprinting of complex 3D tissue models . These efforts will represent a continuation of recent work carried out by this team. The effects of different base alginate materials and cross-linking strategies on the mechanical properties of the resulting hydrogels will be tested. Hydrogels serve as the structural component for the spatial delivery of cells in bioprinted tissues. Their mechanical properties can impact cell responses and tissue construct integrity. The alginate molecules will also be modified to include biochemical signals that can be recognized by cells and direct their responses. This work will enable the ability to control the mechanical and biochemical environment of cells in bioprinted tissues. Development of the bioink toolkit will be done via an iterative process to address the needs of the fabrication and testing of the 3D tissue models.

Photonic generation and transmission of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals has attracted strong interest for future fiber-wireless integrated optical access networks, such as 5G and beyond for IoT-oriented ubiquitous connectivity and smart mobility. NRC has recently demonstrated InAs/InP quantum-dot multi-wavelength lasers (QD-MWLs), which allows for a development of heterogeneously integrated mm-wave photonic front-haul systems, thus creating unique broadband and high-speed wireline-wireless interfaces. The Polytechnique Montreal team will work on the mm-wave antennas for interface-related signal transmission and reception in the proposed fiber-wireless integrated front-haul with focus on three objectives. First, Polytechnique Montreal will explore broadband and dual-band antennas compatible with high-permittivity semiconductors and electro-optical devices will be investigated and developed. Then they will study and design dual-band integrated antenna arrays for photonic integration. Finally, the team will explore and demonstrate beam-diversified antenna arrays with photonic generation, wireless transmission, and coherent detection of mobile signals.

Adeno-associated virus production is typically carried out by transient transfection of 293 cells. It is therefore important to identify the molecular pathways in these cells that are critical for high-level viral production. This project will thus undertake a genome-wide screen for such host genes. The experimental strategy relies upon the up-regulation of cellular genes by CRISPR-dCasa and identification of those genes, whose overexpression results in an increase in AAV production. The long-term goal of this project would be to use this valuable information to genetically engineer 293SF-3F6 cells with the aim of generating a producer cell that has the ability to support high-level AAV production

The objective of this two-year project is the construction of a new generation of inducible packaging cell line based on the HEK293 cell line for the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV). This would allow for a cheaper and more efficient method of production than the currently existing method, possibly yielding higher titers of AAVs.

Bioreactors play major role in manufacturing processes of biologics. While their design has been well documented for traditional fermentations for production of simple biomolecules, their use for production of complex biologics using eukaryotic systems such as HEK-293 human cells remains very empirical. Biologics production in bioreactors is performed in a high dimensional design space requiring a high and broad level of expert knowledge not necessary captured systematically in the prevailing scientific and technical literature. Additionally, biological products such as exosomes and viral vectors (AAV) are complex biological structures that have demonstrated recently significant value in the treatment of a number of cancers and hereditary diseases. Their manufacturing in bioreactor at scale in quantity and quality that meets the preclinical and clinical needs significantly limits their use and growth potential as therapeutic tools. This create an opportunity to integrate the expert knowledge accumulated in the databases and exploit the advances in AI to accelerate the design and optimization of the production of these two key biologics (exosomes and AAV) through the implementation and operation of a digital-twin bioreactor connected to a physical bioreactor using a series of sensors in constant communication and feed-back.
This project will focus on AI and machine learning for development of insillico digital twin.

In the context of the shutdown of firms' activities and their production chain, a consequence of the measures taken by governments to stop the spread of COVID-19, Corporation Inno-Centre offers an effective and collaborative intervention method aimed at achieving a short-term impact. Personalized expert intervention per SME.

A contribution to support the implementation to deliver an underground infrastructure for Victoria that is substantially resilient to known natural hazards.

The objective of this two-year project is the construction of a new generation of inducible packaging cell line based on the HEK293 cell line for the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV). This would allow for a cheaper and more efficient method of production than the currently existing method, possibly yielding higher titers of AAVs.