Innovative Projects Realized

Phenology of woody plants

Artificial Immune Systems for Autonomous Systems

Object Tracking with Artificial Neural Networks

Genomic and epigenetic research of depression and schizophrenia.

Depression is estimated to be the second most disabling condition by 2020. More than 300 million people of all ages suffer from depression making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population, and is one of the leading causes of health burden in the world. The two mental disorders are influenced by heredity and environment. Genes can be regulated through the activity of several noncoding RNA transcripts that act as fine-tuners and on-off switches of gene expression patterns. Among the noncoding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been the most extensively studied. And human brain development is orchestrated by complex transcriptional programs, which are guided and reinforced by epigenetic modifications to DNA and histone proteins. DNA methylation is the most extensively studied epigenetic modification, having a key role in many important genomic regulatory processes. We aim to identify potential new molecular targets for antidepressant treatment and investigate epigenetic regulation of the earl-life environment.

Freeze Drying of Food Products

Internal Models of Homotopy Type Theory

Homotopy Type Theory is a formal system that conjecturally can be used as a foundation for Mathematics. It has at least two advantages over other existing foundations of Mathematics. It has a flexible language in which the notion of space is as primitive as the notion of set, thus making it easier to work with space-like structures. It is also easy to encode in a computer, so that the computer can automatically check that the proofs written in this language are correct. One of the key steps in showing that this language can indeed be used as a foundation for Mathematics, is to show that it is expressible enough to describe itself. For this a model of the language has to be constructed using the language itself, this is known as an internal model. This project aims to construct such an internal model.

Analysis of an electro-optical system for the evaluation of novel nano-surfaces

New Bug on the block

Simulation of structure-fluid-interaction with the Finite-Pointset-Method

Septin cytoskeleton during cytokinesis

Development of an Advanced Communication Earplug

To prevent noise-induced hearing loss, at the workplace just like in everyday’s life, an Advanced Communication Earplug (ACE) will be designed. This ACE will merge hearing protection features usually found in industrial protectors and modern communication capabilities that can be found in consumer products such as in-ear headphones and hands-free communication headsets, into one in-ear device. Thr ACE will therefore incorporate the electro-acoustical componenents (miniature microphones and speakers, digital-signal processor, attery, etc.) usually found in tese consumer products. It will use the available signal processing capailities to perform acoustic filtering of speech and useful auditory signals, to provide adequate protection but not hinder further communication. The ACE electronic will be hosted within the custom in-ear platform developed by sonomax Technoloies inc. This unique in-ear platform offers superior comfort, stable positiioning, and high noise isolation. The custom adjustment of the in-ear polatform to the user’s unique earcanal shape is driven by………………..

Emissions control and reduction for natural gas engines

The use of natural gas as a fuel for on-road commercial vehicles offers significant benefits, including lower greenhouse gas emissions. Methane, the main component of natural gas, has many virtues as a fuel. One of these benefits is that it is a very stable molecule. This stability does introduce a challenge: it is hard to remove from the exhaust stream any methane that isn’t consumed in the engine. This internship will help to address this factor, focusing on using a catalytic reactor in the exhaust of an engine. The intern will install and test two novel, sub-scale catalytic converters, specially designed for methane removal, on the exhaust from a research engine. These results will help to advance Westport’s ongoing efforts to develop cleaner and more cost-effective natural gas engines.