Wild bee microbiomes and pollinator health – Year Two

The holobiont view of organism microbiomes suggests that microbial communities influence and are influenced by animal behaviour. While many microbes are beneficial and necessary for digestion and homeostasis, others can be detrimental, including pathogens leading to compromised immunity and disease states. Recent studies suggest microbiomes covary with landscape floral and fungal diversity, yet fine scale […]

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Self-supervised Noise Modeling for Smartphone Cameras

Humans possess the ability to see objects as having the same color even when viewed under different illuminations. Cameras inherently lack this capability. A process called auto white balance (AWB) has to be applied by the camera to mimic this behavior of the human visual system. AWB is one of the first steps in a […]

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Transport Properties of Layered 2D and TMD Materials Based Devices

My doctoral research work is based on the optoelectronic, and transport properties of layered two-dimensional (2D) and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials-based devices. Currently I am fabricating devices and studying their electron transport properties. The next target, to characterize the heat transportation in these devices, can’t be completed at my home institution because it requires […]

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Development of High-Performance Additively Manufactured Wicks for Two-Phase Heat Transfer Applications

The objective of this project is to leverage the design freedom offered by additive manufacturing (AM) to create and high-performance capillary structures optimized for two-phase heat transfer applications (e.g., heat pipes). Moreover, compared with conventional heat pipe systems, these wick structures can be directly fabricated as part of one-piece AM metal parts and housings, allowing […]

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Neural implicit functions for multi-image low-level computer vision on smartphones

Modern smartphone cameras commonly employ multi-image (or burst photography) for tasks related to image super-resolution and high-dynamic-range imaging. This project is focused on developing novel multi-image techniques that leverage the power of recently proposed neural implicit functions. Neural implicit functions (NIFs) are a new way to represent images not as a 2D grid of pixels […]

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Energy and emissions reduction through local municipal planning tools in Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe

Municipalities across Canada have declared climate emergencies but are they able to deliver solutions and make change in their communities? What is the role of municipal land use planning tools, such as zoning, green performance standards, and urban design guidelines? Which tools are poised to have the highest impact? Climate change policies related to energy […]

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Bioinspired Unconventional Decontamination (BUD®)

Canada is the third largest exporter and the fourth largest producer of oil in the world. Thus, oil is a very important part of the Canadian economy. Oil is a cleaner fuel than coal, but it still has many disadvantages. For example, oil spills that occurs during transport and drilling can cause great environmental damage. […]

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Health equity, road safety and the built environment (BE): Examining barriers and facilitators to BE change decision-making, the impact of Vision Zero, and COVID-19

The goal of this proposed project is to increase the safety of vulnerable road users (pedestrians & cyclists) by examining factors that help or hinder the process of making changes to the built environment (BE) for this purpose. By examining data collected from municipal, transportation, police services, public health, NGOs, and schoolboard sectors in the […]

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Modeling Fetal Heart Rate and Fetal Circulation during Labor

Recent progress in the development of computer algorithms for detecting pathological changes in fetal heart rate (FHR) variability (fHRV) and electroencephalogram (EEG) points to a potentially groundbreaking technology for detecting fetal acidemia and inflammation during labour. Using FHR and EEG as a diagnostic tool is an attractive option because they can be acquired noninvasively. Despite […]

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Norman McLaren Revisited

This project will examine the work of Scottish-Canadian experimental animator Norman McLaren through close analysis of the film production infrastructures and cultural programme of nation-building in Canada in the mid-twentieth century. Understanding McLaren as a complex figure caught between contradictory political, aesthetic and social conditions, this project will look at the strategies of complicity and […]

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Developing Mixed-use Affordable Communities: Identifying Opportunities for more Sustainable and Affordable Suburban Development in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)

This research project builds on a strong partnership with Parallel Architecture, an architecture and planning firm interested in exploring the role of private city-builders in redressing the housing affordability crisis and finding progressive ways of leveraging current federal, provincial, and local policies. This project seeks to examine: (1) how can new mixed-use suburban development meet […]

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