2021-2022 Cohort of Parex Innovation Fellows

Dr. Chen’s research areas include carbon capture and storage, cyclic steam stimulation, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), expanding solvent SAGD, vapour extraction for heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs, hydraulic fracturing for shale, tight oil and gas, and coal bed methane. Through his research program, Dr. Chen will develop a state-of-the-art reservoir simulation toolkit to improve current modelling and simulation processes for enhanced oil recovery.

Industry focused challenges provide a crucial foundation for innovation. In collaboration with IRC industry partners and his research team, Dr. Chen has developed a powerful thermal reservoir simulator PARSIM. This is the first parallel thermal simulator worldwide to run full-field thermal simulations on thousands of CPUs simultaneously. It has been field tested with thousands of wells and billions of reservoir grid blocks with excellent scalability. Cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality/augmented reality visualization tools, and quantum computing are being incorporated into PARSIM to enhance traditional physics-based simulation techniques. This has resulted in optimized workflows, improved performance measures for large-scale reservoir simulations, and reduced time to perform vast simulations.

Within the next two years, Dr. Chen will have a fully functioning and commercialized simulation platform available for industry use. To achieve this goal, Dr. Chen will work with industry partners to develop a commercialization plan that incorporates a software licensing model to generate revenues. As well, Dr. Chen will collaborate with his network of energy producers to provide additional channels to support commercialization efforts. To ensure the platform is ready for commercialization, industry partners are conducting additional tests, validating results, and providing feedback to improve the platform’s technology.

Additionally, Dr. Chen will help launch a student-led start-up to work with industry to continue developing the PARSIM simulation platform. It’s expected this start-up will be a global leader in providing industry with a simulation platform encompassing fast parallel solvers for the solution of large-scale algebraic systems equations. Students involved with the start-up will gain valuable experience related to business development, commercialization processes, and access to industry expertise. 

While the development and commercialization of the PARSIM simulation platform will initially be used for reservoir simulations, it can also be applied to other industrial sectors such as: modelling and simulation for air pollution control, water quality management, carbon capture sequestrations (CCS), lithium extraction, and geothermal.

Funding from the Innovation Fellowship will be used to train and mentor a new PhD student to manage research and business objectives focused on commercializing the PARSIM simulation platform. Under Dr. Chen’s leadership, this student will have an opportunity to be part of the student-led start-up and will collaborate with industry partners to develop and improve the simulation software. As well, they will work closely with Dr. Chen’s research team and provide opportunities for team members to participate in commercializing research of a high-impact software product.

Internationally renowned in chemical and petroleum engineering research, Dr. Chen holds twenty-eight patented technologies related to petroleum recovery and reservoir simulation worldwide. An IP application for the PARSIM simulation platform is being developed and will include quantum algorithms, AI techniques, and virtual and augmented reality tools. Among numerous accolades, Dr. Chen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering Institute of Canada, and has received the Killam Professor Award, NSERC’s Synergy Award for Innovation, Fields-CAIMS (Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society) Prize, and Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) Outstanding Leader Award.

Quote from Dr. Zhangxing (John) Chen:

"The Parex Innovation Fellowship will enable me to mentor and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurial students and leaders, with the chance to improve current modelling and simulation techniques for enhanced oil recovery. The application of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality/augmented reality visualization tools, and quantum computing in the techniques will be an economic driver in Canada and worldwide."

Dr. Curiel’s research concentrates on therapeutic development and design of ultrasound technology, known as focused ultrasound (FUS). Most recently, her research has focused on user-centred design approaches to improve FUS devices’ utilization. Outcomes from this work, have led to the development of pre-clinical FUS devices that integrate functional imaging to increase the adoption of FUS technology by non-traditional user groups.

Dr. Curiel’s academic career demonstrates a strong connection between research and innovation. She has been granted three patents leading to the commercialization of FUS therapy devices and imaging guidance techniques. Two designs have been successfully assigned to companies who are currently commercializing FUS therapy devices for prostate cancer treatment (Ablatherm II) and perioperative surgery. The Ablatherm II device has obtained 510(k) clearance for clinical use at a global scale. A third patent for an imaging guidance technique for FUS is also being commercialized.

In 2019, Dr. Curiel and her colleagues from the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, were issued a patent for their multiaxial ultrasound transducer technology based on a multiaxial driving discovery. This innovative technology changes the way piezoelectric materials are driven by applying two orthogonal electrical fields with a phase difference versus the traditional single electrical field. Multiaxial driving improves energy conversion, decreases coercivity and energy dissipation during operation, and through specific element arrangements reduces the focal size of the array by up to ten times. These results have been validated numerically and experimentally and supported through MaRS Discovery District (formerly MaRS Innovation) and Innovate Calgary.

