Projets novateurs réalisés

Training attentional control mechanisms using a gamified multiple-object tracking (MOT) task

In daily tasks such as driving or walking down the street, our visual system must select a subset of information to attend to while filtering out unnecessary information. Failure to filter out distractions can have dire consequences (e.g. injuries, collisions), and little is known about the cognitive mechanisms that govern attentional control or how to improve them. However, what if one could improve attentional control abilities by simply playing a video game for a few hours each week? Recent work by Dr. Daphne Bavelier and colleagues has uncovered action video game training as a promising avenue to improve a variety of cognitive abilities involved in attentional control. While this is a promising first step, it is still unclear what facets of action videos games target specific cognitive abilities and what game mechanics facilitate transfer of learning. In this project I will have the opportunity to answer these questions, working alongside Dr. Bavelier in a training study to investigate the game elements that best facilitate attentional control improvements.

Low-Temperature Single-Crystalline Electronics for Smart Displays

The display industry has witnessed rapid growth, in both volume and diversification. In recent years, this trend is expected to persist with continued consumer demand, for example, a wide range of devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, GPS map readers, portable DVD players, and electronic books, as well as the ubiquitous mobile phone and laptop computers, are integrated into one display or smart display. To achieve such integration, we will develop a system based on single-crystal-silicon spheres where high-performance, large-area with low cost and highly uniform transistors will be achieved. Upon successful completion of the proposed project, the organization can develop an innovative technology for largearea electronics, which can benefit the global industries and particularly Canadian industries, and create new opportunities for the organization in different fields such as large displays and portable devices. In addition, the outcomes are also significant steps in diversifying local industries for more stability.

Automated Golf Performance Assessment Using Markerless Motion Capture Derived from a Cell Phone Camera

The spine is an complex system of joints requiring refined motor control strategies to coordinate movement between the lower and upper limbs. Back injuries occur due to poor spine control during sudden/unexpected spine loading. The golf swing is unique to each individual, repetitive, and involves multiple major joints during performance, making the golf swing an excellent surrogate to investigate spine and hip motion and related injuries.

Typically, spine and lumbopelvic motor control research requires high-grade motion capture equipment managed by highly trained personnel. This prohibits the use of conventional objective movement analyses to assess athletes (i.e., golfers) in field-based settings. Recent advancements in computer vision have simplified gathering human movements in 3D using data derived from 2D video cameras (including those within a cellphone). Different functional movement strategies exist in the population which relate to motor performance and/or musculoskeletal injury [2]. Therefore, it is possible that previous approaches taken to evaluate pitching and workplace movements may assist in the objective analysis of golfing to improve/optimize performance and/or reduce the prevalence of injury.

Comparing Security Frameworks for Operational Technology

Several popular OT security frameworks have been developed to help organizations protect their critical infrastructure and industrial control systems from cyber threats. Two of the most popular standards include ISA/IEC 62443 (formerly ISA 99) and NIST SP 800-82 Rev.2 (ICS Security Guide). The purpose of this project is to use an existing OT infrastructure to evaluate the two frameworks to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to provide guidelines for future researchers when using these models to evaluate the security of an OT environment.

Management and treatment of wood preserving wastes for environmental remediation and energy generation: Waste-Water-Energy Nexus.

In the modern period of the Industrial Revolution, enormous emphasis is placed on green technology, including zero or less waste production, recycling resources, and using recyclable raw materials. According to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for a peaceful and flourishing world, materials science research focuses on recovering techniques and proper waste control are essential to address the worldwide waste catastrophe. Converting low-value biomass waste, predominantly waste wood products, into high-value materials for environmental and energy applications could solve three major issues simultaneously: waste management, wastewater treatment and clean energy recovery. The proposed project will combine strategy, logistics, science, and technology to extensively study the importance of using available biomass waste, i.e., out-of-service utility poles and wood products, as raw materials to prepare materials to function as a dual-functional photocatalyst for the concurrent treatment of wood industry wastewater and hydrogen generation. The biomass-derived materials could be a good alternative as no costly precursor of carbons to deal with both the management and valorization of biomass with environmental impact.

Using CityEngine for Parameterized 3D Modelingof Regional Growth Scenarios

In 2006, the Government of Ontario introduced “Places to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe” to control urban sprawl, protect farmland and green spaces, create complete communities and revitalize downtowns and urban centres. Key specifications include minimum intensification targets, such as requiring 40% of new residential development to occur in existing built-up areas. A recently published report by Allen and Campsie (2013) found that many municipalities across the Toronto region are not planning to adhere to the mandated intensifications targets. This internship will examine the impact of various growth scenarios on urban form for a case study municipality by developing 3D models in Esri’s CityEngine software. The intern will investigate the use of procedurally generated streets, blocks, and neighbourhoods for efficient visualization of development options. These visualizations will contribute to stakeholder and citizen engagement in regional planning through a Web-based application. It enables novel scenario modeling for effective advocacy and policy making to support economically and environmentally sustainable growth.

