Innovative Projects Realized

IATA Aviation Safety Culture survey (I-ASC) – analysis of the qualitative data

IATA Aviation Safety Culture survey (I-ASC) is an employee survey aimed at providing the airlines with the means to meet the Safety Management Systems (SMS) requirement to measure and continuously improve their safety culture. The intent of the survey is to gain insights on organizational safety culture, identify areas of improvement and areas of excellence. I-ASC results contains both quantitative and qualitative data. To complement human analysis and the identification of meaningful signposts and trends derived from the qualitative data, IATA Safety is looking to automate the analysis of the free text from survey’s open-ended questions.

Advancing initial state preparation techniques for ground state energy calculation in periodic solids with the quantum phase estimation algorithm

To design and produce better materials for construction and manufacturing, as well as discover new and improved drugs, scientists need to be able to predict properties of molecules or crystalline solids – ideally, before they are made in the lab. At the atomic level, these properties are governed by quantum mechanics, which makes the prediction process difficult. A quantum computer is a new type of scientific device that is itself built on quantum-mechanical principles, which could in principle allow it to be faster and more efficient at such material property predictions. However, to take advantage of the speed-up, new algorithms need to be created for quantum computers that are different from the classical algorithms that physicists and chemists have been using so far. Quantum phase estimation (QPE) is one of these algorithms, and a team at Xanadu recently applied a novel scheme incorporating QPE to predicting the properties of cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. To further increase the efficiency of this algorithm, this project will focus on looking for improved initial guesses – based on the studies of such initial guesses from classical algorithms – to supply to the QPE algorithm.

Terahertz high-harmonic generation in graphene-metamaterial

Engineering graphene-based devices with exceptional nonlinear optical properties in the terahertz (THz) region play a crucial role in the advancement of THz technologies. We investigate how a metamaterial system consisting of a plasmonic structure enhances THz light-graphene interaction, thus leading to a higher nonlinearity in graphene. A variety of the plasmonic structures will be used to enhance driven THz field and efficiently generate high-harmonics in single-layer/multi-layer graphene. We will also explore how to isolate a weak third harmonic signal from graphene by using spectral filters and enhance its “signal-to-noise” ratio. The project relies on the use of a high-energy laser at the University of Bayreuth and high-field THz setup to drive graphene samples. Some of the samples will be fabricated and optimized on-site using nanofabrication equipment.

Development of an Electrodynamic Simulation Toolbox for Nanophotonics

Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations allow researchers to model complex devices and systems based on integrated micro/nano structures. The electrodynamic behaviour predicted by FDTD simulations match very well with the real physical systems, which significantly accelerates the development of novel devices. However, there are limitations in existing FDTD techniques to model metal nanoparticles on sub-100 nm length- scales, which are of great interest to research and industry. Due to the surface scattering properties in such nanoscale elements, the permittivity of bulk materials is no longer accurate and thus has to be modified according to the particle shape, size and crystallinity. To overcome this limit, this proposal describes a project to develop, in collaboration with Lumerical Solutions Inc., an FDTD toolbox that calculates a geometry-based permittivity, prior to starting FDTD simulations, in order to accurately model the optical properties of metal nanoparticles. The developed modeling capability will be validated with spectroscopy experiments.

XGFNG Election Code and Band Membership Review Project

Xeni Gwet’in is one of the six communities that form the T?ilhqot’in Nation located in the traditional T?ilhqot’in territory approximately 200km west of Williams Lake. Xeni Gwet’in is the only community in Canada to have received Aboriginal Title land that is recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada, which means that 1700 square kilometres of land is being transitioned to T?ilhqot’in full management, benefit and control. The government is composed of a chief and two councillors who are responsible for making decisions on behalf of the First Nation and its members. In February 2023, we will be going into election year. We have a custom election code, which required to be reviewed and updated to ensure that it’s a fair and transparent process. This project will support with reviewing the election code, engaging with community members and making the necessary updated to be adopted before election date.

EarlyDetect, a cloud based mental health screening tool – phase 2

The Chokka Center for Integrative Health is dedicated to develop an innovative and integrative approach to help patients achieve optimal mental health. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the world. Diagnosing mental health syndromes have proved challenging for clinicians. But it is essential to screen and diagnosis early to achieve symptom remission and achieve full functional recovery. Recognizing the need for an effective assessment tool to foster early detection of mental health disorders, Phase I of our Mitacs project (IT28160) is to launch a preliminary EarlyDetect (ED) system. However, the Phase I implementation of the risk scoring algorithm on ED is a hybrid method heavily relying on expert input information. We propose this Phase II because we believe that there is still room for automation and performance improvement by building a comprehensive machine-learning-based scoring engine integrated with a cloud based API.
ED will improve health outcomes of numerous Canadian patients, improve wait times to receive appropriate treatment, as well as benefit Canada economically by promoting health care efficiency. It will also advance Canada technologically in pace with other international peers on precision mental health applications.

