Innovative Projects Realized

Distributed Positioning and Formation Management Techniques in a Swarm of Robots

In this project, by considering a team of heterogeneous robots available at the host institution, the intern will develop a trajectory planning method that ensures target enclosure in the presence of noisy measurements. Such a planner will leverage a positioning algorithm developed to take advantage of all the robots’ onboard sensors.

Specifically, the objective of this project is twofold:
1. Develop a robust and computationally efficient positioning solution in the presence of a heterogeneous team of robots. The ultimate goal is to use all the robot’s onboard sensors to design a positioning system that can automatically adapt to the available measurements.
2. Plan trajectories for the multi-agent system such that the agents are driven around a team leader.

To meet the above objectives, Bayesian theory-based techniques will be used to design a reliable sensor fusion algorithm for positioning in the multi-agent system.

Portrait de la communauté de lépidoptères alpins du parc national de la Gaspésie

Dans un contexte de perte de biodiversité et de changements climatiques, le projet propose de documenter et caractériser la communauté de papillons des sommets alpins du parc de la Gaspésie. Les milieux alpins subissent l’effet des changements climatiques à un rythme 2 à 3 fois plus rapides qu’ailleurs. L’étude établira un portrait initial précis de la composition de la communauté de papillons ainsi que de la relation existante entre la coloration foncée des papillons et l’altitude à laquelle ils vivent (trait très sensible à la température de l’environnement des papillons). Ces informations serviront de point de comparaison initial, permettant à l’insectarium de Montréal de documenter les impacts des changements climatiques sur la communauté et ultimement d’évaluer leur rôle dans la problématique de l’effondrement de la biodiversité. Pour y arriver, l’insectarium de Montréal compte continuer de réaliser des suivis des papillons dans le parc tous les 5 ans.

Swine feed efficiency improvement and meat quality co-selection using genome wide technologies

Improving feed efficiency (FE) and meat quality (MQ) are Canadian swine industry priorities that will increase sustainability and competitiveness. It is difficult to improve these traits simultaneously by traditional breeding methods due to limited knowledge of genetic interactions, limitations on animals that can be measured and the high cost of measurement. High throughput genomic technology has the potential to positively impact these issues. Our overall purpose is to develop a genomic assisted breeding program to simultaneously improve FE and MQ. This collaboration will benefit the partner’s long term competitiveness through implementation of genomic technology into existing breeding programs and training of high qualified personnel. An example of the potential economic benefits to the industry by improving FE: herd feed conversion (kg feed/kg pork) is now ~3:1, each 0.01 improvement in FE (e.g. 3.00 to 2.99) represents ~200,000 tonnes of feed/yr saved, worth approximately $55 million to the Canadian pork industry.

Predicting the risk of cardiovascular diseases using multi-modal and multi-data types

In this internship, we will leverage the power of AI multi-modal algorithms to build a system for predicting the risk of cardiovascular (heart) diseases by extracting features from tabular data (clinical data and demographics) and the medical images in order to predict the risk of cardiovascular diseases at 5 years and 10 eyars. We have the access to a database of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) database that consists of thousands of patients’ information (genomics, metabolomics, clinical, and imaging) with cardiovascular diseases. We will clean the data then we will use the patients’ clinical data combined with medical images to predict the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The multi modal algorithm will be built by deep learning technology using supervised learning. The target variable will be the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases at 5 years and 10 years. Eventually, we will compare our propositions with the published results (pool cohort equation and Framingham risk calculator), and interpret our innovation in manuscripts and presentations.

Tree retention in harvests: A tool to accelerate forest birds’ recovery

Approximately one-third of songbird species which migrate to the Canadian boreal forest to breed
require older forests for nesting and foraging. In Alberta, older boreal forests are altered by ongoing industrial activity, such as logging; the birds that rely on these habitats are sensitive to this change. Forestry companies are constantly developing and testing new logging methods in order to mitigate their impact on wildlife habitat and populations. Some of these techniques, such as residual retention and understory protection, leave stands of mature trees in a harvest area as a habitat patch for wildlife. These habitat types are used by several species of mammals, but their potential as habitat for birds as the harvested forest recovers has yet to be quantified. Identifying the suitability of mature tree retention for bird species is crucial because these methods may be effective tools in maintaining healthy avian populations and biodiversity when logging activities alter Alberta’s boreal forest.

Boosting Robustness of Deep Neural Networks against Sparsity-aware Adversarial Attacks

Over the past few years, deep neural networks (DNNs) have been used to solve a wide range of real-life problems. However, DNNs are vulnerable to adversarial attacks where carefully crafted input perturbations can mislead a well-trained DNN to produce false results. As DNNs are being deployed into security-sensitive applications such as autonomous driving, adversarial attacks may lead to catastrophic consequences. In this research project, we focus on those adversarial attacks that target energy-efficiency of DNNs. In particular, there are a group of attacks that insert perturbation into inputs of neural networks so that the number of zero values reduces. This will increase energy consumption and latency of machine learning applications. We propose a solution to monitor outputs of neurons and detect these malicious attacks dynamically and in runtime. This project enables TrojAI to offer machine learning algorithms that are protected against sparsity-aware adversarial attacks.

