Development of rapid and accurate genomic techniques for ballast water UV treatment

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) recently introduced stringent regulations for the treatment of ballast water. Ultra-violet (UV) light is a useful technology in a ballast water treatment system (BWTS), for inactivating phytoplankton which could be invasive and harmful to humans and the environment. UV damages DNA and prevents replication, but the vital stain methods mandated in the USCG protocol do not detect UV damage. Alternative culture-based measures of reproductive capacity are yet to be approved, time consuming, and have limitations (not all species may grow).

Photocatalytic degradation of textile dye wastewater using solar energy

Dye wastewaters from textile industries is toxic and often causes serious environmental damage. In this study, an eco-friendly photocatalytic degradtion process which involves the use of a Ag-ZnO catalyst and solar energy will be used to degrade toxic dyes. Therefore, the main objectives of my reserch over the three month period will be to synthesize a solar active photocatalyst and optimizing the photocatalytic degradation process to treat textile dye wastewater. The findings from this research will assist textile industries to meet the wastewater discharge standards.

Developing an Ergonomic Risk Assessment Tool and Work Rotation Plan

The overall objective of this project is to reduce ergonomic risk and the potential for workplace injury across the entire production facility. Repetition, force and posture are factors that can lead to fatigue and injury among workers in a manufacturing setting. By developing an ergonomic demands and risk assessment tool based on current research, the risk associated with each workstation in the facility will be quantified, and recommendations to reduce or eliminate risk of potential injury will be provided.

Ergonomics Evaluation of Right Angle Power Tools

It has been estimated that approximately 70% of operators in automotive assembly use power-tools to complete their assembly tasks, yet companies have a difficult time determining why injuries happen when they are used. Before we can determine this, we need to understand the type of postures and the level of physical demand and the frequency of their use every minute. This survey will help to understand exactly how assembly workers use these tools with the overall goal to begin to reduce the risk associated when using them.

Development and calibration of an acoustic telemetry transmitter for identifying predation events

Acoustic telemetry is a rapidly expanding technology to quantify the movement and behavior of aquatic animals; key for developing effective management for aquatic ecosystems. Acoustic telemetry uses transmitters affixed to aquatic animals that are detected by receivers placed in aquatic ecosystems. An important problem that limits telemetry is the assumption that the detected transmitter represents the originally tagged animal and not a predator that has eaten the tagged animal (i.e. tag is in the predator’s stomach).

Gerardo Martinez Narro aspires to a sustainable future

Submitted by admin on 08/27/2014

As a student from Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Tamaulipas, Mexico, Gerardo is enjoying the research culture in Canada where the standard of excellence is high,  and he receives detailed guidance from the lab team and his professor when he needs it. His project involves testing the heat efficiency of a new type of solar panel to optimize its power generation ability.  

Developing an Active Worker Strategy for Office Workers

The overall goal for the Active Worker Strategy is to increase movement within the workplace. Office workers tend to be inactive within their working environment, which may cause an increased risk of developing work-related pain later in life. This investigation is going to look into creating office layout guidelines in order to promote a more active worker, and provide an early intervention to possible pain developers. Using technologies such as FitBits, we will attempt to better understand the amount of movement an office worker performs in a day.

Functional Cost Methodology for Automotive Lightweighting

To meet CAFE standards for fuel economy, many new projects are being undertaken. One such method being investigated to achieve these standards is vehicle lightweighting. Each lightweighting project has an associated cost and will have an impact on various functional groups of the vehicle. During this internship, the related functional benefits of lightweighting will be analyzed, with a focus on location (zone) based effects. The zones will be accessed and a value to weight reduction ratio will be assigned to each.

Life Cycle & Economic Analysis of Bi-Fuel Cars

The proposed research project seeks to define the environmental advantages and cost challenges associated with the design of two types of alternative fuel vehicles; battery electric and bi-fuel CNG + gasoline, with respect to a changing American market. These alternative fuel vehicles will be compared to traditional internal combustion vehicles and assessed based on the environmental effects of the pollutants emitted and their capability to meet the current and future needs of consumers.

Effects of Uncertainty in Engineering Data on Design and Performance of Automotive Thermal Systems

This project will study how underbody components (tailpipe, muffler, rear fascia brackets and spare
wheel compartment) withstand thermal loads over time through the use of a heat-transfer model
(using RadTherm simulation package) of the vehicle under investigation as well as the first-order
Taylor Series expansion. The Taylor Series will be used to calculate the sensitivity of the output
(amount of radiation absorbed by each component) to the input (clearances and emissivity).

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