Innovative Projects Realized

Feasibility Study for Wastewater Collection and Treatment System at Aubigny community

Aubigny is a small rural community where individuals are responsible for their septic systems. Being smaller lots and close to the Red River, the potential for environmental damage such as soil, surface and ground pollution could be there. If suitable wastewater treatment system could be installed in this community then there would also be potential for more residential development. The project will determine the feasibility of creation of a sustainable wastewater treatment system that could work for such a community and ensure environmental sustainability there. The study will assist to choose the appropriate wastewater system for the community for future development with confirming sustainable environment there.

Étude sur les systèmes de réfrigération à éjection travaillant avec du CO2 transcritique.

Le projet vise à optimiser des pompes à chaleur transcritiques au CO2 par l’intégration d’un éjecteur. Les applications potentielles sont le chauffage et le refroidissement de bâtiments ou de procédés industriels nécessitant des puissances élevées. Pour cela, une approche couplée modélisation thermodynamique / expériences sera choisie. Les modèles d’éjecteur et de pompe à chaleur seront successivement validés par des mesures faites sur un banc expérimental de pompe à chaleur au CO2 disponible chez Hydro-Québec. Le système sera optimisé en couplant les modèles thermodynamiques à un algorithme d’optimisation multi-objectifs. L’éjecteur optimisé sera alors testé sur le dispositif expérimental. Le partenaire Refri-Ozone assurera le suivi du projet et permettra d’identifier les principales applications de ce type de système. L’amélioration des technologies de production de chaud et de froid utilisant le CO2 comme réfrigérant naturel ouvre des perspectives sans limite dans un contexte de réchauffement climatique et de bannissement progressif des réfrigérants synthétiques.

bridgeVUE – UX/UI research and development

Navigation at sea is a complex and comprehensive task. Combined with the challenges of navigating in heavy traffic, and avoiding dangers in low light and low visibility, it becomes considerably more difficult. This project, bridgeVUE, leverages an emerging technology to enhance marine navigation by contextualizing radar data over an individual’s field of vision, in real time. By using an Augmented Reality (AR) headset, bridge crew can overlay critical information over their field of vision, even when visibility is near zero, increasing their situational awareness.

Currently, bridgeVUE is a functioning prototype that consolidates and visualizes multiple data input. However, there are some UX/UI improvements that need to be made. As part of this project, Engage Creative Technologies and UPEI will work together to research the latest on UX/UI in emerging technologies, such as AR, and will develop solutions that will be adopted and embraced by the end-users of bridgeVUE.

Marketing and Communications Application

The Pottle Centre is a drop-in social centre for individuals living with mental illness, now celebrating 40 years servicing our local community. This charity was established by the late Dr. Clarence Pottle former Waterford Hospital Medical Superintendent and Director of Mental Health Services for the Government of NL with a vision of providing a welcoming, safe space for members who are consumers of provincial mental health and addictions services. The Pottle Centre is a vital asset in assisting Eastern Health in achieving their vision – Healthy People, Healthy Communities. The social connection and benefits of the many programs offered promote the well-being of these vulnerable members of our community and because of the Pottle Centre’s work, members do not need to spend their days alone nor face their mental illness or addiction issues unsupported.
The centre is fortunate to have a small group of dedicated professionals working to enhance the lives of its members. However, given the rising costs for operating and challenging economic climate, sustained funding has become increasingly vital to the longevity of the centre.

Reducing the effect of magnetic disturbance in inertial measurement based indoor localization

Using inertial measurement units (IMUs) has been one of the main techniques for indoor localization. In many cases, this type of methods uses accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or magnetometer that are available in commercial mobile devices, such as smart phone. One main advantage of using this type of techniques is that no separate infrastructure deployment is needed. However, its performance is affected by noise that exists in the measurement data. When tracking pedestrians, the moving speed and direction are usually estimated separately. Muldi Vision Ltd. (MDV), the industrial partner organization, has been providing localization services for workers in industrial environments. When using their current product in manufacturing plants, the accuracy of the IMU-based localization method is highly affected by magnetic disturbance. The objective of this work is to find methods to reduce the negative effect of magnetic disturbance on the accuracy of the sensor orientation estimate and therefore improve the localization accuracy.

Improving Emotion Regulation and Executive Functions in Adolescents using Mindfulness-based Martial Arts

The intern will play an integral role in the completion of a pilot treatment study to explore the feasibility and sensitivity of neurobiological measures to explore brain-based changes in emotion regulation and executive functions (e.g., impulse control) associated with participation in Mindfulness Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is a treatment program developed at Integra that integrates evidence-based mental health therapy into the milieu of martial arts training. The intern will develop skills in EEG and ECG administration and data analysis. She will also gain an understanding of MMA and its treatment components and how specific treatment components are associated with activation of different areas in the brain. She will share her knowledge and expertise about neurobiology and emotion regulation with the clinical and management team at Integra, thereby futhering their understanding of the LD/mental health population and the impact of MMA.

