Projets novateurs réalisés

Élaboration d’un programme de formation en agriculture avec lacommunauté crie de Chisasibi

Le stage de recherche sera fait avec le Nihtaauchin – Chisasibi center for sustainability (NCCS), un
OSBL voué au renforcement de l’autonomie dans la communauté cri de Chisasibi via différents projets
durables qui combine l’innovation et l’expertise Eeyou (crie) d’une manière qui respecte et profite à la
nation crie de Chisasibi. Au cours des trois dernières années, l’organisme a mis l’accent sur la sécurité
alimentaire et l’agriculture nordique avec plusieurs projets communautaires tels qu’une ferme de pommes
de terre sur l’île Fort George, une serre communautaire en collaboration avec la James Bay Eeyou School,
puis une future serre commerciale est aussi en préparation. Pour la saison 2020-2021, NCCS se concentre
sur l’élaboration d’un programme de formation agricole ciblé, conjointement avec le conseil des jeunes
de Chisasibi et le conseil des aînés de Chisasibi. Ce programme sera destiné à la fois aux jeunes de la
communauté et au personnel de soutien du NCCS.

Conception d’un tableau de bord de gestion qui permet de soutenir la conscience de la situation dans un contexte de gouvernance en sécurité de l’information

Utilisé en sécurité de l’information, le tableau de bord de gestion (TBG) est un outil visuel permettant de faire le suivi de la performance en affichant graphiquement un ensemble de métriques, représentant notamment l’état des risques et des incidents. L’objectif principal de cette recherche est de créer un modèle de représentation visuelle de métriques de gouvernance de sécurité de l’information afin de soutenir la conscience de la situation de l’utilisateur.
Cette recherche permettra d’une part à la Banque Nationale du Canada d’avoir une méthode éprouvée pour élaborer des TBG adaptés à son contexte de gouvernance en sécurité de l’information et, d’autre part, au stagiaire d’acquérir des compétences en élaboration de TBG et en méthode de recherche dans un contexte organisationne.

Modification of Coin Surfaces Using Atomic Layer Deposition

Circulation coins present a large challenge from the point of view of protecting and

enhancing their appearance, as well as incorporating new features for recognition and

protection. An ideal technology for the modification of the surface of coins is atomic

layer deposition (ALD), where films of any thicknesses from just above the atomic

scale to the microscopic scale can be developed. These films need to be transparent

and colourless, as well as maintaining important characteristics (e.g. conductivity,

magnetism) of the coin substrate. Additionally, the films need to be rugged with

respect to wear and have to protect the coin substrate from tarnishing during normal

use. The project will explore the deposition of a variety of thin films on Canadian coin

surfaces, focusing high volatility, simple, and known precursor chemistry.

Innovations in Collaborative Food System Governance

Food security is a growing concern in communities across Canada, along with a host of other challenges impacting the health and equity outcomes of our food system. Municipalities, whether big or small, find themselves at the front lines of these issues and there is growing recognition of the potential for municipalities to play a leading role in addressing food security and promoting healthy sustainable food systems. At the same time, there is growing interest in developing collaborative and inclusive approaches to food policy and food governance – the relationships, rules, practices and structures through which power and control are exercised and decisions are made over how food is produced/harvested, processed, distributed and consumed. This project brings these two elements together, to explore, model and evaluate innovative approaches to municipal food governance that enable governments and civil society actors to be active partners in fighting hunger in their communities.

Using oxygen-17 of lake gastropods as a novel tracer of palaeohydrological change

Water in lakes has a certain triple oxygen isotopic composition depending on the amount of precipitation and evaporation. Snails use oxygen from lake waters in order to mineralise their shells, thereby locking in the isotopic composition so that when snails die, they accumulate in sediments and can be analysed in order to build a record of climate change through time. We will test this new isotopic method in the modern day, by analysing snail shells collected along a climatological gradient from the northwest to the southwest of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

The Lowland Maya living in central America over the past 3,000 years were affected by climate change, and are hypothesised to have declined as a result of a series of droughts. We will analyse the snail shells from a lake core and by determining how wet or dry it was in the past we will be able to determine how they responded to climate change. This knowledge could have profound implications for society, given that we are inhabitants of a warming planet.

Enquête sur l’évolution des représentations sociales de l’intelligence artificielle en contexte d’intégration d’outils de l’intelligence artificielle

Se représenter ce qu’est l’intelligence artificielle (IA) pose trois problèmes : 1- le mot contient « intelligence » et ce terme est connoté, flou, et toujours matière à débat. 2- l’IA sert à prendre des décisions, ce n’est pas une fonction qu’on laisse à n’importe qui dans nos états de droits et nos démocraties libérales. 3- l’IA est un domaine scientifique pointu. Comme pour toutes les sciences, vulgariser est difficile et parfois même risqué. Ce projet cherche à aider la réflexion sur l’arrivée de l’IA en étudiant sa représentation sociale à travers les discours au sein d’une équipe d’Ubisoft travaillant sur un produit pédagogique visant à vulgariser un modèle d’IA pour le Centre de Science de Montréal. Ubisoft pourra bénéficier de l’aide de la stagiaire pour la création de l’interface d’utilisateur alors que celle-ci pourra être aux premières loges pour observer les échanges de l’équipe à propos de l’IA.

