Innovative Projects Realized

Equivariant Siamese Neural Networks

The world we live in is ripe with symmetry. From the bilateral symmetry we see in humans to the symmetries which are used to describe fundamental particles in physics. Most modern machine learning methods however do not have an inherent modeling of symmetry in them. By developing algorithms which do have an explicit modeling of symmetry we can decrease the amount we need to teach these algorithms, making them much cheaper to create. We propose a network that can compare images in such a way that it is not affected by changing the orientation of objects in the image. This is useful for things such as facial recognition, where it could be used to verify a face regardless of its orientation. The purpose for this project is to create a method for robust object comparison so that it may be used for industrial applications.

Continue the development of PanSharp software system

The existing PanSharp software developed at University of New Brunswick will be extended

to make it equivalent to commercially available software. An image viewer will be developed

to view the results of PanSharp software, At present. the PanSharp software only supports

GeoTIFF image file format. Therefore, support for other commonly used image file formats

such as ERDAS, ENVI, and ESRI will be developed. A web-based automatic licensing

schema will developed to protect the PanSharp software, To make the software easy to use,

a complete help file and tutorial, guiding the processing steps of the PanSharp software, will

be developed, Finally, the software will be tested for its functionality and quality. The

problems found at the time of testing will be fixed.

Performance Analysis of a Network of Dual-Lane Roundabouts – Part 2

Modern roundabouts have become a subject of great interest and attention over the last few years considering their potential to reduce vehicular delay & emissions and increase safety. The objectives of this study to examine the short- and long-term benefits performance of roundabouts from a multi-modal perspective. Using real observed data from vehicular traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and transit vehicles and complementing it with microsimulation data, this research will assess the delay, environmental impacts and safety of a network of three roundabouts. By conducting this research, the Intern would have the opportunity to incorporate research expertise in a real-life engineering project and benefit from the practical engineering viewpoints at the partner organization. Industrial partner, ISL Engineering and Land Services, is seeking for a comprehensive and comparative analysis among the performance of roundabouts and a network of signalized intersections from a multi-modal perspective. Such analysis provides valuable recommendations for future applications both design approaches for different traffic conditions.

The Vape Mediascape: Youth, E-cigarettes, and Health Policy

A survey, comprised of 20 questions, and organized according to the following four categories/themes: 1) Patterns of use; 2) Perceived health risks; 3) Access to e-cigarettes; and 4) Exposure to cultural content (i.e. marketing and advertisements) will be distributed to a minimum of 100 students from grades 7-12 in the Ottawa private school system. The survey will also include attached images of e-cigarettes advertisements with open-ended questions to better grasp how survey respondents perceive e-cigarette ads. Ultimately, this research will probe the rhetoric around the use and cultural content of e-cigarettes and how it resonates with a number of youth, comprising of both public school youth and at-risk youth attending school in non-mainstream setting.

Incidence de l’anémie à la sortie de réanimation chez les enfants opérés d’une cardiopathie congénitale chirurgie cardiaque

Malgré des améliorations notables dans les techniques chirurgicales, une grande proportion d’enfants atteints de malformations cardiaque continuent de souffrir d’une déficience neurologique significative affectant leur rendement scolaire et leur intégration sociale. Malgré un intérêt soutenu dans la matière, la physiopathologie des lésions neurologiques dans cette population reste seulement partiellement comprise. L’anémie est une complication fréquente des enfants cardiaques gravement malades et a été associée à des résultats neurologiques indésirables chez les enfants âgés de moins de 2 ans. Près de 50% des patients souffrant d’une détresse vitale sont anémiques à la sortie de réanimation, plus d’un tiers sont anémiques à la sortie de l’hôpital et beaucoup demeurent anémiques jusqu’à 6 mois après. Cependant, il n’y a pas de données spécifiques pour les enfants après une chirurgie cardiaque. Le taux d’incidence du retard neuro-développemental chez les enfants est élevé après la chirurgie cardiaque. Les conséquences potentielles à long terme de l’anémie chronique sur le cerveau en développement des nouveau-nés et des nourrissons opérés du cœur peuvent être importantes. Il est impératif que nous vérifiions si l’anémie s’associe à des lésions neurologiques dans cette population.

ANALYSE DE LA CAPACITÉ D’ADHÉRENCE CELLULAIRE DE FIBROBLASTES TRANSDIFFÉRENCIÉS DANS DES KÉRATINOCYTES CONCERNANT DES ÉCHAFAUDAGES BIOLOGIQUES

Les greffes de peau traditionnelles, tout en respectant la norme absolue en matière de traitement des plaies, ont un succès limité chez les chevaux en raison de la rareté de la peau des donneurs. De ce fait, l’étude des fibroblastes en culture 3D peut aider à comprendre les mécanismes de l’interaction cellule-matrice, car ces cellules sont relativement à l’état quiescent et sont principalement responsables de la production et du renouvellement de la matrice extracellulaire (MEC). molécules. De plus, nous avons cherché à étudier l’interaction cellulaire dans le processus de transdifférenciation des fibroblastes dans les kératinocytes sur des échafaudages biologiques et à comparer les échafaudages de la peau d’un groupe de chevaux vivant dans les régions inondées du Brésil – le cheval Baixadeiro – avec du pur-sang.

