This project explores how an artistic oral history-based audio walk can be used as a tool for connecting locals, visitors and immigrants with a place and engage them as participants in public debates concerning local development projects in the Azores. Santana Airfield, Azores, is an abandoned complex risking demolition. Zoning laws are changing the landscape. […]

Text-to-image AI models for AI-generated art has recently gained extensive media coverage and has had a significant impact on Japanese art communities and Japanese digital content sites. I am particularly interested in investigating Japanese computer science and software engineering graduate students’ awareness of ethical issues embedded in the technology necessary to create AI-generated art. This […]

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for quadrupedal robot control has recently become tractable. In under an hour, serviceable control policies can be obtained in simulation. However, transferring reinforcement learning from simulation to the real world is still an arduous task. We propose a novel two-agent setup that leverages the good sides of both model-free and model-based […]

Comprised of a small chain of amino acids, therapeutic peptides are a unique class of drugs that have played a significant role in medicine since the discovery of insulin. Despite their importance in Pharma, the discovery of new peptides and the improvement of existing therapeutics remains a highly specialized domain and has not seen the […]

The objective of this project is the development of a novel control strategy for multi-agent robots. The objectives are energy saving and efficient robots movements and manoeuvres within clustered environments. To this end, the research intern (with the help of the host and home supervisor) will be in charge of developing a novel distributed control […]

“Iyashi” (i.e., well-being) can stem from human-animal interactions (HAI), like those developed through companionship, animal-assisted therapies, or animal cafes. Research suggests that prolonged exposure to, or education about, non-human animals may lead to a greater understanding of non-human animal sentience. What could be the impact of a short-term educational program on attitudinal change? This study […]

Land-dwelling slugs are routinely exposed to cold or freezing temperature during the winter. Some species of slugs can even survive partial ice formation within their bodies. How they survive low temperatures is largely a mystery as ice formation is damaging, and they lack external protection like shells. This project aims to determine the lower temperature […]

The next generation neutrino experiments like Hyper-Kamiokande will have statistical power, but the presence of detector systematics will limit the discovery potential of the experiments. The uncertainties due to construction tolerances, support frame shift from PMT buoyancy, and the source deployment system, combined with uncertainties in PMT angular response, and position-dependent water quality, can limit […]

Fully dense nanocrystalline alloys have high strength, hardness, and wear resistance due to their extremely fine (nano) crystals. This makes them of significant interest in different industrial applications which require excellent mechanical properties. A new nanocrystalline nickel-cobalt (NiCo) alloy, currently being developed with Integran Technologies Inc, Mississauga, Ontario, has a good combination of strength and […]

Hydrogels can hold many times their weight in water and consequentially find a diverse range of applications, ranging from biomedical applications to photonics and adhesion. However, their moisture content is not easily controlled; in wet environments, water easily enters the hydrogel, and in dry environments, water in the hydrogel quickly evaporates. This leads to swollen […]

In this project, we study a connection between graphs (also called networks) and algebraic objects known as ideals. Graph theory is a major branch of modern mathematics, with diverse applications to society and industry such as transportation system modelling and social media marketing. The simple yet fundamental algebraic structure of an ideal encodes important information […]

Urban sprawl has become a major concern in scientific and political discussions because of its many detrimental environmental, economic, and social effects. The current trends in urban sprawl in many countries are in conflict with the spirit and the principles of sustainable development. How can this growing challenge be addressed by future urban growth management […]