Systèmes sages et DIY (Do It Yourself) au service de la santé

Le projet Mitacs Globalink que nous proposons est la première étape d’une collaboration entre le laboratoire DOMUS de l’Université de Sherbrooke et le laboratoire LISTIC de l’Université Savoie Mont Blanc. Dans sa thèse, M. Hubert Kenfack NGANKAM a créé un système de création de scénarios pour aider les personnes atteintes de la maladie d’Alzheimer lors de l’errance nocturne, mais les soignant.es sont toujours impliqués dans le processus de création de ces scénarios. Ce que nous avons proposé est de combiner notre système qui peut se connaître par lui-même appelé système sage avec le système de création de scénarios pour alléger la charge de travail des soignant.es, de plus, nous pouvons aller plus loin et augmenter l’application nommée “Virtual Adviser” créée par l’équipe DOMUS et installée sur le casque AR Microsoft Hololens en proposant des appareils connectés que les soignant.es peuvent acheter lors de la sélection d’un scénario.

Understanding Indo Canadian Female Challenges After Covid-19

Many skilled women workers are going through unemployment phase after Covid-19. There few are under employment. These skilled, and educated professionals are facing domestic work pressure, and economic challenges, where the secauses unhappiness in their life. This Covid-19have impacted badly to the life of IndoCanadians, particularly women as a vulnerable group. However, this research addresses the questions as,1.How do Indo Canadian women perceive their identity after Covid-19? 2.Whatare the Indo Canadian women’s integration challenges (violence, unsafe environment, discrimination and so on) at workplace? Canadian development agenda opens a platform to discuss,and debate about the integration challenges to provide equal opportunities, and gender based equal treatment for IndoCanadian women. To put in a nutshell, in Canada, a current social, and economic challenges relational impact due to Covid-19. Indo Canadian women are struggling for a better life, empowerment, and emancipation

Evaluating diverse non-brewing yeast strains for novel new-make spirit applications

Many of the flavours found in whisky and other distilled spirits are derived from alcoholic fermentation, most commonly by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Given the biodiversity of different yeast strains and species, there is an opportunity to identify strains that can produce alcoholic beverages with unique flavours and aromas. The Measday lab has isolated hundreds of yeast strains from uninoculated fermentations of wine grapes from the Okanagan Valley, BC. Most of these strains can grow on maltose as a sugar source which suggests the ability to ferment wort, the precursor for beer and many spirit fermentations. Our research proposal will validate which yeast strains have traits suitable for commercial use in whiskey production. The results of this project will benefit Driftwood Brewing Company’s distilled beverage design and quality control and exemplify the benefits of using diverse BC yeast for spirit distilling applications.

Moving home: Improving reintroduction outcomes and human-capuchin monkey coexistence in Brazilian caatinga and forest fragments.

In this project, we bring together a team of four proposed MITACs globalink student scholars working in Brazil and Canada with supervisors directly involved with the research project. We will begin to fill the gaps in knowledge about successful reintroduction of capuchin monkeys by 1) conducting behavioural research on bearded brown capuchin (*Sapajus libidinosus*) personality variables among pre-release captive monkeys during rehabilitation; 2) collecting data in the field post-release to measure habitat use through observation, trail cameras, and GPS collar tracking, and 3) analyzing data on direct field follows of habituated wild blond capuchins (*Sapajus flavius*) living in a forest fragment to examine group movement patterns and habitat use. The results from this research will improve human-primate coexistence and biodiversity conservation management, both directly in Brazil and indirectly for similar wildlife and behavioural ecology projects in Canada and globally.

L’accompagnement entrepreneurial : une approche relationnelle et écosystémique

Les entrepreneurs et entrepreneuses ont souvent des parcours hétérogènes, peu conventionnels et pavés de détours. Or pour trouver un accompagnement adapté aux étapes de la mise en place de leur entreprise, plusieurs se tournent vers l’accompagnement entrepreneurial. Celui-ci peut être à la fois du mentorat, de l’apprentissage par les pairs, mais également à travers des structures d’accompagnement, des incubateurs, des accélérateurs. Espace inc., un accélérateur entrepreneurial, déploie présentement un modèle suprarégional d’accompagnement tout en proposant une offre de formation par les pairs.

Ce projet se propose donc de documenter et d’analyser les pratiques d’excellence en accompagnement entrepreneurial. En documentant et analysant (par des entrevues, de l’observation, de l’analyse de données internes) la relation qui se développe entre les entrepreneurs et leur pair-enseignant de même que les défis et enjeux entourant l’accompagnement suprarégional, nous espérons proposer un modèle qui tienne compte à la fois des dimensions interpersonnelles et écosystémique régionale de l’accompagnement entrepreneurial.

Medzy : Pharmacien Virtuel – Triage et aiguillage intelligent des patients

Medzy est une plateforme de pharmacie virtuelle qui assure un suivi thérapeutique assidu, fondé sur un système de rappels et d’alertes, un dosage de médicaments clair et personnalisé, ainsi qu’une interaction continue et entièrement confidentielle entre le patient et son pharmacien. Ce dernier devient donc un acteur proactif du cheminement thérapeutique. Le patient, lui, voit sa vie grandement simplifiée et profite d’une expertise soutenue.
Medzy a pour projet de créer une passerelle d’information qui permettra aux parties prenantes en lien avec la santé du patient, notamment le médecin et le pharmacien, d’assurer, ensemble, un meilleur suivi thérapeutique global et ainsi diminuer la charge sur le système de santé.