In this project, a novel torque measurement technique based on piezoelectric sensors will be proposed to overcome the constraints posed by traditional methods such as strain gauges, magnetic pickups etc. Specially designed disks which are connected to the sensor will be mounted on the shaft. The proposed method will be used to compare relative twist in the shaft based on the phase difference between the disks. The angle of twist is then correlated to the torque applied. The proposed technique can be used as a low cost solution for torque measurement or rotating components.

Currently, when man-made objects in orbit around the Earth need to be disassembled or repaired, a humancontrolled robotic manipulator is used. The object in question is often not designed to be modified in this manner, and only 1 in 4 human operators at MDA (the partner organization) are able to successfully complete these notoriously challenging tasks. The goal of the proposed project is to design a computer program to learn from the successful human operators with the end result being a novel artificial intelligence that can perform these repairs autonomously, i.e.

This research project aims to prototype and evaluate a computer system supporting the creation of data-driven domain ontologies.
The first phase consists in creating a working prototype of a computer application supporting:
1) Preliminary research;
2) Creation of an interactive and visual computer interface allowing the visual concept mapping of a domain, its entities; define relationships between those entities and define attributes and parameters of those entities and relationships;

In this project we will evolve the design of the Sinclair Interplanetary (SI) ST-16 small satellite star tracker (SSST). With this redesign we wish to improve the sensor accuracy by an order of magnitude, while maintaining a slew tolerance of up to 1 deg/sec, with >99% availability.. For clarity, in this proposal we will refer to the improved star tracker design as the ST-20. The new design will feature improvements to the sensors optics, sensor processing algorithms, and calibration and focusing procedures.

In concert with Sinclair Interplanetary (SI), we are proposing a MITACS Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship for Mr. Tom Dzamba under the supervision of Prof. John Enright, a researcher at Ryerson University. In the course of this fellowship, Mr. Dzamba will lead the redevelopment of the SI ST-16 star tracker in order to improve its measurement accuracy by a factor of ten. The ST-16 is a small instrument that allows a spacecraft to make precise measurements of its own orientation. Dr. Enright and Mr.

The amount of emissions to the atmosphere is currently an important environmental concern as policy makers and Heads of State are starting to demonstrate a strong interest in energy efficient transportation, in particular energy efficient aircraft. However, current autopilot technology will often not take into account the energy used to perform a given maneuver which can lead to potentially larger fuel consumption and larger atmospheric emissions than what is strictly necessary. The task of energy optimization is typically left to a flight management system (FMS).

Airlines take the extra effort required to figure out what is the best route that their aircrafts should take so as to minimize additional costs from non-revenue flights or idle time. One way to di this is to first generate large numbers of feasible routes and then assign flights to a subset of them so as to cover all flight legs. It is clear that the quality of the resulting solution depends highly on both the number of routes we generate anf also the diversity among the routes.

The proposed project is related to analysis and optimization of a system of potential interest to oil and gas industry in terms of oil-spill remediation. A fixed wing aircraft can be retrofitted with an oil dispersant system suitable for fast response in case of large oil-spills. This oil dispersant system is to satisfy certain requirements from the safety and efficiency perspectives. In other words, the forces developed on the dispersant system while deployed in flight are required to have minimal effect on the airframe of the aircraft.

Lightweight Composite Consoles for Aerospace Applications: Carbon fiber composites used in aerospace applications are subjected to harsh environments while in service. In particular, structural components are often exposed to oils, fuels and hydraulic fluids. Over time, these contaminants may affect the material properties of the composites and thus, the mechanical behavior of the components. This project will investigate the effect of various contaminants and combined stress environments on composite materials used in aerospace applications.