Projets novateurs réalisés

The Developmental Health of Children and Youth participating in Out-of-School Programs

In order to grow into healthy, successful adults, children need environments that support their physical and mental health, engage them in learning, and help them to develop social skills. Out-of-school programs are one kind of support that can help shape children’s futures in a positive way. Out-of-school programs are provided outside of regular school hours with the goal of supporting healthy behaviours, boosting school performance, making relationships stronger, and otherwise helping children to fulfill their potential.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg (BGCW) provide out-of-school programs for children and youth in Winnipeg. Although BGCW have been operating for many years, their programs have never been evaluated to see whether children who participate have better outcomes than children who do not participate.
This project will look at whether children and youth who attend BGCW’s programs:
– have better physical/mental health;
– have fewer teen pregnancies or suicide attempts;
– perform better in school and are more likely to graduate high school;
– are more likely to avoid being involved with any criminal; and
– are less likely to need income assistance as adults,
compared to children and youth who do not attend these programs.
“TO BE CONT’D”

Better Benchmarks, Better Urban Design

This project will assess the value in measuring sustainability outcomes according to place-specific baselines rather than universal thresholds set by rating systems and frameworks. It seeks a stronger foundation for sustainable design that can acknowledge place-specific factors. Ultimately, this work will lead to the establishment of a decision-making protocol about sustainable design options and outcomes that can be applied in a range of contexts, for better choices, made more justifiably, better understanding of impact, and a better sense of progress across projects.

Conception d’un système de mesure et de suivi de la performance pour une entreprise intégrée du domaine de l’immobilier et de la construction

L’industrie canadienne de la construction joue un rôle de premier plan dans l’économie du pays, en fournissant des millions d’emplois tout en faisant appel à un large éventail d’expertises. Ce secteur économique est toutefois confronté à un faible taux de productivité, alors que l’intensité de ses activités risque de ralentir au cours des prochaines années. Cette recherche est réalisée en collaboration avec Groupe Dallaire, un important promoteur immobilier hébergeant sous le même toit toutes les activités propres à un projet de construction. Elle vise à mettre sur pied un ensemble d’outils permettant d’évaluer et de faire le suivi de la performance des activités du Groupe. En ayant en main des indicateurs de performance, un tableau de bord et des outils d’analyse reposant sur une vision commune de la performance, Groupe Dallaire sera ainsi mieux outillé pour bien contrôler l’ensemble de ses activités et saisir de nouvelles opportunités d’affaires qui contribueront à maintenir sa position stratégique sur le marché

Female International Students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) – Transition to Post-Graduate Work and Permanent Residency in Denmark

The aims of the project are to address: why female international STEM students choose Denmark; what hurdles international students face in applying for post graduate work in the innovation sector and permanent residency and if there are any distinct hurdles for female students; what strategies stakeholders are utilizing to retain foreign talent;and how can existing initiatives better support foreign talent’s role in innovation and growth This project will draw on existing literature on the mobility of students, international education, and the importance of international student retention for innovation, and the particular challenges female international students face in their transition to post-graduate work and permanent residency. The primary research will consist of interviews with students and elite interviews with representatives of post-secondary, industry, government and other relevant public stakeholders, and will focus on the ‘Hovedstaden’ region in Denmark. My study will help to address important gaps of knowledge, provide insights into best practices for stakeholders, significantly enrich my studies, and support my future career by providing me with specialized knowledge on a topic, which is becoming increasingly important for policymakers, industries, and academics.

Étude du comportement sous basses températures des composés en élastomère utilisés dans les appuis sismiques de ponts

Les séismes sont des phénomènes naturels qui consistent en des secousses du sol dans les différentes directions. Les structures de génie civil comme les ponts soumis à ces secousses doivent être capable de résister à ces mouvements sans effondrement. L’un des moyens efficaces utilisés pour la protection sismique de ces structures et l’utilisation d’isolateurs sismiques à base d’élastomères, ces derniers, mis entre le tablier et les piles/culées, sont principalement composés de d’élastomères et plaques en aciers minces. Seulement, les propriétés mécaniques des élastomères qui composent ce type d’isolateurs sont fortement influencées par le froid, tel est le cas au Canada. Le présent projet porte sur l’étude du comportement dynamique en laboratoire de deux types élastomères, utilisés dans la fabrication d’isolateurs sismiques, sous l’effet d’exposition à de basses températures.

