Innovative Projects Realized

Soutenir l’adoption de comportements favorisant l’efficacité énergétique des familles québécoises par l’approche ludique

Au Québec, le gouvernement s’est donné pour mandat d’agir sur l’efficacité énergétique et l’économie d’énergie dans les ménages afin de réduire l’impact environnemental lié la production d’électricité. Pour concrétiser cette orientation politique, un changement de comportements des consommateurs d’énergie est nécessaire. Dans le cas de l’électricité, ce changement représente toutefois un défi important puisqu’elle est invisible et donc difficile à conceptualiser. Au cours des dernières années, des techniques de rétroaction visuelle ont été développées afin d’augmenter la visibilité de la consommation électrique, mais ces techniques ont un effet éphémère. Il semble alors nécessaire de développer et de tester de nouveaux dispositifs de rétroaction innovants conçus dans un souci d’engager l’utilisateur à long terme. Des études récentes démontrent que les approches ludiques ou la « gamification » constituent une avenue prometteuse suscitant la motivation et l’engagement à changer les comportements énergétiques. TO BE CONT’D

New Methods for Automated Assessment GPR in Potash Mining

This project attempts to improve on a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) based assessment system that is used to evaluate the thickness of the salt layer in the roof of Potash mining rooms to enhance mine safety. The goal is to improve the operation of the algorithm by studying the GPR signatures of known geological structures which can affect the operation of the algorithm and hence the evaluation of the roof thickness in order to adjust for these structures. This work will involved signal processing and analysis and will examine actual GPR data from the mines as well as simulated data from a GPR simulation software tool.

Machinery Health Monitoring using Multiple Sensor Fusion and Deep Learning

Manufacturing system reliability is significant in modern industry that requires high production speed, low maintenance cost, and enhanced operation safety. The proposed work is aiming to establish a systematic and applicable approach for condition monitoring of key machinery (e.g. bearings, gearboxes, motors) through multiple sensor fusion and deep learning. With the capability of working under high industry electromagnetic noise environment, optical-fiber-based sensors are incorporated to collect various signals of the machinery. Sensory information from various types of sensors will then be fused by sensor fusion algorithms. Deep learning, as an emerging technique successfully applied in many areas will be utilized to automatically extract the knowledge inside the massive sensory data. An intelligent machine fault diagnosis and prognosis system will be developed to achieve increased accuracy and reliability.

Nickel-catalyzed [3+2+1] synthesis of 2-pyridones

Catalysts speed up chemical reactions by lowering the energy required for a process to occur. In our daily lives, this phenomenon occurs very similarly to how catalytic converters in car exhausts work. By employing a catalyst, we can minimize waste and save energy, time, and money. However, to increase the performance of a catalyst, and to discover the most efficient process, one must know how the catalyst works. Building upon previous research, we envision a novel methodology in which minuscule quantities of nickel can be used to discover new ways of making useful nitrogen-containing molecules. We will investigate the efficiency of this process whilst trying to improve this new method. We hope that this new technology can be used to synthesize versatile building blocks as valuable pharmaceutical intermediates.

Efficacité du débit réservé à préserver le saumon atlantique juvénile et ses habitats

L’exploitation de la centrale hydroélectrique Romaine-1 cause sur la rivière Romaine des fluctuations du débit susceptible d’entraîner le déplacement des saumons juvéniles en dehors de leurs habitats préférentiels. Il est donc essentiel de déterminer si le mode de gestion actuel des débits permet aux saumons juvéniles de se maintenir dans leurs habitats.
Pour étudier la question, un système de télémétrie a été développé afin d’effectuer un suivi des déplacements des saumons juvéniles en fonction du régime de débit et des conditions environnementales. Ce système unique au monde est constitué d’un réseau de 305 antennes stationnaires enfouies dans le lit de la rivière et reliées à un module de contrôle en rive. La portée de détection des antennes favorise une excellente efficacité du suivi des déplacements des poissons marqués sur l’ensemble des 3 500 m2 d’habitat aménagé par Hydro-Québec pour documenter l’utilisation des habitats par les saumons juvéniles.

Efficient Motion in Circularly Arranged Sextuple Triptycene Molecular Gears

Molecular machines are compounds which can perform tasks or work given an external stimulus. One of the simplest tools available to scientists interested in nanoscale machines are molecular gears. Like their macroscale counterparts, molecular gears can turn and cause rotation in another part of the molecule in a controlled manner. While several molecular gears have been prepared to date, most are simple and only involve two or three gears parts in a system. Recently, the Shionoya group has prepared intricate molecular gears systems, involving four or six gears moving together. While these systems are promising for future development of more complicated molecular machines, they suffer due to inefficient rotation, causing slow rotation around the gears. We propose the preparation of a new molecular gear, based on the previous six-gear system developed by Shionoya, however with more sterically bulky groups to help cause more efficient rotation.

