Innovative Projects Realized

Hybrid Biological System for Onsite Wastewater Treatment

Domestic/municipal wastewaters in rural areas are often treated using septic tank systems which are often not very efficient. Because of this, effluent from septic systems often pollutes rivers, lakes and groundwater. To address this, Stantec, along with Ecowork of Japan, is interested in evaluating an innovative septic system for Essex, Ontario, where a pilot unit will be set up and run for 12 months. All important pollution parameters will be evaluated and the process and design parameters will be optimized. Information on the needed modification necessary to enhance performance under local climatic conditions while meeting local regulations will be collected.

Canadian youth’s awareness of the negative consequences of various drugs: Results from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse’s Baseline Youth Awareness Survey

The purpose of the proposed research is to analyze the baseline data from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse's (CCSA) Youth Awareness Survey to provide descriptive information about key beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of Canadian youth aged 10 to 24 years. An important objective is to focus on the self-reported substance use behaviours and perceptions of harm associated with substance use for very young Canadians (eg aged 10 – 13 years). The research will directly feed into the evaluation of the CCSA's Drug Prevention Strategy fo Canada's Youth. Tihs work will also assist in raising the CCSA's profile as an authority on substance use behaviours and attitudes among Canadian preadolescent youth as there is currently no other Canadian data of this kind.

Assessing the Environmental Impact on Anaerobic Digestion for Organic Waste in the Project

The project will examine the environmental impact of using anaerobic digestion for the processing of the organic faction of municipal solid waste in the Partners in Project Green (PPG) Eco]Business Zone (EBZ). This project will be a partnership between a masterfs student at the University of Waterloo (UW), the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the Region of Peel, and Yield Energy (YE). The project will build upon the work already completed by Yield Energy in establishing a business case for anaerobic digestion. Collecting of organic waste information from businesses in the PPG EBZ and processing this information with the Integrated Waste Management Model (IWMM) will complete this assessment. A baseline scenario will be processed with the IWMM; this scenario will analyze the current waste management practicefs environmental impact. Various scenarios will be then used to examine the environmental impact of different anaerobic digestion options to determine the best solution in term of environmental impact.

Video tracking using Sparse and dense feature-based methods

Weyes Eyes, Inc. is developing a product that uses intelligent video analytics software to alert end users to pre-configured events as they occur in video streams from cameras set up in the home or office. The user will be able to specify which types of events to capture (doors opening, people walking by, etc.) and the software will detect these events using sparse feature-tracking and objectrecognition methods. Many state-of-the-art feature detectors and descriptors may be suitable for this task, and Weyes Eyes wishes to know which ones work best for their specific application. The research component, then, is to empirically evaluate possible feature detection/description combinations for tracking and recognition using sample videos that represent the kind of events Weyes Eyes wants to detect.

Starworks (Developing Disability Association) New Market Potential

The intern will conduct literature review and database queries to locate new industries for Starworks (social enterprise of the Developmental Disabilities Association) to target marketing of their assembly services (tradeshow bag stuffing, test kit assembly, product re]labeling, etc). The intern will then conduct email and telephone surveys to measure willingness to pay and fit with Starworks abilities. Two industries will be selected and local firms selected for in]depth interviews to understand potential customer specific needs and barriers to use.

Optimizing new thinning strategies with a mathematical model to increase yields and control biennial bearing of Honeycrisp apple trees

The recently introduced variety, Honeycrisp, is well-suited to the Annapolis region. Already planted in over 350 acres, Honeycrisp sells for four times the price of other apples. Unfortunately this variety has a major flaw – a tendency to biennial bearing through a strong tendency of producing only spurs and no substantial shoot growth. We need to understand this negative growth habit and develop innovative fruit management techniques to stabilize and increase yield. Variability in yield from year to year is a major risk factor for Nova Scotia fruit growers which could be mitigated by improved management techniques. The information and understanding gained will be used to refine the mathematical model (Pellerin, Buszard and Iron, 2009) and design experiments for 2011. With all these data, we will create a new model which will enable us to predict what percentage of thinning is required to regulate yield and growth on spur-bound Honeycrisp apple trees.

