The proposed study will develop seismic design guidelines for retrofitting deficient concrete bridge columns with sprayed fiber reinforced plastic (FRP). Seismically deficient bridge columns (with different aspect ratios and transverse reinforcement ratios) retrofitted with composites will be tested under reverse cyclic loading. The tests will determine various damage states in terms of strain and drift. […]

The B vitamin requirements of cattle were traditionally satisfied via rumen microbial synthesis. However, the B vitamin demands of the modern high producing dairy cow now exceed the synthesis rate by rumen microbes, leading to sub-optimal milk production and efficiency. An increased understanding of dietary factors driving ruminal synthesis and use of B vitamins will […]

We propose to develop smart algorithms for document generation, by innovating in the field of natural language processing and document intelligence. We envision the next generation of business applications able to parse and understand documents, to compose documents automatically, and to respond intelligently to voice commands. Our industrial partner, Koneka Inc. has a document automation […]

Cellular wireless communication has reached a level of coverage and reliability that it is considered a commodity. However, the dramatic increase in Internet traffic to and from wireless devices poses significant challenges for network operators. While the current growth of traffic is mostly due to consumers communicating more frequently and larger amounts of data over […]

Rio Tinto operates aluminium plants in Saguenay that are powered by their hydroelectric system. An efficient management of water available in the system is primordial to ensure energy supply to the aluminium smelters. This quantity is uncertain since the exact inflows in the reservoirs are unknown when decisions are taken. Stochastic optimization is used to […]

Over 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. A key part in diagnosing depression is screening questionnaires, which rely on patient self-reports of the recent past. With the advent of social media and wearable devices, there is an opportunity for a novel approach to detecting when a patient diagnosed with chronic depression becomes acute. In […]

Pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) is the main organic residual generated from the wastewater treatment of the pulp and paper industry. In Quebec’s province, an annual amount of 400 000 tons of PPMS are landfilled. Pilot scale measurements in 2013-2014 indicated that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from landfilling were the highest compared to agricultural […]

Currently Metagenom Bio Inc. offers contract research services in environmental microbial species profiling. Applications for this service include the monitoring of biogas operations, greenhouses, and mining processes. Metagenom Bio wishes to offer solutions that use microbes to generate value-added products. Biogas reactors can break down waste products and produce methane, or natural gas. This methane […]

The structural use of timber in North America is largely limited to low-value commodity products used in low-rise residential light-frame construction. There exists, however, much greater potential for timber to be used as a structural material. One solution involves the notion of “mass-timber” such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The prospect of building larger timber […]

As an important medicinal plant, Cannabis sativa produces bioactive molecules that provide symptom relief for conditions such as severe cancer pain, nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. The cannabinoid biosynthetic pathway that generates bioactive molecules has been studied for over a decade. However, understanding of transcriptional regulators that control cannabinoid synthesis is fairly limited. The […]

Increased interest in active vehicle suspensions has been shown in recent years as active suspensions improve ride comfort and handling over passive suspensions. Active suspensions replace passive fluidic dampers with highly controllable actuators to minimize transmission of road induced disturbances and actively control vehicle’s roll and pitch. However, integration of active suspensions in vehicles is […]

Gene therapy is one of the most attractive new therapeutic strategies in the treatment of multiple diseases. However, to apply gene therapy in clinic, an efficient and safe delivery system must be developed to transport these therapeutic reagents to target organs. The existing gene carriers suffer from either high cytotoxicity or immunogenicity problems, which will […]