Innovative Projects Realized

Development of a Remotely Controlled Data Acquisition System with Wireless Sensors for Bogie Dynamic Load Monitoring

The proposed research focuses on bogie dynamic load monitoring using intelligent sensor networks.

The existing monitoring systems have several problems including inability to monitor precisely,

difficulty in integration with the existing units, and high cost. The proposed research will examine

these issues in detail focusing on five main areas: wireless sensors, product definition, prototype

development, field testing, and industrialization. Sensors based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS)

and Nanotechnology will be examined with regard to cost and performance. The proposed research

will finally lead to the design and development of a condition monitoring system for increasing

operating safety and lifespan of the existing and new bogie subsystems while simultaneously reducing

costs of monitoring.

Development of an Autonomous Pipeline Control System

Autonomous operation of oil and gas pipelines is being introduced to the marketplace by utilizing advanced process control and Artificial Intelligence. This Project will explore the use of advanced optimization algorithms in combination with autonomous operation to further increase efficiency of pipelines by continually driving pumps, compressors and valves to achieve the lowest cost operation.
Expected benefits of these efficiencies will be to increase the effective pipeline capacity without building new pipelines, while reducing the amount of energy required in a pipeline’s operation. In the current environment in which building new pipelines is increasingly difficult, maximizing existing assets is critical to both the pipeline operator and upstream producers.

Coupling the liquid pool and wellbore hydraulic module of the “Prediction and Optimization Software Package” – Part 2

In the last decade optimization is expanded in many applications from food production to sophisticated applications such as engine fuel efficiency. In the proposed package, it is tried to apply optimization techniques along with physics based analytical and semi-analytical methodologies to create a compelling framework which can help thermal-process based oil industry to reduce their GHG and also better evaluate their CAPEX. Many SAGD projects are overspent on their facilities due to under prediction or overprediction of their oil production expectations. this package will help operators to predict their expectations and improve their predictions as more inputs are provided such 4D seismic, temperature and pressure observation wells, production data, and geological characterization.

Urgence environnementale et stratégies de persuasions: Le cas de Greenpeace Canada et Greenpeace France

Je m’intéresse aux stratégies de communication sur les médias socionumériques du groupe d’intérêts environnement Greenpeace Canada et Greenpeace France. Je porte mon attention, plus particulièrement, sur leurs campagnes liées aux changements climatiques dans ces deux pays. Je désire comprendre comment ils plaident et sensibilisent à la cause des bouleversements climatiques.
Pour ce faire, j’étudie les différentes stratégies de persuasion utilisés par Greenpeace Canada et France afin de sensibiliser les citoyen.ne.s. Mon attention se portera sur leur site web, leur page Facebook et Instagram. Une fois la collecte de données effectuée, j’analyserai l’ensemble des informations recueillis. Par la suite, j’interrogerai des représentant.e.s de Greenpeace Canada et France afin de connaitre leurs perceptions de leur propre communication des changements climatiques.
De ce fait, ce projet de recherche est porteur et possède à la fois une pertinence sociale et scientifique.

Investigating Coastal Disturbance Contributions to Climate Change Acceleration

Wetlands can store carbon 30-40 times faster, and for longer periods of time, than terrestrial ecosystems. As a result, coastal wetland ecosystems are known to play a crucial role in combating climate change. Activities such as dredging and shoreline erosion have potential negative impacts on these coastal environments, hindering their capacity to store carbon. Not only this, but it is possible that the aforementioned disturbances cause the breakdown of blue carbon via microbial activity, subsequently releasing greenhouse gases to the Earth’s atmosphere and accelerating climate change. The proposed project will involve simulation of the aforementioned disturbances in laboratory mesocosms, and subsequent monitoring of microbial activity and carbon decomposition, in order to quantify greenhouse-gas-release response. The laboratory simulations will be supplemented with field visits to coastal wetland environments in the Melbourne area. TO BE CONT’D

The Dark Ground of Metaphysics

I propose a one semester research stay (Fall 2019) at KU Leuven with Dr. Henning Tegtmeyer. I will study nothing. That is, I will study the philosophical concept of nothingness – how nothing defies and confounds thought. The concept of nothing emerges prominently in the works of Martin Heidegger, a 20th century German philosopher, and F.W.J. Schelling, a 19th century philosopher of German Idealism. In their searches for a ground (of meaning, existence, life, being, etc.), Schelling and Heidegger find nothing. They find an abyss, which comes from the German abgrund or the negation of ground. Nothing is a groundless ground. In other words, they each ground metaphysics in the dark, inscrutable groundless ground of nothing. My ultimate goal is to produce a dissertation proposal on the relation between the thought of Schelling and Heidegger through the idea of nothing. TO BE CONT’D

