Innovative Projects Realized

First Nations Planning and Communication: managing and presenting complex data

Provinces have been mandated to consult with First Nations on a broad spectrum of

planning issues in the last decade. First Nations engaging in these processes should be

empowered with an array of communication tools that (a) enable their decision-making, and

(b) enhance their capacity to communicate their values, suggestions or concerns. The

purpose of this study is to evaluate and apply communication tools for inclusive community

planning processes and local economic development. More specifically, already

collected video interviews, digitized archival documents, photos and geo-data for two

Aboriginal communities will be published in interactive digital formats to reflect community

priorities. To develop the most appropriate digital format, the intern will work with the EPI

team to identify the main communication needs over a variety of

stages in the planning process. Also, Formats such as maps, films, interactive digital formats,

and charrettes being used in a planning context will be evaluated.

Effects of Pulse Lighting Regimes on Microalgae Growth

Algae are microorganisms present in all aquatic environments with the ability to grow using sunlight as energy source. This ability can be harnessed to produce biomass for various purposes of industrial interests such as biofuel, animal feed, nutrients, etc. This project seeks to improve the productivity of an algal growth facility while reducing energy costs by exploring alternative illumination methods.

Modelling the response of glaciers in Western Canada to climate change

The costs of future climate change to the Canadian economy and society are likely to be very large. Meltwater from glaciers is an important source of freshwater throughout Western Canada, while freshwater carried by rivers to oceans plays a critical role in the global climate system. The overall goal of this project is to improve our understanding of glacier response to climate change in Western Canada. In particular, this internship project will develop and test a model that simulates surface melting on a study glacier in Yukon. This glacier is selected due to its long record of observations (e.g. mass balance, weather conditions, snow accumulation, snowline changes) necessary for the model development and validation. The results of this project will improve our predictions of glacier changes in this region and its impacts on Canadian freshwater resources. A better understanding of what is happening to the freshwater stored in mountain glaciers will enable policy makers to make more informed regional, national and international water supply decisions.

Cost Analysis of Smart Energy Network at residential to community levels: integration of natural gas, electricity and heat with end-use devices

There is growing pressure from intergovernmental organizations, governments and consumers to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Investments in green technology such as renewable energy sources, battery technology and carbon capture and sequestration can often yield significant reductions in carbon emissions. However, the corresponding economic costs of these projects can regularly result in a balancing act between environmental benefit and affordable energy consumption. Smart Energy Network, SEN, systems could provide a solution to this dilemma. This proposal is about cost analysis of integration of the energy sources electricity (E), natural gas (NG), heat (or thermal, T) and end use devices at a community to residential level. Economic justification of integration of advanced storage, on-site generation, end-use devices, and large penetration of renewable energy sources will be studied. The main reason for integration of the energy sources is to deliver end-user services in the most affordable, reliable and sustainable way and to relieve grid congestion by conversion of energy sources, storage and multifunctional/multifuel end-use devices.

Human Motion Inverse Optimal Control Constraint Learning and Inertial Measurement Unit Sensor Design for Rehabilitation

During physiotherapy a continuous assessment and progress tracking of a patient’s performance is of clinical interest. In this project, based on the promising results from the initial prototype, we will redesign the wearable sensors to improve tracking accuracy, communication speed and
robustness, incorporate onboard data storage and computation, and minimize cost and size. Furthermore, we will develop automated algorithms for the analysis of the measured data to help physiotherapists identify the causes of changes to the patients’ movement profile.

Regulatory impact of Clinical use of Whole-Exome Sequencing: A France-Quebec comparison

Next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) technologies developed in research are becoming cheap and efficient enough to be used to inform patient care. Yet, the transition of NGS technologies in the clinic is not without hurdles. Indeed, the data produced by NGS machines is large (which poses storage issues) extremely diverse and complex (interpretation issues) shared by the patients and their families (confidentiality issues) and can inform past, present and future health status (access and privacy issues). How are clinical research teams overcoming these hurdles today? Are the current legal and ethical regulations adapted to the clinical use of NGS? We will answer these questions by i) interviewing key stakeholders who are using NGS, and ii) analyzing the currently applicable regulations. The expected outcome of this project is to produce empirical data and knowledge to help policy decision makers foster an efficient and responsible use of NGS technologies in Québec clinics.

Imaging brain fuel metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major challenge for the individual affected, society at large and there only modest effective drug treatment. We believe that a central problem in AD is the deteriorating fuel supply to the brain (mostly the sugar, glucose) and this impairment appears long before the onset of memory and cognitive problems emerge. We believe that attempting to correct this fuel problem will be part of any successful therapy for AD. We are developing an alternative fuel to glucose for the brain in the form of a ‘ketogenic supplement’ based on medium chain triglycerides such as those present in coconut oil. We will measure brain ketone metabolism in AD and how it responds to a ketogenic drink. Hight brain ketone uptake is expected to improve global brain energy metabolism, thereby helping memory and cognitive problems. We have cutting-edge brain imaging methods with which to better understand how the AD brain responds to an improved brain fuel supply provide by ketones.