Optimizing Return to Sport and Return to Performance After Knee Injuries in Winter Slope Sports: Evidence Based Timelines for Return to Sport and Return to Performance

This project aims to increase the scientific knowledge base on recovery and rehabilitation after knee injury. Noninjured winter slope sport athletes will undergo a battery of baseline testing including quadriceps and hamstrings maximum strength and rapid force producing abilities, lower body power endurance, workload capacity and fatigue tolerance at the start and end of the off-snow training periods. Athletes suffering knee injuries will be identified and assessed at time points throughout their rehabilitation to evaluate the association between athlete performance level, baseline testing indices, injury mechanisms, injury characteristics, surgical procedure, and the time-course recovery in neuromuscular function. The findings of this proposed research project will benefit the Canada Sport Institute, Alpine Canada, Banff Sports Medicine Clinic and Group 23 Sport Medicine Clinic by improving rehabilitation and testing after traumatic knee injuries in athletic and recreational populations.

Statistical machine learning for urban transportation system

In general, the goal of project is to investigate the train travel data and figure out the main factors affecting train travel time. Moreover, we will use machine learning algorithms to predict their arrival time to stations and forecast when delays will happen. Specifically, to figure out what factors are affecting train travel times, we will investigate several possibilities according to prior empirical knowledge. Among them, useful factors will be chosen from the data exploration process and undergone statistical significance tests. Until then, we represent the entire railway map as a graph and build a convolutional neural network based that. The convolutional neural network is a machine learning model can take into account of all affecting factors and generate accurate train arrival time as output. The overall solution can be generalized to any similar railway systems and thus be integrated as a product for the partner organization.

Development, simulation and validation of hybrid energy generation-based isolated microgrid models suitable for the minimization of fuel expenditure and CO2 emissions of an oil and gas drilling rig

This project will involve the development and validation of simulation models suitable for studying, designing and implementing a small-sized power system with reduced fuel expenditure and carbon (iv) oxide emissions, for oil and gas extraction activities. The successful implementation of the project will further Audacious Energy Corp.’s knowledge to launch and test a Minimum Viable Product.

Preparing Mountain Tourism for a Warmer and Decarbonized Canada

Global climate change represents a grand challenge for society, and the risk for Canada’s ski tourism economy is no exception. Climate change impacts on ski tourism’s profitability will have far-reaching consequences for sport, employment, culture, real estate, and community economic development in Canada’s tourism-dependent rural and mountain communities, yet there is currently no analysis on carbon risks, national competitiveness, or sustainability transition opportunities. This hinders a strategic climate response, but how ski tourism engages in climate change is critical and viable strategies to be part of the decarbonized economy are essential to future development of the visitor economy. This project will assess Canadian ski tourism climate and carbon risks at the national scale using a world leading ski operations climate risk model and new sector applications of carbon accounting methods. Collaborating with industry and community members this project will assist transitions towards a decarbonized tourism industry and climate resilient mountain communities. The proposed research will be the first of its kind in any country and will develop new methodologies and insights that can be exported to other major ski markets worldwide.

Speaker Diarization for Audio Transcription

This research is concerned with speaker diarization for the purpose of facilitating automated speech transcription. This problem has multiple depths depending on the prior knowledge provided to the system. The type and amount of information about the number and characteristics of the speakers can differentiate this problem in a range from a 1-to-N matching, where the voice is compared against different templates, to a clustering problem, where no prior knowledge is available. We intend to find a solution for the speaker diarization problem by incorporating state-of-the-art supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods. This internship will help the interns gain professional work experience in the field of natural language processing with the help from experts in both industry and academia. It is an opportunity for them to practice and improve their industry skills and gain a better understanding of what they are learning in the academia.

Amélioration de l’instrumentation tibiale lors de l’arthroplastie du genou

Le système iASSIST® Genou est un système d’assistance par ordinateur conçu pour l’arthroplastie totale du genou. Ce système est composé d’instruments réutilisables, d’un contrôleur ainsi que de senseurs inertiels (des PODs) permettant de déterminer les axes d’alignement du fémur et du tibia par rapport aux repères anatomiques. L’objectif de l’outil est d’aider à positionner avec précision les instruments d’alignement et composants d’implant par rapport à ces axes osseux. Le but de ce projet est de finaliser le développement de iASSIST2 par la conception d’un système guidant l’installation de la prothèse tibiale lors de l’arthroplastie totale du genou. Cette dernière fonctionnalité représente actuellement un frein à l’adoption du produit complet.