Projets novateurs réalisés

Extensive post treatment monitoring project: barrier remediation on salmonid streams in British Columbia

Out-dated culverts are the most numerous barriers to fish movement and habitat connectivity in British Columbia, barring juvenile salmonids from thousands of kilometers of freshwater rearing habitat. The Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) has untaken an initiative to strategically remediate culverts in B.C. for improved juvenile salmon habitat access. However, the impacts and restoration requirements of culvert remediation for juvenile salmonids in the wild remains unclear. Working directly with CWF, the intern will investigate the effects of culvert remediation on fish movements, habitat use, growth, and survival through a large-scale, post-treatment analysis of previously remediated culverts. This will be done using habitat assessments, fish abundance estimates, and mark-recapture techniques to compare juvenile salmon habitat use above and below previously remediated impediments to fish movement. The intern will provide CWF with an effectiveness monitoring report that will inform future remediation efforts and can be used to acquire funding for further restoration projects.

Advantages of Automation of Communication between Security Platforms

In the technology sector, there are so many different computing systems that they need a way to communicate with each other. When different technologies can share information and work together to solve tasks, the benefits of computing are amplified. For example, smart home devices are much more convenient when they all communicate with one platform that can be accessed by the homeowner. In the field of cybersecurity, there are a variety of monitoring platforms which perform surveillance activities in order to inform cybersecurity analysts of potential threats. Two of such platforms, FireEye Security Orchestrator and McAfee Enterprise Security Manager, are highly useful but are not built to communicate with each other. This project seeks to build a single interface which communicates with both security platforms, so that their results can be easily compared by cybersecurity analysts.

Effects of Coating Pre-treatment on the Filiform Corrosion of Aluminum Finishes

This project will evaluate the filiform corrosion (FFC) resistance of aluminum frame, aluminum panels and aluminum glazing bead (when used) via powder coating from Starline Windows Ltd. Currently before coating, aluminum substrates are pretreated with cleaning and etch processes, where an alkaline bath made of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with drinking or reverse osmosis (RO) water is used. The cleaning process also prepare the surface for pre-enetrant etch (pre-pen etch), Pre-pen etch primarily removes smeared material to prepare a part for subsequent Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection (FPI) processing. The effects of various pre-treatment procedures, i.e., using RO water and subsequent pre-pen etch on the FFC of Aluminum Finishes will be clarified in this study. The overall outcome will help to advance the operations of aluminum cleaning and aluminum etch processing.

Analysis and optimization of a novel thermal storage system for ground-source heat pumps

Researchers at Ontario Tech University are collaborating with McClymont and Rak geotechnical engineers to develop a new sustainable thermal storage technology that addresses the main challenges that have prevented geothermal heating and cooling systems from being adopted in a meaningful way in Ontario. An innovative storage medium, based on a construction slurry, will be developed and used in the underground thermal storage, and coupled to a geothermal heat pump to provide high-efficiency and clean building heating and cooling. This new, inexpensive technology will be able to be effectively integrated with solar heating, making it more cost competitive with natural gas, and leading to increased adoption and considerable CO2 emissions reduction in the building sector.

Coupling the liquid pool and wellbore hydraulic module of the “Prediction andOptimization Software Package” – Part 4

In the last decade optimization is expanded in many applications from food production to sophisticated applications such as engine fuel efficiency. In the proposed package, it is tried to apply optimization techniques along with physics based analytical and semi-analytical methodologies to create a compelling framework which can help thermal-process based oil industry to reduce their GHG and also better evaluate their CAPEX. Many SAGD projects are overspent on their facilities due to under prediction or overprediction of their oil production expectations. this package will help operators to predict their expectations and improve their predictions as more inputs are provided such 4D seismic, temperature and pressure observation wells, production data, and geological characterization.

Development of a Novel Flow Diverter Design for the Treatment of Cerebral Bifurcation Aneurysm

Cerebral aneurysm (CA) is an abnormal dilation of the cerebral arterial wall and accounts for more than half a million deaths worldwide annually. Flow diverters (FDs) are commonly used to treat CAs but have deficiencies in certain anatomies. In partnership with Evasc Medical System Inc., whose area of expertise is developing treatments for CA, we intend to develop a new design for the Evasc FD (eCLIPs) to address these shortcomings. Through a stepwise design modification process, we aim to improve the performance of eCLIPs in occluding flow into the aneurysm sac in complex anatomies. Results of this research project will serve as a guideline for Evasc to improve outcomes in a larger population of patients with CA. This project also hopes to establish an enduring partnership with Evasc for future collaborations and serve as a template for developing new technologies for cardiovascular medical devices.

Mining sites as incubators for green energy and other value added products

The mining industry is a key economic driver for Northern Ontario, and mine and associated support and

processing facility closures result, therefore, in significant impacts on the local community direct and indirect

employment and economy. Despite each mining operation representing a significant investment in preparation,

transport, infrastructure and technology, much, if not all, is lost to the community after closure. A mine site also

creates and occupies significant tracts of land that are essentially non-productive assets.