La rémunération des dirigeants : un enjeu de gouvernance et de société

La rémunération des dirigeants d’entreprise constitue un enjeu de gouvernance de premier plan. Ainsi, la plupart des conseils d’administration nord-américains sont dotés d’un comité de rémunération. L’ampleur des sommes en jeu ainsi que l’influence potentielle des incitatifs mis en place sur les décisions des dirigeants sous-tendent ces préoccupations. Toutefois, la rémunération des dirigeants est également un enjeu de société. En effet, plusieurs pays imposent aux entreprises de motiver et justifier publiquement les décisions en la matière, les actionnaires devant valider ces décisions au moyen d’un vote (« Say on Pay »). Quoique volontaire au Canada, cette pratique s’est rapidement répandue parmi les plus grandes entreprises. Plus récemment, la Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) a adopté une réglementation sur la divulgation du ratio de la rémunération du PDG par rapport à l’employé médian. Dans ce contexte, le conseil d’administration est souvent pris en étau entre différentes parties prenantes. En outre, la détermination de la rémunération, et son appréciation, s’appuient souvent sur des mythes et demi-vérités non nécessairement validés, les nombreuses études quantitatives sur la question ne permettent pas de converger vers des constats stables. TO BE CONT’D

Innovative design of a sound numerical model calibration process: from lab tests to input data

Geomechanica Inc. develops simulation software (Irazu) for rock engineering applications. This numerical software has been used in several peer-reviewed research publications in the rock mechanics field. A key challenge in the numerical modelling of rock masses is the selection of
appropriate input parameters. The objective of this work is to develop a solution to streamline the laboratory testing and integration of the results into Irazu models. As a result, the time needed to build a model will be significantly reduced and the uncertainties in the model inputs will be
mitigated. The proposed R&D project is expected to bring Geomechanica closer to a full geomechanics solution offering to clients by providing the inputs needed for numerical simulations, and provide engineers and researchers with reliable, predictive tools for analyzing complex rock mechanics problems.

Sleep quality and weaning from mechanical ventilation: a physiological clinical study

In mechanically ventilated critically ill patients, sleep disruption may contribute to prolonged weaning leading to longer intensive care unit stay and hospital mortality. It was reported that sleep disruption affects the outcome of noninvasive ventilation and we hypothesize that it may also have an impact in mechanically ventilated patients on the weaning outcome. We propose to perform a prospective, observational, clinical physiologic study to evaluate sleep quality and quantity by using a standard polysomnography (PSG) to evaluate the link between sleep disruption and the outcome of weaning. In order to adress this important question, we will
– Compare sleep quality and quantity in patients who pass and fail weaning assessment
– Compare sleep quality before and after extubation
– Validate the use of a technique to quantify sleep stages (Odd Ratio Product) as a continuous measure of sleep depth in comparison to standard PSG.

“Accelerating grain hemp improvement with genomics”

Genomics, the study of genetic sequence of an organism, can be of great benefit to plant breeders who wish to accelerate the development of new varieties. Natural Emphasis Ltd (NE) is interested in developing hemp that will produce more grain by increasing the number of female flowers on its plants. Our project is to identify sections of the genetic code called ‘markers’ that are associated with plants with a high number of female flowers within a population that NE is using for breeding. With these markers, NE hopes to create several new varieties of hemp for the Canadian market that will yield more grain and be easier to harvest.

Étude sur la clarté à la surverse d’un décanteur

L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser les paramètres physiques et d’opération qui contrôlent la clarté à la surverse dans un décanteur dans le but d’y abaisser la concentration solide. L’étude comprend deux volets : l’un théorique qui consiste au développement d’un modèle mathématique et l’autre expérimental pour la validation et la caractérisation. Le modèle mathématique représente un écoulement diphasique (solide-liquide) turbulent en régime transitoire. Le modèle physique (montage expérimental) est un décanteur à échelle réduite pour les mesures de vitesse et de con-centration de la suspension à la surverse. Les mesures de vitesses à la surverse seront obtenues par vélocimétrie laser en milieu semi-transparent et les concentrations de la suspension par gravimétrie. Au terme de ce projet, le banc d’essai incluant le modèle mathématique et le montage expérimental servira pour la conception à pleine échelle de futurs décanteurs ou classificateurs dans l’industrie où intervient des procédés de séparation solide-liquide.