Real-Time Detection and 3D-location Estimation of Moving Objects from a Very Narrow Angle Pan-Sharpened Video

This R&D project will develop a prototype to prove the concept that the combination of a

high resolution black/white video camera with a low resolution colour video camera can (1)

increase the sensitivity of the camera system, and (2) enable the detection of 3D locations of

moving objects. To develop this prototype, the following five tasks need to be completed: (1)

Synchronizing the video cameras, (2) Producing high resolution video through image fusion,

(3) Detecting and separating moving objects, (4) calculating the 3D locations of the moving

objects, and (5) Consolidating the developed software.

Changement de structure et de fonctionnement dans les écosystèmes perturbés

Les écosystèmes sont actuellement soumis à des stress intenses, liés par exemple à la surconsommation ou à la pollution. Par conséquent, les espèces présentes, et leurs caractéristiques, changent. Certaines disparaissent, d’autres sont introduites ou voient leur abondance ou leur taille corporelle changer. On observe alors une redistribution des interactions trophiques : la structure de la chaîne alimentaire est profondément modifiée. Mon projet visera à utiliser la modélisation pour quantifier cette modification et ses conséquences sur les écosystèmes. Pour cela j’utiliserai des modèles permettant de simuler la redistribution des interactions face à une extinction ou une introduction d’espèce. Je suivrai aussi les flux de matière entre les espèces pour analyser les changements de fonctionnement de l’écosystème. Cette étude vise à mettre en place un cadre méthodologique complet et fiable pour mener à bien des analyses de fonctionnement des réseaux trophiques sous différentes conditions, ainsi qu’à mieux comprendre l’influence des introductions et extinctions d’espèces sur la biodiversité et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes.

Use of Jetti Catalysts in Waste Rock/Tailings Treatment

Bio-heap-leaching is a hydrometallurgical process used to process low grade chalcopyrite ore as the cost of alternative routes of processing and refining are not economically viable. However, a viable solution has been found: to add a catalyst that dramatically enhances the kinetics of leaching while not being too expensive, environmentally detrimental or affecting downstream processes. Jetti resources is using this technology to enhance the heap-leaching rate of chalcopyrite.
This new catalyzed leaching technology can also be applied in tanks and other reactor configurations. The current project aims at applying the Jetti technology to the re-processing of waste rock and tailings. The goal is to incentivize the cleanup of legacy tailings and waste rock dumps, thus reducing the potential for acid mine drainage and required site maintenance, by providing a revenue stream of saleable metal from the re-processing.

An Investigation into the viability of Porcupine Crab-based Food Products

Porcupine Crab (Neolithodes grimaldii) is harvested off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the eastern Arctic as a by-catch in deep water during the turbot fishery. Its dark red color and long sharp spines make handling and processing very difficult. Preliminary experiments have shown that quality crab meat products can be produced from porcupine crab however no commercial fishery, processing procedures or markets, have been established. This research project focuses on processing methods/procedures of the porcupine crab and an investigation into the development of new porcupine crab food products.

Oxygen tolerant SIP for OLED device preparation

The proposed project will involve the development of a method to grow polymer brushes from a surface using oxygen tolerant controlled radical polymerization approaches. This method will allow for the growth of block copolymer brushes that can be used for the grafting of specialized monomer species capable of forming an efficient organic light emitting diode (OLED) device. The high grafting densities achieved by surface initiated polymerization methods will allow for this block copolymer brushes to possess high charge transfer efficiencies. The oxygen tolerance of this proposed method will allow for the techniques to be readily applied industrially. The success of this project would mean that OLED devices could be prepared without the use of expensive equipment and thus could be become more widely available.

Development of high precision microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based vacuum encapsulated resonators

Rapid development of micro-fabrication technology, once considered exclusively for aerospace navigation, is now regarded for a wide range of applications, including autonomous vehicle navigation, underwater and industrial applications. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based gyroscope employs a resonating mass (resonator) to detect changes in motion, which is the central element of the gyroscope. MEMS resonator energy loss is the primary barrier towards achieving navigation-grade precision, so predicting resonators’ vibration characteristics is critical for minimizing energy loss. MEMS high-precision resonators also need to keep operating in high vacuum to ensure no energy loss due to air damping. This project will seek a MEMS high-precision and ultra-low damping resonator design that can operate in wafer-scale vacuum-sealed environment and packaging. This design is expected to create a major technological shift in motion sensing; at an attractive unit cost, it is expected to create a ripple effect in other MEMS inertial sensing applications.