Transforming Experiences into Solutions: A Multiphase Interdisciplinary Study on Recruitment and Retention of Women in Saskatchewan Engineering and Mining

Currently in the Canadian mining industry, approximately 16% of roles are filled by women. Furthermore, the mining industry is facing a future labour shortage as a significant proportion of its current workforce is approaching the age of retirement. Underrepresented groups, such as women, can help to fill these projected labour gaps and aid in solving challenges the industry faces, such as digital transformation and sustainable development. However, systemic and culture barriers have prevented women, in particular, from being better represented in the mining industry.
In response, this IMII-funded study will bring together industry and academic research focus which transform the experiences of men and women in the Saskatchewan mining industry into practical solutions which address barriers faced by under-represented groups. The ultimate goal of this work is put recommendations into action to shift Saskatchewan mining and minerals workplaces to be inclusive and diverse workplaces.

Élaboration d’un modèle à base de clustering pour l’amélioration de la gestion et de la planification des livraisons

Le projet relève le défi d’assurer une planification optimale des livraisons à travers une autre approche plus flexible visant dans un premier lieu le partitionnement des clients dans des groupes en se basant sur la valorisation des données disponibles, et dans un deuxième lieu la génération et l’affectation des tournées aux véhicules en répondant aux différentes contraintes : contraintes propres aux clients, contraintes relatives aux véhicules, contraintes imposées par le business .Ce travail aura comme retombée directe la réduction du temps nécessaire pour l’élaboration d’un plan de livraisons, et aussi la minimisation du coût logistique, et comme retombée indirecte l’ajout de plus de flexibilité sur la gestion des livraisons.

Model-Based Security Compliance-By-Design for Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Operations Segments

Low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations require high levels of security and resilience to provide high quality, reliable and trustworthy global connectivity services to customers. For these systems to develop customer trust and find widespread use, developers must demonstrate compliance to a variety of security standards, policies, and regulations. However, because these systems are very large and complex, it is difficult to clearly and effectively show how the system satisfies all of its compliance requirements throughout its development lifetime. In this project, we aim to develop an architecture and design framework for the operations segment of the Telesat LEO satellite constellation. The operations segment is responsible for connecting the overall LEO system by directing the other system components cooperate to deliver the service. The framework seeks to support security compliance-by-design and help developers trace security compliance requirements to the design of the operations segment so that they can easily show where and how such requirements are satisfied. This support can provide a competitive advantage and help solidify Telesat’s position as a Canadian leader in LEO satellite communications.

Fly-By-Wire INDI-Based Generic Control Laws for Flexible Civil Transport Aircraft: Enhanced Verification

New generation of civil transport aircraft presents interaction between flight mechanics and structural dynamics. Innovative CLaws have been developed to address this issue. They need to be verified thoroughly by high-fidelity simulations. For a research and development project, the traditional industrial verification process is too demanding and would be too time consuming. Indeed, each high-fidelity simulation is very slow. Thus, the present project will investigate emerging optimization-based verification techniques that can advance the assessment and verification of the new CLaws while minimizing the number of required simulations. This allows progress on the verification of the new CLaws and benefit to Bombardier and the Canadian Industry by acquiring advance assessment and verification capabilities that can strongly cut the cost of verification while improving safety by tracking more accurately the worst cases of stability and performance.

Millimeter-Wave Photonic Component Packaging and Interconnect

With the increasing demand for data rates in modern high-speed links come new requirements for the simulation environments that are used for their design. With optical modulator now achieving beyond-100-GHz large-signal modulation bandwidth in hybrid silicon photonics, the main challenges that such systems are currently facing is the lack of efficient interconnects to interface with the outside world. These interconnects are designed and optimized using full-wave simulations. This process is however very slow, requiring several full-wave simulations, and can lead to sub-optimal results if a local minimum is reached. The global objective of the project is to develop our understanding of wideband interconnect (100+ GHz). To achieve that we will develop simple models for wideband interconnect to predict their performances. We will also derive design rules to help developers optimize more efficiently high-speed interconnects. The model and the design rules will be validated with measurements.

L’initiative collective Mauricie Récolte entre agriculteurs, bénévoles et organismes régionaux afin de valoriser le glanage comme activité sociale, durable et de loisir : quel rôle possède la dimension géographique dans les facteurs de collaboration pour innover?

Afin de lutter contre l’insécurité alimentaire, plusieurs groupes d’acteurs-citoyens sont en train de se mobiliser pour récolter les « fonds de champs. Au Québec, Mauricie Récolte, issu du regroupement initial du projet Maski récolte et Des chenaux récolte, a mis en contact les producteurs, les cueilleurs et les organismes communautaires pour développer un projet de glanage depuis 2018. Fort de son succès, un processus de régionalisation s’est imposé peu à peu. Considérant ces développements et la nécessité de structurer l’initiative, une réflexion s’impose afin de documenter le rôle de la proximité géographique dans le succès de Mauricie récolte pour informer les autres organisations désireuses de s’inspirer de ce projet pour leur territoire. L’objectif général du projet est de rédiger un guide d’implantation et d’indicateurs fondé sur la proximité, destiné aux organisations désireuses de s’inspirer de ce projet pour leur territoire. Pour y parvenir, on procèdera à (1) une analyse de littérature (l’inventaire du rôle de la proximité géographique dans d’autres expériences au Québec et dans le monde), (2) des entrevues ouvertes des acteurs clés où apparaitront (ou pas) les facteurs de proximité (n=14) et des groupes d’acteurs mobilisés (bénévoles, organismes et agriculteurs) avec trois focus groupes TOBECONT.