Projets novateurs réalisés

Benchmarking Post Quantum Cryptography in Internet of Things

In this project, students are expected to set up a testbed and run experiments to evaluate the impact of integrating post quantum cryptography (PQC) into IoT devices. The evaluation metrics include CPU usage, memory usage, bandwidth usage, and energy usage. Various PQC mechanisms will be evaluated on MQTT over TCP+TLS, including ML-KEM, HQC, ML-DSA, and SLH-DSA. A performance benchmark is expected to be created for PQC efficiency on IoT devices with this project.

Modélisation musculosquelettique des chutes en escalade de bloc

Ce projet concerne la sécurité en escalade de bloc, un sport dans lequel les chutes sont inévitables et difficiles à prévoir. L’objectif est de mieux comprendre les réactions du corps lors de différents types de chutes, afin d’identifier les situations susceptibles d’entraîner des blessures. Le projet s’appuie sur une base de données composée de chutes réelles de jeunes grimpeurs et grimpeuses, filmées dans des conditions contrôlées. À partir de ces vidéos, des simulations numériques seront réalisés afin de reconstruire le mouvement du corps, d’estimer les muscles sollicités et les efforts subis par les articulations lors de l’impact. Ces simulations musculosquelettiques permettront d’étudier en détail l’influence de paramètres clés, comme l’orientation du corps, la vitesse d’arrivée ou la façon dont la personne se réceptionne. En identifiant les scénarios qui sollicitent le plus certaines articulations ou groupes musculaires, il sera possible de repérer les types de chutes les plus à risque. Ces résultats permettront d’améliorer la prévention des blessures en escalade, par exemple en ajustant les recommandations d’entraînement et en perfectionnant les techniques de réception. Ce projet vise donc à mieux protéger les grimpeurs et grimpeuses grâce à une compréhension précise des chutes et de leurs effets sur le corps.

Implementation of 6-degree-of-freedom visual tracking for robotic in situ bioprinting

This project focuses on developing a tracking system for in situ 3D bioprinters. These machines are designed to 3D print implants over the body, and the tracking system enables them to determine the location of the target surface, as well as adjust their motion to accommodate movements from this surface. Both York University and the University of Pisa are working on this subject using the same printing system, and they will collaborate on creating a robust and versatile tracking system to advance their research on in situ bioprinting.

Implementation of multi-centre clinical trials in orthopaedic trauma

This research internship is offered within the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery under the supervision of Dr. Sheila Sprague, PhD. The program focuses on clinical research aimed at improving outcomes and quality of life for patients with musculoskeletal injuries through multiple ongoing clinical trials, including Beads vs. Vac, FLAP-ATTACK, FASTER-HIP, SWRCT, and studies on pelvic fracture management (PIVOT-LC1 Pilot, FLIPER, and ATV).

The internship provides an opportunity to gain experience in health research methodology and clinical trial implementation within the orthopaedic trauma research team. The intern will work closely with project managers and research coordinators to learn daily study operations and contribute to multiple aspects of clinical research management.

Key responsibilities include drafting and editing study documents (procedures, reports, manuals), reviewing and validating study data, managing data queries, maintaining trial master and investigator site files, updating study trackers, and preparing documents for adjudication committees. Additional duties include organizing study meetings, recording minutes, tracking action items, communicating with clinical sites and stakeholders, and supporting manuscript preparation, statistical analyses, and grant proposal development.

This internship offers comprehensive exposure to clinical research coordination and the practical management of multicenter trials.

Canadian Mass Timber Costing Guide

Mass timber – an innovative, wood-based alternative to concrete and steel – is key to building greener cities, but its widespread use in Canada is currently limited by uncertainty over construction costs. Developers and builders lack reliable, standardized data to compare the price of mass timber projects against traditional building methods and materials across different regions. This research project, supported by Sustainable Buildings Canada (SBC) and RDH Building Science, aims to solve this problem. The intern will create detailed, standardized virtual building models and use industry data to directly compare the costs and carbon footprint of mass timber to concrete in major Canadian cities. The main goal is to create a nationally consistent Canadian Mass Timber Costing Guide. This guide will provide clear, evidence-based benchmarks, helping contractors, insurers, and policymakers to make informed decisions. The expected benefit to SBC is a powerful tool that will improve industry confidence, reduce risk perception, and significantly accelerate the adoption of mass timber as a valuable, low carbon construction material across Canada.

Stage de recherche sur la prévention des chutes par le judo chez les personnes âgées

Ce stage prépare une étude innovante sur la prévention des chutes chez les personnes âgées grâce au judo et à l’activité physique. Les chutes constituent un enjeu majeur de santé publique, entraînant des blessures et une perte d’autonomie. Le judo, en intégrant des exercices d’équilibre et de renforcement, pourrait offrir une solution efficace et non pharmacologique.
L’objectif du stage est de poser les bases scientifiques du projet principal en :

Réalisant une revue de littérature sur les interventions existantes et leurs impacts.
Préparant les instruments de mesure : questionnaires validés (CHAMPS pour l’activité physique, FES-I pour la peur de tomber) et questions ouvertes pour explorer les perceptions des participants.

Ce travail permettra de concevoir un protocole rigoureux pour comparer différents profils : judokas actifs, anciens judokas, participants à une formation sur les chutes et personnes sans expérience en judo.
En contribuant à ce projet, le stagiaire participera à une initiative visant à promouvoir le vieillissement actif et à réduire les risques de chutes, avec des retombées importantes pour la santé publique et la qualité de vie des aînés.

