Projets novateurs réalisés

Radio-frequency Thermal Plasma Assisted Solid Waste Conversion to Energy using Thermochemical Process Technology

The field of plastic waste management is essential for sustainable society that utilizes plastic waste for energy production. Land filing and incineration of plastic waste has large environmental impacts due to GHG emissions. Thus, pyrolysis is considered a low environmental impact process with high value end products. RF thermal plasma technology will help reduce operating cost, cleaner thermal source, shorten reaction time and provide high quality hydrocarbon gasoline and diesel. The research project involves developing a highly efficient RF thermal plasma system that can work in pyrolysis reactors. The partner organisation will start to utilize thermal plasma systems in their chemical reactors and drive the waste management industry forward by reducing operating cost of plastic to oil.

Developing a Metrics Program for London’s Million Tree Challenge

As a part of the Million Tree Challenge, the MITACS intern will work with ReForest London staff and partners to conduct research to determine how many trees are planted in the City of London this year. As a part of this work, they will conduct of review of the best data collection practices of other cities that are or have attempted to plant a large number of trees. They will determine what data to collect and how it will be collected, and develop, test, and refine a statistical model for using this data to estimate the total number of trees getting planted each year. Once the data is collected and analyzed, they will work with ReForest London staff to develop educational and marketing materials around their findings which will help Londoners to see the tree planting progress that has been made and to motivate them to plant more.

Identifying SMEs’ Barriers to Electronic Payment Adoption

During the past two decades in Canada, use of electronic payment has steadily increased. However, despite the downward trend in the volume, the value of cheques has steadily increased, with the five-year average volume growth increasing by about 2% due in large part to their common presence in the business-to-business space. These trends indicate that even with emerging of EFT payment instruments and online transfer options as substitutes for cheque, there are yet some barriers to electronic payment adoption specially for small and medium businesses. In this research we aim to not identify the possible SMEs’ barriers to electronic payment adoption, prioritize them, and find the instrumental and psychological mechanisms behind them.

Safe and Low-cost Robot Grasping through Impedance Control and Deep Learning

Grasping skill is significant in modern service robot that requires interaction with object under manipulation. Grasping of a new object is a trivial task for human operator while it is challenging for robot manipulators. Inspired by the grasping process of human operators, grasping control algorithms based on the integration of vision, tactile sensing. Deep learning, as an emerging technique successfully applied in many areas will be utilized to combining the advantages of both vision and tactile sensing. To guarantee the safe interaction between the robot manipulator and object, a robust interaction control scheme-impedance control will be applied. Force sensor is required in impedance control to detect the interaction force. To make the whole system affordable, the interaction force conventionally sensed by force sensor will be reconstructed by software observers.

Accelerated materials development via materials genomic approach and machine learning

In much the same way that silicon in the 1970s led to the modern information technology industry, the development of advanced materials will fuel many of the emerging industries that will address challenges in energy, national security, healthcare, and other areas. Yet the time it takes to move a newly discovered advanced material from the laboratory to the commercial market place remains far too long. This project aims to accelerate the discovery and design of advanced materials by high throughput computing and machine learning.

Uncovering Cuban-Irish historical links

As part of the research for my MA thesis, I will need to conduct research in archives and collections abroad. I will travel to Ireland and the United Kingdom from the end of June to mid-September, 2019. The information I will retrieve is key to properly developing my research questions, which focus on the Irish diaspora in Cuba during the 19th century. My thesis will look into how the Irish in Cuba were able to navigate multiple empires, religious militancy, languages, identities, racial attitudes, social status, and gender. Tentatively, my thesis will be titled: “Irish migrants to 19th century Cuba: The Faloon, Wright, and McNinney Families as Case Studies”. My methodology will draw from postcolonial theory, cultural studies, Irish diaspora studies, transnational networks and social history. All these interdisciplinary methods have rarely been applied to Irish migration history in Cuba. TO BE CONT’D

Cryoprotecant toxicity accumulation models in mollusc oocytes

Cryopreservation of aquatic species’ gametes and embryos would enable stable and sustainable resources for genetic management in species preservation and breedstock for aquaculture. Cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos is of considerable financial interest to both Spanish and Canadian aquaculture, yet there have been no industry-scale successes in their cryopreservation. The Paredes lab at the University of Vigo is developing cryopreservation techniques for mussel oocytes, and the Benson Lab in the University of Saskatchewan uses mathematical modeling to predict optimal cryopreservation protocols in mammalian gametes. While the phyla are different, the underlying principles for protocol optimization are similar and have not been applied to aquatic species. Therefore, the student, Dominic Olver, who has been a part of the Benson Lab, will use data previously collected from the Paredes lab to develop a mathematical model of cryopreservation. TO BE CONT’D

