Innovative Projects Realized

Storytelling the History of Cantonese Migration through Virtual Heritage

Since the 19th century, Chinese men and women have migrated to small towns and cities throughout places such as Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and North America in search of better opportunities, bringing with them many traditional cultural practices, values and customs that evolved over time and space. How did early migrants retain cultural heritage practices? How did people adapt their cultural traditions to local environments? What systems were in place to support the continuation of these practices, and how have these systems evolved over the past century? Drawing from data collected in Vancouver, Hong Kong, and Kaiping in rural south China, the project will combine historical document research with virtual reality (VR) technology to produce an immersive VR film about the history of overseas Chinese. TO BE CONT’D

Évaluation de l’analyse hiérarchique de tâche pour déterminer des exigences permettant de concevoir des technologies numériques basées sur l’intelligence artificielle

Les avancées en intelligence artificielle (IA) permettent de plus en plus d’automatiser des tâches hautement cognitives qui, jusqu’à présent, étaient réalisées exclusivement par des humains. Or, la littérature sur la spécification des exigences ne couvre pas spécifiquement les technologies numériques (TN) basées sur l’IA étant donné qu’elle implique un changement de paradigme fondamental en développement de TN.

Le domaine de l’ergonomie cognitive propose un ensemble de méthodes d’analyse de la tâche permettant de définir les exigences cognitives sur lesquels doivent s’appuyer la conception d’environnement de travail. Puisque l’IA consiste essentiellement à automatiser divers processus cognitifs humains, ce projet de recherche vise à évaluer l’application d’une méthode d’analyse de la tâche—l’analyse hiérarchique de la tâche—pour la conception de TN basée sur l’IA.

Eco-Industrial Networking: Developing an Eco-Industrial Network for the Pearson Eco-Business Zone

A collaborative research project between the University of Waterloo, Partners in Project Green (PPG) and the Toronto and Region Conservation authority (TRCA) will attempt to better understand the waste management systems of industrial companies in the surrounding the Pearson Airport so as to assist with goals of urban sustainability in the province of Ontario. Both the TRCA and PPG have a major interest in developing an eco-industrial model in which businesses cooperate to reduce waste and pollution by sharing resources and recycling waste within specific geographic borders. Given these objectives this study will utilize a basic questionnaire to gain knowledge on the waste management systems of the companies in the Pearson eco Zone. The study will identify attitudes and concerns of the companies within the Pearson zone to gain a deeper understanding of how companies can reduce waste and increase overall levels of sustainability contributing to the Eco-industrial model.

Novel self-optimizing algorithm for design and control of power generation and delivery systems

n power generation and delivery systems, there are always a number of control/design parameters and set-points that should be tuned to some optimum values for maximizing efficiency and output power. For example, in photovoltaic cells, there is an optimum load value that maximizes the output power. This value may change over time depending on the PV cell characteristics and environmental conditions. There are different ways of tuning system variables. Sometimes an analytical model of the system under study is used for finding the optimum values. A better alternative is use of intelligent algorithms that play with the controllable parameters to find the optimum point independent of the possible errors in an analytical model. In the proposed research, a novel, high-performance self-optimizing algorithm will be developed. The controller will be applied to famous control problems in renewable energy and power systems. TO BE CONT’D

Optimization of the force sensitive mechanism for football and bicycle helmets

A helmet and its components such as chin strap are designed, tested, and certified for compression force only while neglecting sharp twisting of the brain. The goal of this project is to develop and integrate a Force Sensitive Mechanism (FSM) to a chin strap of a football and bicycle helmet. FSM offers a controlled tightness of the chin strap during impact. FSM can significantly improve the protection of the head against sharp twisting of the brain. In addition, FSM can reduce the risk of neck and throat injuries during an impact. Helmets equipped with FSM will undergo standard helmet tests such as impact test and retention system strength test to ensure compliance and safety

Radiomic-based deep learning for time-to-event outcome in pulmonary malignancies.

Advances in medical image scanning technologies has allowed for great improvement in medical care, from early tumor detection, to trailered treatments and predicting treatment outcome. However, this has resulted in the generation of huge medical image databases, with thousands of medical image scans per patient that need to be examined by clinicians, making it impractical for clinicians to study all the images. This has led to the development of computer-assisted detection programs to automate part of this process. In this project we aim to develop a computer algorithm that would be used for predicting the treatment outcome for lung cancer patient. This project will focus on a specific group of lung cancer patients treated with focused radiation therapy.