Surpoids/obésité et survenue des maladies inflammatoires de l’intestin

Les maladies inflammatoires de l’intestin (comme la maladie de Crohn et la colite ulcéreuse) touchent le système digestif et peuvent causer des douleurs, des troubles digestifs et une fatigue importante. Elles sont influencées par plusieurs facteurs, dont le microbiote intestinal — c’est-à-dire l’ensemble des milliards de micro-organismes (comme les bactéries) qui vivent naturellement dans nos intestins et participent à notre digestion et à notre santé.

L’obésité peut modifier ce microbiote, affaiblir les défenses immunitaires et favoriser une inflammation chronique. Cela pourrait augmenter le risque de développer une maladie inflammatoire de l’intestin.

Ce projet de recherche vise à mieux comprendre ce lien, en étudiant le poids corporel à différents âges de la vie. À partir d’un questionnaire complété par plus de 2700 personnes, nous analyserons les silhouettes corporelles choisies par les participants pour représenter leur apparence à 3, 10, 15, 25 et 35 ans.

L’objectif est de déterminer si le surpoids ou l’obésité à certains moments de la vie augmente le risque de développer une maladie inflammatoire de l’intestin. Cette étude pourrait aider à mieux prévenir ces maladies en tenant compte de l’évolution du poids au fil du temps.

Mitigating hallucination in vision language models for autonomous systems

Autonomous systems such as intelligent vehicles and robotic platforms must reliably perceive their surroundings and reason about complex environments to make safe, informed decisions. Recent advances in Vision-Language Models (VLMs) and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) frameworks combine visual understanding with language-based reasoning, creating unified architectures for perception, interpretation, and decision-making. This integration enables autonomous agents to describe scenes, reason about spatial and temporal context, and translate perception into executable actions, improving adaptability and interpretability. However, despite strong performance on benchmarks, VLMs and VLAs remain prone to hallucination, producing confident yet incorrect outputs that can compromise safety. In reasoning tasks, hallucinations may cause scene misinterpretation, while in action-oriented systems they can lead to flawed control decisions. This project will develop and evaluate novel multimodal VLM architectures that assess and verify their own reasoning before generating outputs or actions. By embedding internal verification and grounding mechanisms, the research aims to mitigate hallucination at its source, enhancing the reliability and transparency of model reasoning. The collaboration will strengthen institutional leadership in explainable and dependable AI, expanding expertise in reliable multimodal learning and advancing the development of safer autonomous technologies.

Automated Assessment of Surgical Skill: Leveraging Kinematic Data for Objective Expertise Inference

This project explores whether surgical expertise can be measured from the way instruments move during a realistic neurosurgical simulation. The goal is to develop machine learning models that learn motion patterns from recorded instrument movements and use them to classify different levels of surgical skill. The dataset includes recordings from participants performing a surgical simulation on calf brain tissue, providing realistic and controlled conditions for analysis. The project will help develop new data-driven tools for surgical training and assessment, benefiting participating institutions by advancing research in artificial intelligence, medical simulation, and surgical education.

Mesure de l’adhérence de la glace aux surfaces poreuses en présence de produits dégivrant : impact sur les opérations aéroportuaires

Le projet consiste en le dévelopmment d’une méthode pour évaluer l’adhérence de la glace sur les surfaces de béton et d’asphalte afin de caractériser l’impact des produits antigivre. Le projet sera réalisé au Laboratoire International des Matériaux Antigivre de l’UQAC et permettra de proposer une nouvelle méthode au groupe de travail sur la performances des produits dégivrants pour piste de la SAE.

Wafer-scale integration of 2D materials for quantum simulators and photonic integrated circuits

The field of quantum science and technology focusing specifically on quantum simulation deals with the development of novel quantum systems and hardware to realize new approaches to understanding and controlling complex quantum many-body systems on different time and energy scales. Integrating 2D materials into semiconductor production lines is a promising avenue as it enables the use of already well-established manufacturing processes, such as lithography and etching. However, one of the main barriers to the development of technologies based on 2D materials is the lack of device manufacturing processes at large scale. The development of reliable production processes would unleash the potential of 2D materials not only for quantum technologies, but for a whole range of applications, from optical communication to high-frequency electronics. This project proposes the development of wafer-scale integration of 2D materials for quantum simulators and photonic integrated circuits. Detailed investigations on 2D materials and processing challenges will be conducted to realize successful high-quality quantum devices on large wafer scale.

Pioneering Quantum Nanodevices: Enhanced Gold Bipyramid Integration for Ultrafast Coupling – 2025

Quantum computing is a cutting-edge field poised to revolutionize technology, with its quantum information processing segment projected to reach $100 billion in the next decade. It harnesses tiny units called qubits that collaborate via strong coupling to tackle complex problems far faster than conventional computers. The power of this coupling determines processing speed – stronger coupling enables quicker results. While most quantum systems require ultra-cold temperatures, this project pioneers a room-temperature alternative using minuscule gold bipyramids positioned in silicon chips to forge strong coupling. These bipyramids function like nano-antennas, amplifying qubit efficiency without cryogenic needs. Two graduate students will refine chip fabrication and particle growth to ensure precise fits, targeting a 95% success rate where nearly every hole holds exactly one vertically aligned particle. For Infinite Potential Laboratories (IPL), a subsidiary of Quantum Valley Investments, this project will enable the development of dependable quantum devices, the expansion of their patent portfolio, and the creation of innovative products such as advanced sensors. These advancements are expected to strengthen IPL’s business position and enhance Canada’s prominence in quantum innovation.