Projets novateurs réalisés

User Interface Research for Stereoscopic 3D Animation System

Janro Imaging Laboratory (JIL) will work with researchers at Concordia and Emily Carr universities to develop 3D motion-tracking based interference tools for drawing and content creation in spatial drawing applications. As a basis for applied design research, researchers will use an alpha version of the “Optical Wand,” a product currently in developement at JIL for use with SANDDE, a software system under development at JIL. Unlike any other available 3D animation system, with SANDDE, the animator works in the stereoscopic environment itself, and can therefore make changes intuitively and rapidly to the spatial composition of their work in 3D, and in real time. The expected result of this project is the invention of an optimal gesture-based interface for drawing directly in 3D steroscopic space in professional animation applications. The resulting invention would be an unprecendented interface tool, which can be produced using Direct Digital Manufacturing and as such, is likely……………..

Novel Macrocyclic Drug Candidates Targeting the Delta Opioid Receptor for Therapeutic Applications

Increased awareness of the issues associated with using opioids such as morphine that target the mu-opioid receptor – namely, that these drugs tend to lead to dependency and significant, often life-threatening, side effects – have led researchers to identify the delta opioid receptor as an alternative, and potentially safer, target for the management of chronic pain, which may avoid the addictiveness of the mu subtype. Drug candidates that interact with the delta receptor and exhibit biased functional activation can also be investigated for applications in the treatment of other medical conditions such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In collaboration with Professors Yves Dory and Louis Gendron at Université de Sherbrooke, Cyclenium Pharma has identified a lead series of novel macrocyclic agents able to target this receptor in a highly specific manner. The main objective of this project is to design, synthesize, and thoroughly characterize the pharmacological properties of additional lead candidates, thereby driving the development of these promising pharmaceutical agents towards clinical trials, potentially for multiple therapeutic applications. In the long term, these macrocyclic drug candidates may offer positive strategies for mitigating the current opioid crisis and addressing unmet medical needs in mental healthcare in Canada.

Development and validation of B1R-targeted antibodies for cancer therapy

In recent years, significant scientific breakthroughs have opened the door to harnessing the immune system to fight cancer. One potential group of targets, known as G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), have proven challenging due to their membrane localization and the existence of several close analogues, which often leads to ineffective or even non-specific mode of action of small molecules, (the chosen avenue for most major pharmaceutical interventions). Over the past 3 years, a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers from Université de Sherbrooke and Immune Biosolutions has been tackling this problem. We now propose to evaluate the therapeutic potential of recombinant antibodies with antagonist properties targeting GPCR kinin B1 receptor for the treatment of solid cancers. This receptor’s expression is induced in prostate and breast cancer, among others, and its activation by agonist ligands has been shown to promote growth, migration, and invasion; thus highlighting the relevance for the development of anti-B1R antibodies with antagonist activities. If successful, we will be one step closer to establishing a working framework for new drug development that can be re-applied by Immune Biosolutions to rapidly identify and validate new antibodies acting at GPCRs for the treatment of other types of cancers as well.

Recycling of Urea-Formaldehyde Resin-Bonded Particleboard and MDF – Year two

The large global production quantity of particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) creates equal quantity of particleboard and MDF waste after completing their service life. Given increasing demand for green products and the new government’s environmental policies, it is urgent to develop technologies to recycle these used composite panels into valuable raw materials for manufacturing composites again.
This research will focus on the development of recycling solutions for waste Urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin-bonded particleboard and MDF.
Thermohydrolytic (treated with steam and heat) treatment with chemical catalyst will be applied to recycle the waste particleboard and MDF. And the recovered particles or fibers will be used as raw materials with different substitution of fresh materials to manufacture particleboard or MDF panels. The quality of the resulting particleboards or MDF will be evaluated by determining their performance and formaldehyde emissions.
Moreover, this research will lead to develop a complete environmentally friendly recycling process. Waste mixture aqueous produced during the wood panels recycling, which is rich in chemicals, will also be separated and purified to recover the chemicals.
This project can accelerate innovation process for recycling waste UF-bonded wood composite panels and facilitate the collaboration between FPInnovations and the industry, governments and Laval University.

