Projets novateurs réalisés

Evaluation of a ships hull through ice

The overall project is dedicated to energy efficient ship design for Arctic operations. Therefore, the causes for ice loads need to be understood, and also the properties of the prevailing sea ice conditions need to be determined. This has been done with multiple voyages, and now the data needs to be analyzed and put into context. Specifically, this project part refers to measurements conducted aboard ships and related ice property measurements in the Arctic. One part of the project is the analysis of measurements that are taken on the ship. The combination of acceleration measurements and ice thickness measurements has been done before and needs to be refined and re-applied to recent measurements. Additionally, the previous and upcoming analysis results need to be compared with available remote sensing information on sea ice deformation. On the sea ice, samples are taken and ice properties are measured. The measurements need to be processed and the data stored in a database. The data refer to two seasons (2024 and 2025) and will be compared. The measurement hardware needs to be refined and supported, combined with experiments in the laboratory. Her assistance is required, and her own ideas and developments can be included.

Honouring the Waters: Indigenous-Led Insights on Marine Shipping and Community Sovereignty – Marine Based Learning for Indigenous youth 12 and under

The Clear Seas Indigenous Internship Program aims to provide support to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Canada by helping them build the necessary internal capacity to research and protect their territories through a re-imagined internship program. Clear Seas provides mentorship to the interns and uplifts existing internal capacity within Indigenous communities. The Clear Seas Internship Program is tackling the real-world impacts of marine shipping on Indigenous communities, with significant cultural, social, and economic consequences. While shipping is vital for trade and economic growth, it often disrupts marine ecosystems, interferes with traditional fishing and hunting practices, and undermines Indigenous governance structures. This project’s scope is to be a leader for more holistic, respectful, supportive, responsive, equitable, and inclusive relationships between Indigenous communities and marine ecospheres through co-produced research spaces. The research centres around the marine ecosphere as Clear Seas can leverage their vast network of marine-related industries and partners. The knowledge developed through these projects will inform future Clear Seas research and guide marine-related policy and strategies.

Antenna Array Feasibility Study

Disruptive antenna technologies are required to provide performance and fabrication advantages in developing broadband wireless application products in emerging upper microwave and millimeterwave radio bands. The internship will investigate the feasibility of applying Polymer-based Dielectric Resonator Antenna (PRA), technology developed at the University of Saskatchewan, to commercial antenna array applications

Scalable Quantum Computing – Part B

Ruken Family Office Corporation is an investment firm specializing in data-driven strategies, risk modeling, and computational finance. As financial markets become increasingly reliant on high-performance computing, emerging technologies like quantum computing have the potential to reshape computational methodologies. However, the scalability and practical viability of quantum computing remain uncertain.
This project aims to identify which finance workloads suit quantum methods under realistic constraints. The work will account for full costs from data loading, state preparation, memory access, communication, and error correction, not only idealized circuit depth. It will produce fair, reproducible comparisons with CPU and GPU approaches at matched accuracy and runtime targets, characterize scaling with problem size and precision, and isolate the bottlenecks and the conditions that remove them.
The anticipated benefits include gaining access to research-based tools that assess the performance of commercial quantum platforms on financial workloads, provide insights into their scalability potential, and enhance understanding of future computational paradigms.

Development of Hybrid Tannin and Reduced Graphene Oxide Cryogels for Environmental Remediation of Aquatic Pollutants

The contamination of aquatic ecosystems by heavy metals and organic pollutants represents a global environmental challenge, threatening human health and ecological balance. Conventional treatment methods, such as chemical precipitation and membrane separation, are costly, ineficient at low concentrations, and generate secondary waste. Adsorption emerges as a promising alternative due to its simplicity and eficiency; however, its success depends on the development of sustainable, cost-effective, and high-performance adsorbent materials. This project proposes the development of a tannin–reduced graphene oxide (A-T/rGO) composite cryogel as an innovative and sustainable solution for the removal of heavy metals and organic dyes from aqueous efluents. The research aims to optimise synthesis parameters (particularly the tannin/GO ratio) to correlate structural properties (morphology, porosity) with adsorption performance. Furthermore, it seeks to achieve a deep understanding of adsorption mechanisms through kinetic and isotherm studies. The ultimate goal is to create a high-performance, low-cost, and eco-friendly material capable of promoting eficient and sustainable remediation of contaminated water.

