Projets novateurs réalisés

La responsabilité des grandes entreprises en matière sociale et environnementale à l’aune du devoir de vigilance. Analyse comparée avec les droits français et OHADA.

Ce projet de recherche, dans le cadre de mes recherches doctorales, à la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Montréal, sous la supervision de Professeure Julie Biron, me permettra d’approfondir les recherches en ce qui concerne la conformité dans les sociétés canadiennes dont certaines opèrent en Afrique subsaharienne dans le secteur minier. A cet effet, ce stage de recherche aboutira à déceler la gouvernance d’entreprise de ces sociétés canadiennes, leur responsabilité sociétale et question relative à l’investissement socialement responsable. Autrement dit, appréhender comment les sociétés canadiennes exploitant les ressources naturelles assurent la gestion des risques sociaux, environnementaux et de gouvernance.

Advanced rechargeable zinc lithium-ion battery – Part 3

There is a growing demand for the electrochemical energy storage system (EES) to store the energy generated by renewable resources of energy such as wind and solar. However, renewables are intermittent in nature meaning that the energy can be produced only when the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing. Therefore, there is a high demand for an EES to store the energy during generation time and give it back to grid later. Recently, zinc lithium-ion batteries (ZLIBs), which operate using much safer aqueous electrolytes rather than organic counterparts as in lithium-ion batteries, have gained tremendous attention due to their cost effectiveness and higher durability compared to typical lithium-ion battery. The current project focuses on the development of an electrolyte system specifically designed for ZLIB to furtherly improve its cycle life. For operating and install necessary infrastructure such as flanges and fittings in remote project locations, the industrial partner Pro-Flange, demands uninterrupted supply of electricity for power tools and equipment. However, the current power supply usually suffers either from unstable grid supply or unavailable grid at the project sites.

Production of animal feed using Methylophilus methylotrophus

This project aims to identify an efficient fermentation strategy that will enable Cvictus to generate a protein-rich animal feed using methanol as the nutrient source. The key advantage of the production platform proposed by Cvictus is the use of a proprietary technology that can convert coal to methanol with ultra-low CO2 emissions. Initial research in this project will examine an advanced fermentation system that will facilitate growth of high-density cultures, leading to improved productivity relative to existing fermentation approaches. Furthermore, the animal feed generated in these studies will be assessed for protein and amino acid content to determine their nutritional attributes. Finally, downstream processing of the animal feed will be studied to examine their effect on the nutritional value of the final product. Taken together, the proposed research will strengthen the environmental benefits and economics for the integrated production platform of Cvictus.

Development and Optimization of a Pile Integrated Geo-Exchange System

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) are a clean and sustainable alternative to conventional heating and cooling technologies. Currently, the high upfront costs and technical complexity of drilling and installing GSHPs is preventing their widespread adoption. Innovia GEO Corporation is developing a novel GSHP system that integrates directly into building structural piles. While these piles are used extensively in the construction industry as a building foundation component, their use as part of a GSHP is unexplored. Their dual-use has the potential to reduce costs and remove logistical barriers of implementation. This project will include experimental and computer simulation research to characterize the functionality of the proposed technology. Computer modelling will be used to gain further understanding of the system. The interns will work with the industry partner on two experiments; a laboratory scale experiment, and a demonstration site . These studies will be essential towards Innovia’s commercialization of structural pile GSHPs.

Development of tools to assess genetic and age structuring of the Atlantic Sea Cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa)

As fisheries for the Atlantic Sea Cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) develop in Atlantic Canada, effective management will require a thorough understanding of the underlying genetic relationships within and between different populations to assess “genetic health.” Detecting genetic structure, such as differences in allelic frequencies and heterozygosity, is challenging in marine invertebrate species like C. frondosa due to having a highly dispersive and long larval stage, which results in high levels of gene flow between populations. Through the use of a Next-Generation Sequencing technology known as Restriction Site-Associated DNA Sequencing (RADseq), sufficient amounts of genetic data can be generated to detect significant levels of genetic structuring based on studies of other marine invertebrates. Applying this technique to C. frondosa will help better define subpopulations and allow more thorough assessments of population health and adaptability, both of which are necessary for effective fisheries management.

Computational Nanoscale Design of Advanced Lithium Iron PhosphateBattery Cathodes

Advanced energy storage materials are essential to the continued economic prosperity of our society,

as we move towards the electrification of the transportation industry and the further development of our

renewable energy resources. Accelerating the pace of discovery and development in advanced energy storage

materials will therefore be vital to maintaining economic competitiveness in the twenty-first century. These

interships will help train students in the development of an urgently needed economic engine for rapid materials

innovation through the combined computational design, synthesis, and characterization of novel energy storage

materials. The discovery and synthesis of new lithium-ion iron phosphate based battery materials will be

facilitated by combining materials modeling at McGill University with the empirical investigation of battery

materials at Hydro-Quebec. Through this synergistic approach these Mitacs interships will fuel the Canadian

driven discovery, development, manufacturing, and deployment of advanced lithium-ion battery materials (with

high energy density and fast charging) at least twice as fast as possible today, at a fraction….TOBECONTINUED

