The objective of this project is to assess the performance of engineered instream structures and observe changes in bed morphology that occurred on a side-channel restoration project on the Seymour River in British Columbia through field work and 2D modelling. Field work includes the collection of velocities using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), several ground surveys and collecting sediment samples.

In a Healthcare setting, multiple potential interactions, directions and decisions significantly affect the patientfs path throughout the system. It is difficult to determine which changes would be beneficial to patient flow and care prior to making the decision. A decision support tool will allow the decision maker to assess the consequences and effects of a number of possible choices, before implementation. This will allow creating more informed decisions, where the effects are known and understood ahead of time.

Workers in pig production barns can be exposed to hazards such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas which is emitted from stored pig manure. In the oil industry where H2S is also a serious concern, a treatment approach was successfully developed for controlling H2S emissions. This project will evaluate the applicability of the treatment in swine barns. Room]scale tests will be conducted at Prairie Swine Centre Inc (PSCI) which will involve comparison of H2S levels in two rooms, one operated as a control and the other with the treatment applied.

This project is in partnership with the Canadian Water Network. Endocrine disrupting compounds or chemicals (EDCs) generally refer to chemical substances with the capacity to disrupt the endocrine system of animals. Scientific studies on the impacts of EDCs on aquatic wildlife in Canada, particularity studies on fish in the Great Lakes, have brought the issue of EDCs in the aquatic environment to the forefront. Efforts are now ongoing to comprehensively understand the fate of EDCs in wastewater treatment processes and develop effective ways to remove them to satisfactory levels.

This project is in partnership with AUTO21. Van Rob is an automotive parts manufacturer of metal stampings with plants in the Toronto area. The objective of this internship is to evaluate the performance of a machine vision inspection system in an industrial environment. The evaluation of the intelligent neuro-fuzzy inspection algorithm used by the machine vision system known as QVision is the subject of the intern’s Master’s thesis. The original QVision was developed by a previous Master’s student. QVision has been installed on one of Van Rob’s Manufacturing cells.

Upon request by Huckleberry Mines Ltd. for further on‐site reclamation research towards preparation for the anticipated mine closure in 2010, a vegetation and soil effectiveness monitoring project was initiated in the summer of 2008. The objective of this project is to evaluate the performance of native vegetation within soil stockpile originated substrates and describe the biogeochemistry of soil stockpiles at the minesite.

The replacement of metallic materials by polymer matrix composites which possess a multitude of improved properties (lower density, higher stiffness and strength, resistance to fatigue and damage, high temperature stability, etc) is becoming a main objective in several industries including aerospace, automotive and construction. Structural components used in such industries often include sharp radii and angles, which have proven to be difficult to form on a controlled basis because of the spring-back or spring-in phenomenon.

In the project, three interns will work intensively with Philip Beesley Architect Inc. on designing and implementing kinetic architectural envelopes. The envelopes will be presented as sculptural installations and as a dynamic shading system for the Canadian North House entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon. Parametric modeling of components will be used to explore the conceptual possibilities for the project and establish design alternatives. Solar power and wireless communication technologies will be developed, building on the open source Arduino platform.

A “choice model” is a mathematical tool that can be used to anticipate the behaviour of economic agents when they must choose among several options. We will use this technique to predict airline or railway passenger choices as a means of anticipating demand and optimizing supply with regard to availability and ticket prices. As part of this internship, the intern will develop new models and test their performance using actual data.

Nalcor Energy is in the planning stages of the Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project, expected to cost between $ 6 and 9 billion dollars. Due to the scale (over 2800 MW) and potential lifespan of this project, consideration needs to be made about the effects of climate change on the available water in the Churchill River. This internship is the jumping off point for a working relationship between Memorial University of Newfoundland and Nalcor Energy.