Innovative Projects Realized

Surface water motility due to an imposed air flow for vehicle drying applications

Customer satisfaction with an automatic car wash is highly dependent on the quality of the final drying phase, with residual water leading to spots and thus poor perception of performance. As such, Suncor Energy is committed to improving the drying phase of their next generation car wash facilities through principled design guidelines based upon scientific investigation of water droplet movement on a surface. This project extends a previous study of the dynamics of individual droplets on an aluminum substrate to consider the aerodynamic interaction between multiple droplets as well as surface water films towards identifying air blower configurations and operational parameters that lead to maximal surface water movement. Specifically, the motion of arrays of droplets, droplet agglomerates, and surface water films are investigated using optical diagnostic tools towards developing predictive models of surface water motility and design guidelines for next-generation air drying modules for car wash facilities.

Utilisation des symbiotes racinaires en biorestauration des rejets de l’industrie aurifère

L’objectif général de ce projet innovant est d’améliorer la productivité et la survie des espèces autochtones lors de la réhabilitation des sites miniers et la réduction des contaminants par une meilleure gestion et utilisation des symbioses racinaires. Les objectifs spécifiques sont: i) Isolement, culture, caractérisation et sélection in vitro de microorganismes fixateurs d’azote (Rhizobium et Frankia) et des mycorhizes (ectomycorhizes, ECM et endomycorhizes arbusculaires, EMA) associées aux taxons indigènes des plantes actinorhiziennes et légumineuses; ii) Étude de la spécificité fonctionnelle de Rhizobium/Frankia et des mycorhizes et évaluation des performances agronomiques

en pépinière en vue de la sélection des souches performantes pour la production d’inoculants

commerciaux. Les résultats de ce projet vont permettre à IAMGOLD d’innover dans les techniques de

biorestauration sur ses sites d’exploitation aurifère au Canada et l’étranger et devenir ainsi un chef de

file du développement durable.

Development, characterization and Life Cycle Assessment of Smart Marine Coatings

This research project will determine the associated greenhouse gas emissions associated with an environmentally friendly graphene-based coating to see how it compares with other marine coatings currently in industry. The developed methodology can be used in future life cycle assessments, as it will provide an innovative way of modelling graphene-based coating systems. GIT will benefit from the results of the life-cycle assessment as they will be able to identify areas in their production process where they can reduce both costs and emissions. GIT will also benefit by using the LCA’s results to form an environmental marketing claim.

Modeling local tone-mapping for raw image reconstruction-aware deep image compressors

Cameras apply a lot of processing on the raw image recorded by the sensor to enhance the brightness, contrast, and colors, and make the output image visually pleasing. The image is also finally compressed to make the file size smaller. These operations make it difficult to reverse to the raw sensor image which is necessary for several computer/machine vision tasks. Existing AI methods to invert from the camera’s compressed output image to the raw sensor image assume that only global color and tone manipulations are applied. However, most present-day consumer cameras perform local tone adjustment to further improve picture quality. The goal of this project is to devise an AI algorithm that allows accurate recovery of the raw sensor image from the camera’s locally-tone adjusted compressed output image. This project will help Samsung Electronics Canada develop an improved and more practical raw recovery AI algorithm applicable to modern DSLR and smartphone camera images.

Élaboration et test d’un outil d’autodiagnostic multicritère permettant aux entreprises québécoises d’analyser les risques et opportunités liés à leurs dépendances et impacts en matière de biodiversit

Le présent projet vise une plus grande intégration de la biodiversité et des services écologiques (BSE) dans les stratégies des entreprises et des organisations au Québec. Pour atteindre ce résultat, le projet se fixe notamment comme but d’élaborer une méthode simple d’autodiagnostic qui permettra aux entreprises de déterminer les risques corporatifs et occasions d’affaires liés à l’interdépendance des entreprises vis-à-vis de la biodiversité et des services écologiques.

Implementation and deployment of a multi-modal underwater network

This project is intended to support the deployment of an underwater communication network, that is multi-hop and multi-modal. It relies on the combination of acoustic propagation and magnetic-induction to send the information from a remote instrument through a set of relay nodes and to a destination. To enable end-to-end transmission over a secured link, secured communication technologies will be adopted.