Virage vert au sein du milieu scolaire

Un des enjeux du Collège Charles-Lemoyne identifié dans son plan stratégique est de réduire son empreinte environnementale. Le Collège désire réduire son empreinte environnementale autant par les gestes posés par les élèves que ceux du personnel et développer des comportements éco-responsables durables. Le Collège souhaite instaurer de bonnes pratiques à long terme et être un acteur de changement pour avoir des impacts significatifs et positifs en termes de développement durable et tendre vers un futur meilleur.

Acrylic Robotics Robotic Development Internship

Acrylic Robotics is a robotics startup based in Montreal, on a mission to use technology to make fine art accessible to the general public. To make fine art accessible, this project focuses on the implementation of a larger robotic arm to recreate artists’ artworks at scale. The intern will be responsible for the development of painting functionality for a new robotic arm, refinement of the robotic painting output, and pilot testing of the robotic system with both internal and external clients.

Étude de marché pour un réseau de test de télécommunication quantique

Étude de marché pour un réseau de test de communication quantique

Numana pilote un projet de 3,75M$ financé par le ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation du Québec et Bell Canada, en collaboration avec la zone d’innovation quantique de Sherbrooke.

Ce projet consiste à offrir un accès public d’une infrastructure en communication quantiques, constituée d’une boucle de 15 km de six fibres optiques, à l’intention de l’industrie et aux chercheurs afin de leur permettre de tester des équipements de communications quantiques plus performants ainsi que des protocoles de communication plus sécuritaires.

Dans des laboratoires se trouveront des équipements de communication quantiques qui permettront à des chercheurs, des fabricants d’équipements de communication quantiques, de faire des tests en toute sécurité.

Dans le but d’assurer un succès commercial au projet, Numana a besoin de connaître :
• La quantité et les coordonnées de tous les fabricants d’équipements quantiques qui seraient intéressés à venir effectuer des tests;
• Les coordonnées des autres réseaux de communication quantiques à travers le monde;
• La configuration de leur réseau, quels équipements et services ils proposent, combien ils facturent, combien de temps durent les tests;
• Les arguments de vente nous devons utiliser.

Epilepsy Pre-Evaluation Space (EPES)

The aim of the EPES (Epilepsy Pre-Evaluation Space) is to create an immersive tool to better understand spatiotemporal phenomena inside epilepsy patients’ brains, by creating a 4D spatial-temporal visualization of electrical activity. Used for pre-surgical evaluation of epilepsy patients suited for surgical resection of the brain region, where seizures onset zone lies. EPES provides an immersive environment with 3D interaction and visualization through virtual reality (VR). It integrates acquired data consisting of the MRI brain scans, the iEEG channels recorded by the intracranial electrodes, and the locations of the electrodes in the brain onset and end of seizures in individual iEEG channels. The objective of the Globalink research project is to add an automated identification of the iEEG electrodes seen on the MRI data. The work includes in which part, and which position the electrodes are implanted in the brain, as well as identifying the number of intracranial contact points at each electrode.

La science des données au service des athlètes olympiques canadiennes de water polo : développement de profils de performance

Ce projet proposé par l’Institut national du sport du Québec (INS Québec), en collaboration avec l’équipe nationale féminine de Water Polo Canada, a comme principal objectif d’exploiter les données d’entraînement, de tests physiques et les résultats de compétition, collectés au cours des 10 dernières années, auprès de 202 athlètes. Nous exploiterons les modèles et techniques avancés en statistique afin de décrire des profils d’athlètes, de déceler des tendances temporelles, liées par exemple aux cycles olympiques, de décrire la progression d’une carrière de joueuse d’élite, ainsi que de cibler les tests les plus révélateurs et pertinents afin de mieux utiliser les ressources à la disposition de l’INS Québec et Water Polo Canada. L’analyse des données permettra à l’équipe nationale canadienne de water polo de raffiner ses techniques d’entraînement et de préparation en vue des prochains Jeux Olympiques en s’appuyant sur les données récoltées par les experts qui encadrent l’équipe depuis plus d’une décennie.

Development of healthy food products by combining proteins and dietary fibers from oats and pulse

The milling oats in Canada are good sources of both dietary fibers and plant proteins. Currently the majority of Canadian oats is used as animal feed. Finding new sources of plant proteins and fibers or valorizing the existing ones is necessity to obtain sustainable and healthy food products. Even though oat lacks some essential amino acids, foods produced with mixtures of oat and pulse proteins provide a high value and balanced diet. The overall objective of this research is to develop high quality protein and dietary fiber ingredients from oat and pulse, and then develop new techniques to combine these ingredients to prepare fat replacers for dairy and dairy substitute products and texturized vegetable protein for meat analogue applications. This research will provide opportunities to add value to oats and pulses. The food development will provide consumers with healthy food choices to lower the risks of chronic disease.