Enhancing water stress tolerance in soybean through phytoglobin manipulations

The purpose of the project is to generate soybean plants able to tolerate whole plant submergence and waterlogging (soil submergence). This will be achieved by inducing Pgb, a gene normally present in soybean and known to confer tolerance to excessive humidity, through genetic manipulations. Correlative studies between Pgb expression and performance under excessive water conditions […]

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Optical determination of membrane defects and correlation with fuel cell performance and durability

There is a strong push toward producing fuel cells on a commercial scale. This means a greater focus on production speed and yields with a need to understand the unintended features that arise from larger-scale manufacturing processes. This project requires the set up of state-of-the-art, camera-vision, defect detection equipment to find and collect observed membrane […]

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Thermodynamic Analysis of Liquefied Natural Gas Refueling Stations and Onboard Fuel Storage Tanks for Mobile Applications

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has up to 20% CO2 and 90% NOx fewer emissions than diesel; making it a cleaner alternative fuel for mobile applications. LNG has high volumetric energy density and is cost effective ($0.5 cheaper than diesel gallon equivalent). However, LNG is stored at low temperatures (-162ºC) and releases boil-off gas that contributes […]

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Development of Ex-situ Mechanical Durability Tools and Thermo-mechanical Design Curves for Fuel Cell Membranes

Hydrogen powered polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are a clean energy technology that generates electricity without harmful emissions at the point of use. Current R&D efforts mainly target to commercialize PEMFCs through cost reduction and durability enhancement. The lifetime of PEMFC is limited by the degradation and failure of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). […]

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A big data approach to schedule optimization

Workforce scheduling algorithms are used by businesses around the world, including hospitals, factories, and retail stores, to determine when and where employees should come to work. Usually, the needs of organizations change over time, but the scheduling algorithms used in these systems usually do not change. Kronos is an industry leader in scheduling software, and […]

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High-rate anaerobic digestion of ozonated waste activated sludge at low temperature

This project will investigate the challenging possibility of operating anaerobic digesters at 20 ºC without the supply of any external heat source by combining anaerobic digestion with sludge ozonation. The hypothesis is that such combination will enable the operation of anaerobic digesters at 20 °C, and achieve higher biosolids reduction, more biogas production, and increased […]

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Modeling and Analysis of access-control policies (SELinux and/or SMACK)

Access-control policy management is an increasingly hard problem from both the security point of view (is the policy “safe”?) and the functionality point of view (does the system still work as expected?). Even when a policy is considered both safe and functional, each addition, deletion or modification of the policy has the potential to break […]

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Volunteer Retention and Engagement in the Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters Edmonton (BCGBigs)

Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BGCBigs) are non-profit organizations in communities across Canada and the USA, with the largest Canadian chapter in Edmonton, Alberta. These organizations deliver programming to support the physical, emotional, academic and overall wellness of children and youth, including mentorship programs and the provision of safe places for […]

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The Future of Mandatory Charging for Intimate Partner Violence: Status quo or alternative direction?

According to the Ontario Domestic Violence Advisory Council (DVAC, 2009), legislative responses to violence against women were introduced across Canada in the 1980s. These policies included provisions for mandatory police-laid charges against perpetrators of domestic violence. The DVAC report noted numerous unintended negative consequences of these policies and recommended an impact study which was never […]

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Integrated Subsea Pipeline Integrity Management using Real-time Condition Monitoring Technique

Integrated integrity management is essential for subsea pipeline failure prevention, predictive maintenance and life extension campaign. Without managing integrity adequately, the condition of subsea pipeline would continue to deteriorate until premature failure. Real-time Condition Monitoring (CM) is a sensor-based monitoring technique aimed at enhancing the productivity of pipeline operation. The main intent of condition monitoring […]

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Simulating heat transfer mechanisms for additive manufacturing processes

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a process family which is widely used for deposition of thin protective layers of novel alloy materials on components operating in severe conditions, and also for fabrication and repair of complex 3D parts. The scope of this research is to establish a process planning framework for metal based bead deposition processes […]

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