The Developmental Health of Children and Youth participating in Out-of-School Programs

In order to grow into healthy, successful adults, children need environments that support their physical and mental health, engage them in learning, and help them to develop social skills. Out-of-school programs are one kind of support that can help shape children’s futures in a positive way. Out-of-school programs are provided outside of regular school hours with the goal of supporting healthy behaviours, boosting school performance, making relationships stronger, and otherwise helping children to fulfill their potential.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg (BGCW) provide out-of-school programs for children and youth in Winnipeg. Although BGCW have been operating for many years, their programs have never been evaluated to see whether children who participate have better outcomes than children who do not participate.
This project will look at whether children and youth who attend BGCW’s programs:
– have better physical/mental health;
– have fewer teen pregnancies or suicide attempts;
– perform better in school and are more likely to graduate high school;
– are more likely to avoid being involved with any criminal; and
– are less likely to need income assistance as adults,
compared to children and youth who do not attend these programs.
“TO BE CONT’D”

Better Benchmarks, Better Urban Design

This project will assess the value in measuring sustainability outcomes according to place-specific baselines rather than universal thresholds set by rating systems and frameworks. It seeks a stronger foundation for sustainable design that can acknowledge place-specific factors. Ultimately, this work will lead to the establishment of a decision-making protocol about sustainable design options and outcomes that can be applied in a range of contexts, for better choices, made more justifiably, better understanding of impact, and a better sense of progress across projects.

Conception d’un système de mesure et de suivi de la performance pour une entreprise intégrée du domaine de l’immobilier et de la construction

L’industrie canadienne de la construction joue un rôle de premier plan dans l’économie du pays, en fournissant des millions d’emplois tout en faisant appel à un large éventail d’expertises. Ce secteur économique est toutefois confronté à un faible taux de productivité, alors que l’intensité de ses activités risque de ralentir au cours des prochaines années. Cette recherche est réalisée en collaboration avec Groupe Dallaire, un important promoteur immobilier hébergeant sous le même toit toutes les activités propres à un projet de construction. Elle vise à mettre sur pied un ensemble d’outils permettant d’évaluer et de faire le suivi de la performance des activités du Groupe. En ayant en main des indicateurs de performance, un tableau de bord et des outils d’analyse reposant sur une vision commune de la performance, Groupe Dallaire sera ainsi mieux outillé pour bien contrôler l’ensemble de ses activités et saisir de nouvelles opportunités d’affaires qui contribueront à maintenir sa position stratégique sur le marché

Female International Students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) – Transition to Post-Graduate Work and Permanent Residency in Denmark

The aims of the project are to address: why female international STEM students choose Denmark; what hurdles international students face in applying for post graduate work in the innovation sector and permanent residency and if there are any distinct hurdles for female students; what strategies stakeholders are utilizing to retain foreign talent;and how can existing initiatives better support foreign talent’s role in innovation and growth This project will draw on existing literature on the mobility of students, international education, and the importance of international student retention for innovation, and the particular challenges female international students face in their transition to post-graduate work and permanent residency. The primary research will consist of interviews with students and elite interviews with representatives of post-secondary, industry, government and other relevant public stakeholders, and will focus on the ‘Hovedstaden’ region in Denmark. My study will help to address important gaps of knowledge, provide insights into best practices for stakeholders, significantly enrich my studies, and support my future career by providing me with specialized knowledge on a topic, which is becoming increasingly important for policymakers, industries, and academics.

Étude du comportement sous basses températures des composés en élastomère utilisés dans les appuis sismiques de ponts

Les séismes sont des phénomènes naturels qui consistent en des secousses du sol dans les différentes directions. Les structures de génie civil comme les ponts soumis à ces secousses doivent être capable de résister à ces mouvements sans effondrement. L’un des moyens efficaces utilisés pour la protection sismique de ces structures et l’utilisation d’isolateurs sismiques à base d’élastomères, ces derniers, mis entre le tablier et les piles/culées, sont principalement composés de d’élastomères et plaques en aciers minces. Seulement, les propriétés mécaniques des élastomères qui composent ce type d’isolateurs sont fortement influencées par le froid, tel est le cas au Canada. Le présent projet porte sur l’étude du comportement dynamique en laboratoire de deux types élastomères, utilisés dans la fabrication d’isolateurs sismiques, sous l’effet d’exposition à de basses températures.

Modélisation et optimisation de fonctionnement de la tour de traitement thermique REVTECH

Les Moulins de Soulanges aimerait faire l’étude de l’impact d’un traitement thermique sur des céréales produites au Québec. Certaines études ont démontré que l’application d’un traitement thermique sur des céréales permet d’augmenter la qualité boulangère de ces dernières et d’en changer la fonctionnalité. Nous aimerions donc valoriser les céréales à faible qualité boulangère ou celles qui sont déclassés en leur donnant un autre souffle que leur utilisation pour alimentation animale. Pour ce faire, des essais doivent être réalisés pour permettre de bien comprendre les phénomènes de transfert de chaleur et leur impact sur les qualités physico-chimiques des céréales à l’étude.