Projets novateurs réalisés

The role of automobility engagement in consumer response to new mobility innovations

The transport sector is the second highest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada. The prevalence of car use in passenger transport, also referred to as “automobility”, is a key driver of GHG emissions and other societal issues. Transport innovations can reduce emissions – for example, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are an essential component in achieving climate goals. However, automobility patterns may still represent a challenge for transport sustainability. The Sustainable Transportation Action Research Team (START) and Navius Research Inc. are leaders in analyzing impacts from transport innovations in Canada. This project analyzes data from a large-scale survey of Canadian citizens to investigate consumer preferences for PEVs and other innovations, and their relationship to mobility by private cars. The project aims to improve knowledge of sustainable transportation pathways from a consumer perspective, which may help to inform transport and climate policies.

Microbial Dyes

Lite-1 utilizes innovative technologies like synthetic biology and biofabrication in pursuit of a novel solution. Many bacteria naturally produce colourful, non-toxic pigments (Ahmad, et. Al, 2013). Through the lens of design, we identify and study organisms that produce the market’s desired colours. Lite-1 dyes reduce water pollution, are safe for workers as well as the ecosystem, and eliminate our dependence on non-renewable resources. The product offers an overhaul to the dye industry to shift from one of the preeminent polluters to a regenerative and more humane industry.

This project is focused on leveraging the expertise and highly specialized equipment at the Lee Lab to improve the productivity of the Lite-1 organisms to achieve higher yields, streamline production and downstream processing protocols and decrease culture times through genetics.

RevMate: Towards an optimized review process in AAA game development

In software development, code reviewing is an essential code validation step during integration [1, 2]. When developers submit their code for review, human reviewers need to validate the changes made to source code
and other artifacts (e.g., data files, artifacts created by artists). This review process can go through several iterations in which the reviewers comment on the submission and the submission’s developer revise the
submission by submitting a new version (“revision”) addressing the suggested changes. Eventually, the (revised) submission either is accepted and forwarded to integration in the main development branch, or
rejected.
In this research project, we study different automation approaches to improve the velocity of the code review process at Ubisoft, our industrial partner. More specifically, we intend to build techniques for code chunk
ordering, hot-spot detection and review comment prediction. We will also establish a pre-review protocol where the developer validates and/or modifies our approaches’ results, as to have actual developers’ input and insights
in the review process. We aim to conduct this study on several AAA game productions, both ongoing and past games, to empirically assess the generalization of our results.

A High-Performance, Rapid-Cure Epoxy Resin Formulation for High Voltage Coils Using Radical-Induced Cationic Frontal Polymerisation (RICFP)

This project explores new polymer cure methods using a combination of light and thermally sensitive catalysts for epoxy thermoset resins. These resins can be used for a number of applications, including as insulators in high voltage coils. The postdoc and MSc interns will identify simpler epoxy formulations that utilize specially tuned photoinitiators and thermal catalysts. This will be accomplished by a design of experiments to identify potential formulation candidates followed by in-house testing at TMU and at the Trench site. The benefits to the partner is a simplified, more stable formulation with a much smaller carbon footprint and an increased throughput of epoxy coated electric coils during manufacture.

Territoire en transformation. Accroissement démographique et augmentation de la fréquentation récréotouristique à Bromont

La ville de Bromont connait présentement des transformations géographiques découlant d’une forte croissance démographique issue de migrations interrégionales. Ces migrations de résidents provenant des milieux urbains se sont accrues depuis le début de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Certains urbains choisissent de s’établir à Bromont, notamment pour profiter des activités en milieu naturel de montagne. En plus de cet accroissement démographique, le territoire bromontois enregistre une augmentation de la fréquentation récréotouristique. L’arrivée d’un grand nombre de nouveaux résidents soulève des interrogations quant aux impacts sociaux et environnementaux. Comment les Bromontois perçoivent- ils cette migration sur leur milieu de vie ? Quels sont les impacts de cette transformation du territoire sur la communauté ? Ce projet de recherche vise à connaitre les préoccupations et les attentes de la population bromontoise et des touristes. Des dimensions telles que l’appartenance au territoire, l’aménagement urbain et le développement des infrastructures récréotouristiques seront abordées. Les résultats de cette recherche, la méthodologie employée ainsi que les stratégies d’innovation sociale développées lors de ce projet pourront profiter à d’autres territoires de montagne, au Québec et au Canada, qui connaissent des transformations similaires.

