Innovative Projects Realized

Calibrating static errors in Adaptive Optics systems for Extremely Large Telescopes

The proposed research project involves calibrating an Adaptive Optics system – a technology that essentially corrects telescopes for the changing atmosphere so that the ‘twinkling’ is taken out of stars. This technology has become increasingly complex, an example being the proposed
instrument called NFIRAOS that will be built by Canada for the future Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The increased complexity of this technology requires that small internal errors in the system be corrected for; I have developed a technique to do this and would like to further enhance my methods at Laboratoire d’Astrophysice de Marseille (LAM) in France. This institution is home to researchers who are world-leading experts in my field and could provide valuable insight in how to improve my methods. The researchers at LAM work with the European version of the TMT, therefore working with them to improve both of our calibration methods will enhance the collaboration between the European and North American
astronomical community.

Organizational Risk Appetite/Tolerances

Organizations face increasing pressure to articulate organizational risk appetite/tolerances but are not adequately equipped to do so. To remedy this problem, this project addresses how an organization should determine and express its risk appetite and tolerances. It employs qualitative research methods to integrate diverse theory, practice and policy literatures with the partner organization serving as a case study. The project’s three primary deliverables are an integrated organizational risk appetite/tolerances framework for the partner organization, a practitioner report for The Conference Board of Canada, and an academic manuscript for the intern and his co-researchers. These outcomes should provide direct governance benefits for the partner organization as well as indirect learning benefits for the practitioner, policymaker and academic communities more broadly. This will be the second and most intensive phase of the project, which received approval from the University’s Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board in November 2010.

3D Print Ability: Leveraging 3D Printing Technology for Prosthetics Production in Developing Countries

Hundreds of thousands of endemically poor children are in need of quality prostheses. Current manual processes of prosthetic production are labour-intensive and slow. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a shortfall of 40,000 trained prosthetic technicians in
low/middle income countries. Without the enhanced mobility provided by prosthetics, these children suffer from a dramatically reduced quality of life, lacking access to education, potential future employment, and social ostracism. Over the last two years, the Critical Making Lab (Faculty of Information, University of Toronto) and global NGO cbm Canada have been collaborating on the development of 3D printing solutions for use in the developing world, developing a complete software and hardware tool chain for the production of lower-limb prosthetic sockets (Phase 1).
Phase 2 of this research project will explore improvements to our hardware and software solutions.

Traitement de l’azote ammoniacal dans les effluents miniers au moyen de procédés d’oxydation avancée

Les mines en exploitation doivent se soumettre à des directives environnementales en ce qui a trait à la qualité de leurs effluents. La non-toxicité aquatique, pour la truite arc-en-ciel et les daphnies, est un des critères essentiels, alors que l’azote ammoniacal est l’un des principaux paramètres responsables, même à faible concentration. Ses sources sont l’eau de dénoyage et/ou la dégradation incomplète des cyanures et leurs dérivés. Les exploitants nécessitent donc un système de traitement efficace, robuste et économique afin de palier à cette problématique, tandis que la plupart des technologies disponibles présentent des limites importantes. L’objectif du projet est donc d’évaluer comparativement l’efficacité de plusieurs procédés d’oxydation avancée afin de traiter l’azote ammoniacal. Les résultats obtenus pourraient servir à une meilleure gestion des effluents miniers. Afin d’y parvenir, des essais en colonne seront réalisés, d’abord en mode batch avec des effluents synthétiques et réels puis en mode continu avec écoulement. Les combinaisons des procédés d’oxydation avancée seront testées et analysées dans le but de trouver la meilleure solution possible.

Développement d’une méthodologie globale permettant l’élaboration de systèmes pronostics intelligents

Le projet a pour but de développer une méthodologie globale permettant d’élaborer des systèmes pronostics intelligents. Cette méthodologie inclura deux aspects : une approche pronostic générique hybride (mécanismes de dégradation, données diagnostiques et connaissances d’expert) et des méthodologies d’aide à la décision (analyse des incertitudes du modèle, sélection d’algorithmes IA, génération d’indicateurs ciblés). Ceci permettra de générer des indicateurs sur l’évolution de l’état de santé des installations centrés sur les besoins utilisateurs et, par conséquent, d’élaboration des stratégies de maintenance prédictives. Une telle approche permettra de créer une banque de connaissances regroupant les données diagnostics, l’expertise et les méthodes déjà présentes dans l’entreprise. Aussi elle permettra de fournir un outil d’aide à la décision sous incertitudes à tous les niveaux du processus de gestion des actifs.

Measuring What Matters in Education

The central goal of this research project is to broaden measurement of school performance across Canada by developing, collecting, and measuring data on six performance indicators as follows: academic achievement, physical health, social-emotional development, creativity, citizenship, and school climate. Having developed competencies in these areas during phase one of the project, the current phase aims to begin the process of measuring the indicators of interest and reporting on results. Survey data will be collected and integrated with existing government data sources. The intern will perform data analysis tasks, including organizing, cleaning, integrating, and synthesizing data. Following these analyses, the intern will participate in writing research reports and attending relevant-conferences to present the results of the research project. By employing the intern, People for Education will bolster its data analysis capacity and enhance the overall quality of its reports on the six indicators.

