A decommissioned mine facility in Canada is looking for a new and innovative way to handle mine waste and reclaim the mine site. The potential solution to this problem is the use of microorganisms which are capable of producing calcite, or cement, as part of their natural biological process. These microorganisms will be combined with […]

Pipelines have significantly contributed to the Canadian energy industry and overall economy. Specifically, nearly 60% of energy consumed in Canada comprises of oil and gas delivered through pipelines. However, in pipeline steel, many failures were caused by cracks during pipeline operation. The proposed research project aims at developing a reliable and effective tool to predict […]

Few centuries ago, building palaces and castles were based on past experiences and observations, hence, resulted in very inefficient designs with wall sometimes as thick as 1~2m. Today, computer modeling provides a low-cost way of predicating what may happen when engineering structures are subjected to different loads and conditions. We know that some loads are […]

Reliable monthly and seasonal streamflow predictions are essential for optimal planning of water resources, particularly for reservoir operation and planning applications. Streamflow predictions can also improve water use efficiency and provide early drought and flood warning. The importance of streamflow forecasting is rising with climate change, causing more frequent and hazardous flood and drought events. […]

Buildings are an important energy consumer and are equipped with hundreds of sensors and control systems. The analysis of such massive data can reveal insights for building owners to optimize the building infrastructure. Currently, usage of such data is limited to traditional control systems, energy commissioning, and maintenance on a regular basis. Real-time monitoring and […]

Construction zones are one of the leading contributors to Toronto’s ever-growing congestion. The aim of this study is to develop an integrated construction zone traffic management framework to minimize disruption of the traffic and reduce the effect in terms of congestion. This study leverages historical and real data collected from on-board construction trucks provided by […]

Healthcare infrastructure plays a key role in the recovery of communities in a post-disaster scenario. In seismically active regions, such as western Canada, an understanding of the seismic performance of hospitals is essential to inform emergency management and effectively mitigate earthquake risk. This research project aims to develop new methodological approaches to integrate seismic risk […]

This project will develop data-driven models for production performance analysis and optimization for solvent-assisted bitumen recovery operations and related processes. Effective operations of solvent processes are crucial for improving oil production and maintaining a low solvent-to-oil ratio (SOR). Although the recent developments in digital oilfield technologies have enabled real-time surveillance of downhole operating conditions and […]

As a result of climate change and other pressures that result in “extreme events” like wildfire and flooding, many drinking water utilities are at risk of potentially catastrophic failure and need treatment adaptation strategies to prepare for increasingly variable and potentially rapid deterioration in source water quality. Currently there are no recognized tools for evaluating the anticipated impacts […]

This project focuses on the conversion of renewable resources to fuels, and thereby trains and educates highly qualified and globally aware personnel. The research involves demo-scale testing and optimization at GreenField Ethanol, laboratory experimentation, simulation and modeling, and overall economic process evaluation. The experimental work will be complemented by numerical and analytical modeling. A mobile […]

The objectives of this project are to develop and validate numerical and analytical tools to evaluate the critical loads on energy infrastructures, focusing on transmission lines (TLs) and nuclear power plants (NPP) due to high intensity wind (HIW) in the form of tornadoes and downbursts. There is a clear lack of tools used to estimate […]

The proposed research project is to conduct remotely controlled experiment with the Central South University (CSU) in China to study the structural behaviour of typical concrete piers for high-speed railways. The student will be in China for the physical tests while command signals to run the experiment in China will be sent by a computer […]