Innovative Projects Realized

Capturing Common Ground: Exploring Notions of Environmental and Ecological Justice Among Protestors Opposed to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project

This research project focuses on individuals engaged in protest and direct action against the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX), an interprovincial oil pipeline project that starts in Alberta and ends in the Burrard Inlet of the Salish Sea, British Columbia. It explores how religious and nonreligious activists conceptualize nature-related harms of the TMX project, and to what extent these conceptualizations reflect notions of ecological justice. Ecological justice holds that nonhuman entities have the inherent right to flourish and be legally protected from human harm. Accordingly, it offers a way to restructure human-nature relations that is becoming increasingly common across the globe as a response to climate change. This project will offer new perspectives grounded in social scientific research on how Canada can respond to the climate crisis. Empirical data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with activists. This project has been approved by the University of Ottawa Research Ethics Board.

Designing a moving service-based gig platform

The rapid emergence of gig economy platforms that use digital technologies to intermediate workers on a per-task basis has triggered a debate over its
ramifications on the tech sector. This research question addresses this emerging trend. Based on this trend, we intend to develop a web application to help industries easily outsource certain services contracting the global pool of talents in the web without necessarily needing to worry about the hiring process and offering competitive packages.

Indigenous Women’s Healing Centre – Intake Forms

The first objective that I will be working on is understanding the intake forms and processes. I will learn from my supervisors how they fill out the forms when meeting new women. Intake forms are important to ensure that they are accepting women who are willing and wanting to get help. That being said, it is important that these forms are being filled our properly and truthfuly. This is a necessary step to refining the intake process.
The second objective that I will be focusing on is participating in any daily programs or acitivties that are on the agenda. I will take a look at the schedule each day in order to see where I can be a helping hand throughout the day. Each day there are a few programs ran, and I will make sure that I am participating in as many programs as I can to help out when needed and one day maybe run my own program or activity. These activities will be documents and linked back to the data collected during the intake process. This will help to ensure that the data collected during the intake process matches the needs of the clients, with the appropriate servicesa and programs.

Thales : Application de Graph Neural Network (GNN) pour la représentation d’énoncés de problèmes techniques dans les domaines à faibles ressources

Depuis les dernières années, différents modèles de réseaux de neurones furent développés afin d’améliorer l’apprentissage de connaissances, pour fin de recommandations et de répondre à des questions. Thales utilise présentement des modèles de Knowledge Graph Embedding (KGE) afin de créer des bases de connaissances de domaine techniques et faire ensuite des recommandations ou questions-réponses à l’aide des modèles appris. Les KGE se sont avérés capables d’apprendre les grandes tendances et relations sémantiques émergeantes du domaine, mais leurs performances prédictives demeurent limitées. Plus particulièrement, leur utilisation par Thales étant fortement axée sur l’apprentissage des connaissances à l’aide de base de « cas » historiques, et aux vues des performances récentes des modèles apprenant avec un mécanisme d’attention, Thales souhaite explorer l’utilisation de Graph Neural Networks (GNN) afin de remplacer les KGE dans leurs applications de recommandation. Ce projet visera l’étude des publications et plateformes de GNN, l’entrainement de GNN pour un cas représentatif de leur application et la génération de résultats comparatifs.

Optimal Planning of Microgrids under Uncertainty

Utilizing advanced tools for optimal planning of Microgrids with high renewable energy penetration. Our models would be robust to handle uncertainty in supply, demand and technological changes. The inputs to our model would be demand, supply data (meteorological data) and technological costs for the specified location for the past. Statistical analysis of the data would empower us to develop robust probabilistic models to encompass the uncertainty in supply (wind and solar) and demand. The outcome shall be an optimal configuration of the microgrid with the number of PV, wind turbines, micro-hydro, bio mass, and storage (battery, pumped hydro etc.) to be installed to have a reliable power supply(reliability is specified by expected energy not met) in the community. Life cycle costs and other economic and environmental aspects will also be revealed as a part of the study. This would enable S2E to perform a detailed and comprehensive feasibility analysis and planning for the sustainable community

Toxic Intimacies: The (Bio)Politics of Disposability in Africa

This study interrogates the environmental and existential implications of toxic waste disposal in Africa. Situating the politics of toxic waste disposal within Western imperial and neocolonial oppressive histories in the continent, the study examines the despoliation of Africa’s natural ecosystems and various lifeforms through the outsourcing of toxic ruins to the continent. Drawing on close and comparative analysis of various cultural materials such as literary texts, films, photographs, ethnography, and the media; I employ insights from Black feminist environmental humanities and postcolonial criticism to read toxic sites in Africa as a contrast to the idealized technological progress represented by Silicon Valley high-tech economy. The study asks questions about who bears the brunt of the toxic wastes of our high tech, consumerist, and capitalist present. Consequently, this study sits at the intersection of environmental humanities, Black feminist theory, science and technology studies, and postcolonial criticism.

