Projets novateurs réalisés

Developing cultural practices to produce dry beans in Quebec

It is critical for farmers to have the information necessary so that they can make decisions on the best practices to undertake when growing a new crop. Pulse production is growing in demand and is an established market in Canada. In addition, plant based protein products are growing in popularity. We are working on developing a set of tools and information that will enable farmers to grow more pulses in Quebec. We will determine basic agronomic parameters that will maximize crop yield and minimize risk of crop failure. These will be planting date, space between rows, number of plants per hectare and cultivar selection.

Statistical Analysis of Truckload Transportation Rates

Times series freight rates for trucking is notoriously difficult to obtain. The industry is comprised of different kinds of trucks (e.g., vans and flatdecks), serves different traffic lanes and has a very large number of carriers and shippers. Moreover, the data varies with the tempo of the general economy and seasonal variations. Aggregate data is generally not meaningful or comparable.
This project will provide access to a unique data set based on actual transactions for a multiple of origins/destinations and different truck configurations. The analysis will enable study of some accepted by not proven concepts, such as the tapering of freight rates with distance, the general traffic flows as illustrated by fronthaul/backhaul rates, and the differences for transport by different trailer types. A further benefit is economic forecasting. Trucking is known to be an early indicator of economic change, and these data will permit the development of accurate forecasting models.

Identification des exigences d’information et des activités de contrôle qualité des projets BIM pour les propriétaires et les gestionnaires d’installations

L’utilisation des processus et des technologies de modélisation des informations du bâtiments (BIM) se développe rapidement dans les pays de L’industrie de l’architecture, de l’ingénierie et de la construction (AEC). Il est largement mis en œuvre lors des phases de conception et de construction. Toutefois, les modèles de construction créés au cours de ces phases ne sont pas adaptés à l’opération et Phase de maintenance (O&M). Dans ce travail, nous aimerions fournir un guide qui présente des lignes directrices plus pratiques et détaillées pour les propriétaires immobilières et les exploitants. Principalement pour les points suivants (1) comment ils peuvent formuler leurs besoins et exigences (pour créer le AIR et le EIR) (2) comment assurer la qualité des modèles destiné au gestion d’actifs.

The effect of privacy upon online health disclosure

How much medical knowledge is stored in each of our own family trees? When family members share health information with one another, does this lead to higher rates of genetic health screening and better health outcomes? Do perceptions about the privacy of health information affect the rate at which we share this information? This work seeks to understand the role played by perceptions of online privacy in the facilitation of health information disclosure among family members. An online family tree web application will permit participants to enumerate close relatives and their health conditions. This online tool will fulfills two roles 1) as a health information tool it will be a valuable resource for discovering potential health risk factors; and 2) as an online laboratory it will provide critical insight into the utilization and sharing of health information by a diverse online population

Mise au point d’une technique de dosage pharmacologique de l’alpelisib par Chromatographie Liquide à Haute Performance (HPLC) chez les enfants porteurs de syndrome d’hypercroissance dysharmonieuse.

Les syndromes d’hypercroissance sont un groupe de maladies rares caractérisées par une croissance excessive généralisée ou d’un membre. Dans la plupart des cas, ils sont liés à des anomalies génétiques affectant des gènes contrôlant le signal de croissance au sein des cellules (la voie de signalisation PI3K-AKT-mTOR). L’Alpelisib (autrement appelé Piqray®) est un médicament émergent. Il inhibe l’activité du PIK3CA et donc la croissance excessive. L’utilisation de ce médicament est rendue difficile chez l’enfant par le manque de données dans la littérature médicale, notamment la dose minimale à administrer pour une bonne efficacité sans effet indésirable reste à déterminer. L’objectif premier de cette étude est de développer le dosage de l’alpelisib dans le plasma humain par une technique de laboratoire spécifique appelée chromatographie liquide à haute performance (HPLC). Une fois la technique de dosage établie, le travail pourra être poursuivi en collaboration avec l’équipe française afin d’établir des modèles pharmacologiques c’est à dire des équations mathématiques permettant de faire un lien entre la dose administrée, les concentrations plasmatiques mesurées et l’effet obtenu. L’objectif final est d’améliorer l’utilisation de l’Alpelisib chez les enfants porteurs de syndrome d’hypercroissance.

The State of Bonne Bay: An Historical and Contemporary Study of the Littoral and Marine Ecology

This project will contribute to an assessment of the historical and contemporary “state of the environment” of Bonne Bay. The aim is to establish the extent to which its marine and littoral ecosystems are resilient and “healthy”, and what changes, if any, have occurred in recent decades to its physical, biological and ecological components. These would include pelagic and demersal fish, marine plants, tides, water temperature and chemistry. Particular attention will be paid to the diversity and habitats of fish and other marine organisms, as well as to estuaries, shorelines and deltas. An historical picture will be developed to show, where present, the ecosystem effects of human-induced activities around the Bay, as well as changes related to weather and climate. The study will be based on existing documents and databases, as well as interviews with local fishers and scientists familiar with Bonne Bay.