Recycling of Urea-Formaldehyde Resin-Bonded Particleboard and MDF

The large global production quantity of particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF) creates equal quantity of particleboard and MDF waste after completing their service life. Given increasing demand for green products and the new government’s environmental policies, it is urgent to develop technologies to recycle these used composite panels into valuable raw materials for manufacturing composites again.
This research will focus on the development of recycling solutions for waste Urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin-bonded particleboard and MDF.
Thermohydrolytic (treated with steam and heat) treatment with chemical catalyst will be applied to recycle the waste particleboard and MDF. And the recovered particles or fibers will be used as raw materials with different substitution of fresh materials to manufacture particleboard or MDF panels. The quality of the resulting particleboards or MDF will be evaluated by determining their performance and formaldehyde emissions.
Moreover, this research will lead to develop a complete environmentally friendly recycling process. Waste mixture aqueous produced during the wood panels recycling, which is rich in chemicals, will also be separated and purified to recover the chemicals.
This project can accelerate innovation process for recycling waste UF-bonded wood composite panels and facilitate the collaboration between FPInnovations and the industry, governments and Laval University.

RECHERCHE ET DÉVELOPPEMENT DE SOLUTIONS INNOVANTES POUR LE CONTRÔLE NON-DESTRUCTIF DE PLANCHER RÉSERVOIRS PÉTROCHIMIQUES – Year two

Nucleom est une entreprise canadienne proposant des services de contrôle non destructif (CND) pour diverses applications telles que l’inspection de réacteurs nucléaires ou de pipelines. Ce projet de recherche fortement appliquée permettra un transfert de connaissance entre le laboratoire d’accueil et le partenaire industriel. Le projet principal aura pour objectif d’évaluer les possibilités d’inspection ultrasonore du fond d’un réservoir similaire à ceux généralement utilisés pour le stockage des liquides dans l’industrie pétrochimique. Actuellement, avec les outils de CND disponibles il est nécessaire de vider entièrement le contenant afin d’effectuer une inspection par perte de flux magnétique depuis l’intérieur du réservoir. Cette méthode couteuse en temps et en ressources permet de détecter les détériorations généralement introduites par la corrosion. Dans ce projet, plusieurs méthodes innovantes basées sur les ondes guidées seront comparées dans le but de développer un dispositif permettant d’inspecter le fond des réservoirs depuis la surface extérieure.

RECHERCHE ET DÉVELOPPEMENT DE SOLUTIONS INNOVANTES POUR LE CONTRÔLE NON-DESTRUCTIF DE PLANCHER RÉSERVOIRS PÉTROCHIMIQUES

Nucleom est une entreprise canadienne proposant des services de contrôle non destructif (CND) pour diverses applications telles que l’inspection de réacteurs nucléaires ou de pipelines. Ce projet de recherche fortement appliquée permettra un transfert de connaissance entre le laboratoire d’accueil et le partenaire industriel. Le projet principal aura pour objectif d’évaluer les possibilités d’inspection ultrasonore du fond d’un réservoir similaire à ceux généralement utilisés pour le stockage des liquides dans l’industrie pétrochimique. Actuellement, avec les outils de CND disponibles il est nécessaire de vider entièrement le contenant afin d’effectuer une inspection par perte de flux magnétique depuis l’intérieur du réservoir. Cette méthode couteuse en temps et en ressources permet de détecter les détériorations généralement introduites par la corrosion. Dans ce projet, plusieurs méthodes innovantes basées sur les ondes guidées seront comparées dans le but de développer un dispositif permettant d’inspecter le fond des réservoirs depuis la surface extérieure.

Couplage de la dénitrification autotrophe sur soufre aux systèmes de traitement biologiquedes eaux usées domestiques applicables au secteur de l’assainissement décentralisé

Au Canada, les petites installations d’assainissement autonome (non-raccordées aux réseaux

d’égout) contribuent à produire 20% de la quantité totale des eaux usées. Ces petites installations de

traitement des eaux résiduaires sont souvent caractérisées par une difficulté à atteindre les normes

de rejets, lesquelles sont de plus en plus sévères. La dénitrification autotrophe utilisant le soufre

élémentaire constitue une nouvelle biotechnologie efficace pour réduire les teneurs en nitrate dans

les effluents avant leur rejet dans le milieu récepteur. Le présent projet, d’une durée de trois ans et

comprenant quatre stages en entreprise, vise donc à évaluer, d’abord en laboratoire puis à l’échelle

pilote, le potentiel du couplage de la dénitrification autotrophe sur soufre élémentaire avec deux

procédés de traitement biologique de la compagnie Premier Tech Ltée, soient le procédé de

biofiltration Ecoflo® et le système Ecoprocess MBRTM, pour l’élimination des nutriments,

principalement l’azote, présents dans les eaux de petites et moyennes collectivités.