Finite formulation based models of overhead lines and buried cables incorporating ground interface and high-frequency effects

Being able to accurately determine the model parameters for multi-conductor overhead and underground cable systems is important for power transmission system simulation. Current analytical based methods are limited to simple configurations of conductors and employ approximations that limit their accuracy at high frequencies. In this project we develop a numerical Finite Integration based technique for calculation of transmission line parameters and for calculation of the associated electromagnetic fields. The finite integration numerical approach has advantages over other methods in that an adaptive mesh can be efficiently implemented, this being important when simulating open boundary multi-scale problems. The numerical approach will be capable of modeling arbitrary configurations of buried and overhead conductors and provide a full-wave solution, which is accurate at high frequencies. We will use this tool to study the validity of the widely used analytical base formulas and investigate the effect of the non-perfect ground, which play a significant role in the parameter values and is difficult to model.

Cumulative effects of development on pronghorn distribution and movements in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe

In North America, the prairies of the Great Plains represent an important natural region and provide crucial ecological goods and services for both humans and wildlife. The intern's research looks to evaluate cumulative effects of development on multi]scalar habitat and movement pathway selections of pronghorn, considered an indicator species for the overall health of prairie ecosystems, across the Northern Sagebrush Steppe (NSS). Statistical models based on empirical data will be developed, representing the relative probability of seasonal occurrence of pronghorn in native habitat landscape units across the NSS. The models will be used to create maps representing seasonal ranges (winter, fawning and summer) for all landscape units. Secondly, The intern will develop connectivity models to illustrate the relative effectiveness of corridors linking seasonal habitats within and between landscape units in the NSS. Models and associated maps should help identify both crucial habitats and critical linkage zones required for pronghorn sustainability. Beneficial conservation designs address both ecological and social needs of large]scale systems such as the NSS. This project will integrate ecological and land use data to offer conservation design options for the untilled grassland landscapes remaining in the NSS.

Creating a Participatory Online Resource on Canadian Music

The aim of this project is to research and develop a user]generated, participatory online resource focused exclusively on Canadian music and Canadian musicians, using wiki software. The advent of participatory online media has empowered citizens to become creators of content. This project will research the value of user]generated content in general, and specifically through wiki social software, within Canadafs public broadcasting system. It will enable CBC Radio 3 to remain at the forefront of offering innovative and distinctive Canadian content, consistent with its mission to promote national culture by using emerging technologies to reach Canadians, particularly younger audiences. The project will help strengthen the relationship between audiences, artists, and the CBC through collaboration, interaction, and the creation of knowledge. The goal is to reflect the richness and diversity of the countryfs musical scene through a collaborative wiki produced by Canadians for Canadians, contributing to a shared consciousness and identify.

CMBS Sensitivity Analysis

This work can serve as the foundation of relative value strategies and portfolio sensitivity analysis. This project research on building a strategy for analyzing the sensitivity of mortgage backed securities (MBS) pool pricing to changes in financial market and underlying security characteristics, such as the property value of the underlying real estate. There is a large database including real estate property location, real estate price indices by region and property type, as well as mortgage security pool information. The intern will help to build the mathematical and econometric models for MBS pricing and develop fast computer algorithm to analyze the database, such as estimate the joint probability of default of pool mortgages, the implied parameters and sensitivities for each MBS pool, and their correlations for all securitized properties.

Optical System for an Action-Sports goggle display

Optimization of Road Alignment Design

In the road construction process, a civil engineer commonly uses software to outline the horizontal and vertical road alignment on a topographical map. The software then calculates the amount of earth that needs to be excavated, or filled, at certain points of the alignment as well as pavement costs, land costs and other expenses. Softree, the partner company, provides such software. There is currently no commercial software that offers the user an automated optimization of the alignment based on the total cost. Current research has focused on optimizing either the horizontal or the vertical alignment. The few studies that investigate the optimization of both alignments simultaneously, do not guarantee optimal solutions. We will study a new model to optimize both alignments with algorithms that will provide better results than existing solutions. The result will be an optimization prototype that can be implemented directly into Softree's software.