Projets novateurs réalisés

Minimizing the Impacts and Maximizing the Benefits of Marine Shipping Activities for Arctic Communities Through the Use of Traditional Knowledge

Interest in Arctic shipping is growing as sea ice is melting and as other industries are developing. An increase in shipping presents risks to both the natural environment (from the movement of ships and the products that they carry) and to the local communities that rely on those healthy environments for food and other products. However, the local Inuit people in Nunavut also hold a certain body of knowledge referred to as Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ). This knowledge includes critical information about the land and water, its use, and important cultural practices. IQ must be considered in development projects in the Arctic in order to ensure that any possible negative impacts from the project can be minimized or avoided. The identified issue is that managers do not know how to effectively incorporate IQ into the decision-making process.

Anonymisation et désensibilisation de données

L’enjeu de protection de la confidentialité des données personnelles sensibles et de leur utilisation par le secteur privé pose de plus en plus de défis. L’adoption par le gouvernement du Québec de la loi n°64, pour encadrer les dispositions législatives en matière de protection des renseignements personnels, remet la question au cœur des débats. Le principal défi technologique devient celui de l’exploitation de la donnée individuelle au bénéfice du collectif sans sacrifier sa confidentialité : Comment tirer profit des données clients sans menacer leur vie privée ?

L’anonymisation des données est, à ce titre, une stratégie courante, pour récolter les avantages de l’exploitation des données pour les individus et la société en général, tout en atténuant les risques pour les personnes concernées.

Ce projet propose ainsi d’explorer les méthodes d’anonymisation existantes pour répondre au double enjeu d’exploitation et de préservation de la confidentialité des données personnelles.

Modeling Ekona’s H2 production and carbon capture process: Phase 2

Ekona Power Inc is developing a technology to convert natural gas into H2, electricity, and a solid carbon stream. The solid carbon stream will then be sequestered. Their approach involves two reactors. The first reactor combusts natural gas and oxygen to provide the process heat to the second reactor. The second reactor heats natural gas to convert the natural gas via pyrolysis to hydrogen and solid carbon. This proposal focuses on the second reactor.
The proposed modeling approach will allow Ekona to better understand its pyrolysis design and anticipate the performance of the commercial unit. The model can be used to identify process changes that will improve process performance and identify key tradeoffs.

Preserving Affordable Rental Housing: Tenant Opportunity to Purchase, Housing Cooperatives, and Land Trusts

Housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable in Canadian cities and tenants are struggling. Financialized landlords and other investment companies are depleting the affordable rental stock in the private market much faster than new social rental units are being created. One solution is for tenants to have the opportunity to collectively purchase their own buildings when landlords decide to sell. Tenants could convert buildings to limited-equity housing cooperatives leased from a land trust for the long term. In this way, tenants avoid displacement and achieve housing security, and buildings are converted to permanently affordable housing for future generations. Such programs already exists in several American cities, under Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOP) policies. This research, conducted in partnership with the Hamilton Community Land Trust, will evaluate the feasibility of such a program in Hamilton, Ontario. If successful in Hamilton, similar programs could be adopted by land trusts across Canada.

Designing for better novice assembly: towards energy efficient novice building

This research is about technologies for ‘DIY’ or ‘novice’ home-construction. The research asks if high energy efficiency homes could be built by novice and non-expert builders. Energy efficient construction is an increasingly expert craft: with specialized knowledge, tools, and practices now required to achieve excellent building energy performance, this presents barriers to building efficiency for novice builders. This research will identify the barriers and opportunities for evolving more energy efficient novice building processes by working with Habitat for Humanity (an organization that specifically leverages novice labor) and Passive House 43 (a Toronto based energy efficient home designer) to understand Habitat’s current construction practices, and how their use of novice labour shapes energy efficiency in the completed homes. Using human centered design and analysis methodologies (such as stakeholder interviews, process blueprinting, and builder/resident journey mapping), researchers will work alongside the design and construction team for a live Habitat for Humanity project build to envision feasible possibilities for more energy efficient novice processes. The results of this research will form a set of design and process recommendations that can be used on future Habitat for Humanity projects to address the need for affordable energy efficient home-building.

