Innovative Projects Realized

Prévision hydrologique probabiliste automatisée avec redondance

Avec l’avènement de l’ère numérique, accompagnée d’une automatisation et d’une puissance de calcul toujours croissante, le devenir des interactions humains-machines est appelé à des changements inéluctables. Le domaine de l’hydrologie prévisionnelle n’est pas indifférent à cette nouvelle réalité en regard des progrès constants de l’intelligence artificielle. L’automatisation et la redondance dans les systèmes de prévisions hydrologiques sont désormais une réalité pour laquelle il est possible d’effectuer des diagnostics de fonctionnement multiples permettant de gérer de meilleures prévisions. Ce projet de recherche a comme objectif d’étudier les multiples redondances dans un système de prévisions pour faciliter le travail des prévisionnistes et améliorer la qualité des prévisions qui en résultent.

Characterization of the uterine physiologic inflammatory profiles in cows during post-partum involution; to be or not to be affected by endometritis?

During uterine involution (occuring after giving birth), the uterus sustain diverse morphological and inflammatory changes to eliminate the potential contamination of the uterus and prepare for a subsequent pregnancy. In cows, a failure to eliminate a potential uterine contamination after giving birth could lead to endometritis, a disease characterized by persistent inflammation of the uterine mucosa, and have notable consequences on the reproductive health. It is proposed that the disease may start during the uterine involution. Therefore, understanding the process of uterine involution in cows could prove fundamental for the study of bovine endometritis and potentially the development of new treatments. The proposed project’s goal is to characterize the involution period in cows using a panel of different techniques that will evaluate the physiologic inflammation occurring. We expect that this project will give new inflammatory data thresholds during the involution, which will help understand the potential development of endometritis. It will also ensure the development of a new and strong research collaboration between Brazil and Canada.

Exploitation des données d’humidité du sol provenant du capteur GMON pour la prévision des apports hydriques chez Hydro-Québec

La planification des apports hydriques est primordiale pour la production d’hydroélectricité. C’est pourquoi Hydro-Québec vise à continuellement accentuer la performance de ses modèles hydrologiques. Pour ce faire, plusieurs paramètres journaliers sont utilisés, tel que l’humidité des sols. Grâce aux travaux de recherches préalables, il a été possible de proposer une méthode d’utilisation des données brutes provenant de l’appareil de mesure GMON (Gamma MONitor) dans l’estimation journalière de l’humidité du sol minéral. Cependant, l’utilisation potentielle de ces résultats dans les divers processus opérationnels d’Hydro-Québec n’a pas encore été évaluée. Le défi de la recherche proposée est donc de rendre ces résultats utilisables pour les équipes concernées chez Hydro-Québec.

Création d’un positioneur vertical autonome pour excavatrice

Les engins de chantier utilisés dans l’industrie de la construction, tels que les excavatrices, sont très coûteux d’utilisation et il est important de développer des aides électroniques permettant d’optimiser leur usage. Une façon efficace de le faire est de pouvoir suivre en temps réél le déplacement des parties fonctionnelles de l’engin afin de s’assurer en tout temps de leur position par rapport au plan de construction. Le besoin est particulièrement criant pour la localisation du godet de creusage des excavatrices, c’est-à-dire afin de s’assurer que l’excavation se fait exactement selon les besoins, non seulement latéralement mais en profondeur. Les systèmes de géolocalisation GPS ne permettent pas une résolution suffisante pour ce type d’applications. L’entreprise Éco-Track a développé un système de mesure en temps réel de la position latérale relative du godet par rapport au corps de l’exacavatrice. Dans ce projet, nous allons développer un module complémentaire de localilsation verticale absolue par positionnement laser.

Food waste management in NL Industrial-Commercial-Institutional sectors

Organic food waste is a significant stream of municipal solid waste generated in the Industrial-Commercial-Institutional (ICI) sectors in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). Composting has been regarded as an effective way of handling this waste stream. This project will develop a comprehensive composting-based management system. to optimize the organic food waste collection and composting locations.

Optimizing the efficiency of ocean tidal turbines by introducing a new technique

The main goal of this project is to target a missing niche for tidal energy distribution. There is a growing interest in utilizing tidal currents for power generation, which has led to extensive research on this source of renewable energy. Among all the different ways to collect kinetic energy from ocean tides, the tidal turbine is financially the most optimum to build. Unlike other methods such as barrages or fences, they do not require constant supervision to adjust the power output. However, tidal turbines have the least efficiency among all the others. One main reason for this is because they can only generate power in one direction. In a one-day period, there are two high and two low tides. However, tidal turbines can only produce energy for 12 hours a day. My proposal is to design and implement a system taking advantage of the so-called ground effect and introduce an efficient technique using bidirectional blades to produce energy regardless of the direction of the blade rotation to increase the efficiency of power production. My proposal would focus on this niche and wants to improve the performance of the tidal turbines with no significant extra cost.