Based on these results and commercialization potential, the team founded NovusTX Devices. The start-up will focus on design, development, and fabrication of multiaxial transducers for low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) devices. They have been granted a patent for the multiaxial driving technique and have filed a provisional patent application.

Funding from the Parex Innovation Fellowship will be used to hire a student intern with a business background to assist NovusTX Devices CEO and CTO with ongoing business activities. This position will complete a comprehensive market analysis for the LIFU multiaxial device, collaborate with the CEO to update the current business plan, and follow-up with expert advisors to incorporate feedback where needed.

Outcomes from the market analysis will highlight potential markets for expansion or licensing, provide data needed to appropriately valuate the preclinical device niche market, and identify possible investors. The student intern will have a unique opportunity to be part of a medical technology start-up and gain valuable business experience within the innovation ecosystem. Not only will they benefit from Dr. Curiel’s expertise, but they will also have access to her extensive network of researchers from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and other leaders from the biomedical field.

Dr. Curiel will continue investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs through learning outcomes, and outreach and mentorship opportunities. Starting Fall 2021, her Fundamentals of Biomedical Devices and Applications course will include a new entrepreneurial component. Students will explore and find solutions to an unmet biomedical, develop a business plan, and pitch their ideas to the class. Dr. Curiel will also incorporate her entrepreneurial experiences into outreach and mentorship activities. In particular, she will continue her work to develop student leadership skills and encourage more women to participate in the biomedical engineering field.

Quote from Dr. Laura Curiel:

"The Parex Innovation Fellowship will allow me to continue my journey to advance innovation in therapeutic ultrasound for brain disorders and share this entrepreneurial experience with my students and my team. I look forward to advancing the venture by getting new students involved in this work."

Dr. Eaton’s research focuses on induced (anthropogenic) earthquakes, characterized by tremor activity associated with enhanced hydrocarbon recovery and seismicity, with a secondary emphasis on deep lithospheric structure of continents. Research in this area is important to address knowledge gaps in understanding induced seismicity along with its associated risks, and to provide solutions to improve monitoring processes and mitigation outcomes.

Dr. Eaton leads an academic and research practice committed to collaboration, innovation, and mentorship. Through the Microseismic Industry Consortium (MIC), he co-leads an initiative that has transformed how researchers, and industry and government stakeholders understand the impacts of induced microseismic activity related to resource development. In 2020, MIC received NSERC’s Synergy Award for Innovation as a model for effective partnerships between industry and academia. Responding to recommendations from stakeholders, Dr. Eaton developed a capstone course titled “Emerging Technologies, Entrepreneurial Thinking and Disruptive Innovation in Geoscience”. This course offers students the opportunity to work on a technically rigorous project, pitch their ideas to a panel of investors and industry experts, and gain insights into the innovation ecosystem.

Current efforts to analyze the risks associated with induced seismicity caused by fluid injection and to develop scientific-based mitigation strategies are hindered because of inconsistent numerical modelling that ignores the complexity of the slip process. Knowing if the slip is seismic or aseismic is important when estimating the maximum magnitude and seismic hazard associated with a range of anthropogenic activities, including hydraulic fracturing and carbon dioxide storage.

To address this challenge, Dr. Eaton and his team have developed a software platform focused on the deployment of a rate-state frictional constitutive model for faults. Offered as a computational risk assessment and mitigation toolbox, it is the only software platform to use novel computer codes to perform realistic simulations of the entire process from fluid injection to fault slip. Outcomes from this research have resulted in the submission of six disclosures for inventions and a provisional patent application for the software platform which form the technological foundation for a new start-up ASEISMIC Solutions Inc. (ASEISMIC).

Since its creation in 2019, ASEISMIC has been offering consulting services that deliver risk assessments and mitigation plans for geothermal and oil & gas operators. Using components of the current software platform, they provide data-driven information focused on reducing damage to local populations and infrastructure, limiting environmental impacts and social risks, and providing improved financial asset valuations. Deploying the technology in real-word situations has prompted discussions to commercialize the toolbox and ASEISMIC is well positioned to bring this toolbox to market for wide-spread use.