L’Utilisation de la simulation et du design expérimental pour étudier l’effet du Système des Cellules Manufacturières Dynamiques (SMCD) sur la performance d’une entreprise réseau

Le type d’aménagement peut affecter les indicateurs de performance des entreprises manufacturières. Pour choisir le meilleur type, une ou plusieurs règles sont utilisées selon le contexte de l’étude. Une règle très connue pour les entreprises manufacturières; ‘Il faut mettre les deux machines ayant le flux le plus élevé à proximité’. Une autre règle utile pour un entrepôt est : ‘il faut stocker le produit qui roule plus à côté du quai de chargement’. En plus, les chercheurs ont proposé plusieurs modèles pour les problèmes d’aménagement. Mais dans la plupart des cas ils présentent des lacunes, comme le non considération de la fiabilité des machines ou de la capacité des fournisseurs à suivre leurs demandes. L’idée de cette recherche est d’essayer de déterminer l’effet des variables qui affectent la performance d’une entreprise manufacturière opérant dans un environnement dynamique (une grande variabilité de la demande client, des gammes de produit, etc.) et essentiellement l’effet de type d’aménagement; en lignes d’assemblage, en Système des Cellules Manufacturières Dynamiques, etc.

Canadian-based investment product solution for personalized direct indexing of client-specific requirements.

One of the fastest growing product categories in the investment industry in the United States is personalized direct indexing. This is a meaningful innovation that allows client specific requirements to be included in the delivery of investment solutions, such as considering concentrated risk positions held by the client, environmental social and governance related preferences, and the tax situation of the investor. To date, there are only two providers of this capability for Canadian enterprises, and both are US based firms. This project will help PICTON Investments bring to market the first Canadian based solution, and further innovate and expand on the capabilities available to Canadians by implementing Canada-specific considerations that have not been considered by the US based solution providers.

PICTON Investments is positioned to be the first to market, ahead of Canadian firms. They were the first to buy access to technology from a US vendor that is a key part of the workflow. They have a unique combination of talent in place to execute on the project because their Second Engine Division enables them to tap into a group of technologists with the skills needed to deliver this capability at scale. They are also the market leader in Canada for expertise in the specific investment discipline required to create this innovative solution.

They have sourced talent from University of Toronto’s Master of Mathematical Finance program who has strong quantitative expertise and the ability to create scalable and efficient workflows. The intern will create a robust backtest of the proposed solution by working in close partnership with an associate from PICTON’s portfolio construction team, together they’ll create a proposal tool allowing investment professionals to create simulations of the solution specific to an individual’s unique circumstances, and optimize the design of the solution in partnership with senior PICTON stakeholders.

Multi-model platform set-up and development of multi-model framework, integrating new and existing Wealth Management asset allocation models

Picton Mahoney Asset Management (PICTON Investments) was founded in 2004 to provide unique investment solutions to institutional, retail and high net worth investors in Canada and around the world. They are 100% employee-owned and manage approximately $15.3 billion in sub-advisory, pension plan and hedge fund assets on behalf of their clients. The Multi-Strategy Team at PICTON Investments uses various models to determine asset allocation preferences across time during different macroeconomic regimes. The primary objective of this projects is to learn about and set up their existing allocation models for use in a multi-model platform. The updated platform will use Python and integrate into their SQL database. This will allow for models to automatically update and have a report generated to alert users of a new update and the required asset allocation change. The second objective is to develop a Multi-Model framework that can take and integrate the signals from the input models in step one and blend them into one final allocation recommendation. This will also include developing a weighting scheme for the models that will use a conviction signal to adjust each model’s contributing weight over time. Additional levers will be explored to shift each model’s weights, as well as a secondary set that only apply to individual asset classes. The third objective is to evaluate by back testing the new multi-model framework and compare its performance to their existing model. This includes applying their standardized statistical analysis that looks at such performance variables as Sharpe ratio, drawdown and hit rate and well as our existing stress testing platform. The new framework will also be used to create allocation recommendations for 40/30/30 and the Wealth management end uses.

