Innovative Projects Realized

Facilitating Human Interaction with a Robotic Exercise Coach using Smart Objects

The project builds upon prior work done by Prof. Katherine Kuchenbecker’s former Ph.D. student Naomi Fitter and current Ph.D. student Mayumi Mohan in the field of human-robot interaction. They investigated ways of using an upper-body humanoid robot (a Rethink Robotics Baxter Research Robot) to play physically interactive games with elderly adults in order to motivate them to exercise. The objective of the project is to improve the existing platform by facilitating the human user to interact with the robot through smart objects that trigger specific robot behaviors. Smart objects in this scope are any engineered device capable of producing dynamic physical interaction between a human and the robot, e.g., a smart glove that cues the robot to initiate a boxing game with a human. This open-ended design research project encompasses mechanical, electrical and computer engineering to achieve following milestone objectives: TO BE CONT’D

Determination of Maneuvering Coefficients Using RANS Solvers

The objective is to develop the best practices for the determination of manoeuvring coefficients by solving RANS equations. The commercial CFD package, Star-CCM+, will be employed. Results will be used to develop mathematical manoeuvring models. Studies will be carried out for three ships with and without appendages. Various scales will be used to investigate the scale effect in CFD simulations. Steady and unsteady RANS simulations will be performed for steady drift and planar motion mechanism cases. In the simulations, effects of y+ value, grid distribution and resolution, domain size, free-surface modeling, turbulence model and time step will be investigated to quantify uncertainties and use this insight to recommend best practices for efficient and practical predictions of manoeuvring coefficients.

Modélisation “high-rise” du système Noyau Porteur Richardesign

En raison des initiatives gouvernementales de construction industrialisée afin de solutionner la pénurie de logement à Hong Kong, l’Université Polytechnique de Hong Kong collabore avec Roger-Bruno Richard, architecte et professeur titulaire à l’Université de Montréal, en vue d’une application « high rise » du système constructif hybride de type « Noyau Porteur » qu’il a développé. À cet effet un assistant de recherche de l’Université de Montréal est requis pour la modélisation numérique des composants.

Further to the governmental initiatives towards industrialised construction to solve the housing shortage in Hong Kong, the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong is collaborating with Roger-Bruno Richard, Architect and Professor at the Université de Montréal, in order to propose a high-rise application of the Load-Bearing Service Core hybrid building system he has developed. For this purpose, a research assistant from the Université de Montréal is required for the digital model of the components.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit nurses’ lived experience of environmental and quality improvement changes in the context of a major hospital transformation

Massive public and private funding is being invested in building new healthcare infrastructure. Hospitals who take part in building new facilities often take this opportunity to improve their practices through quality improvement projects. The organizational transformations that result create a lot of changes for individuals who work, visit and receive care in these hospitals. Nurses as recognized experts in leading change are often solicited to participate in projects and are often impacted professionally and personally by the changes that these projects bring about. The main objective of this study is to explore pediatric intensive care unit nurses’ lived experience of environmental and quality improvement changes in the context of a major hospital transformation. The Mitacs project will focus on the data analysis phase, with leading experts in organizational spaces, project management and healthcare environments at the host university. TO BE CONT’D

Bridging immunology and within-host ecology in malaria infection

Linking proximate mechanisms of immune responses to host health and parasite burden is key to predicting individual infection outcome. However, existing mathematical models fall short as they leave out mechanistic details of host responses. My work bridges the gap between mechanistic immunology and infection ecology by incorporating a process-based description of host responses into a dynamical model of within-host malaria ecology. I will fit the models I have been developing to time-series data of rodent malaria infections obtained experimentally from several strains of mice and malaria parasites. Using this approach, I will propose plausible regulatory hypotheses of host responses and provide quantitative predictions about innate immunity and recovery from anaemia. TO BE CONT’D

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Addressing obstetric violence in Brazil: Multi-stakeholder perspectives, empowerment, and care in the context of Brazil’s National Humanization of Labour and Childbirth Policy

This research will explore the vision of professionals, women, partners, and decision –makers about the implementation of the Brazil national policy of humanization of childbirth. This research will review the specific roles of health promoters, nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists and midwives in different health care organizations to educate women about their rights during the pregnancy, child delivery and post-partum. The research will promote a debate about the needed changes to improve the quality of care for those women and the collective level of awareness about the obstetric violence against women at their most vulnerable condition.

