Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)

A recent national report by the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) and the Canadian Alliancex000D
to End Homelessness showed that nearly 30,000 Canadians are homeless every night. Despite periodic successx000D
in addressing homelessness problem, little progress has been made toward more permanent and sustainablex000D
solution. To assist in moving toward the latter solution, the Metro Community in the Okanagan region inx000D
collaboration with several other parties, including Waterplay Solutions Corp as a leading local manufacture,x000D
the University of British Columbia-Okanagan Campus, City of Kelowna RCMP, and members from homelessx000D
community has initiated a unique initiative to design and manufacture a Personal Belongings Carrier (PBC)x000D
which will be a secure and mobile structure providing an alternative to open public spaces or shopping carts forx000D
the homeless to manage their personal belongings. Ultimately, the introduction of this engineering product isx000D
intended to foster an increased sense of security for the homeless and provide them with an opportunity to storex000D
their belongings, while managing other aspects of their lives. As the first phase of the above collaborativex000D
industry-university-community initiative, the university team and Waterplay Solutions Corp through thisx000D
NSERC project will assess the glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) as a promising candidate material type forx000D
the PBC product, owing to its light weights, high mechanical properties, manufacturability, and durability.x000D
More specifically, through an advanced multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach an optimum GFRPx000D
laminate is desired which can meet all design requirements for the PBC, including resistance to naturalx000D
weathering variations. The main factors to be considered during laminate selection will include the polymerx000D
matrix material/cure kinetics, fibre volume fraction, laminate lay-up, and hygrothermal performance. Next tox000D
its exclusive contribution to the PBC initiative, the knowledge to be gained from this research is expected tox000D
results in best-practice guidelines for other Canadian manufacturers as to how different GFRP laminates wouldx000D
score against environmental durability criteria for outdoor applications.