Leading Treaty Implementation: A Gendered Analysis of Progress and Challenges in Promoting Treaties

This research project will examine the challenges that prevent the proper implementation and awareness of treaties, made between the Canadian government and First Nations in Saskatchewan. We will analyze these barriers from different angles, including the role of organizational and social frameworks, and women’s leadership in Indigenous community organizations. Using feminist and decolonial perspectives, we will identify strategies being used to overcome barriers and recommend priorities for continuing success in the area. The intern will have the opportunity to work with a diverse team of professionals, taking on a leadership role in developing a report on treaty implementation to enhance the work of the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre (SICC). The SICC will benefit from the intern’s work as it will inform their efforts to work with their partners in the facilitation of treaty implementation in the province. This research aims to contribute to improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples by enhancing understanding of contemporary issues surrounding treaties in Saskatchewan.

Design and Implementation of an External-Cavity Laser (ECL) as a Tunable Coherent Source for Optical Communication and Sensing Applications Using Hybrid Integration

FONEX Data System Inc. is developing solutions to address the challenges that telecommunication service providers face in upgrading their access networks to sustain the growth in data traffic. A critical component of the solutions is low cost widely tunable laser modules. In this internship project, a novel laser source is proposed based on external cavity laser (ECL) configuration that can provide low-noise wideband tunability with narrower linewidths. This ECL source helps addressing commercial issues in increasing the number and bandwidth of optical communication channels. Moreover, the proposed module can be directly utilized in other applications, such as an optical sensor to detect a variety of measurands. For example, it can be used as a diagnostic optical biosensor which is affordable and portable. Such sensitive and reliable diagnostic sensor helps health service providers to run remote rapid test in many cases, like preventing the COVID-19 pandemic spread that we all experienced.

Telops : Télédétection de méthane

Telops a développé une solution complète pour l’inspection aéroportée de détection de méthane. Cette solution, basée sur la caméra hyperspectrale infrarouge thermique HCAM (Hyper-Cam Airborne Mini), a un volet important
de traitement des données. Les données acquises lors de vols d’inspection sont sous la forme d’images de radiance spectrale et d’images visibles, le tout géoréférencé. Les traitements numériques pour effectuer la
détection du méthane dans les données sont essentiellement basés sur des principes de spectroscopie. Les calculs produisent des images de scores, dont la valeur du score est proportionnelle à la probabilité de présence
de méthane. Cependant, la méthode prédit parfois un score élevé en l’absence de méthane, et donc de fausses alarmes. Actuellement, une inspection manuelle des résultats est nécessaire pour éliminer les détections qui
semblent être fausses. Dans ce projet, l’objectif est d’explorer diverses approches exploitant des algorithmes d’intelligence artificielle (IA) afin de réduire, et idéalement éliminer, le besoin d’inspection manuelle.

EcoFRP Engineering: Advancing Sustainable Composite Materials with Engineered Polymers

This project will implement a more effective way to recycle composite materials.

Creating accessible solutions to mobility – Impect Solution

Founded in 2022, Impect Solutions’ goal is to provide everyone the ability to age in place, without sacrificing grace and dignity. Impect Solutions creates relationships with consumers in order to provide high-quality and elegant age-in-place solutions to everyone. Consumers are ensured that they can age with care, safety and grace using Impect Solutions products. Impect Solutions is constantly striving to change the game, today, tomorrow and always. Their customers are the centre of our design thinking. Impect Solutions is in continuous pursuit of solutions that are inclusive and respectful to the needs of customers and our planet.

In New Brunswick, 21.9% of the population is aged 65 and over making New Brunswick among the top jurisdictions for the highest proportion of older citizens in Canada . The New Brunswick Health Council completed two surveys and found that “providing care in non-traditional settings, such as home care services (HSS), is indispensable to ensuring the viability of the health care system and to supporting older citizens to age independently at home and in their communities for as long as possible.” The Government of New Brunswick’s “An Aging Strategy for NB” indicated that access and navigation of services and support have been a consistent barrier. There is a need for businesses to better connect with and support their clients in aging in place. As such, this project aims at increasing the outreach, and understanding of our clientele and being more responsive and supportive to our audience.

Development of Herd Navigator as a health management tool for dairy farms

Herd Navigator (HN) is a “precision technology” for dairy cow management based on in-inline milk sampling and advanced data analysis. This system has recently come to market in Canada. The proposed project will combine analysis of data from the HN system and controlled field trials to develop and validate best management practices for health, production and reproduction. This research will benefit the dairy industry as a whole by providing better information that help improve diagnostic, therapeutic and management plans resulting in the well-being of dairy cattle and profit to the dairy producer. Our industry partner (DeLaval-Canada) will benefit from this project by generating evidence-based information that can help in promotion, marketing and user support for the product.