L2M-Reinventing Drug Discovery and Cell Therapy Discovery, Validation and Safety Testing

To improve how diseases are treated, our team has developed a single, versatile platform that supports rapid drug discovery, therapeutic safety testing, and evaluation of cell-based therapies. In the longer term, the same technology will enable the bioengineering of transplantable human organs. Our initial work targets the kidney, pancreas, and lung—organs central to major chronic diseases. Current testing systems for drugs and cell therapies are inefficient and often fail to predict human outcomes, leading to high attrition in clinical trials. Our platform generates living three-dimensional organs that reproduce the complexity of animal models while allowing direct observation and measurement in real time. This provides faster, more reliable results, reduces research costs, and accelerates the translation of new treatments from the laboratory to patients.

L2M – AI-Powered Microwave-Based Biosensor for Clot Formation Assessment

This project aims to develop an innovative biosensor that can continuously and non-invasively monitor clot formation in whole blood or plasma in real time. By combining microwave-based sensing technology with artificial intelligence, the system provides accurate, real-time information on coagulation dynamics without the need for complex laboratory instruments. The technology will help healthcare and biomedical research organizations, as well as companies developing biomaterials or biodevices that contact blood, perform reliable hemocompatibility assessments while reducing testing time and costs. For the partner organization, this project will establish the foundation for commercializing a compact, low-cost, off-the-shelf kit for assessing clot formation in blood or plasma samples exposed to biomaterials or biodevices.

Développement de granulés combustibles d’origine agricole de qualité supérieure

Le secteur agricole québécois désire mettre en place une filière énergétique à la biomasse agricole. Toutefois, la combustion de biomasses agricoles en remplacement des combustibles fossiles rencontre certains freins à son développement. Comme la biomasse contient des quantités appréciables d’azote, de soufre, de chlore, de potassium et de silicium, sa combustion émet plus de particules et d’oxydes d’azote et de soufre et engendre davantage de problèmes d’opération (encrassement, corrosion et mâchefers). Deux méthodes particulièrement efficaces pour diminuer l’impact négatif de ces éléments chimiques sont l’ajout d’additifs et la co-combustion avec du bois. L’objectif du stage sera donc d’évaluer quelle combinaison de produits permettrait une réduction des problèmes cités précédemment dans le cadre de la combustion de biomasse agricoles. Le projet comprendra quatre phases : 1) l’identification des combinaisons les plus prometteuses; 2) la fabrication des granulés combustibles à l’aide des équipements de Granulart; 3) la réalisation d’essais de combustion; 4) l’analyse des résultats. À terme, le projet aura permis de développer pour Granulart des granulés d’origine agricole de qualité supérieure pouvant être brûlés de façon durable au Québec

L2M – FishNet Map: A Satellite-Based Fishing Hotspot Mapping Service

The FishNet Map project aims to create a practical, user-friendly mapping service that helps identify fishing hotspots in near real-time using satellite observations and environmental data. By integrating multi-source satellite observation with real-time weather and sea-state forecasts, the platform pinpoints optimal fishing zones, predicts hotspot shifts, and flags risks such as storms or restricted areas. The project will focus on building an early demonstration version of this service for a pilot region in the North Atlantic, with the long-term goal of scaling it across Canadian waters and beyond. This project addresses a major challenge in the fishing industry: inefficient and time-consuming searches for fish that increase fuel costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and safety risks for crews. By providing data-driven guidance, FishNet Map will help reduce time spent at sea, lower operating costs, and improve decision-making for fishers and regulators alike. The project also supports sustainability efforts by reducing unnecessary fuel use and promoting responsible fishing practices. For the partner organization, this initiative demonstrates how cutting-edge satellite and ocean data can be translated into actionable tools. It will help validate the commercial potential of such a service, establish initial customer connections, and set the foundation for a scalable business model.