Creating an inclusive environment where different innovators can feel welcome and exploit their talents is an ethical imperative no company can ignore. The scientific literature also provides clear evidence that diverse teams are more creative and high-performing, and that the engineering industry has a diversity problem. The general objective of this proposal is to research methodologies, outcomes and best practices for STEM experiential-learning environments that engage student teams in community-driven projects that address societal-impactful, sustainability problems.

Rural Municipality of St. François Xavier developed a strategy to lower total phosphorus level below legal water discharge limits when over-limit phosphorus values are measured at the discharge pipe of the lagoon. This strategy consists of a trickled discharge of lagoon treated water and a swale system. Swales are widely applied to manage surface runoffs from urban areas and reduce phosphorus and other pollutants in the runoffs before they reach to the receiving water bodies.

Quaternary glacial deposition has covered much of southern Ontario with tills and the Saint Lawrence Valley with marine fines. Rivers incised into these materials exhibit particular geomorphologic behavior. Civil engineering works built either in (e.g. dams, bridge piers, etc.), beside (linear infrastructure such as roads, railways, etc.) or across (e.g. bridges, etc.) such rivers must consider the erosion of these cohesive sediments. There is currently very little knowledge about the erosion of these materials.

With the ever-increasing growth of the consumer Electric Vehicle (EV) market and environmental awareness of federal and provincial governments, electrification of public transit systems has come under the spotlight in recent years. Currently, there is limited practical knowledge on how to efficiently deploy EV buses across different Canadian regions, which results in a wide gap between advanced EV technology and Canadian environmental parameters.
EV batteries are negatively affected by cold temperatures, bad road conditions, and aggressive driving behaviours.

The reliability of transit buses is essential for the cost-effective delivery of public transportation services. This research aims to improve the reliability of transit buses through optimized operational maintenance planning. We specifically wish to develop a mathematical optimization model that would help transit operators in deciding which bus components to repair during a maintenance intervention.

In Montreal, pavement distresses are causing serious problem to the road network with more than half of the road considered in a bad and a very bad shape. Many pavement inspection methods are developed in order to inspect, detect, locate, and classify pavement distresses; however, these methods are not efficient in term of time, cost, and accuracy. In our project, we aim to develop a new approach in detecting, classifying, and locating pavement distresses using conventional unmanned autonomous vehicle LiDAR.

Evaluating the impact of multiple stressors on aquatic ecosystems often requires robust biodiversity estimates.