Causal drivers of post-bleaching coral reef regime shifts

Coral reef regime shifts occur when environmental stressors result in the benthic composition abruptly transitioning from a coral dominated reef to one dominated by macroalgae. These shifts are a key conservation concern and have led to substantial degradation of coral reefs worldwide. In particular, climate-induced coral bleaching is now a leading threat to coral reefs, and can result in coral-algal shifts that are often detrimental and difficult to reverse. Yet not all reefs shift towards algal domination after a bleaching event, and a causal understanding of the conditions under which reefs recover vs regime shift is currently unknown. The aim of this project is to create a causal model that determines how different environmental conditions (e.g. depth, structural complexity, herbivorous biomass) have influenced recovery vs regime shift trajectories after a widespread climate-induced bleaching event in Seychelles. By applying causal inference to a 17 year dataset collected across 21 reef sites in Seychelles, this project provides a unique opportunity to study causal mechanisms affecting post-bleaching recovery potential on coral reef ecosystems.

Effect of probiotics on reducing diet-induced inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque formation in APoE-knockout mice

Diets which reduce carbohydrate intake and increase protein intake, such as Atkins diet, are popular and effective for weight loss. However, such diets may negatively affect cardiovascular health by increasing atherosclerotic plaque formation, and overall lead to higher mortality. Vuckovic and Bergdahl previously used mouse model that mimics spontaneous formation of atherosclerotic plaques in humans to investigate the effect of a low carbohydrate-high protein (LCHP) diet on plaque formation. Their results identified the involvement of inflammatory pathways in adverse effects of LCHP diet in comparison to control and high-fat diets. We hypothesize that the administration of anti-inflammatory probiotic supplements can regulate the levels of inflammation and thus reduce the plaque formation in this animal model. Our findings will play an important role to better understand if the risks of LCHP diets can be minimized using probiotics and to understand more generally what effect this probiotic formulation has on diet-induced chronic inflammation.

Modification de surface de la cellulose nanocristalline

La cellulose nanocristalline (CNC) possède une résistance mécanique importante, comparable au Kevlar ou à l’acier. De nature biosourcée, c’est donc un excellent candidat pour renforcer une matrice polymère. Mais sa nature polaire la rend incompatible avec une matrice apolaire : une modification de surface est nécessaire. Pour cela, une méthode aux conditions douces et en accord avec le caractère biosourcé de la CNC sera utilisé. L’objectif est d’obtenir des nanoparticules qui permettront de renforcer des polymères de commodité tels que le polyéthylène pour notamment diminuer l’impact environnemental de matériaux pétrosourcés. Ainsi, avec l’ajout de la CNC modifiée, une plus faible quantité de polymère pétrosourcé serait nécessaire pour des propriétés équivalentes. D’autre part, la CNC modifiée peut également être intégrée dans des matrices polymères obtenues de ressources renouvelables comme le polyamide afin d’obtenir un nanocomposite entièrement biosourcé avec des propriétés mécaniques compétitives par rapport aux polymères de commodité pétrosourcés.

Smart Dashboard for Sustainable Destination Decision Making

Destinations have quickly become victims of their own success. Destination Management Organisations (DMO’s) worldwide are making a much needed shift towards the inclusion of management alongside their marketing priorities for destination management, but are often ill equipped. There is a current gap in the marketplace for useful, comprehensive and user-friendly tools to assist them. This project will create a tool to access the information Ottawa Tourism needs, creating a tool that will be the first data driven tool to combat overtourism, improve resident sentiment, improve efficiency of resources and planning, increase destination revenue and overhead and improve overall destination health.

The role of historical Indigenous burning patterns in reducing risk to mountain communities

For thousands of years before European arrival, the Indigenous people of the Rocky Mountains regularly used low-intensity surface fires to keep forests clear of debris and fuel to mitigate the risk of high-intensity wildfire. The proposed project will investigate the historical extent of landscape management by Indigenous burning methods and explore the incorporation of Indigenous burning practices into modern forest management programs to cope with recent extreme wildfire seasons. The project will analyze historical photos taken from early mountain surveys in the late 19th century to quantify the extent of the landscape that was regularly burned before fire exclusion policies were passed in the early 20th century. Utilizing image analysis software and other data from tree ring analysis and traditional knowledge, traditional forest management through Indigenous burning can be quantified in a way that is useful to modern forest management.

Solar Based Energy Solution for Zero-Carbon Transportation

Electrocatalytically converting CO2 into value-added transportation fuels, driven by solar derived electricity, can not only tackle global warming by reducing the green-house gases and utilizing the renewable energy, but also bring a great economic benefit. However, the current electrocatalytic technology suffers from an unsatisfied productivity of multi-carbon chemicals, as building blocks for large fuel molecules, and hence weakens its large-scale commercialization potential. The Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC) spearheads, designs, and launches technology and commercialization projects that advance next-generation mobility and transportation technologies across Canada. They team with the Waterloo Engineering researchers in developing novel catalysts and flow reactors to increase the production rates of C1 and C2+ chemicals, with the ultimate goal of producing solar derived fuels for transportation. Three interns are supported by this project and will perform specified tasks in development of a novel photo-augmented electrocatalytic CO2 reduction technology, design of a large-scale catalytic flow reactor, and studies of the combustion and emission properties of the derived fuel.