Monday, April 24, 2023 – In a joint effort, IC-IMPACTS, Department of Science and Technology (DST, India), and Department of Biotechnology (DBT, India) announce the results of the join Call for Proposals in Building Resilient and Carbon-Neutral Communities Post COVID.

Under a bilateral MoU between DBT, DST, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), an India-Canada Joint Call on “Building Resilient and Carbon-Neutral Communities Post Covid” was announced on July 15, 2022 seeking applications in the areas of Infrastructure, Water, Agritech and Food Security, and Health – Post COVID Health Issues and Long COVID. The Call closed on September 14, 2022.

Under this Call, IC-IMPACTS received 134 eligible applications which were independently evaluated by a Joint Review Committee, comprised of representatives and independent external reviewers from India and Canada, followed by matchmaking of list of proposals recommended from both the sides to the Selection Committee.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of these exciting new projects which are poised to make a positive impact on communities in Canada and India. Indeed, this is only made possible by the collective effort and dedication of our colleagues in India and we are thankful to both DBT and DBT for making this possible.

Dr. Nemy Banthia,
CEO and Scientific Director, IC-IMPACTS
University Killam Professor, UBC

The following 19 proposals have been awarded funding from both sides:

  1. Valorization of CO2 to Fuel over MOFs derived SACs: A Machine Learning Guided Experimental Approach
    Canadian PI: Ali Seifitokaldani, McGill University
    Indian PI: Sounak Roy, Birla Institute Technology and Science
  2. Multifunctional Composites and Structural Health Monitoring for Smart Concrete Structures
    Canadian PI: Martin Noel, University of Ottawa
    Indian PI: Durai Prabhakaran, IIT-Jammu
  3. A Data-driven Simulation-based Machine Learning Optimisation (SML-Opt) Framework to Support Net Zero Energy Building Retrofits in Canadian and Indian Contexts
    Canadian PI: Elie Azar, Carleton University
    Indian PI: Albert Thomas, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
  4. Manufacturing Sustainable and Carbon Neutral Steel Structures for Construction Industry using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM): Static, Dynamic and Fatigue Characterization
    Canadian PI: Philippe Bocher, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)
    Indian PI: Lakshmi Narayan Ramasubramanian, IIT-Delhi
  5. Sustainable Earthquake-Resistant 3D-Printed Concrete Housing: From Laboratory Testing to Industrial Application
    Canadian PI: Vahid Sadeghian, Carleton University
    Indian PI: Biranchi Panda, IIT-Guwahati
  6. Remoulding Existing Buildings into Smart Carbon Neutral Buildings: A Green Cyber Physical Approach (Green-CPS)
    Canadian PI: Kuljeet Kaur, École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS)
    Indian PI: Mukesh Singh, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET)
  7. Blockchain Based Multi-Layer Energy Management System for Smart Buildings
    Canadian PI: Kankar Bhattacharya, University of Waterloo
    Indian PI: Rohit Bhakar, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
  8. Next Generation Epidemiological Models for Accurate Predictions of Future Pandemic Waves: Integrating Sewer Simulations with Public Health Information using Machine-Learning Algorithms
    Canadian PI: Ajay Ray, Western University
    Indian PI: Sridharakumar Narasimhan, IIT-Madras
  9. Phosphorous Recovery from Wastewater for Safeguarding Global Phosphorous Sustainability and Food Security: Denitrifying Phosphorous Accumulating Organisms (DPAOs) Have the Merits
    Canadian PI: Qiuyan Yuan, University of Manitoba
    Indian PI: Prangya Ranjan Rout, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology
  10. Reconfigurable Platform for Rapid Autonomous Quantification of Pathogens in Wastewater using PCB Electrode-Based Assays
    Canadian PI: Richa Pandey, University of Calgary
    Indian PI: Siddharth Tallur, IIT-Bombay
  11. Climate Change Impacts on the Riverine Thermal and Flow Environments Under Diverse Climates of India and Canada
    Canadian PI: Taha Ouarda, INRS
    Indian PI: Shaik Rehana, International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad
  12. Machine Learning Methods for Water Quality Estimation and Control in Water Resource Recovery Facilities: Towards Circular Economy and Sustainability
    Canadian PI: Peter Vanrolleghem, Université Laval
    Indian PI: Seshagiri Rao Ambati, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE)
  13. Understanding the Impact of Climate Change and Land Use Change on the Groundwater Resources in the Future Using Deep Learning Models with Focus on Data Scarce Regions
    Canadian PI: Jan Franklin Adamowski, Mcgill University
    Indian PI: Dr. R.Maheswaran Rathinasamy, IIT Hyderabad
  14. GBM-CLIMPACT: Development of an End-to-End Modeling and Analysis Toolset to Assess Climate Impact and Readiness of Water Sector in the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Basins
    Canadian PI: Martyn Clark, University of Saskatchewan
    Indian PI: Manabendra Saharia, IIT-Delhi
  15. Methylotrophs Driven Bioconversion of C1 Compounds to Carotenoids for Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas, Enhancing Nutrient Uptake and Alleviation of UV Radiation Stress in Agriculture
    Canadian PI: Sina Adl, University of Saskatchewan
    Indian PI: Santosh Mohanty, Indian Institute of Soil Science
  16. Trash is Cash – Turning Unmerchantable Crop and Forest Residues into High-Value, Carbon-Negative Fertilizers for Regenerative Farming in Rural Communities
    Canadian PI: Anthony Lau, The University of British Columbia
    Indian PI: Sonal Thengane, IIT-Roorkee
  17. An UltraSensitive Plant-Care Monitoring System with Quantitative and Real-Time Data Analysis
    Canadian PI: Nazir Kherani, University of Toronto
    Indian PI: Prashant Mishra, IIT-Delhi
  18. Understanding and Exploiting the Role of Eukaryotic Energy Sensor TOR Kinase in Enhancing Thermotolerance and Drought Resistance in Model and Crop Plants
    Canadian PI: Leon Kochian, University of Saskatchewan
    Indian PI: Ashverya Laxmi, National Institute of Plant Genome Research
  19. Intelligent Portable Ultrasound Imaging-Based Continuous Lung and Heart Monitoring System for Post-COVID19 Assessment
    Canadian PI: Abhilash Rakkunedeth Hareendranathan, University of Alberta
    Indian PI: Mahesh Raveendranatha Panicker, IIT-Palakkad