Study Hot Cracking Susceptibility of Critical AA6111 Aluminum Alloys during Direct Chill Casting

AA6111 aluminum alloys possess a combination of excellent strength, good formability and good corrosion resistance that are widely use in the car panel manufacture. Direct chill (DC) casting process is typically employed for producing such alloy ingots. Despite its advantages, AA6111 alloys are considered as “hard-to-cast” alloy among 6xxx alloys because of high susceptibility to hot cracks. The present project will investigate the effect of chemical composition and grain refinement on hot crack susceptibility. Preventing one of the major cast defects, hot cracks, in aluminum ingot production not only increases the productivity of DC casting but also significantly reduce the production cost. This project will provide the best guideline to the industrial partner for improving the industrial production of aluminum alloys. The knowledge gained through this study would be highly beneficial for all aluminum industry in Quebec and Canada.

Sélection in vivo de symbiotes racinaires en vue d’améliorer la réhabilitation des habitats de la toundra arctique et alpine du Québec affectés par l’exploitation miniè

Avec le plan Nord 2035 lancé en 2011 (Gouvernement du Québec 2015), le Gouvernement du Québec prévoit investir dans la mise en place de 17 projets miniers dans le nord du Québec (au-delà du 49ième parallèle). Les écosystèmes fragiles comme la toundra subarctique ne peuvent pas retrouver leur état d’origine après une perturbation d’envergure comme l’exploitation minière. Il faut développer des techniques en harmonie avec le site à restaurer afin de rétablir les biens et services écosystémiques dès la fermeture du site. Plusieurs études on démontré que l’utilisation de champignons symbiotiques associés aux racines des plantes comme engrais vert permet le rétablissement des espèces végétales indigènes sur les sites dégradés. Notre projet vise à identifier les champignons qui offrent les meilleurs avantages de croissance et de survie aux plantes à réintroduire sur la mine de fer de Schefferville, dans le Nord du Québec.

Effect of Leading-Edge Manufacturing Defects on Propeller Performance

The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the performance degradation of a full-scale modified NACA 66 section, which is typically used for marine propellers, due to leading-edge (LE) manufacturing tolerances. Two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations will be carried out for the base section without defect (as designed) and sections with LE defects (as built) which are to be determined based on the ISO 484-1 Standard for propeller manufacture. The minimum pressures at various angles of attack (-4 degrees to +4 degrees) for these sections will be compared with those by Brockett (1966). The effect of LE defect on the cavitation bucket will be examined. Three-dimensional CFD simulations will also be conducted for the foil with 1m span, which will be tested in a cavitation tunnel. The experimental results will be used in future validation studies.

INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY BENCHMARKING AND SUSTAINABILITYDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

sustainable institution using the STARS Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating

System as a benchmark. Analyze the baseline sustainability level of the college by the

application of set-target questions to staff members and students. USing this information, the

intern will indicate areas of strength and areas for development within the institution.

Resources may be created as a result of this research to support the sustainable path of

Lambton College. A literature research of successful sustainable measures taken by other

institutions will be performed to create a “Best Practice” report, and identify gaps and areas of

improvement. Practical recommendations will be provided and implemented. This work will

strongly support Lambton College towards its vision of becoming a leader in innovation and

sustainability.

Development of activated carbon from thermal coal for electrical double-layer supercapacitors – Part 2

Supercapacitors are electrochemical energy storage devices that promise fast charge-discharge rate, high power density, and long cycle life. However, low energy density and high cost of supercapacitors are yet to be addressed to catch up with the established market of batteries. This research project will design low-cost and high-energy electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors. To this end, we will develop activated carbons from thermal coal as the main component of electrode materials. This project will also determine simplified manufacturing process of supercapacitor cells with special attention to the cost. This project will help the partner organization, Atlas Power Generation Inc., commercialize supercapacitor technology for grid scale applications. This project will ultimately contribute to the transition of the coal industry into the clean energy technolog