While modern pesticides have dramatically improved crop yields and food security, the challenges of emerging pest resistance, environmental run-off, and the need to help crops better cope with weather-related stresses like drought and extreme heat all demand new solutions. Our partner, Suncor, has recently developed a new class of plant immune aids that activate a […]

Recently, speleothems from various Korean limestone caves have received special attention as an invaluable paleoclimatic archive for both regional and global aspects. Although recent investigations show distinctive relationships between their stable isotope compositions and surface environmental conditions, the quantitative understanding on the relationship is needed for more accurate and precise reconstructions of past climatic factors […]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary adult brain tumor. Even with surgery, standard chemotherapy, and radiation, tumor recurrence and patient relapse are inevitable with a median survival rate of

Benefit payments totaled 2.5 billion dollars for Ontario workplaces in 2015. The most common injury resulting in occupational lost time claims is a strain or sprain. These injuries indicate that despite massive efforts to reduce musculoskeletal injuries in Canadian workplaces, these issues are still a prominent source of disability and have an associated $2.5 billion […]

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are small chromosomal fragments found in trace amounts within our blood and are usually produced through various physiological processes such as cellular secretion, apoptosis or necrosis. Levels of cfDNA have been shown to significantly increase during the onset, growth and metastasis stages of various cancers, making them a potential biomarker in liquid […]

The ability to correctly make safety-related decisions and to demonstrate compliance with existing limits is of great importance in the nuclear safety analysis industry. For example, we may be interested to assess whether or not a physical component (such as the pressure tube which carries fuel) has undergone physical changes that have exceeded its allowable […]

A safe video platform can provide a healthy and suitable environment for users in general and children in particular. This project aims to utilize machine learning and deep learning techniques to identify and flag sensitive and questionable content (e.g., content related to violence, sexuality, etc.). The algorithm will leverage video frames extracted from the database […]

Bacterial contamination of fresh waters is a concern for the Great Lakes region. Contamination can be prevalent due to direct faecal deposits, as well as environmental conditions, such as sand, serving as a reservoir. One of the major contributors to bacterial persistence in the environment is the formation of multicellular biofilms. RpoS, a general stress […]

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are rod-shaped nanoparticles extracted from renewable cellulose sources that possess impressive mechanical and rheological properties, are non-toxic and biodegradable, and have potential applications in coatings, adhesives, biomedicine and energy storage devices, to name just a few. In combination with conductive nanoparticles, CNCs can be used in inks for printing conductive circuits for […]

Water quality is critical for a many human activities. With respect to recreational water, a particular type of water source, there are often relatively high levels of microbial contamination in relation to other types of water sources (e.g., drinking water). E. coli is used as a microbial indicator for water quality because E. coli accumulation […]

Voices.com, the largest online marketplace of voice talent, have identified Machine Learning as an enabler for future growth. In particular, incorporating Natural Language Processing (NLP) into structured queries and automatic classification of sample recordings. The first phase of this research will use machine learning to identify and train an NLP learnable parser. The second phase […]

The student will use ion beam synthesis to fabricate germanium thin films integrated with silicon substrates. The fabrication will use a method pioneered within our group, known as implantation-condensation. Silicon is bombarded with germanium atoms and subsequently heated to a temperature of 1000C in an oxygen atmosphere. The silicon is removed leaving a high quality […]