Le travail des jeunes filles et jeunes femmes dans les institutions charitables (ca. 1845-ca.1920)

Ce projet propose d’interroger le fonctionnement des institutions de charité pour jeunes filles et jeunes femmes pauvres en les considérant comme des lieux de travail. Le séjour de recherche qui est envisagé à Montréal s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un doctorat financé par la bourse Mini-Arc de l’ULB. Ce doctorat consiste en une analyse comparative à l’échelle microhistorique de plusieurs institutions belges pour jeunes filles pauvres. L’étude d’institutions similaires au Canada aux XIXe et XXe siècles constituera un contrepoint permettant de comprendre certains enjeux, mais aussi certaines spécificités et/ou récurrences de ce type d’établissement. Les institutions visées sont des refuges pour jeunes filles, des orphelinats, ou encore des écoles ménagères et professionnelles. La problématique de recherche interrogera la place du travail au sein de ces établissements.

Investigating the relationship between genetic mutations for neuroplasticity and the musician genome

The purpose of this research is to compare the musicians’ genetics to the general population to understand the role of genetics in how music training influences brains changes. Neuroimaging research, behavioural studies, and music-based interventions show that music training influences neuroplasticity (i.e., the brain’s ability to change and adapt) because it is a special type of motor learning that involves multiple sensorimortor and cognitive functions. However, evidence has yet to account for the role of genes in music training-induced neuroplasticity. For example, genes variants can account for differences in neuroanatomy, motor behaviour, and how the brain develops and adapts. This project aims to examine genetic variants related to neuroplasticity and motor learning in musicians compared to the general population. This project will allow future neuroimaging research and clinical studies to account for the role of genetic variants and support the development of music-based interventions for motor rehabilitation.

Data-Driven Decision Support Framework for Predicting and Mitigating Structural Fire Risks

Fire-related events can result in substantial losses represented by injuries, fatalities, and structural damages. To protect Canadians, there is a real need to identify key risk factors that contribute to the frequency and severity of such events, and subsequently, devise mitigation strategies that prevent structural fire risks. The powerful combination of incident data sources and artificial intelligence technologies has the potential to accurately extract the leading causes of structural fires. In this respect, the objective of the project is to develop a data-driven decision support framework to enhance the decision-making of structural fire quantitative prediction and mitigation. Empowered by the framework, the partner organization can: 1) explore interdependent key fire incident factors and corresponding losses which can enhance the understanding of structural fire risks; and 2) evaluate different structural fire risk levels and their potential high-risk ones can be flagged for ultimately formulating mitigation strategies in a more targeted and proactive manner.

3D in silico modelling of prostate cancer growth and treatment

Prostate cancer is a prominent cause of death in Canada. A better understanding of how prostate tumours grow and respond to treatment is vital; however, typical lab methods used to study cancer have key limitations. To compensate for these shortcomings, computational models have revolutionized the study of cancer. This research proposes modifying an existing 3D computational model of generic tumour growth and specifying the model to describe the growth and treatment of prostate tumours with systemic and radiation treatments. There are few existing 3D computational models of prostate cancer growth and treatment, and none use the type of model being proposed. This research will result in a model that researchers may use to study various prostate cancer treatment methods and schedules. Eventually, clinicians could use this model for patient specific treatment planning by using the proposed methods with a patient’s biopsy results to produce a unique model for each patient.

Binary Stream – market intelligence project

This role will help a leading Canadian software provider expand its footprint globally and remain competitive at the right scale. As one of the most well-recognized Microsoft solutions providers in North America, Binary Stream has not had as much exposure abroad, and this role will be critical to our understanding of the global market and how to excel within it. As the impacts of business transformation are ever present across all industries, providing solutions that help promote modern work both within Canada and abroad will be key to our continued growth as a society.

Benefits to Canada:
This role will help a leading Canadian software provider expand its footprint globally and remain competitive at the right scale. As one of the most well-recognized Microsoft solutions providers in North America, Binary Stream has not had as much exposure abroad, and this role will be critical to our understanding of the global market and how to excel within it. As the impacts of business transformation are ever present across all industries, providing solutions that help promote modern work both within Canada and abroad will be key to our continued growth as a society.

Benefits to the Intern:
The intern will gain valuable hands-on experience analyzing growth opportunities and be afforded the chance to make impactful recommendations that help determine the company’s future direction. This is a significant benefit that will help them contextualize their learning in a real-life scenario and gain insight into how business decisions can be made based on market analysis and cost-benefit evaluation.

Biotechnological solutions for treatment of mining waste

Depletion of high-grade ores is intensifying the energy consumption levels for processing minerals. Pressures from financial stability boards to maintain compliance with task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) has triggered industries to focus on decarbonization strategies. Moreover, generation and reclamation of staggering amounts of waste from conventional mining practices has been a formidable challenge for industry, government and communities making metal extraction unsustainable. As the fourth wave of innovation drives electrification, metals such as copper, cobalt, manganese and lithium will be key enablers for fabrication of novel materials employed in cleaner technologies such as electric vehicles, solar cells, windmills and hydrogen fuel cells. As innovators within the mining ecosystem, we are harnessing natural chemistries to develop sustainable bioprocesses for remediation of mine waste and extraction of low-grade metals. Our objective is to bring in a carbon negative technology for metal production and waste reduction that will be central to realization of completely electrified society.