Evolution of flower shape : 3D modelling applied to the Gesneriaceae

The project aims at studying the patterns of evolution of the flowers of the Gesneriaceae family. It will use a newly developped 3D modelling approach that uses photogrammetry to study the evolution of flowers in 3D without losing color information. The research aims at testing if there are gaps in the variation of flower shape across the family, it certain regions of the flower evolve faster than others and if flower shape in color evolve in a correlated fashion. This research will contribute to having a better understanding of flower evolution.

Co-développement d’ateliers pour promouvoir le bien-être psychologique après un accident vasculaire cérébral

Puisque les enjeux de santé mentale sont fréquents à la suite d’un accident vasculaire cérébral, l’organisme ARTÈRE, basé à Québec, cherche à intégrer des activités qui permettraient de soutenir le bien-être psychologique de ses membres. Ce projet vise à développer des ateliers pour promouvoir le bien-être psychologique. Quatre objectifs spécifiques seront?poursuivis: (1) identifier les enjeux principaux et les stratégies à prioriser; (2) développer les ateliers en s’assurant que le contenu et le format sont adaptés à la réalité des personnes avec un AVC et de leurs proches; (3) réaliser l’implantation et l’évaluation des ateliers; et (4) développer du matériel de formation afin d’assurer la pérennité des ateliers pour ARTÈRE.

The State of Literacy in Nova Scotia: A Scoping Study

Literacy Nova Scotia (LNS), in collaboration with the Department of Information Science (DIS) at Dalhousie University, seeks to produce a hallmark report released every 2 years that will present a holistic picture of the state of literacy in Nova Scotia. Further, It will seek to develop a definition of literacy grounded in the Nova Scotian context, linking to current literature that reconceptualizes understandings of literacy as practices rather than skills and accounting for emerging types of literacy (e.g., digital, information, scientific, media) that will be key to accurately portraying literacy in Nova Scotia in the digital age. The objectives of this proposed project are: 1) to identify, appraise, and critically analyze relevant existing literature and data, and 2) to produce a structured outline of a report which defines a feasible report scope and makes recommendations for what should be included in a hallmark report, together with an actionable, sustainable plan for producing the report.

Electrochemical Characterization of organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) Platform for Biosensing

We have developed a device that is rapid, sensitive and adaptable to performing multiple assays to detect chemicals, biologicals, non-biologicals, salts, metals and pathogens to mention a few. Activity involved in this project will model the behaviour of sensors to better understand the output sensitive to the analyte of interest and the sensor configurations. This work will provide opportunities for students who are interested in bioelectronics approach for chemical sensing. It will also benefit the partner organization in advancing the effectiveness of their bioelectronic device.

Assessment of restoration success for Juvenile Salmon Habitat in the K’ómoks Estuary

The intern will be working with Project Watershed to understand the use of the three sites along the Courtenay River by juvenile salmonids, and whether one site appears to be better used by the juvenile salmonids or not. This work will help inform the partner organization whether their previous salmon habitat restoration activities along the Courtenay River have been a success. Results will be used to inform future habitat restoration projects that occur along the Courtenay River in Courtenay, BC. This project will increase local understanding of the juvenile salmonid use of tidal estuary habitat.

The Development of Physical Ability Standardsas a Bona Fide Occupational Requirement(BFOR) for the Ottawa Paramedic Service

Paramedics provide essential emergency care services for Canadians. However, in providing this service, paramedics are exposed to many highly demanding task and situations. Further, these high demands are often referred to when paramedics suffer pain, discomfort and even injury. While efforts
are underway to lessen these demands where possible, due to the nature of paramedic work it is not feasible to eliminate all high demand, potentially hazardous tasks. So it remains important to prescreen potential paramedics to ensure that they demonstrate the abilities required to meet all of the demands of their work. This project aims to develop an evidence-based pre-hire physical abilities test for paramedics. To achieve this aim, the research team will follow the best practices guideline that resulted from the 2001 Bona Fide Occupational Requirements Forum, based in part on the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on the Meiorin case.

Soil moisture estimation over agricultural region using time series multi-mode synthetic aperture radar imagery

Efficient monitoring of soil moisture is essential for evaluating crop stress and forecasting agricultural yields. In this regard, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is considered more suitable than traditional optical satellites due to its
all-weather and all-day capacity, as well as its sensitivity to soil dielectric constant. To further enhance the accuracy of soil moisture retrieval, this project proposes new algorithms based on the change detection method
using multi-mode SAR imagery. The aim is to generate high-precision soil moisture maps instead of relying solely on discrete monitoring points. Additionally, the performance of multi-mode SAR for soil moisture retrieval is
evaluated, offering a valuable reference for selecting data for soil moisture inversion in agricultural areas.