UWindsor researchers are trying to revolutionize the testing process for COVID-19 by developing a portable device that is quicker, cheaper, and more accurate than current laboratory tests.

Dubbed Lab-on-a-Chip, the device would allow healthcare workers to test and diagnose patients on the spot, said Jalal Ahamed, one of four UWindsor professors behind the research.

“Accurate, rapid, on-site, and point-of-care detection has paramount importance not only in Canada but also worldwide for early intervention and infection control,” Dr. Ahamed said.

“Development of such a device will be highly impactful in our fight against COVID-19.”

Currently, testing is performed in sophisticated laboratory settings. Patients are swabbed and the samples are sent away to labs, with the turnaround time for results usually measured in days. Lab-on-a-Chip devices could give results in minutes.

Ahamed, who is working on the project with fellow engineering professor Mitra Mirhassani, and chemistry professors Yufeng Tong and Simon Rondeau-Gagné, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. It is the third COVID-related project at UWindsor NSERC has funded at the maximum amount available under a special $15 million fund established to address the pandemic.

The research team has partnered with APAG Elektronik Corp., a Swiss firm with a Windsor production site that manufactures electronics and lighting components.

“Our device is based on detecting the electrical signal produced when a viral protein binds with the virus receptor of human cells called ACE2, short for human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 protein,” Dr. Tong explained.

The company will lend its electronic manufacturing and distribution know-how to the project, building on the UWindsor researchers’ expertise in developing sensors.

“Until a vaccine is developed, our ability to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 is directly dependent on the capacity to rapidly test, diagnose the virus, and place those infected in isolation,” Dr. Mirhassani said.

“With this new device in our hands, our response to this crisis will be significantly improved, helping healthcare providers fight the virus and reduce its spread.”

NSERC announced funding for Lab-on-a-Chip before the deadline for applications had passed. The federal agency is trying to respond rapidly to the pandemic by funding projects as it receives worthy applications.

Dr. Rondeau-Gagné in April secured $10,000 in start-up funding for the project from the office of UWindsor’s Vice-President of Research and Innovation and the WE-Spark Institute, a research partnership involving the University of Windsor, Windsor Regional Hospital, Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, and St. Clair College.

—Sarah Sacheli

It began with three weeks left in the spring semester. Responding to government orders to stay at home, the University paused classes for one week and then restarted them online.

For music students and faculty at the School of Creative Arts (SoCA), it was a time of creativity, trying out new software and techniques, and sharing best practices.

Bachelor of Music students are required to take private lessons on their instruments with a SoCA special instructor as a requirement of this professional degree.

“We made the shift in about a week’s time,” says Jennifer Swanson, performance co-ordinator and a voice instructor in SoCA. “Many of music’s special instructors also have private studios and some may have had experience teaching online. They were comfortable with the technology. For others, it was totally new, but everyone jumped in and made things work.”

It was important to use platforms accessible to all students, so they used FaceTime, Skype and Zoom.

Students and their instructors decided on the repertoire assignments in January. They learn and perform a variety of repertoire and then home in on three or four pieces to perform for their final exams, known as a “jury.” Usually, these juries are performed live in the Performance Hall with a live accompanist and three in-person jurors. This year, this wasn’t possible.

“By mid-March my students were polishing their repertoire in preparation for juries,” says Dr. Swanson. “Students enjoyed continuing the one-on-one contact even though we had some connection problems.”

Each student recorded a video of their jury using pre-recorded accompaniment or Smart Music software. They then uploaded their best “take” to an unlisted YouTube channel and emailed the link to their instructor.

Students took a number of approaches to replacing their live accompanists — some employing iReal Pro, which allows the user to change key, tempo, and the feel of the arrangement; YouTube backing tracks, which don’t; and the Karaoke Version website.

Piano student Alex Aideira-Leite recorded tracks for singers, and guitarist Allesandro Rotondi, who graduated last week, recorded accompaniment for classmate Alanah Shield’s recording of God Only Knows.

Instead of having a combo of musicians backing up her graduation recital, singer Lilly Korkontzelos pivoted to using recorded accompaniment.

“I decided to make it light-hearted,” says Korkontzelos. “I created three separate videos all shot in our living room with my roommates as my off-screen audience.”

For the first video, which was her jazz segment, Korkontzelos walked on screen in a ball gown carrying her microphone as a prop and used iReal Pro accompaniment. On her acoustic set, she changed outfits and accompanied herself on keyboard. And for her final set of ballads, she sang Being Good isn’t Good Enough and Body and Soul to bossa nova piano accompaniment recorded by Aideira-Leite.

—Susan McKee

You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy a healthy snack of kale chips, says Kevin Johnson.

Editor of DailyNews, he is sharing a recipe sent in by his teenage daughter.

“Nutritional yeast is packed with protein but low in sodium,” says Johnson. “It adds a sort of nutty, umami note to foods.”

Vegan “cheesy” kale chips

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch curly kale, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• ⅓ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the kale in a large bowl and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast and salt. Stir to coat kale.
3. Spread kale onto baking sheets.
4. Bake until kale begins to get slightly crisp. Flip the chips and continue baking until completely crisp, 45 to 60 minutes total. If you notice some chips are ready before others, take them out.

Johnson adds that you should use the curly kale and not swap in a flat variety; the shape helps to hold the coating.

Find more recipes — as well as a place to submit your own — on the Healthy Eating website.

A new virtual platform will host the UWindsor Welcome Week Involvement Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Clubs, societies, and campus partners providing engagement opportunities to undergraduates entering the University may set up an interactive booth to promote themselves. Student groups are eligible for a $250 cash prize for most creative and enthusiastic booth.

Registration is open now and will close July 17; to reserve a space, complete the survey before then.

The transition events co-ordinator in the Student Success and Leadership Centre will finalize arrangements in mid-July. Find more information on the centre’s website. Direct questions to transitionevents@uwindsor.ca.

Joining an esports league is helping Francesco Barile feel happy in a stressful time.

“During this pandemic, esports are the perfect way to stay connected with the university community from the safety of one’s own home,” says the third-year law and politics student, who participated in online virtual soccer competition through Lancer Recreation.

More than 100 students played in seven leagues in a session winding up mid-June. Now Lancer Rec is preparing to launch its second session of the free intramurals. To register, students need to download the Mission Control app and join “University of Windsor Intramurals” using their UWindsor email.

Registration for all leagues will close Friday, June 12, at 5 p.m. Find more information, including a list of the video games to be played, on the Lancer Rec website.