Retail businesses are increasingly reliant on fine-grained data about customer preferences, demographics, and behavior, as collected by sources that range from loyalty programs and sales records, to physical sensors. Typically such data is leveraged in the context of a report or statistical summary used to advise human decision-makers. In contrast to the retail sector, industrial areas like manufacturing have a long history of operations research, whereby data serves not only to populate reports, but as the basis for optimizing objectives and supporting decisions mathematically.

Language technology-for example, spelling checking-is widely used. A key
component of many language technology systems is a computational lexicon-a

One of the main challenges in the development of nano-scale devices is that the conventional physical relations and techniques, which have been used for modelling thermal problems at macro-scales, are no longer valid at these small scales.  In this project, we are developing a new hierarchial methodology to be applied to thermal management issues for nano-scale devices.  The impact of elecromigration in a joule heating form will also be explored.  Devices with nano-scale feature sizes are currently employed in high-end electronic systems.  In this method, we include the atomistic level effe

This research project will support the design of electronic navigational aids for enhancing mobility for individuals with vision impairments. The researchers will work closely with members from the vision-impaired community throughout the project period to understand the contexts where such aids could be helpful to them and to evaluate the usability of relevant components, products and services.

Business intelligence is the commercial term for using information within organizations to make informed decisions, and to run operations effectively based on known data. The Canadian business intelligence (BI) market is projected to increase from C$185 million in 2006 to over C$290 million by 2011. Ontario is home to Cognos, a world leader in BI, which was recently acquired by IBM. The proposed collaboration between the University of Toronto, IBM Cognos, and IBM Research would use an emerging technology for business process management, called "business entities with lifecycles" (a.k.a.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is an advanced technique for cancer treatment through high-precision radiation delivery. It generally requires a complex planning procedure, where the crucial step is manual delineation of the organs at risk in three-dimensional (3-D) computed tomography (CT) images, performed using simple drawing tools. It is a labour-intensive and error-prone process which, depending on the clinical case, may often require several hours of intensive work.

The first objective of this project is to obtain the first high resolution impedance measurements of cardiac tissue. These measurements will be synchronized with electrocardiogram to determine quantitatively for the first time the changes of conductivity at different stages of the cardiac cycle. Since the heart is one of the most electrically-active areas inside human body, knowledge of its electrical properties will benefit many cardiac modeling and clinical applications. The second objective of this project is to test the influence of anisotropy on cardiac impedance imaging.

In the last ten years the market for mobile devices and portable electronics has never ceased to grow, creating a rising demand for batteries. However it is practically impossible for consumers to identify their actual state-of-charge leading to the disposal of still viable batteries. In the past battery manufacturers have developed “on-board” testers allowing consumers to gauge the charge but these indicators have been discontinued due to their lack of reliability and their active feature discharging the battery while in use.

Many individuals acquire infections each year, yet few progress to critical illness. The current inability to identify the proportion of individuals who will progress to life-threatening illness is a major impediment to effective management of infectious disease. Using malaria as a model, the aim of the project is to identify and validate a panel of biomarkers in blood that reliably detects individuals at risk of lifethreatening  disease.

The goal of the current research is to design an injectable polymer-lipid (Pol.i) formulation to treat ovarian cancer. The PoLi drug delivery system is a hiocompatible and biodegradable, physically cross-linked gel that has the potential to provide dramatic improvements in the treatment of ovarian cancer. It is formulated as an injectable gel (all components are safe for humans) which is then loaaded with active chemotherapy drugs such as the commercially available paclitaxel.