To address this issue, this is a multi-disciplinary, multi-company research program that involves both a school of

process engineering and of medicine, and links energy recovery and greenhouse gas accounting with

generation of biofuels and natural microbial sourced heath compounds. It is based around innovative uses of

mine lands for achieving extractable energy value from sources of waste heat generated. In particular use of

these sites as an “incubators” for the production from indigenous microalgae of renewable biofuels and…tobecont’d

The human dimensions of wetlands and waterfowl conservation: Developing measures of stakeholder involvement in conservation activities and nature-based recreation

The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) is an international partnership to conserve abundant and resilient waterfowl populations and sustainable landscapes. Through their work with the four Canadian NAWMP Joint Ventures, Ducks Unlimited Canada collaborate on waterfowl and habitat management issues, including social issues that are relevant to wetland and waterfowl conservation. This project will increase the human dimensions capacity of the Joint Venture community and develop and measure repeatable indicators of conservation and nature-based recreation involvement among wetlands and waterfowl conservation stakeholders in Canada. This project involves three studies that will (1) identify relevant stakeholders with interests in waterfowl and wetlands conservation, (2) identify measures of conservation and nature-based recreation involvement, and (3) test and implement these measures in a national web-based survey of waterfowl and wetlands conservation stakeholders.

Development of Functional Calcium Imaging with Quartet®, for studying odor memory circuits

1 in 5 people suffer from a mental illness, such as depression, Alzheimer’s & Parkinon’s during their lifetime. Currently, there are no treatments for these diseases, because the underlying causes of these diseases is not known. Neurescence has developed a technology that is essential for understanding how local and long range neuronal circuits form to create healthy brain function, hence understand how these neuronal circuits are disrupted in each disease. This project is related in developing the techniques required to use this technology and the creation of training material, enabling Neurescence to offer training to its customers along side the technology, hence facilitate technology adoption. The result is not only helping to push our knowledge of the brain to find treatments for its diseases, but also helping Neurescence realize its commercial goals, resulting into creation of jobs for highly skilled workers in STEM fields.

The prosody of Uruguayan-Brazilian border Spanish: Cross-generational and Social variation

The present dissertation has the main aims of describing the Spanish prosody of bilingual speakers of Portuguese living in the Uruguayan-Brazilian border and observing how it varies across three different generations of bilinguals through an apparent-time analysis. In particular, I will explore whether this variation could be attributed to the influence of Montevideo Spanish (MS), the national prestige language in Uruguay; i.e. I will explore whether younger speakers, who travel to Montevideo more often and avoid the use of Portuguese (UP and/or BP), approach the patterns of Montevideo Spanish more closely than older speakers who have spent most of their lives in the border and have stronger ties to the local identity. I will also look at their place of origin, urban vs. rural, and socioeconomic status. I intend to test and record a list of stimuli produced by the mentioned bilinguals in different contexts of production (mediated vs. unmediated) to also control for influence of beliefs about the interlocutor). This study will allow us to understand the role sociolinguistic factors play in bilingual speech and how variation can be traced in prosodic factors such as speech rhythm, speech rate and intonation.

Improved Radiative Recombination in Silicon Carbide Through Neutron Irradiation

White light emission from blue-emitting Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) is now replacing virtually all other types of lighting and display lighting in commercial and residential sectors.
Currently, such LEDs are made using gallium indium nitride, gallium indium aluminum phosphide and gallium arsenide compounds that are expensive to produce. Instead we are seeking to use very low cost silicon carbide by introducing damage into the crystalline structure of this material. This damage is known to enable improved radiative efficiency. Without modification, silicon carbide provides virtually no light emission.
Damage as a result of neutron bombardment will be studied. High energy neutrons are available from the nuclear reactor at McMaster University. This gives us a unique opportunity to study neutron damage in silicon carbide and its effect on the radiative efficiency of silicon carbide LEDs.

Impact de saines habitudes de vie sur la condition métabolique de femmes ayant été atteintes d’un cancer du sein

Le projet CHANGE est une étude multicentrique qui a pour but de renverser le syndrome métabolique, c’est-à-dire de ramener vers la normalité la condition de personnes à risque de développer le diabète. En pratique, le diagnostic de syndrome métabolique est posé par le médecin de famille qui réfère par la suite son patient à un kinésiologue et un nutritionniste dont l’intervention est centrée sur l’amélioration des habitudes de vie. Dans ce cas-ci, le kinésiologue et le nutritionniste sont des professionnels certifiés qui sont également inscrites à des études graduées à l’Université Laval. Cette implication contribuera à leur formation clinique et scientifique. Pour le partenaire externe, soit la Fondation cancer du sein du Québec, cette collaboration représente une opportunité unique de bonifier ses activités de promotion de la pratique d’activité physique tout en y greffant un volet nutritionnel visant l’acquisition de saines habitudes alimentaires.