Comment apprivoiser et vivre la transition vers un vieillissement actif et épanoui pour les personnes atteintes de spina-bifida, d’hydrocéphalie et de leurs proches aidants : co-développement d’une boîte à outils

Les personnes vivant avec un spina-bifida et/ou l’hydrocéphalie (SBH) font face aux enjeux du vieillissement pouvant complexifier les défis de participation sociale. Or, les besoins associés à ces transitions demeurent méconnus et peu de ressources existent. L’Association de spina-bifida et d’hydrocéphalie du Québec (ASBHQ) souhaite accompagner ses membres, leurs proches et les intervenants pour promouvoir un vieillissement actif et épanoui. Cette recherche-action, impliquant un processus itératif de codesign avec une variété de méthodes participatives (ex. personas, scénarios), consiste à: 1) explorer les expériences du
vieillissement sous l’angle de la participation sociale des personnes vivant avec le SBH ; 2) identifier les besoins prioritaires et des stratégies porteuses gage d’un vieillissement actif et épanoui ; 3) co-développer – avec des personnes atteintes, leurs proches et des intervenants – une boîte à outils regroupant ces stratégies ; et 4) procéder à l’évaluation pilote de cette boîte à outils. Ultimement, le projet contribuera à promouvoir des pratiques inclusives tenant compte de la diversité des expériences de vieillissement de ces personnes.

Directed energy deposition processing of plasma atomized Ti-64 powders

Additive Manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) of metallic materials is in a state of rapid, globalized expansion. Many of the associated technologies utilize metal powders as the raw feedstock material. Canada is a significant player in this area and is now home to a number of the world’s leading metal powder producers. This project seeks to enhance this national strength by exploring the fundamental processing response of plasma atomized Ti-64 powders in the context of directed energy deposition (DED). All powders needed for the research will be will be produced and characterized at partner AP&C (Broisbriand, Quebec). The processing response will then be assessed at Dalhousie University using a design of experiments concept coupled with post-build heat treatment studies and metallurgical analyses.

Enhancing Ultrasonic Waves Transmission in Liquid Metals for AI-Assisted High-Temperature Characterization

Companies in the energy sector are increasingly considering the use of liquid metals in their operations (e.g. for cooling). This presents new challenges related to the inspection and monitoring of these infrastructures. Indeed, these industries often operate in very harsh environments (e.g. ionizing radiation) and under very high pressure and temperature conditions. Thus, the ultrasonic inspection methods normally used must be adapted to these new conditions. Moreover, methods based on machine learning can be used to optimize the processing of the received signals. The objective of this project is to optimize the propagation of ultrasonic waves in liquid metals and at their interface in order to collect data that will allow, after automated processing, better decision-making.

Mode of action of organic plant-growth stimulant in tomato trials

This proposed project will investigate potential modes of action of novel plant biostimulants on tomato plants. This will include changes in the plant growth rates and potential plant gene activation as it relates to the biostimulant treatment. It will also investigate changes in the microorganism profile in the root zone of biostimulant treated plants. In addition, it will investigate the impact of biostimulant treatment on beneficial microorganism inoculums such as mycorrhizae and Trichoderma. The benefit to the partner organization will be a greater understanding of the mode of action of its biostimulant products for the purpose of formulation and treatment optimization.

Modeling water temperatures in the Fraser River watershed network

Rising river temperatures, partly driven by land-use and climate warming, threaten the future of Fraser River salmon. It is vital that fisheries managers acquire tools that will aid their understanding of how rising river temperatures will impact salmon in the Fraser River. With my industry partner, I will build a novel mathematical temperature model for the Fraser River. My model will incorporate existing water temperature data, land-use, and the direction of flow to predict water temperatures. I will map Fraser River temperatures and identify regions of the watershed that discharge hot water at times that coincide with the return of Fraser River sockeye salmon. This model can be modified for comparisons to other temperature models and future questions regarding land-use change, and climate warming. This study will produce a powerful tool and valuable information for my industry partner that will facilitate management of Fraser River fisheries and collaboration with government and academic institutions.

Study of thermal properties and oxidation behaviour of novel ZrB2 – B4C functionally graded composites for high temperature aerospace applications

ZrB2-B4C composites are potentially very attractive for aerospace applications exposed to ultra-high temperatures > 2000 degree C. While monolithic composites in this material system are well-known, development of a functionally graded composite (FGM) is a novel idea. Recently, we have published a research article [1] in which the FGM concept in this system has been used for the first time to successfully develop three-layered composites with excellent interlayer integrity and density significantly lower than monolithic ZrB2. Within the scope of this work, a detailed study of the thermal properties and oxidation behavior of this novel composite material will be performed.

[1]: A. K. Naik, Md. Nazeer, D. K. V. D. Prasad, T. Laha, S. Roy, Development of functionally graded ZrB2-B4C composites for lightweight ultrahigh-temperature aerospace applications, Ceramics International, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.07.276