Novel sensing and actuating technology for gaseous fuel systems

The participants listed below confirm that the information presented accurately reflects their intention to apply to the Mitacs Accelerate program. The participants have also agreed to set in place an internship based upon the attached proposal. The participants acknowledge that they have read, understood and agreed to abide by and uphold the Project Responsibilities applicable to each of them, available for reference at http://www.mitacs.ca/en/programs/accelerate/project-responsibilities which include and are not limited to the following: It is understood that the partner organization contribution shall be provided to Mitacs Inc. in Canadian dollars prior to commencement of the internship; in the event that the sponsor organization funds are at the academic institution, the academic institution shall forward these funds to Mitacs. Upon research approval and the receipt of the partner funds at Mitacs, Mitacs shall forward the funds to the Canadian academic institution as a research grant to the Canadian supervising professor, and the internship stipend/salary will be paid to the student by the academic institution from the grant. Costs associated with this proposal as outlined in the budget can only be incurred after research approval of the proposal and the receipt of the partner funds at Mitacs.

Tendances mondiales de l’âge modal au décès depuis 1980 : une nouvelle perspective sur la longévité

Aujourd’hui encore, nos connaissances relatives à la longévité humaine portent sur une part limitée de la population mondiale, notamment en raison de la rareté des données sur la mortalité dans plusieurs pays à faible ou moyen revenu d’Amérique latine, d’Asie et d’Afrique. Nous savons en revanche qu’au sein de ces pays, le vieillissement de la population pose déjà – ou posera bientôt – des défis sociaux majeurs. La longévité est généralement mesurée par l’espérance de vie à la naissance, c’est-à-dire la durée de vie moyenne. L’âge modal au décès, c’est-à-dire l’âge le plus commun ou le plus fréquent au décès chez les adultes s’avère toutefois particulièrement adapté à l’étude de la longévité, n’étant pas influencé par les conditions de mortalité aux jeunes âges. La présente étude vise à apporter un nouvel éclairage sur la longévité des personnes âgées dans le monde. Nous chercherons plus précisément à estimer le niveau et l’évolution de cet indicateur depuis 1980 dans le plus grand nombre de pays.

A Novel AI-Based LED Grow Light

Indoor farming offers the opportunity to grow produce close to the consumer and has recently been gaining attention due to its efficiency, controllability, and sustainability. In indoor farming, food is grown indoors in a controllable environment, with stable environmental conditions. This approach reduces the land footprint required, the demand for energy and water, the nutrient input requirements, and can eliminate the need for pesticides. Food can be locally produced, picked, packed, and quickly delivered to neighbouring communities.
In this research program, next-generation AI-based LED grow lights tailored for future vertical farming will be designed and developed. The proposed solution will offer high efficiency and great flexibility as it can adjust the light intensity and spectrum accordingly. The firmware embedded in the proposed AI-based LED grow lights can identify issues in the growth process and adaptively change the outputs.

Socia-Economic Mine Closure (SEMC) Guideline: An Evaluation of theLocal Economic Development (LED) Initiatives Implemented by Mining Companies toAddress the Adverse Results of Mine Closure.

This MIT ACS-Accelerate proposal is the first involving a multiple stage project to be developed as part

of my PhD investigation. Through the completion of the full research project, the initiatives

implemented by mining companies to address the socio-economic impact imposed on local

communities when a mine ceases operation will be analyzed. Additionally, a socio-economic mine

closure guideline will be developed to assist both mining communities and mining companies in the

anticipation and mitigation of the impacts that mine closure has on communities. Although the

methodology for the full research includes surveys and interviews with community members, company

representatives and other key stakeholders, this present proposal will not involve the phase of

engagement with these subjects.

Optimization Design and In-lab characterization of Optical Phased Arrays (OPAs)

We are proposing to help design the experimental setup to characterize chip-scale Optical Phased Arrays (OPAs). OPAs – a photonic device used for optical beam forming and beam steering – have been widely studied for LiDAR, optical sensing, free-space communication and more. Building on previously prototyped phase array antenna design at Honeywell, the team aims to develop next-generation micro-photonic phase arrays that can steer beams with minimum output of 2 Watt (optical power) for data rates on the order of 10 Gbps and acceptable bit error rates. Our goal is to establish and conduct in-lab characterization of the newly design OPA to validate and verify design parameters predicted through simulation studies, as well as to provide recommendations for optimization of the OPA design.

Development of Technologies and Methods for Metabolite collection and processing

Metabolomics is an emerging field of research that provides insight into health and disease by studying the levels of various small molecules (metabolites) in the body. In this project, we are developing new tools that will improve and standardize methods for collecting and stabilizing fecal samples for metabolomics studies based on the analysis of fecal samples. Ultimate goals of the project are improved workflows for analyzing fecal samples for metabolomics studies, and kits which will permit easy home-collection of samples. The kits will also stabilize the samples at room temperature. This will provide new methods which can be used to study various diseases and/or the health of gut bacteria, or develop new diagnostic tests for identifying diseases in patients.