Innovative Projects Realized

Groundless MEMS DC Voltage Sensors for Electric Power Utilities

This research project will develop dc electric field sensors for the monitoring of electric power utility infrastructure and for non-contact voltage probing and monitoring. MEMS sensors are the focus, as they offer small size, low cost, and low power operation. These properties make them ideal for hand held operation, and for deployment in remote locations far from urban centres, a requirement needed by utilities to monitor their 1000’s of km of transmission infrastructure. Developed sensors would also be valuable to other industries requiring electric field or static charge monitoring. Two main categories of sensors will be developed. First, sensors for measuring high dc electric fields (100 V/m – 1 MV/m) and ionic flux will be explored. These would be suitable for monitoring HVDC infrastructure. Second, sensors for low fields (1 – 10,000+ V/m) and close proximity measurements will be investigated. Included in these efforts, will be the development of optimized sensor enclosures to maximize sensor sensitivity.

Accelerating eVTOL Research Outcomes (AeRO)

Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles represent the new frontier of transportation electrification. Since the dawn of aviation, enthusiasts have dreamed of “flying cars” that can reduce trips that take hours on the ground to minutes in the air, improving productivity and quality of life. What was previously the realm of science fiction is rapidly becoming a viable commercial reality. However, significant performance and efficiency improvements, at both individual component and overall system levels, must be made in order to bring eVTOL from the proof-of-concept stage to a viable product. This project will research and develop models, prototypes, and tools to support the development of power electronics components, controls and architectures for an eVTOL application under developed by our industry partner. In so doing, this project will enable the development of eVTOL aircraft that will: reduce emissions; meet stringent safety requirements; comply with aerospace standards; address an emerging global market opportunity; and provide engineering postgrads with a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in an emerging sector with excellent career prospects.

Nutrient removal using a solid state glass adsorbent for treating agricultural waste, waters, and public effluents

Agricultural waste and public effluents often contain elevated levels of phosphorous and nitrogen that limit its ability to be directly repurposed as crop fertilizer or irrigation spray. Removal of soluble nutrients from waste water is difficult. Current treatment options have high investment costs and are often not well suited for smaller farm sizes common in Canada. This research intends to characterize the utility of a solid state absorbent material engineered by NPower Clean Tech Corporation that shows promise for removing anionic forms of phosphorous and nitrogen. If the product economically recovers these nutrients, then this research may directly benefit Canadian farmers, public sewer utilities, and waste generating industries by offering an additional means of controlling their waste stream profiles.

Developpement d’une strategie de cartographie de la neige a partir des donnees deteledetection a I’aide de I’estimation d’ensemble

Au Quebec, la fonte du couvert nival est Ie mecanisme responsable de la majorite des crues

printanieres. Par consequent, I’evaluation de I’etendue du couvert nival en temps reel

interesse au plus haut point les autorites responsables de la gestion des ressources

hydriques, en particulier Hydro-Quebec. L’objectif de ce projet de recherche est Ie

developpement d’une strategie de cartographie en temps quasi-reel de I’etendue du couvert

nival a partir des donnees de teledetection a I’aide d’une estimation d’ensemble. Pour

I’atteinte de cet objectif, trois etapes sont necessaires : (1) Ie developpement d’un algorithme

de cartographie du couvert nival ada pte aux conditions d’automne du Quebec a partir des

images journalieres du capteur optique NOAA-AVHRR; (2) la realisation d’une analyse

comparative des divers algorithmes de cartographie du couvert nival actuellement

disponibles pour differents capteurs, incluant ceux developpes par I’INRS et Hydro-Quebec

pour I’automne et Ie printemps;

Developing a reliable model of biochar behaviour in northern forest soils

Understanding the fate of biochar in boreal soils is critical in order to develop appropriate

application rates and carbon credits. Accurate models of biochar stability and carbon density

are required for proper carbon accounting. The intent of this study is to model the long term

stability of charcoal in northern forest soils. We will utilize a combination of existing and new

trials to develop Boreal specific turnover rates and an existing 200 year post-fire

chronosequence of forest stands to calibrate and validate the model outcomes. Development

of the model will form the basis of early carbon credit estimates for our partners and aid in the

development of a carbon sequestration market.

Knowledge Translation and Simulation: the Viability of Teaching Financial Literacy through Gameful Design

The project seeks to make online management of credit card usage easier by developing new design methods for making information easier to understand in digital platforms. Through rhetorical accommodation, or the process of translating complex information into simpler forms, the project will improve TD’s web-based (EasyWeb) and mobile (TD App) platforms so that credit card usage and payment will be easy to understand. This research is important because it studies the ways financial service providers like TD can improve customer satisfaction. The project will establish new methods of gameful design which could include visualizations, for example, to inform TD’s customers on credit card habits in an informative, subtle, and respectful way. The guidelines would aid consumers making educated decisions and obtain more financial freedom as they better understand the product and services available to them. This could result in adoption of more TD products and increase in consumer spending habits.

