Shortening the difference between where energy is generated and where it is being used, the need for heavy-duty transmission infrastructure could be avoided to reduce the amount of energy lost along the way and eliminate the impact of grid failure. The proposed project, a thermal microgrid, can connect alternative generation, renewable generation, rejected or waste […]

In order to achieve breakthroughs in the understanding and development of materials, new and advanced analysis methods are crucial. Especially, looking at the µm to atomic scale, which is still challenging, helps to understand fundamental mechanisms behind macroscopic phenomena. This understanding, in turn, can help to improve manufacturing processes and in the design of new […]

Energy storage technology is critical for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to renewable energy and should be designed to suit the cold environment in Canada. In collaboration with Atlas Power Technologies Inc., a B.C.-based clean technology company, Dr. Liu’s group will design and build an aqueous zinc-ion capacitor (AZIC) technology with high-power, intrinsic safety, […]

The main goal with this research project will be to investigate the effects of strain on cardiac tissue using in-vitro studies. This proposed research will look to analyze high levels of strain in cardiac tissue using equipment that can stretch cells, which was designed and is currently being used in the physiology lab at Bern […]

Canada’s $9.6B pulp industry produces an ample supply of unusable organic pulp mill residues, yet there has been relatively limited utilization of this feedstock for the production of bio-crude through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) – a low-temperature, high-pressure thermolytic conversion process. The proposed research project will investigate HTL catalysts that produce abundant, high-quality, and low-cost bio-crude […]

The objective of this project is to help reduce the environmental impacts of automotive painting operation by correlating changes in paint quality, transfer efficiency, and VOC and GHG emissions with droplet size distributions and the spray pattern produced by Electrostatic Rotating Bell atomizers. During the project, data will be collected using the innovative Mazlite platform […]

Sewage collection systems have long been considered as sanitation and hydraulic infrastructure, i.e., a medium for transporting wastewater to the treatment facility. Therefore, the management focus has been mostly on hydraulic performance and the prevention of particle settling/odor development in pipes. Current research extends beyond sewage conveyance into sites of chemical and biological transformation with […]

The partner organization, C-CORE, conducts medium- and large-scale experiments on ice fracture. The goal is to estimate the mechanical loads involved in the interaction of icebergs and subsea cables/pipelines. While the ice fracture tests provide the most valuable data, numerical models may help estimate the loads at custom geometries and conditions the test apparatus cannot […]

Brain activity can be recorded by an electroencephalogram (EEG). When investigating the data, it is notoriously difficult to extract neural dynamics related directly to e.g., a visual stimulus in an experiment, from the ‘background’ brain activity. A similar problem arises in fluid dynamics, when ordered dynamics, so-called coherent structures, are extracted from measurement data. There, […]

This project focuses on the development of a tool to monitor electricity use in Quebec households. This tool intends to assess in near real-time the energy use of each appliance (electric space heaters, electric water heaters, etc.) to identify and diagnose its energy usage for providing feedback to utility and customers. Accordingly, several developments and […]

A refrigerant leak is one of the major contributors of commercial refrigeration unexpected breakdowns. Conventional methods of leak detection using physical sensors are expensive, have limited capability of square footage coverage, and incapable of detecting slow and progressive refrigerant leaks. Accordingly, the development of a smart leak detection system without the need to include additional […]

This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel system for an efficient and environmentally friendly wastewater treatment plant to produce clean water and hydrogen production as a clean fuel. Hydrogen, as an important energy carrier, is a part of Canada’s energy transition towards net-zero emission and an important asset in Canada’s fight against […]