This Innovation Fellowship provides crucial funding for Dr. Eaton’s team to continue developing their software platform for commercialization. Translating existing research codes and integrating them into a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) will offer an innovative software solution that can be integrated with pre-existing software packages – not currently available in the marketplace. Furthermore, this will give Dr. Eaton time to apply for additional project funding to complete the minimal viable product (MVP) assessment and to submit further IP applications. Having a completed MVP assessment and additional IP applications would improve the ability to attract external investment for ASEISMIC Solutions Inc. and to support research innovations and commercialization for their software platform.

Quote from Dr. David Eaton:

"As society moves toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative to mitigate risks such as induced earthquakes. The Parex Innovation Fellowship will enhance the development of transformative software, established using a wealth of data from Canada’s oil and gas industry, to reduce earthquake risks associated with geothermal and carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiatives around the globe.”

Dr. Lee’s current research focuses on applying innovative Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies to assess, measure, and quantify the accessibility of social and physical environments to bolster community impacts in healthy aging. With an emphasis on improving the quality of life for older adults, Dr. Lee examines the impacts social and built environments have on greying populations, while considering individual well-being and the ability for individuals to age in place.

Dr. Lee’s research project titled Communities of Concerns for Older Adults (CoCOA) in Calgary, is an innovative study combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to develop best practices to determine community viability for aging populations. Through a partnership with the City of Calgary, Dr. Lee’s research identified twenty-six super-aged communities, where more than twenty percent of the population were aged sixty-five and older. Quantitative results came from employing GIS applications to analyze civic census data to determine a community’s accessibility patterns for health, social and daily services via transit or walkability. Furthermore, a qualitative counterpart to this study will include personal narratives by community residents that explore their perceptions and experiences of aging in their community and the community resources required to continue living in their own homes. When complete, the study will provide evidence-based information for policy development, city planning, and practice interventions the City of Calgary can use in reassessing and applying to its Age-Friendly Calgary Strategy.

This Innovation Fellowship will allow Dr. Lee to build research capacity for this study and support innovation and entrepreneurship within her teaching practice. As an emerging research methodology, Dr. Lee will train, and mentor highly qualified personnel (HPQ) interested in learning how to apply GIS technology in social work research. With a focus on technology transfer, Dr. Lee and her research team will pursue partnerships with industry, investors, and organization like Innovate Calgary and the University of Calgary’s Hunter Hub to develop a prototype and explore commercialization opportunities; this includes developing an app using GIS data from the CoCOA study to assist aging populations to better navigate their communities.

Ensuring students in the Faculty of Social Work have opportunities to engage in social innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr. Lee will develop the faculty’s first social entrepreneurship course and the first social enterprise speakers’ event. The speakers’ event will include local, national, and global experts involved in social entrepreneurship within the social work field. These initiatives will give students and faculty opportunities to connect with those interested in entrepreneurial activities, while establishing a social innovation and entrepreneurial culture within the Faculty of Social Work.

Quote from Dr. Yeonjung Lee:

"The Parex Innovation Fellowship will provide me and students an opportunity for exploring how ‘social’ science can be innovative, and entrepreneurial in a way of making a positive impact on society and solving one of the world’s eminent challenges in the area of aging populations and their health."

Dr. Ruhe is a software engineer working in the field of decision support, where he leads a research team whose primary aim is to establish and demonstrate scientific excellence in Software Engineering Decision Support (SEDS). His research and innovation practice focuses on development, testing, evaluation, and implementation of software systems in a broad range of domains such as health, energy, finance, and logistics. His research outcomes are directed towards applicability using empirical evidence-based approaches to evaluate software products and services.

Dr. Ruhe’s academic career showcases how collaborations between academia and industry can strengthen outcomes to benefit society. Prior to joining the University of Calgary in 2001, he was instrumental in the development and evolution of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (Fraunhofer IESE). As the institute’s deputy director, he established the current model for engagement between industry and the software engineering field by creating collaborative projects and securing funding opportunities.

His pioneering paper on software release planning has defined a new agenda within the software engineering field and resulted in a Canadian and US patent being issued to him for this innovative advancement. Translating pioneering research into impact, Dr. Ruhe founded the University of Calgary start-up Expert Decision Inc. (EDI). This subscription-based service offers organizations access to platform tools to optimize product development and portfolio management. Efforts to support the 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfire resulted in developing MAPFEAT technology to extract essential information from textual documents (social media) and map them to app functionality. Since its development, over twenty companies have initiated discussions to collaborate with Dr. Ruhe and his team on this project, including AppArmor, who specializes in developing custom mobile safety apps and emergency notification systems in North America and Australia.

