In the world of music, the warm, lo-fi response of vintage, analog electronic equipment is generally considered to deliver better sound than modern equipment. This is aptly demonstrated by guitar players who prefer vintage effect pedals, and music enthusiasts that prefer to enjoy music on vinyl records – despite the rising cost, difficult maintenance, and increasing scarcity of vintage equipment.

D-Wave Systems develops and manufactures quantum annealing processors. These processors implement a model of quantum computation that seeks to solve hard problems by exploiting quantum effects such as tunneling and superposition. The aim of this project is to study and improve the performance of quantum annealing processors by mitigating inherent and implementation-dependent failure mechanisms for near-term quantum annealing devices.

We address the problem of 3D human body motion capture and prediction to be used in the context of a live music concert performances. The difficulty of capturing the motion of a performer in this context comes from the harsh environment in which it takes place that includes strong and varying lighting, smoke generators, and other visual pollution. The intern will develop novel technique for the capture and prediction of the motion of the performer, knowing that the performance has been rehearsed beforehand.

Controlled plant factories are closed and insulated environments that can be automated and artificially illuminated. They may be built in recycled shipping containers that are mobile, carrying enormous potential for food crop production and addressing food security in remote areas. However, lighting technologies and light positioning in these factories has not been optimized for different plant species. Our objective is to improve lighting and plant production practices in small plant factories.

Precision agriculture has many benefits especially for the developing world. Autonomous tractors and automatic planting systems have high accuracy, resulting in a substantially improved return on investment for growers, making food planting more economical. Moreover, the tractors can collect information on soil conditions, which can lead to improved maintenance of the crops, prevent blights, and achieve higher efficiency and higher plant food quality.

Adults exposed to screens for prolonged periods of time have complained of shoulder-neck discomfort. Ergonomic solutions can help prevent the development of computer work-related pains later on in life as young adults move on to careers in an office or administrative setting. Many computer users have also expressed eye strain. As a response, ergonomic computer lenses have been brought forward, said to make viewing a computer screen easier on the eyes.

The most important structure in the human brain is the cerebral cortex. It makes it possible to perceive our visual environment and sounds, to perform motoric actions such as grasping an object, to speak, to understand speech, etc. The cerebral cortex is a 2-5 mm thick sheet, embedded in the skull. Analysis of MRI data makes it possible to estimate the thickness of the cerebral cortex. In certain neurological conditions such as mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, the thickness of specific cortical areas decreases faster than in healthy aging.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable disorder that causes bone fractures. The drugs that are used at present help to decrease the number of fractures by about half, but most people with OI have many fractures despite receiving currently available treatments. Mesentech Inc has developed a new drug that has shown a strong effect on bone formation in rats. In this project, we will test the effect of this drug in a mouse model of OI. The new drug will be injected three times per week during a period of four weeks and the effect on bone strength will be assessed.

Feedback from students is considered essential to continuous improvement in teaching at all levels, particularly in learner-centered education. This project looks at universities’ privacy and confidentiality policies and frameworks on the use of student feedback data, to inform decisions on program/curriculum enhancements and resource allocations for student success. Data can be from monitoring what students do online and what they expressed in their course evaluations. Data by itself, however, is not enough.