Évaluation du système d’automatisation MOBILE dans un centre de décontamination et de préparation des instruments chirurgicaux

L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer l’impact du fonctionnement d’un prototype du système d’automatisation MOBILE dans un environnement représentatif à l’aide d’un modèle de simulation à évènements discrets. Ce système a pour objectif de permettre : i) une automatisation des chargements et des déchargements des laveurs; ii) une sélection automatique des laveurs et de leurs cycles de lavage et ii) une réduction des mouvements des membres de l’équipe client avec ses fonctions de cueillette et de livraison de matériel directement aux postes de travail désirés.

Dipolar depletion : study of a field tunable colloid-polymer solution

In a colloid-polymer mixture, the addition of non-adsorbing polymer can control the magnitude as well as the range of an effective attraction between micron-sized colloidal particles. In such a system, various phases, including network-forming gels, can be observed. With tunable interactions, such systems could also be used for the studies of phase transition kinetics. An externally controllable tunable interaction can be achieved by the application of an external ac electric field. While the gas-liquid transition has been extensively studied, and transitions to various gel and glass states have been observed, a field would enable controlled crossings of phase boundaries. The external ac electric field induces dipolar interactions in the colloidal suspension, which is an important driving force for nanoparticle self-organization. TO BE CONT’D

L’influence de la langue sur l’évaluation d’une marque

Mon projet de recherche vise à étudier l’impact de la langue utilisée par une marque sur la perception et l’évaluation que les consommateurs ont de celle-ci. Dans ce but, une recherche théorique avancée sur la marque et une étude culturelle seront le socle d’une expérimentation visant à tester des hypothèses.
Grâce à cette bourse, je pourrai effectuer mon expérimentation au Brésil, avec et auprès d’étudiants universitaires et sous la supervision du professeur Martin De la Martinière Petroll sur place, et de celle de Zandra Balbinot, ma directrice de mémoire basée à Montréal. Cette aide précieuse me permettra de disposer de données solides pour ma recherche.
Lors de cette expérimentation, un groupe de contrôle ainsi qu’un groupe test (composés d’étudiants) devront interagir avec différentes marques dont les noms proviennent de différentes langues. TO BE CONT’D

Elucidation of candida and human cancer cell (host-pathogen) interaction

Candida is one of the most common fungal pathogens in humans. Through the control of our immune system, Candida resides as a harmeless commensal organism in almost all humans (host). A change in environmental and host conditions leads to Candida changing from its harmless state to a parasitic (pathogenic) state, which causes disease. Candida has the ability to spread through the bloodstream, for example from implanted medical devices, move from the gut during surgery and colonize internal organs in the human body, causing life-threatening infections of the skin, mucosa. Individuals with a weak immune system such as those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cancer are particularly susceptible. The infection caused by Candida, called candidiasis, has high morbidity rates. Although there is an increased risk of developing Candida infections in cancer patients, Candida can also lead to cancer. TO BE CONT’D

Ainsi furent chevaliers fet : le rituel de l’adoubement et la formation du groupe chevaleresque dans l’Europe médiévale du XIIIe siècle

Structuré par un partenariat étroit entre des chercheurs de l’Université d’Ottawa et de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, ce projet a pour objectif de comprendre la pratique de l’adoubement, le rituel par lequel un individu était fait chevalier, dans les sociétés médiévales de l’Europe Occidentale du XIIIe siècle. Il s’agit d’un défi de taille, puisque les textes médiévaux traitant de l’adoubement sont nombreux, épars et rédigés en différentes langues, ce qui rend leur collecte difficile. Pour y parvenir, j’entends utiliser les nouvelles possibilités qu’offrent les humanités numériques afin d’appliquer des méthodes informatiques de cueillette et de traitement des données à une recherche portant sur des documents médiévaux. À l’heure où les inégalités sociales vont croissantes dans les sociétés contemporaines, l’étude de l’adoubement, parce qu’elle permet de penser le phénomène humain fondamental qu’est la domination, revêt un intérêt scientifique et politique transcendant largement les frontières de l’Europe occidentale du XIIIe siècle.