Lames de plancher d’ingenierie densifiees pour usage intensif

Le but du projet est d’adapter la densification de lames de bois par pressage a chaud en

presence de vapeur pour utilisation dans la fabrication de lames de planchers d’ingemierie. Le

bois utilise est une lame de 4,5 mm d’epaisseur d’erable a sucre. Nos travaux anterieurs ont

demontres de bonnes proprietes suite a la densification mais Ie temps de traitement est tn3s

long. II y aura donc des modifications aux parametres du procede favorisant la productivite

tout en acceptant une perte de durete controlee. La coloration resultant du traitement a la

chaleur devra etre aussi controlee, I’uniformite etant un point important pour cette application.

Les performances au collage et au vernissage du bois densifie par ce procede seront

egalement evaluees.

L’enjeu du rétablissement au Québec à la suite d’un sinistre : quels mécanismes à mettre en place ?

Lorsque les activités d’intervention se terminent suite à un sinistre, la période de rétablissement pose des défis importants pour les individus et les organisations. Le « retour à la normale » soulève des questions de reconstruction, de soutien prolongé aux sinistrés, de compensations, d’assurances, etc. Il engendre aussi des activités d’apprentissage dans et entre les organisations ayant eu à intervenir lors du sinistre. Les récentes catastrophes au Québec ont mis en lumière la nécessité pour les municipalités et les acteurs du rétablissement de partager des informations et des expériences acquises. Elles ont aussi révélé que ceux-ci pourraient bénéficier d’un accompagnement dans leur réflexion concernant les innovations qu’ils pourraient mettre de l’avant dans l’apprentissage suite aux catastrophes.
Parallèlement à ces observations tirées du terrain, le rétablissement est considéré comme la phase la moins étudiée (Smith et Wenger, 2007; Olshansky et al., 2012, Comfort et al., 2010) parmi le cycle de gestion des désastres (prévention, préparation, intervention et rétablissement)….

Application of volcanic ash deposits to predict future geologic hazards in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan

Japan is one of the most geologically active countries on Earth. It has seen many volcanic eruptions throughout its history, along with earthquakes and tsunamis due to plate tectonic movements. Over time, these eruptions have deposited many volcanic ash layers onto the ground, where they are buried and preserved. We can use these ash layers to determine volcanic activity over time. Additionally, by observing how the previously horizontal ash layers have deformed after they have been buried, we can determine how and when tectonic movements have influenced the area in the past. We will examine one of three potential cores taken from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and compare its ash layers to other sampled cores from past studies. By doing so, we will be able to understand some of the past geologic processes that have occurred in the region. TO BE CONT’D

Edge Biasing of Field Reversed Configuration Plasma

Edge-biasing applied to Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasma can mitigate instabilities and improve particle and energy confinement. We propose to use a biasing electrode to actively control the plasma on the FRC Amplification via Translation (FAT) device at Nihon University. The objective of the project will be to experimentally verify the possibility of global and microscopic plasma stability by applying edge-biasing onto an FRC in the FAT-FRC facility. The electrode must be capable of applying different electric potentials onto the magnetic surfaces in order to generate a suitable radial electric field. Detailed design work including the calculation of the magnetic field structure will be conducted prior to the experiment. Coaxial layered electrodes will be designed and installed in the FAT-FRC device. Plasma diagnostic measurements will be made in order to evaluate the properties of the plasma during the experiment. The results will be analyzed and compared with theoretical predictions.

Widefield Time Resolved Fluorescence with Multi-Tap Pixel

We would like to develop a wide-field fluorescence lifetime imaging(FLIM) system with a 4-Tap image sensor developed by the Imaging Devices Laboratory. During the duration of our stay we will develop the software and hardware solution to enable the collection of wide field FLIM images, and test the performance on a standard biology set, and a local biological sample such as a root structure. We wish to show that a multi-tap pixel enables the efficient collection of multi-exponential decays. From these multi exponential decays we can demonstrate that a multi-tap pixel outperforms other time resolved solutions in low signal environments and is compatible for multipoint confocal microscopy. Our lab group has developed a widefield multipoint confocal microscope that uses window scanners to enable uniform scanning of 32×32 confocal points. TO BE CONT’D

Contemporary Cultural Iconography of the Manga Superhero’s Distribution in Japanese Bookstores: A Study in Publication Practices and the American Hero’s Transposed Contexts

Japanese comics, popularly known as manga, are currently experiencing a resurgence of the superhero similar to that of the American comics industry. While most research on manga discusses how it impacts other cultures, I aim to locate the influence of the American comic industry on manga through the superhero figure that has become popular through publishing houses such as Marvel and DC. My research will examine the role of the American superhero on the publication and marketing of manga in Japan by focusing on the importance of the bookstore as a space for the publishing industry and the consuming fan to interact the most directly. My research will address questions of political ideology and the shifting cultural specificities that the popularity of the superhero brings as it populates manga more frequently in Japan from the publishing house to bookstores where fans can access the changing form it symbolizes.