Device-free and device-oriented approaches for people’s activity identification by using Wi-Fi signals

Sensing technologies require the deployment and maintenance of complex and large infrastructures. This research proposal is focused on people’s activity recognition technologies though existing Wi-Fi infrastructures. The information gathered by this technology can be applied to different industries like home automation, security systems, etc. In the future, this technology will powered applications in the home automation industry as the one described next. Mary comes home and leaves her cellphone on the couch. As the system recognizes her, no alarm is activated. Given the time of the day and her habits, the platform understands that she wants to prepare dinner. Cooking is a defined profile for her so the kitchen starts to react based on her presence and activity profile (turning on lights, changing temperature, turning on cooking music). If Mary wants to sleep, the system gathers the necessary information again and changes the whole environment. This project is bringing a new technology to the partner organization and to the Canadian Industry.

Building on an Innovative Platform: Tuning Guanine Quadruplex Recognition for Anticancer Applications

Beyond the well-known double-stranded helical duplex, DNA can adopt many unusual architectures, including guanine quadruplexes (G4), which in recent years have been implicated in cellular processes that lead to the development of cancer. It has been shown that these processes can be switched off by maintaining the folded quadruplex architecture using chemical compounds known as G4 binders. Good G4 binders can be identified by screening a large number of candidates using high-throughput techniques such as the one pioneered by the Mergny research group at the Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie in France, which rapidly provides a yes/no outcome. With the support of Mitacs Globalink Research Award – Campus France funding, I could not only screen a library of second-generation G4 binders synthesized in the Petitjean lab, but also conduct a range of experiments to determine (i) the selectivity of these binders for quadruplex vs. duplex DNA, (ii) the binding strength and number of binders to G4 involved in binding events, and (iii) the structural aspects involved in G4 binding. With the expected outcomes of this research, we aim to lay the groundwork for the commercialization of a novel G4 binder for clinical use in targeted anticancer therapies.

La perception du Canada dans l’opinion publique française : une étude de la Gazette de France entre 1701 et 1763

Colonie française depuis le début du XVIe siècle, la Nouvelle-France est cédée à la Grande-Bretagne à l’issu de la guerre de Sept Ans (1756-1763). Chez les Britanniques, une volonté de conquête du Canada est clairement exprimée dans l’opinion publique. Dans le cadre de ce projet, nous souhaitons voir au-delà des « quelques arpents de neige » mentionnés par Voltaire au sujet du Canada et de voir comment se construit la

perception du Canada chez les Français par l’intermédiaire de l’analyse d’un discours écrit dans la presse. Par le fait même, nous souhaitons comprendre comment évoluent les intentions exprimées par la France envers cette colonie nord-américaine dans la première moitié du XVIIIe siècle. Nous souhaitons donc démontrer, par le biais de la presse française, comment les arguments pour le maintien et les investissements au

Canada ont évolué vers un retard dans l’envoi des troupes pour la sauvegarde de ces territoires en Nouvelle-France.

Influence de l’environnement moléculaire de complexes métalliques sur leurs propriétés de luminescence

Ce projet de recherche vise à mieux comprendre comment la luminescence de certaines molécules est influencée par leur structure et environnement. La présence d’interactions intermoléculaires peut modifier considérablement les spectres de luminescence. Dans les complexes étudiés, des interactions se produisent entre le métal du complexe et un hydrogène d’un complexe voisin. En modifiant le métal et la masse du noyau de l’hydrogène, il est possible d’explorer l’effet de l’interaction intermoléculaire sur les spectres de luminescence à pression variable. L’impact de ces changements sur l’énergie d’émission est significatif. Des différences structurales pourraient expliquer le phénomène, et donc, des structures précises à différentes conditions doivent être mesurées. Ce projet vise à acquérir ces structures et leurs variations, afin d’étudier de manière plus complète le lien entre leurs interactions intermoléculaires et les variations de leur luminescence. Les conclusions tirées à la suite de ces mesures permettront une meilleure compréhension des facteurs à considérer pour la conception de matériaux luminescents, tels que des senseurs et des diodes électroluminescentes (LED).

Automated Equities Trading System

The company will further test and develop their algorithm that will assist a money manager in managing their stock market portfolio. The algorithm chooses the stocks to buy or sell based upon its analysis of the market and a number of other market and stock related data points. The performance of this algorithm will need to be adjusted to meet common return thresholds used by the industry and will also need to be further advance to ensure compatibility with hedge fund managers.

Molecular mechanism of action of anti-fibrotic antibodies

Significant advances in technologies related to antibody discovery and development have allowed therapeutic antibodies to become the fastest growing class of biopharmaceuticals over the last 20 years. Northern Biologics is a biotechnology company that seeks to develop therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and fibrosis. Together with Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien at SickKids (University of Toronto), the intern will work with Northern Biologics to develop and characterize antibodies against cellular receptors that show aberrant signaling in several diseases including cancer, atherosclerosis, lung fibrosis and kidney injury. Integrative structural biology and biophysical technologies will be used to inform lead selection with the goal of progressing therapeutic candidates for clinical trials.