“Research on cultural exchanges between China and Japan from the perspective of Japanese monk going to the Song Dynasty for consultation about Tenda’s thoughts——Taking the answer of Siming Zhili as an example”

This paper studies the answer to the Japanese scholarship in the Song Dynasty ancestor of the 17th ancestor of the Song Dynasty. The answers reflect the academic rationale of the Tenda in the early Song Dynasty, and I will analyze whether his answer is only from an academic standpoint. His answers include his own theoretical creation or just the Buddhist doctrine before the Song Dynasty, whether it shows the new ideas after the debate between Shan-jia and Shan-wai. In response to questions raised by Japanese Buddhism, the Tenda ancestor will give what answers. If compared with Zhizhe’s answers, whether Zhili has his own creation. TO BE CONT’D

Classification automatisée des déchets de forages par apprentissage supervisé

La prédiction des propriétés géologiques et géotechniques en temps réel lors de forages est un enjeu crucial dans de nombreux domaines des sciences de la Terre. En effet, pour l’ingénieur pétrolier et minier, l’enjeu est de connaître les propriétés économiques en tête de forages afin d’optimiser le rendement de la récupération des ressources. En génie civil, il consiste à prédire les propriétés mécaniques et chimiques des roches en cours de forage afin de minimiser les risques d’effondrements, mais, aussi, de minimiser le risque de rencontrer des zones d’émanation possibles ou de danger chimique. Il est donc nécessaire de modéliser de manière précise la géologie ainsi que les propriétés géochimiques associées et leur incertitude. TO BE CONT’D

Role of Autophagy in Neurogenesis during Stroke Recovery

In the late 1990s, scientists made the remarkable discovery of neurogenesis in the adult human

brain, defined as the process of new neurons being formed from neural stem cells. This was a

remarkable discovery since it raised hope that we can replace neurons that have died following a

stroke. Thus many researchers are trying to reduce the damage following a strokeby determining how

we canincrease the growth and survival of neural stem cells. The proposed researchwill for the first

time determine whether a process called autophagy plays an important role in the survival of neural

stem cells during stroke recovery. Autophagy is a process that many types of cells use to recycle

materials and we believe that in stem cells autophagy is required for survival in the mature adult brain.

Thus this work will allow us to understand what regulates the survival of stem cells in the brain post

stroke, with the ultimate hope of developing novel treatments for…………….TOBECONTINUED

Characterization of KPI Outliers from Logs Using Data Mining

Ubisoft records the interaction between its customers and its servers in large execution logs (also called traces). Any failure of the system is thus recorded therein. However, the considerable size of these logs considerably hinders their effective use by analysts and developers. We propose an automated method to detect failing executions, and furthermore to characterize the features that are common to clusters of failing instances. The approach will be based an machine learning algorithms, and will produce clusters of failing traces with common features. Since isolating of the features common to a runtime failure is an important part of the overall effort of fixing the issue, the research being proposed here will allow developers to extract actionable information from the traces.

Air Pollution, Indoor Temperature, and Health Impacts of the Beijing Coal Ban and Heating Stove Replacement

Over 400 million homes in China burn coal to meet indoor heating requirements, exposing individuals to air pollution in their homes and contributing to poor ambient air quality. Exposure to air pollution is associated with excess morbidity and mortality, but few studies have assessed the impact of interventions that reduce air pollution. Recently, the Beijing Government announced a ban on coal use, offering a subsidy to transition to a cleaner heating technology. The stepped implementation of this policy program provides a unique opportunity for evaluation. Our research will assess the program’s impact on:

(1) Community and personal air pollution exposures
(2) Indoor temperatures in homes
(3) Respiratory symptoms and cardiovascular outcomes

Evaluation of this air pollution intervention is important to inform the planned expansion of this policy in China and similar policies abroad.

Comprehensive 3D non isothermal study of reactive flow in the catalytic plate reactor (CPR) for CO2 methanation process

Wind and solar energy are the fastest growing sources of electricity in Canada. However, its electricity supply is not aligned with the energy demand. In this context, energy storage becomes more and more important to bridge temporal and geographical gaps. The Power-to-Gas process (P2G) is a promising technology in which excess electricity is converted to hydrogen (H2) via water electrolysis and subsequently converted with captured/sequestered carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4). The main challenges in the P2G process are related to the later step – the catalytic methanation of H2 and CO2 to CH4. Optimum design of methanation stage requires a robust kinetic model for the reaction kinetics. The high quality experimental data for this kinetic model will be generated using the catalytic plate reactor (CPR). TO BE CONT’D