Projets novateurs réalisés

Développement d’une chaîne de traction électrique pour vélo

L’entreprise Alizeti souhaite mettre sur le marché une solution abordable pour permettre au consommateur de convertir une bicyclette classique en velo electrique. Ce kit de conversion revet l’aspect general d’un support a bagage dans lequel toutes les composantes de Ia chaine de traction sont integrees. Ce systeme repose sur un type de transmission particulier qui consiste a transmettre le couple du moteur a Ia roue arriere a l’aide d’une roue a friction en contact direct avec le pneu. Le projet consiste a optimiser les performances du kit. Les axes de recherches portent sur Ia commande et Ia modiilisation
Dans un premier temps, il sera necessaire de modeliser !’ensemble du systems afin de bien connaitre ses caracteristiques, puis il sera possible de developper un algorithme de commande destine a tirer le maximum de chaque composantes et ainsi offrir Ia meilleur experience possible au cycliste.

Validation of a novel wearable sensor system during non-lab over-ground walking

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease associated with pain, loss of mobility and reduced quality of life. There is no cure for OA, and treatment for many people involves expensive surgeries or drugs that carry risky side effects. New treatments, including changing the way people walk – termed gait modification – have been developed to slow disease progression and improve symptoms, while reducing the risk of side effects and economic cost. However, analysis and instruction of gait modification has been limited to expensive and inaccessible laboratory settings. Recent technological advances using sensors worn on the body (wearable sensors) have become a realistic option to analyze walking in natural settings and for longer durations, something not previously possible in a lab. This is important to understand how people walk in the real world, and whether or not treatments actually work outside of controlled laboratory settings. Before important studies can be conducted, these sensors must be tested in the real world and optimized for patient use. Therefore the purpose of this project is to validate shoe-worn sensors which measure walking movements outside of the lab setting.

Étude de la fracture mécanique dans les matériaux fonctionnels et intelligents

Les 25 prochaines années représentent une période de transition au cours de laquelle plusieurs matériaux fonctionnels passeront d’un stade « laboratoire » à un stade « commercial ». L’accès à ces matériaux et leur incorporation dans des systèmes d’usage courant solutionneront plusieurs problématiques récurrentes en santé, en développement durable et en énergie. C’est pourquoi, les connaissances obtenues pendant ce projet serviront également à mieux comprendre ces matériaux et en particulier leur comportement lors de la propagation des fissures et leur mécanique de la rupture.
Ce projet fera l’objet à la fois de l’étude et de la compréhension du comportement mécanique à la rupture de matériaux de natures différentes. Des échantillons seront fabriqués puis détruits suivant les normes internationales en vigueurs. TO BE CONT’D

Technology in Geography

The Technology in Geography research project analyzes how teachers within Chinese high schools use technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) within geography classes to aid in delivering course material. Coming from an educational background that was highly centred on using GIS, I find it critical to include GIS technologies within Geography as a way to engage students and introduce them to the technologies that are available to them. Within Canada, more specifically in Ontario schools there are very few teachers who integrate technology within geography classes. However, within the modern context, in order to educate students in the subject of Geography for tomorrow’s world, technology must be utilized. The purpose of conducting this project is to obtain a better understanding of how to integrate technology within a classroom, incorporate the use of GIS within my teaching practice and improve myself as a teacher within the diverse modern educational system.

The Pedagogies and Perceptions of English Language Teachers in China

The overall objective of my research project is to examine the pedagogies and perceptions of English language teachers in China with the intent of comparing and contrasting them to those of French language teachers in Canada. The summarized objectives are (1) to develop a clear understanding of teaching strategies used by English language teachers in China, (2) to gain insight into the teaching resources used by English language teachers in China, and (3) to analyze how teacher-student interaction facilitates the usage of the English language in English language classrooms in China. The conclusions drawn from this project will be used to contribute to the overall goal of the SSHRC Partnership Grant Project of developing a better understanding of the similarities and differences between Canadian and Chinese education.

The use of drama in middle school classrooms to enhance learning

Drama is a unique and effective way to help students understand and retain information in the classroom. Studies have shown that drama can increase creativity, insight and retention (O’Hara, 1984, p. 314). Drama is especially useful when it is used cross-curricularly (educational lessons that cover more than one subject). My proposed research project will focus on how drama is used in classrooms in Chongqing, China. I am not necessarily focusing on specific drama classes but looking for how drama is used in “non-drama” subjects. I am interested in how drama is used in the classroom to enhance students’ learning. I hope to discover new skills and techniques that help students learn and hope that I can utilize those teaching styles in my own future classroom. I am excited for the potential opportunity to explore diverse classrooms to develop me as a well-rounded person and future educator.