Since arriving in Canada, Dr. Ruhe has received over three million dollars (CND) in research funding from industry, and provincial and federal governments; funding mostly used to develop and commercialize innovative software engineering technologies like product release management, requirements elicitation from social media, and the ROI of Machine Learning classification.

According to Dr. Ruhe, entrepreneurial specific education is critical for start-ups coming from an academic environment. He will use his Innovation Fellowship to develop an online Mentoring Service and Tool Support program for software start-ups to guide them from ideation through to the development of an actual usable product or service. Through this program, students will have access to resources from Dr. Ruhe’s professional affiliations like the International Software Product Management Association (ISPMA). As an important touch point for start-ups, Dr. Ruhe will expand ISPMA-based education and training by offering customized syllabi for start-ups focused on best practices for product management. Furthermore, entrepreneurs will have access to the VeryBestChoice decision tool allowing them to focus on product innovation, return-on-investment (ROI), and the implementation of new features to define their unique selling proposition (USP).

Delivering a product or service to match the specific needs of various clients is essential to success. Drawing on his own experience, Dr. Ruhe will create and facilitate a two-day workshop focused on training and tool support to develop ‘the right product’ versus developing the product ‘the right way’. Offered annually through the Hunter Hub, this workshop aims to reduce the risk and uncertainty faced by entrepreneurs by validating their innovation ideas through continuous experimentation (CE) while incorporating changes and updates to products or services based on metrics and consumer feedback.

Quote from Dr. Guenther Ruhe:

"I am thrilled to receive this fellowship. The Parex Innovation Fellowship allows me to intensify my research to look at the Return-on-Investment of Machine Learning (“Going beyond Accuracy”) and facilitate applying the results with a focus on entrepreneurial projects."

Dr. Zamponi’s research addresses how ion channels and receptors contribute to neurological disorders such as chronic pain, with the goal of developing strategies to regulate ion channel function for therapeutic intervention. As well, his work deciphers the structural and functional connection of brain circuits that control sensory and emotional components of pain.

It is estimated that moderate to severe chronic pain impacts 1.5 billion people around the world. While current pain therapies provide patients with varying degrees of relief, many of these treatments lack efficacy and cause adverse side-effects. Therefore, there is a pressing need for new types of therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Zamponi and his research team have identified a new molecular target for chronic pain states that regulates the T-type calcium channels. Based on this discovery, he co-founded Zymedyne Therapeutics Inc. (Zymedyne), a University of Calgary start-up focused on developing the next generation of non-opioid based analgesics. Further research resulted in the team developing an ELISA based high throughput screen assay that identified a novel pharmacophore which his research team is working on refining into a druggable molecule. Not only does this technology constitute an entirely novel therapeutic approach in chronic pain management, but it is truly innovative because it targets the mechanism that is selectively engaged in pain states at the molecular level. This approach to precision therapeutics to treat chronic pain has substantial commercial value and provides a solution to an unmet medical need for patients with these conditions.

Outcomes from this research have resulted in multiple patents being issued in the US, Canada, and Europe to Dr. Zamponi based on this therapeutic target mechanism. Also, Zymedyne has received over $950 K in research funding to continue drug development and to explore commercial applications for their technology. This includes support from a Life Sciences Innovation Fellowship through Innovate Calgary, an Accelerating Innovations into CARE (AICE) concept grant from Alberta Innovates, UCEED Funding, and funding from Campus Alberta Neuroscience. For his overall research on drug development and commercialization, Dr. Zamponi has been awarded an Alberta Science and Technology Prize (ASTech Award) and a University of Calgary PEAK Scholars award. Most recently, Dr. Zamponi was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (USA).

In addition to the above research program, Dr. Zamponi and his research team have also discovered a new class of T-type calcium channel inhibitors that are effective in preclinical models of chronic pain. In collaboration with researchers from Dermaxon, the team continues drug development with the goal to create a topical agent to treat chronic itch. A US patent has been issued to protect this technology.

Dr. Zamponi will use his Innovation Fellowship to cover patent and legal expenses to protect Zymedyne’s intellectual property outside of the United States. If required, a portion of the funding would provide salary support to hire a summer student to work on a project related to Zymedyne’s technology.

Quote from Dr. Gerald Zamponi

"The Parex Innovation Fellowship is a tremendous honour. Not only am I grateful for being recognized by our Institution for the work that we do, it also will help us to further advance our innovative technology platform."