Aiding Leak Detection in Pipelines Using System Identification – Year two

The ultimate goal of this project is to detect and localize leaks in pipelines in real time. Hifi Engineering has developed distributed fiber optic sensors. Measurements are obtained at evenly spaced intervals along the pipeline (called channels). This project aims to develop data processing tools to improve leak detection and localization. Many events occur along […]

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Evaluation of an mHealth App: A Randomized Controlled Trial of ‘DeStressify’ on Campus Staff and Student Mental Health

Development and use of mobile technologies, in particular mHealth applications, to improve health have exponentially increased in the past decade. Despite the widespread use of ‘apps’, there has been astonishingly few scientific evaluations on the efficacy of such products to improve or change health behaviours. The purpose of this research is to systematically evaluate, through […]

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Chemical Synthesis of Graphene-Based Nanomaterials from Value-Added Carbon Obtained by Catalytic Conversion of CO2

CO2 is a greenhouse gas that impacts climate change. The Carbon Upcycling Technologies has developed a technique to attach gaseous CO2 molecules to graphite. In this project, this graphite will be converted to graphene using chemical oxidation methods. The one-atom thin monolayer graphene oxide will have potential applications in variety of industries, such as waste […]

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Processes Governing Hydrocarbon Movement in Heterogenous Soils

Groundwater contamination by hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel is a serious threat to the environment and human health. Sources of this contamination include leaking underground storage tanks, pipleline breaks, tanker truck accidents and train derailments. There is a need for improved understanding of the mobility of hydrocarbon fuels in the subsurface to […]

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Shape Memory Alloy-based magnetorheological fluid core bracing System

An infrastructure has a significant role in the economic growth of a community especially in Canada. The most efficient way of protecting civil infrastructures-such as buildings and bridges- against external loads such as seismic loads is using protective systems such as seismic bracing systems to increase the life-cycle of civil infrastructures, reduce the vibration, and […]

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Performance evaluation of a Novel “Displacement Buffering System” for Buried Pipelines

ALFA Upgrades recently developed a system for buried pipelines, referred to as “Displacement Buffering System (DBS)”, to redistribute the stress and strain concentrations in a pipe and limit the allowable lateral displacement of the pipe in the incidence of large ground movement. The scope of this project includes performing experimental tests and consequently developing equations […]

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Nonlinear adaptive neural controllers – Year two

Contemporary machine learning has been very successfully applied to processing static images and words in consumer applications, resulting in billions of dollars in recent acquisitions of machine learning companies by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Google. However, applications to dynamic information (e.g. movies, controlling robotics) has been less well-developed. In this project, will develop and apply […]

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Generation of rabbit monoclonal antibodies using a microfluidic-based screening platform – Year two

Rabbits are increasingly recognized for their superior immune response to antigens and their ability to generate highaffinity monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that can be used as reagents, diagnostics and therapeutics. However, methods for the discovery of rabbit mAbs are limited and extremely cumbersome. This proposal aims at developing a rapid and robust microfluidic-based approach to generate […]

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Smart technology use with Public Safety and first responders

This project aims at identifying, analyzing, and documenting the operational requirements for a technological solution that will replace the currently used, time consuming, paper-based, building safety plans. Upon arriving at an incident scene, first responders rush to these on-site safety plans to know the ins and outs and the safety details of the incident scene. […]

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Development of a diagnostic assay for first line detection and surveillance of bladder urothelial carcinoma using concurrent biomarker panels from non-invasive liquid biopsies

Bladder Carcinoma (BC) is the fifth most common cancer in Canada. Although most individuals have surgery to remove BC tumors, the risk of another BC developing and/or progressing to invasive disease is high so long-term surveillance is necessary. The current method for screening for BC is not sensitive enough, and individuals often end up undergoing […]

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