O’Hara, M. (1984). Drama in education: A curriculum dilemma. Theory Into Practice, 23(4), 314–320. doi:10.1080/00405848409543133

Extrusion of Metal Matrix Composite material: orientation of reinforcements and transfer of properties

The aim of this project is to develop and characterize metal matrix composite materials for applications in the field of power electronics and automotive. The material under study are constituted by a copper or aluminum matrix, reinforced by carbon (fibers or platelets) and it is known that the composite properties depend on the orientation of the reinforcements. The objective of this research is to study and to evaluate the effect of a deformation (e.g extrusion) of the material on its thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. For this, a deep characterization of the microstructures will be conducted to establish correlations between the microstructures and the final properties of the composite. It should lead to an optimized composite materials, according to a given application.

Examining Vocational Opportunities and Supports for Adults with ASD

The project addresses the under-studied area of vocational service for adults with ASD. The study will implement a mixed method research design consisting of: (1) an environmental scan examining vocational services in Alberta, (2) interviews and/or focus groups with adults with ASD and their caregivers examining their experiences and needs related to vocational supports, and (3) interviews and/or focus groups with employers or service agency personnel reviewing their processes and needs related to supporting adults with ASD. It is anticipated that the study will result in a greater understanding of needs, barriers and opportunities related to vocational success specific to ASD. Community practice and policy implications and recommendations will be provided, along with an extensive knowledge translation strategy.

Investigating nanostructured local data storage and off-grid powering for the adaptive corrosion protection system

During the proposed internships, smart-grid integrated adaptive corrosion protection system (ACPS) will be developed as a stand-alone unit to provide optimum corrosion protection along with the nanostructured local data storage and off-grid powering. This will allow the continuous monitoring of the corrosion status of the metal infrastructures (e.g. transmission towers) along with the power-grid monitoring data. The proposed system can be directly monitored from the centralized control-room. Hence, it will significantly reduce and/or eliminate human interaction for an efficient and a cost-effective. Besides, the proposed stand-alone system also activates an alert flag if corrosion status of the target infrastructure shifts out of the normal range. Because of these technological benefits the wider adoption of the smart-grid integrated ACPS is anticipated in a wide range of practical applications.
Finally, this collaborative project is intended to provide protection solution for the transmission towers as well as the corrosion-prone underground structure for the partner organization.

Physiological Assessment and Analysis of the Physical Demand of Riding a Snowmobile

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate scientifically the physical demand associated with the safe operation of a snowmobile under typical (normal) riding conditions experienced by North American snowmobilers. We will quantify the physical demand of snowmobile riding and compare this to national recommendations for the promotion of health and fitness, as well as other comparable sports. The mission of the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations is dedicated to provide safe, organized and responsible snowmobiling in Canada. The partner organization and its members believe that snowmobiling may play a role in a healthy active lifestyle, but evidence as to the legitimacy of this claim are lacking. Such evidence could also prove important for provincial and federal government allocations and decisions regarding things such as land-use, tax credits and funding. As such, the partner will benefit from the generation of objective scientific data about their sport.

Investigation on object recognition on very large volumes of image data

Istuary Innovation Labs, Inc partners with innovators, entrepreneurs, technical talent and experts in North America to build technology companies for fast-growing markets, such as China, and to capitalize on quickly expanding and unmet demand. Founded in 2013, Istuary’s core business consists of Innovation Labs and Idea Labs. We partner with Istuary Venture Capital to fund development of technology internally through Innovation Labs and externally through Idea Labs.
Investigation on object recognition on very large volumes of image data will be conducted. Intern is expected to design/apply computational and statistical techniques to automatically clean the large image dataset so that clean data can be used in object recognition. The candidate needs good understanding about programming languages, databases, data mining, R, Hadoop, Spark and similar technologies.

Localisation et reconnaissance de véhicules routiers à partir d’images 2D

Le but de ce projet est de développer des algorithmes intelligents capables de reconnaître et de localiser en temps réel des véhicules filmés par des caméras de surveillance positionnées le long d’axes routiers. Alors que la plupart des méthodes issues de l’état de l’art utilisent de l’information vidéo pour détecter et reconnaître des véhicules, notre objectif est d’y arriver à partir d’images 2D seulement. L’intérêt pour un tel modèle est de traiter des vidéos dont le débit est de très faible fréquence (une image par 5 secondes ou moins). Afin d’accélérer le développement, nous avons mis sur pied lors d’un projet antérieur la plus grosse base de données annotées au monde permettant d’entraîner ce type de modèle. Les travaux réalisés dans le cadre de ce projet s’articulent autour de cette base de données.