Ecological engineering in Sphagnum cultivation: From establishment and production of moss biomass to water management and greenhouse gas monitoring

This project proposes to develop appropriate engineering tools to optimize the operation and tracing of a Sphagnum cultivation site. The project has three major stages: 1) literature review of main indicators of water stress based on the WTD, 2) construction of a database and indexes to represent fluctuations of seasonal water table that allows the estimation of biomass accumulation in Sphagnum cultivation, and 3) construction of a cost-effective and efficient prototype for continuous monitoring of greenhouse gases in Sphagnum cultivation sites. It is expected that the results of this research be useful to extrapolate these experiments in a large-scale Sphagnum cultivation project.

Automated Change Detection of Serial MR Images Using Compressed Sensing

We aim to develop a new algorithm to detect changes in serial MR examinations.

Computer-based change detection system is an important tool to automatically

process abundant information produced by imaging systems and assist physicians to

identify clinically important changes in the images. Many existing methods are

computationally costly. The emerging mathematical theory of compressed sensing

(CS) allows exact reconstruction of a sparse signal from fewer samples. Generally, a

medical image does not have a noticeable quality change by discarding certain

information) and changes of the same patient over time are spatially sparse. We thus

utilize the CS techniques to develop novel change detection algorithms that reduce

computational cost and extract clinical-relevant information robust to the presence

of noise. Our algorithm is expected to assist radiologists to make early diagnosis and

be used as a training tool for young practitioners as well as to advance the

development of change detection technology in geological and other applications.

Production de masse de pièces unitaires en composites thermoplastiques soudées par induction (MANU 1709)

La présence de très nombreuses pièces différentes dans les avions implique la fabrication de petites séries de nombreuses pièces. La majorité des pièces en composites, fabriqués en composites thermodurcissables, sont lourdes et leur fabrication très longue et manuelle. Dans le but d’alléger les masses structurelles des avions et de ramener des emplois au Québec, Génik, Hutchinson, le CRVI et l’ÉTS développent une ligne de fabrication automatisée de pièces unitaires en composites thermoplastiques, plus légères, et au cycle de fabrication plus rapide. Ce projet intègre le développement d’une technologie de soudure de composites thermoplastiques par induction, un système intelligent de vision industriel, comprenant le contrôle dimensionnel, la détection de formes, et la génération automatique de trajectoire d’outil. La particularité de cette ligne de production s’inscrit aussi dans le fait qu’elle doit être capable de fabriquer en masse des pièces unitaires, nécessitant ainsi une capacité de changement d’outil et une manutention des pièces très rapide.
En plus de la soudure par induction, l’automatisation d’une part de la détection de pièce par la vision industrielle, d’autre part de la manutention des pièces et outillages font de ce projet un axe de recherche particulièrement innovant.

Investigation of Power System Performance with integration of Inverter based Generation

The electric power industry is undergoing considerable changes with respect to structure, operation, regulation and modernization. One of the significant changes is the increased utilization of distribured energy sources (DES) such as wind and solar and other immerging technologies particularly in electric distribution systems. It is envisioned that DES will bcome the main source of energy in the industry in the future due to the environmental friendliness, improving capabilities and lowering cost of these resources. Transition from traditional centralized power to DES would definitely create new challenges in planning of power systems and requires new assessment techniques and methodologies. It is, therefore, both necessary and important to develop a consistent and useful approach for the evaluation and examination of the performance of power systems containing distributed energy sources, energy store, and other new technologies.

Éducation 4.0 : Jeux sérieux et technologies adaptatives

En cette ère du numérique et de l’intelligence, une nouvelle vision de l’éducation – Éducation 4.0 – vise à développer une approche pédagogique novatrice et centrée sur le développement des compétences du 21e siècles telles la pensée complexe, la résolution de problèmes de façon créative et la capacité d’adaptation. Ces compétences – non-techniques, transversales et cognitives – sont essentielles au développement académique et personnel des élèves afin de les préparer à être des agents de changements. Dans ce projet, nous analysons le jeu sérieux comme outil de développement des compétences du 21e siècle.

Sobeys Supply Chain Sustainability

S0b~ys has made sIgnificant progress in reducing the environmental Impacts of its direct operations

thrQugh reductions in GHG emissions and waste productIon. The corporatIon Is now ready to expand

Its efforts to the supply chain, where it has determined the vast majority of environmental Impacts

origInate. This research project will examine ways that Sobeys can furthers its progress in

sustainabllity measures by shifting the focus from direct retail operations to the product supply chain,

in order to Increase environmental and social sustainablllty of Sobeys product sourcing, The research

question to be addressed Is: As a large conventional food retailer concerned with the global impacts

of its operatIons, what are the areas of the Sobeys product supply chains with the greatest

environmental impacts and where is there potential for improved sustalnabJllty measures within the

supply chain?