Modélisation et optimisation de fonctionnement de la tour de traitement thermique REVTECH

Les Moulins de Soulanges aimerait faire l’étude de l’impact d’un traitement thermique sur des céréales produites au Québec. Certaines études ont démontré que l’application d’un traitement thermique sur des céréales permet d’augmenter la qualité boulangère de ces dernières et d’en changer la fonctionnalité. Nous aimerions donc valoriser les céréales à faible qualité boulangère ou celles qui sont déclassés en leur donnant un autre souffle que leur utilisation pour alimentation animale. Pour ce faire, des essais doivent être réalisés pour permettre de bien comprendre les phénomènes de transfert de chaleur et leur impact sur les qualités physico-chimiques des céréales à l’étude.

Electrical Material Characterization Studies on Power Cable Dielectric Materials subjected to Thermal Aging

Electric power is almost entirely transmitted through polymer insulated cables or wires in every home, factory, plant or apparatus. If the temperature of a cable increases, it would be an indication that some accidents or malfunctions such as inflow of excess electric current occur in the cable. The generated heat, indeed, degrades the polymer insulations in cable, thus, making it unsuitable and unsafe for extra service. Therefore, it would be markedly valuable if the thermally-degraded portion in a cable can be located precisely without destroying the cable. In this project the electrical properties of cables are studied and emplyed as potential indicators to diagnose thermally-degraded regions of the cable. As a result, possible malfunctions in cables due to heat-overloads can be detected in an efficient, fast, low-cost, and non-destructive way which elevates the safety and lowers catastrophic risk in power transmissions.

Augmented Guidance Navigation and Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Sense and Avoid is a capability that is required by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to ensure that they do not enter into collision with other manned and unmanned aircraft. Obstacle avoidance of stationary objects is an important first step toward building Sense and Avoid systems. For stationary objects, after the object has been detected and its location has been determined, it is necessary to plan a path around the object, using a path planner, a key component of obstacle avoidance. For moving objects, detection can be more difficult and it also is necessary to predict the object’s trajectory, before using a path planner to calculate a path that will avoid a collision with the object. Sense and Avoid is an enabling technology that will be required for future (UAV) operations that take place beyond the line of sight of the pilot-in-command, and will be needed for many UAV applications.

Using behavioral biometrics to continuously authenticate an individual

The Nymi band is a unique wearable that authenticates the wearer using biometric data to provide continuous authenticated presence in smart environments. Nymi enables wireless user proximity & presence solutions, removing the need for physical interaction with IoT, mobile and computer applications for identification, non-repudiation, personalization and intent for any transactions. Similar to a lot of the current technology, the Nymi band only authenticates at the start, when the band is first worn. This can be undesirable, since non-authorized personnel could get access to information they should not be allowed to.

In order to make the band more secure and robust, the band needs to continuously authenticate the wearer. This will increase the likelihood of catching incorrect authentication as there will be more checks throughout the day to ensure the correct user is wearing the band. To achieve continuous authentication, this project will apply a set of machine learning algorithms to recognize patterns in the various biometric data analyzed.

Understanding Jewelry Consumers’ Response to CSR Advertising Messages

The research project will look at the appeals, elements, and themes present in luxury goods advertising and determine how luxury brands can integrate pro-social and empowerment messages into its advertising targeted toward women. This will be examined in the context of jewelry advertising as the partner organization for this project, Hillberg & Berk, is a Canadian jewelry company with the goal to create a purpose-driven international brand to empower women through design.

Desensitization of axial compressor performance and stall margin to tip clearance gap increase

The degradation in performance and operating envelope of aero-engines with age and during critical transient operating conditions such as take-off is a well-known phenomenon. It is mainly caused by the increase in size of the tiny gap between the tip of the compressor rotor blades and the shroud, called tip clearance, from wear and/or shroud thermal expansion, which results in a drop of compressor pressure rise, efficiency and safety margin against aerodynamic instabilities. Two recent doctoral projects at École Polytechnique de Montréal carried out with numerical simulations on a theoretical axial compressor rotor proposed an explanation for this phenomenon and corrective design strategies. A subsequent project applied these strategies to design and simulate a casing treatment and revised rotor to reduce the performance and stall margin sensitivity of a challenging transonic aero-engine axial compressor stage while in parallel modifying a test rig to test these designs for this compressor stage. “TO BE CONT’D”

Development of semiosNET biopesticide system

SemiosBIO is developing biopesticide technologies for the pest control industry. The products are

intended for several markets, including agriculture, home and gardens, professional pest control

operators (eg for hotels and commercial spaces) and forestry. semiosBIO has intellectual property

that is being developed and tested in collaboration with 7 different organizations across Canada. The

role of the intern is to import knowledge to the company through market research. The intern will then

be tasked with determining a proper strategy, planning the roll-out and implementing the techniques.

At the end of the project, the student will be required to summarize the results of the project, the

success of the techniques chosen and future recommendations.