Adapting Human Performance Techniques, Illusion Aesthetics, and Specialized Apparatus from the World of Stage Conjuring to Contemporary Circus Disciplines

The vast majority of performance techniques, illusion aesthetics, and specialized apparatuses used by stage conjurors are still unknown and remain unexplored by the circus world. The tacit knowledge that magicians exchange amongst themselves is rarely transferred to members outside of their subculture, which leads to creative stagnation in their communities and beyond. The purpose of this project is to create an intensive and sustained collaboration between North American illusion experts and elite circus artists to produce new physical vocabulary for new equipment. The prototypes produced will be disciplinary hybrids. The specific magic/circus combinations proposed for this project are: 1) manipulation techniques for an optical illusion wheel apparatus, 2) movement vocabulary for a color-changing aerial rope apparatus, and 3) movement vocabulary for a color-changing silks apparatus. Cirque du Soleil, as industrial partner, and graduates of Montreal’s National Circus School will be the first to use and diffuse the physical vocabulary and special apparatuses developed. The collaboration of magic and circus specialists will be facilitated through the organization of an international academic and industry conference held in Montreal in the summer 2020.

L’évolution de la virulence des punaises ternes en réponse à la sélection exercée par les méthodes de lutte

En empêchant le développement normal des fruits, les punaises ternes occasionnent des pertes économiques majeures pour les agriculteurs de fraises. Ils utilisent donc des méthodes de luttes pour réduire la densité de ces insectes qui changent les paramètres déterminant la survie des individus. Ce projet permettra d’examiner comment ces méthodes de lutte occasionnent un changement dans le comportement des punaises et comment cet effet se répercute sur les dommages qu’elles occasionnent et leur susceptibilité aux méthodes de lutte. Ces données permettront d’optimiser l’utilisation des méthodes de lutte alternatives aux insecticides pour minimiser les pertes économiques tout en assurant un plan de gestion efficace à long terme.

Person Re-identification in Cross-Domain Adaptive Network – Year two

Video analytics is an active fields of research, where state-of-the-art systems rely on a variety of computer vision and machine learning techniques for accurate modeling and recognition from large-scale video datasets. Person re-identification is a key problem found in numerous application areas, e.g., video surveillance, summarization, and sports analysis, and seeks to match people across non-overlapping views in a multi-camera system. However, this remains a challenging problem because the appearance of individuals varies considerably across cameras viewpoints (pose, illumination, etc.), and due to the non-rigid structure of individuals. This project will focus on developing accurate visual recognition models that allow for person re-identification in sports video analytics application of interest for SPORTLOGiQ Inc., leading to person tracking, activity recognition and group behavior understanding over a distributed network of cameras. Designing accurate recognition systems for these applications typically gives rise to several challenges because it involves learning complex models using large weakly-annotated data sets that incorporate domain shifts, subtle noise, variations and uncertainties embedded in real-world signals.TO BE CONT’D

Person Re-identification in Cross-Domain Adaptive Network

Video analytics is an active fields of research, where state-of-the-art systems rely on a variety of computer vision and machine learning techniques for accurate modeling and recognition from large-scale video datasets. Person re-identification is a key problem found in numerous application areas, e.g., video surveillance, summarization, and sports analysis, and seeks to match people across non-overlapping views in a multi-camera system. However, this remains a challenging problem because the appearance of individuals varies considerably across cameras viewpoints (pose, illumination, etc.), and due to the non-rigid structure of individuals. This project will focus on developing accurate visual recognition models that allow for person re-identification in sports video analytics application of interest for SPORTLOGiQ Inc., leading to person tracking, activity recognition and group behavior understanding over a distributed network of cameras. Designing accurate recognition systems for these applications typically gives rise to several challenges because it involves learning complex models using large weakly-annotated data sets that incorporate domain shifts, subtle noise, variations and uncertainties embedded in real-world signals.TO BE CONT’D