IC-IMPACTS hosted it’s 7th Annual Research Conference on June 20th and 21st, 2019, in the Ponderosa Commons Oak House Ballroom at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus. Welcoming leaders, entrepreneurs, and researchers in the areas of infrastructure, water, and public health, this conference aims to facilitate collaboration and discussion and to review current IC-IMPACTS bi-lateral research projects taking place across Canada and India.
Day one of the conference started with a welcome address from Mr. Barj Dhanan, Chairman of the Board of IC-IMPACTS, followed by two keynote presentations: Innovations in Bi-Lateral Collaborations by Mrs. Abhilasha Joshi, Consul General of India in Vancouver, and Global Public Health Through the Eyes of a Nurse, with Dr. Sally Thorne, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science, UBC.
On June 21, 2019, project overviews were given from each of IC-IMPACTS’ three core themes.
Projects in Public Health
Moderated by Dr. Stewart Aitchison, University of Toronto, Theme Lead for Public Health
- Stewart Aitchison (University of Toronto) on A Portable Fever Kit for Dengue and Chikungaya
- Stephanie Yanow (University of Alberta) on A Point-of-Care Device for Malaria Diagnosis and Drug Resistance Genotyping
- Aaron Yurkewich (University of Toronto) on Design2Impact: Uniting Researchers, Makers, and Spinal Cord Injury Survivors through Open-Source Technology
- Teresa Chung (Simon Fraser University) on Development of Portable Spine MEG Scanner for Real Time Spinal Functional Evaluation and DataAcquisition
Projects in Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure
Moderated by Dr. Nemy Banthia, IC-IMPACTS & the University of British Columbia, Theme Lead for Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure
- Nemy Banthia (IC-IMPACTS & UBC) on High Fracture Toughness, Durable Concrete with Minimized Carbon Footprint Employing Large Amounts of Industrial Wastes
- Amer Sabsabi (presenting for Dr. Maged. Youssef, Western University) on Improving Fire Safety of Structures Through the Development of Fire Retardant Laminated Glass Glazing
- Raja Sengupta (McGill University) on Urban Heat Island Effect and Building Energy Demand: Linkages Explained using a Dense, Low-Cost Sensor Network
- Oh-Sung Kwon (University of Toronto) and Dr. Dipti Ranjan Sahoo (IIT-Delhi) on Assessment of Fire Performance of Structural ElementsandStructural Systems Through Conventional Fire Tests and Hybrid Fire Simulation
- Rishi Gupta (University of Victoria) on Full Field Non-Contract SHM Protocols for Long Span Railway Bridges and Heritage Structures
- Ashutosh Bagchi (Concordia University) and Dr. K. Srinivas Reddy (IIT-Madras) on SHM of Tall Buildings Using Vibration-Based Techniques
Projects in Integrated Water Management
Moderated by Dr. Damase Khasa, Université Laval, Theme Lead for Integrated Water Management
- Damase Khasa (Université Laval) on Biomonitoring Water Quality in Relation to Human Health Using Biosensors and Improvements through Nanoparticle Based Purification Systems
- Naoko Ellis (UBC) on Development of Captive Deionization Technology for Point-of-Use Water Purification
- Shriv Prasher (McGill University) on An Innovative Green Technology for Treating Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Entering Rivers and Streams – Part I
- Ramesh Rudra (University of Guelph) on An Innovative Green Technology for Treating Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Entering Rivers and Streams – Part II
- Vivek Kumar (IIT-Delhi)
The 2019 Research Conference was a great success, and IC-IMPACTS sincerely thanks all attendees for their participation. After a number of powerful presentations on current research projects and important dialogue on the implementation of technologies in Canada and India, IC-IMPACTS looks forward to continuing to support the deployment of technologies and finding new ways to commercialize innovations in both countries.
See more photos from this event here.