Analyse de sentiment sur les devises

ElligencIA est une Fintech spécialisée en Intelligence Artificielle, au service des clients du monde de la Finance (marchés des capitaux, gestion d’actifs etc). ElligencIA cherche à utiliser les technologies de l’intelligence artificielle pour développer des indices de sentiment de marché relatifs à différents actifs financiers. Ce sentiment de marché se fera grâce à l’analyse de textes, de courbes, d’images, de vidéos et de toutes données publiques disponibles au grand public, en ligne. L’intelligence artificielle nous permettra de traiter et compiler toutes ces informations en un temps record et d’en donner la signification. Ces informations ainsi traitées aideront nos clients financiers à prendre des décisions réfléchies et éclairées, en comprenant rapidement l’essence des informations de marchés mises à sa disposition.

Development of artificial intelligence algorithms for microbiome-based classification of disease

The goal of this project is to help build artificial intelligence algorithms for the diagnosis of disease using data derived from the human microbiome. This project will be focused on implementing new statistical methods to reduce “noise” found in data from different sources, allowing for us to improve the training of artificial intelligence algorithms. Another focus of this project will be to implement new types of models that are better suited for microbiome data, allowing for more accurate predictions. With these improved models, Phyla (partner org) will be able to more accurately detect disease from the microbial profile of stool samples.

Analyse et implantation d’un système de suivi et évaluation de la performance dans une organisation canadienne de développement international

Comme toute entreprise, les organismes sans but lucratif (OSBL, OBNL ou ONG de leurs petits noms) tendent à croitre avec le temps et donc, à élargir leur offre de services et les projets du même coup. Cette expansion de l’organisme nécessite donc des changements au niveau de la gestion pour continuer leur bon travail tout en restant efficace. L’objectif principal de ce projet de recherche est donc de faire un bilan des pratiques en gestion de projet dans une organisation à but non lucratif et voir les pistes d’amélioration possibles pour ce qui a trait au suivi et contrôle des projets, pour ensuite leur fournir des outils concrets et adaptés à leur milieu. Cela leur permettrait, entre autres, de gérer plus efficacement plusieurs projets en même temps, ainsi que d’avoir une bonne vue d’ensemble des projets en cours en tout temps.

Investigating the Thermal Properties of the Moon with the I-SPI (Intelligent Sensing and Perception in Infrared) Imaging System

Water ice exists near the Moon’s poles due to the very cold temperatures caused by the limited exposure to direct sunlight in these regions. To understand the extent of water that exists on the Moon, we need to locate the areas where the temperatures are favourable for the preservation of water (less than -175°C/-280°F). To accomplish this, Mission Control has proposed an instrument, known as I-SPI (Intelligent Sensing and Perception in Infrared), to map the Moon’s temperature. I-SPI is currently in the research stage, and Mission Control requires the intern’s expertise to assist in the design and development of I-SPI for a future rover mission to the Moon. Specifically, the intern will lead a science investigation to evaluate the thermal properties of the Moon to support Mission Control in determining the temperature requirements needed to build I-SPI.

Ultrasonic and microwaves cannabis oil extraction methods for targeted nanomedicines delivery

Today’ssociety consumes chemicals daily in its food, in care products but also thecomposition of pharmaceutical drugs, research on methods of extracting cannabisoils and their therapeutic effects support and emphasizes-for the productionof more effective and beneficial drugs for health with fewer side effects,thanks to its virtues and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuro-regulatorycapacities, capable of contributing to the stabilization /improvement of acertain syndrome (autoimmunity, psychiatric illnesses, viral pathologies). thenew microwave-assisted extraction processes and ultrasonic-assisted extractionnot only reduce the quantities of solvents used for extraction and energyconsumption, but are also ecological processes.

Moderating speech in private online spaces: A public consultation

How do ordinary people in Canada want to see their speech to be policed on private online platforms? Should government, platforms, both, or neither be setting more limits on online expression? Our consultation project will guide members of the public through a ranking of their core values, provide background information about the consequences and trade-offs to different standards and approaches to content moderation, and ask them to make decisions through a sample of fictionalized content moderation scenarios. The final product will teach us something about their general public moderation preferences when asked to choose between more complex options than a simplistic right to freedom of expression versus potential online harms dichotomy.

Student Web Portal

The proposed research project proposes to study how to best provide a student learning portal for children of age 8 to 13 years old. Such system requires to carefully reviewing the literature both in terms of designing for children, and in terms of interpreting the results of usability studies with children. Designing an effective student learning portal will demand of the intern to take into consideration what is attractive for this age group and how to make those students willing to spend some time online for their study. This includes looking at colors schemes, type of activities, type of motivations, etc. Another difficult task will be to extract valuable information from the children when testing the interface. For the partner company, this portal is a critical building block of their business: no company today can remain state of the art without providing online environment for their students.