Innovative Projects Realized

Electrical Material Characterization Studies on Power Cable Dielectric Materials subjected to Thermal Aging

Electric power is almost entirely transmitted through polymer insulated cables or wires in every home, factory, plant or apparatus. If the temperature of a cable increases, it would be an indication that some accidents or malfunctions such as inflow of excess electric current occur in the cable. The generated heat, indeed, degrades the polymer insulations in cable, thus, making it unsuitable and unsafe for extra service. Therefore, it would be markedly valuable if the thermally-degraded portion in a cable can be located precisely without destroying the cable. In this project the electrical properties of cables are studied and emplyed as potential indicators to diagnose thermally-degraded regions of the cable. As a result, possible malfunctions in cables due to heat-overloads can be detected in an efficient, fast, low-cost, and non-destructive way which elevates the safety and lowers catastrophic risk in power transmissions.

Augmented Guidance Navigation and Control for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Sense and Avoid is a capability that is required by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to ensure that they do not enter into collision with other manned and unmanned aircraft. Obstacle avoidance of stationary objects is an important first step toward building Sense and Avoid systems. For stationary objects, after the object has been detected and its location has been determined, it is necessary to plan a path around the object, using a path planner, a key component of obstacle avoidance. For moving objects, detection can be more difficult and it also is necessary to predict the object’s trajectory, before using a path planner to calculate a path that will avoid a collision with the object. Sense and Avoid is an enabling technology that will be required for future (UAV) operations that take place beyond the line of sight of the pilot-in-command, and will be needed for many UAV applications.

Using behavioral biometrics to continuously authenticate an individual

The Nymi band is a unique wearable that authenticates the wearer using biometric data to provide continuous authenticated presence in smart environments. Nymi enables wireless user proximity & presence solutions, removing the need for physical interaction with IoT, mobile and computer applications for identification, non-repudiation, personalization and intent for any transactions. Similar to a lot of the current technology, the Nymi band only authenticates at the start, when the band is first worn. This can be undesirable, since non-authorized personnel could get access to information they should not be allowed to.

In order to make the band more secure and robust, the band needs to continuously authenticate the wearer. This will increase the likelihood of catching incorrect authentication as there will be more checks throughout the day to ensure the correct user is wearing the band. To achieve continuous authentication, this project will apply a set of machine learning algorithms to recognize patterns in the various biometric data analyzed.

Understanding Jewelry Consumers’ Response to CSR Advertising Messages

The research project will look at the appeals, elements, and themes present in luxury goods advertising and determine how luxury brands can integrate pro-social and empowerment messages into its advertising targeted toward women. This will be examined in the context of jewelry advertising as the partner organization for this project, Hillberg & Berk, is a Canadian jewelry company with the goal to create a purpose-driven international brand to empower women through design.

Desensitization of axial compressor performance and stall margin to tip clearance gap increase

The degradation in performance and operating envelope of aero-engines with age and during critical transient operating conditions such as take-off is a well-known phenomenon. It is mainly caused by the increase in size of the tiny gap between the tip of the compressor rotor blades and the shroud, called tip clearance, from wear and/or shroud thermal expansion, which results in a drop of compressor pressure rise, efficiency and safety margin against aerodynamic instabilities. Two recent doctoral projects at École Polytechnique de Montréal carried out with numerical simulations on a theoretical axial compressor rotor proposed an explanation for this phenomenon and corrective design strategies. A subsequent project applied these strategies to design and simulate a casing treatment and revised rotor to reduce the performance and stall margin sensitivity of a challenging transonic aero-engine axial compressor stage while in parallel modifying a test rig to test these designs for this compressor stage. “TO BE CONT’D”

Development of semiosNET biopesticide system

SemiosBIO is developing biopesticide technologies for the pest control industry. The products are

intended for several markets, including agriculture, home and gardens, professional pest control

operators (eg for hotels and commercial spaces) and forestry. semiosBIO has intellectual property

that is being developed and tested in collaboration with 7 different organizations across Canada. The

role of the intern is to import knowledge to the company through market research. The intern will then

be tasked with determining a proper strategy, planning the roll-out and implementing the techniques.

At the end of the project, the student will be required to summarize the results of the project, the

success of the techniques chosen and future recommendations.