Power Quality and Performance Analysis of Power Electronic Components of Water Electrolysis Hydrogen Production System (PEM Technology)

Hydrogen production technologies have strong potential to play a significant role in the new energy system that must be defined in the coming years. Water electrolyzing offers opportunities for Hydrogen production for the whole chemical industry to reduce its CO2 footprint and become more competitive. It is a promising technology for energy storage coupled with renewable energy sources. This project aims to develop an expertise in power electronics technologies for water electrolyzer plants and conduct onsite performance tests to understand the influence of the electronic component on the lifetime of electrolyzer. This will contribute to a better understanding of power electronic components effects on the electrolyzers and utility grid.

Investing in Recovery: Strengthening Employer and Policy Roles in Labour Market Integration of Canada’s Immigrant Women in STEM

The goal of our project titled Investing in Recovery: Strengthening Employer and Policy Roles in Labour Market Integration of Canada’s Immigrant Women in STEM will be to produce new research rooted in a power analysis around the specific challenges that Canada’s immigrant women in STEM face, including the perspective of STEM employers on the opportunity costs for their growth if these barriers are not addressed (particularly in a time of pandemic recovery) as well as exploring and documenting the various kinds of support employers may need in order to sustainably improve the labour market outcomes of highly-skilled immigrant women in STEM. The strategic partnership between University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information and TechGirls Canada aims to produce research that is relevant and actionable, while inspiring the stakeholders to envision more equitable and economically just alternative futures in this fiercely competitive global environment.

Data-Driven Optimization Framework for Next Generation Manufacturing

Manufacturing companies are competing on the basis of price, technical expertise and reliability in meeting due dates. In addition, dynamic market environments require more agility from manufactures in terms of achieving high production flexibility and cost effectiveness. The aim of this project is to provide a decision support system for manufactures to effectively plan and schedule their limited resources to achieve better delivery time and reduced cost in today’s dynamic market environments, even for smaller batch, customized products. The core technologies of this system hinges on two pillars: machine learning and optimization. While the overall system functionalities are delivered through a software deployment, the actual power of optimization under uncertainty is obtained from stochastic programming and robust programming optimization models. Ontologies also play a central role in this project. They enable fluent and consistent flows of data both inside and outside the company.

Learning from the experience of participants in a mind-body therapy program: A qualitative study

This project learns from the experience of participants in an eight-week Mind-Body Medicine program (MBM). Mind-Body Medicine (MBM) teaches people how to help themselves by uncovering and engaging their inner resources and building resilience, broadly understood. The eight-week MBM program will be delivered through the Iris Centre for Mindfulness, Peace and Healing in Fredericton. The research will involve the analysis of questionnaires and interviews with participants, including those who dropped out. The intern will identify the strengths and limitations of the program as well as learn about the experience of MBM in the lives of participants. This research will support program development at the Iris Centre and contribute to the development of similar programs provincially and nationally.

Automating an Infosec Question Answering Function

Tugboat has 1000s of questions and responses submitted by clients. Users upload questions which can be answered using the “Auto Answer” functionality. The “Auto Answer” technology leverages weighted search vectors to search answer databases and prioritize which answers to recommend for a given question.

The objective of the project is to leverage this dataset by training a machine learning model to automate and improve the “Auto Answer” functionality described above. The current approach uses ideas from the information retrieval domain serving as the baseline. Improving this benchmark is the primary goal. The task of the model is to, given a question, recommend an ordered list of similar questions with known responses from the available databases, along with confidence or probability levels of the answers.

Mes souvenirs de Félix Leclerc à l’Île d’Orléans

Ce projet vise à approfondir la recherche et les connaissances sur la vie de Félix Leclerc à l’Île d’Orléans, une période peu documentée de son parcours professionnel et de sa vie tout court. On a beaucoup étudié et écrit sur Félix Leclerc et sur son œuvre à titre de poète, de romancier, de compositeur et d’interprète, mais peu sur sa vie quotidienne à l’île d’Orléans, ce haut lieu patrimonial qu’il affectionnait tant ou où il a passé les 20 dernières années de sa vie, soit jusqu’à son décès en 1988. Le projet permettra donc de combler une lacune importante de la biographie personnelle et professionnelle de Félix Leclerc tout en enrichissant considérablement le fonds d’archives Félix Leclerc par la cueillette de témoignages oraux de personnes qui l’ont connues et fréquentées à l’île d’Orléans. Ce travail de documentation orale est d’autant plus pertinent que ces témoins sont aujourd’hui peu nombreux, âgés et fragiles. Si leurs récits ne sont pas enregistrés rapidement, ils risquent d’être perdus à tout jamais.