Several thousand new pumpjacks are installed in Alberta oil fields each year. Hence, for obvious reasons, developing efficient Pump-jack technology is important to the oil and gas community. The project investigates the process and control systems with particular applications in dynamic modeling of oil and gas well pump-jacks which is also known as the sucker-rod […]

AltaSteel Ltd. is an innovative manufacturer of steel products for a variety of industries. Grinding rods are one of main products of AltaSteel, which are made of high carbon steel and used to grind ores to the desired size. It has been noticed that the grinding rods perform not consistently, which is believed to be […]

McCoy recognizes U of A’s capability in engineering informatics and has approached U of A to conduct a joint research program to investigate a methodology applicable to McCoy’s unique business practice nature for implementing a new enterprise resources planning system. The most challenging research aspect of novelty is the requirement of a neutral information model […]

Pipelines are a common means to transport oil, gas, and other petroleum products used by citizens in everyday life. These pipelines sometimes traverse slopes, where soil movement caused by erosion or excessive precipitation can lead to pipeline damage which may result in release of product to the environment. The results of this study will allow […]

In this collaborative project with Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC), we will design and run choir singing and dancing programs for people with neuromuscular conditions, in order to study whether it improves their quality of life and their ability to breathe. Both singing and dancing have been shown to have significant medical and quality of life […]

Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of death from cancer in men in Canada. However, prostate cancer is highly treatable if diagnosed early. Unfortunately, due to lack of cost-effective and meaning test detecting the early presence of the cancer. Most prostate cancer (92%) are found when the career is spreading to nearby organs. This […]

Slow pyrolysis is a process to convert biomass residues to valuable biochar products, which are used in agricultural, wastewater treatment, animal feed, carbon sequestration etc. IRSI focused on identifying optimal pathways for converting biomass into high quality biochar with maximum energy efficiency and minimal environmental degradation. This project focusses on modelling and simulation of a […]

The Canadian bison industry is currently facing the issue of increasing production to meet increasing demand for bison products in a sustainable manner that improves the competitiveness and profitability of the industry. Bison retailers are currently being shorted product orders in excess of 25% on a regular basis, and demand for bison meat will only […]

The Project’s objective is to continue the upgrading work executed in the previous MITACS Converge project with a larger focus on more challenging biocrude oils such as heavy fractions, high viscosity, high nitrogen, high ash oils that are produced from feedstocks such as “feed gate residues” in the form of manures, biosludges and organics from […]

Design of loadbearing, out-of-plane (OOP), tall masonry walls tends to have stringent limits related to their buckling stability and the scarcity of research on their structural reliability. This currently puts the masonry industry at a disadvantage as a construction alternative compared to other structural options. The proposed research investigates the strength of tall masonry walls […]

Wetlands provide important ecosystem services to human communities, such as groundwater recharge, storing floodwater, and supplying fishery resources. In Alberta, wetlands cover ~21% of the province, forming one of the Canada’s largest wetlands reserves; however, many of these wetlands have been impacted or lost through human activities. Over the past 30 years, there have been […]

Sound localization involves the triangulation of the location of a sound source by recording it on multiple microphones. One potential application of sound localization technology is to monitor the movements of vocalizing animals passively, without the need for a human observer. This project aims to further develop and test sound localization technology, then to apply […]