Evolving data storage design for a highly regulated financial sector.

Global service providers in highly regulated financial sectors must accommodate an ever-changing, sometimes competing, landscape of regulatory concerns. This project seeks to determine a reasonable path forward in technology design and adoption to accommodate current and anticipated data privacy and data residency concerns, making it possible to keep data within borders while still facilitating collaboration across those borders. Consumers are increasingly aware of the collection of their private data, but are often unaware of cross-border movement of their data. Businesses are cognizant of the limited (or untested) reach of legal and regulatory recourse when their data (and their customers’ data) unnecessarily crosses borders. This project seeks to add technology frameworks to aid in addressing those customer and business concerns.

Improving Social Conditions for Indigenous Youth: A Case Study of Organized Sports in Canoe Lake Cree Nation

This Internship project will look at issues affecting the overall social conditions of First Nation youth in Northern, rural and remote communities, with a specific focus on the Northern community of Canoe Lake Cree Nation. Historically, the people of Canoe Lake lived a traditional lifestyle off the land, including traditional land that was lost to the Cold Lake bombing range. The loss of traditional land and livelihood has had enormous social effects on the community, and its peoples. Organized sport and recreation provide an opportunity to improve social conditions for northern communities, and to rebuild the First Nation youth identity and confidence. There is a tremendous amount of untapped potential for First Nations youth, and this research will highlight how we can better the youth social outcome.

3D Imaging Development for Part Dimensional Measurement

Manual inspection method is still applied by mounting parts on customized checking fixtures and thus dimensions are checked with different gauges/feelers. Typically, it could take 10 -30 minutes to fully inspect the required spatial dimensions of one part. This project will develop an automated 3D dimensional inspection system for deep drawing parts. After manually mounting the part, the system will fully scan the whole part by 3D sensors/scanners. Interested features like primitives, holes, edges, diameters or angles then can be calculated or determined through 3D point clouds data post-processing. Shape and position tolerances will be evaluated if they can meet the customer’s requirements. The expected inspection accuracy and speed will be less than 0.3 mm and 1 min/part respectively.

Installations et aménagements participatifs comme outil touristique

Montréal se positionne avantageusement sur l’échiquier mondial de la recherche et l’innovation dans les domaines de l’informatique, des jeux vidéo, de l’intelligence artificielle, de la robotique et de la créativité numérique. L’avènement et l’utilisation de nouvelles technologies dans les secteurs des transports et de la santé est indéniable. Dans le domaine des arts et de la culture, il s’agit de l’émergence d’un véritable créneau d’innovation : celui de la créativité numérique dédiée à l’espace public pour lequel Montréal devient une référence incontournable. Plusieurs exemples d’installations participatives numériques ont marqué l’imaginaire des montréalais mais également d’autres villes à l’étranger. Six projets du Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles ont voyagé dans 20 villes pendant un an. Ces installations constituent de nouvelles expériences pour les locaux et les visiteurs, tout en contribuant au rayonnement de la ville et de ses créateurs. Il est question ici d’analyser leur impact en tant qu’outil de tourisme culturel, de marketing territorial et relationnel.

Computing algebraic relations in multivariate settings

The aim of this project is to design fast computing a fundamental mathematical object called algebraic relations, particularly on Pade approximants and multivariate interpolants. This is motivated by numerous important applications, within computer algebra itself and in related fields such as cryptology, coding theory, and polynomial optimization. The goal is twofold: first, to design algorithms whose complexity bounds improve over the state of the art; second, to write efficient implementations of these algorithms.

Evaluating effects of local, landscape, and regional factors on Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) nest survival

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a migratory songbird that is currently a species at risk in Canada due to steep population declines. Because bobolink nest on the ground in pastures, hayfields, and other grassland-type habitats, nest success and abundance may be influenced by various environmental factors. Our goal is to understand whether these factors directly or indirectly affect bobolink nest success. This is important as it will contribute to filling current knowledge gaps regarding bobolink breeding success. We will analyze nest success using nest data collected throughout southern Ontario and will incorporate factors including agricultural use, the landscape surrounding grasslands, and differences across regions (i.e., temperature, weather) to understand which factors are associated with high or low nest success. Results will guide efforts to conserve this species at risk by identifying the environmental conditions favourable for nesting bobolink.