The main issue of the proposal hinges on the application of Data driven approaches for Model Predictive Control (MPC) applications. MPC is an optimization based control methodology well known in literature which is extremely popular when considering constrained control problems. The main drawback of MPC is the need of an accurate model plant to solve […]

Distributed Energy Resources are key elements in de-centralized power systems. By deploying them close to the consumer nodes, one can address the increases in power demand while bypassing investment in transmission and distribution systems. The proposed research work concerns the optimization of DC-DC interfaces for DC microgrids. It will consider different types of semiconductors (Si, […]

The project utilizes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain areas involved in processing speech sounds. We make use of simple English minimal pairs, words that differ in just one sound in the same position (e.g. sip vs. zip), to scan pariticipants’ brains while they perform three different kinds of tasks — uttering words […]

Autonomous flying vehicles are the future of aerospace industry. They require a robust trajectory tracking algorithm capable of finding an optimal solution in real-time. Optimal control, such as Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) is a powerful technique which can handle the nonlinearities of a system by including the restrictions and constraints of its states and […]

Journalists, when curating news, typically rely on enacting certain “voices” and frame content according to established norms. Using Claudia Mellado’s Journalistic Role Performance methodology — which has divided all journalistic roles into the following categories: the watchdog, citizen-watchdog, the loyal-facilitator, the interventionist-disseminator, the service, the infotainment and the civic roles — evaluate common journalistic roles […]

The project is devoted to make encrypted control systems more practical and valuable to the industry and ensure the security of safety-critical industrial control systems. The research outcome is the development of a novel computationally efficient and secure MPC-based encrypted control system that is appealing to a wide range of safety-critical industrial sectors, including but […]

This project explores how an artistic oral history-based audio walk can be used as a tool for connecting locals, visitors and immigrants with a place and engage them as participants in public debates concerning local development projects in the Azores. Santana Airfield, Azores, is an abandoned complex risking demolition. Zoning laws are changing the landscape. […]

Text-to-image AI models for AI-generated art has recently gained extensive media coverage and has had a significant impact on Japanese art communities and Japanese digital content sites. I am particularly interested in investigating Japanese computer science and software engineering graduate students’ awareness of ethical issues embedded in the technology necessary to create AI-generated art. This […]

The objective of this project is the development of a novel control strategy for multi-agent robots. The objectives are energy saving and efficient robots movements and manoeuvres within clustered environments. To this end, the research intern (with the help of the host and home supervisor) will be in charge of developing a novel distributed control […]

Urban sprawl has become a major concern in scientific and political discussions because of its many detrimental environmental, economic, and social effects. The current trends in urban sprawl in many countries are in conflict with the spirit and the principles of sustainable development. How can this growing challenge be addressed by future urban growth management […]

The research project will develop a pipe replacement and rehabilitation optimization method. The research group is currently developing machine learning models to predict future water main failure. Data has been collected from 13 cities across Canada and represent different conditions and settings. This data is already being cleaned and analysed by a team of graduate […]

In this project, we bring together a team of four proposed MITACs globalink student scholars working in Brazil and Canada with supervisors directly involved with the research project. We will begin to fill the gaps in knowledge about successful reintroduction of capuchin monkeys by 1) conducting behavioural research on bearded brown capuchin (*Sapajus libidinosus*) personality […]