Innovative Projects Realized

Modelling successional dynamics in the boreal mixedwoods – Year two

A thorough understanding of the effects of the natural disturbances on successional dynamics is essential when developing silvicultural approaches. If applied correctly, this understanding should ensure the sustainable management of the wood resources, as well as the conservation of the biological attributes and ecological functions of forest ecosystems. With respect to the spatial and temporal complexity of the successional dynamics of forest ecosystems, simulation models are powerful tools as they are able to address many factors simultaneously. In this respect, forest simulators can process a large amount of data and parameters which are required to better understand and predict species and structural succession occurring at the stand and landscape levels. TO BE CONT’D

Modelling successional dynamics in the boreal mixedwoods

A thorough understanding of the effects of the natural disturbances on successional dynamics is essential when developing silvicultural approaches. If applied correctly, this understanding should ensure the sustainable management of the wood resources, as well as the conservation of the biological attributes and ecological functions of forest ecosystems. With respect to the spatial and temporal complexity of the successional dynamics of forest ecosystems, simulation models are powerful tools as they are able to address many factors simultaneously. In this respect, forest simulators can process a large amount of data and parameters which are required to better understand and predict species and structural succession occurring at the stand and landscape levels. TO BE CONT’D

Conception and automatisation of a tunable Phase-Mask Interferometer for Fiber Bragg Grating inscription – Year two

Optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) have become ubiquitous in many products such as lasers, filters and sensors. However, typical commercial products are becoming more complex, ones that require highly competent operators since many parameters need to be fine-tuned during the writing of quality FBGs. A previous Mitacs project successfully addressed several challenges in the conception of a FBG writing system based on scanning tunable Phase-Mask Interferometer, marketed by PhotoNova as the BraggTune, using different UV lasers. However, many challenges remain to make the commercial unit more versatile, precise and easier to use with semi-automation, removing the uncertainty of manual mechanical tuning, as in the present product. In the first phase, the flexibility and the ease of use of the device by automating the existing product enabling fabrication of different types of FBGs will be researched. TO BE CONT’D

Towards energy efficient MURB (Multi unit residential buildings)

MURBs are responsible for approximately 20% of residential energy consumption and are as energy

intensive as single family homes (on a kWh/m2 floor area basis). The energy performance of MURBs,

combined with an overall aging of the stock, is beginning to result in more effort on the part of industry

and government to develop measures to make MURBs more energy efficient.

This is a multi-disciplinary research program that will provide background material for the

development of a MURB sustainability best practice guide. The research will look at the issue of

energy saving and efficiency from different aspects: social-psychological and behavioural aspects,

energy simulation, energy labelling and energy benchmarking, indoor environment and building

envelope retrofit. The outcomes of the proposed project will be used for the development of a best

practice guide on resource efficiency for MURBs.

Conception and automatisation of a tunable Phase-Mask Interferometer for Fiber Bragg Grating inscription

Optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) have become ubiquitous in many products such as lasers, filters and sensors. However, typical commercial products are becoming more complex, ones that require highly competent operators since many parameters need to be fine-tuned during the writing of quality FBGs. A previous Mitacs project successfully addressed several challenges in the conception of a FBG writing system based on scanning tunable Phase-Mask Interferometer, marketed by PhotoNova as the BraggTune, using different UV lasers. However, many challenges remain to make the commercial unit more versatile, precise and easier to use with semi-automation, removing the uncertainty of manual mechanical tuning, as in the present product. In the first phase, the flexibility and the ease of use of the device by automating the existing product enabling fabrication of different types of FBGs will be researched. TO BE CONT’D

Efficient and low-complexity video coding for virtual reality and 360-degree video streaming – Year two

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) offer a unique immersive video experience by providing 360-degree video in a panoramic view. Limited bandwidth, demanding high quality, encoder delay, network latency and lack of standards are the main problems to deliver true VR immersive experience. To address these challenges, in this research, we intend to design a VR system based on learning concepts to provide efficient bandwidth usage where the encoder makes smart decisions to assign different qualities to different parts of the spherical frame based on the user’s view using features such as video content and user’s movement patterns. The 360 frame is split into segments such as tiles where the size, number and the quality of tiles are determined adaptively and on-line. TO BE CONT’D

Efficient and low-complexity video coding for virtual reality and 360-degree video streaming

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) offer a unique immersive video experience by providing 360-degree video in a panoramic view. Limited bandwidth, demanding high quality, encoder delay, network latency and lack of standards are the main problems to deliver true VR immersive experience. To address these challenges, in this research, we intend to design a VR system based on learning concepts to provide efficient bandwidth usage where the encoder makes smart decisions to assign different qualities to different parts of the spherical frame based on the user’s view using features such as video content and user’s movement patterns. The 360 frame is split into segments such as tiles where the size, number and the quality of tiles are determined adaptively and on-line. TO BE CONT’D

Application of bacteriophage encapsulation in biodegradable polymers for the prevention of prosthetic joint infections

In 2014-2015, there were over 100,000 hip and knee replacement operations in Canada. Among these, more than 8,500 of these procedures had to be repeated. The main cause of failure was due to bacterial infections at the surface of the implants. Furthermore, this problem is likely to get worse over time due to antibiotic resistance phenomena in bacteria. We propose the development of a surface modification of the implants using bacteriophages, a class of viruses that only targets bacteria. These phages are omnipresent in the environment and our bodies, and therefore safe, and are not subject to antibiotic resistance. This polymeric surface treatment of orthopedic implants thus has the potential to greatly reduce the number of surgical revision procedures and save significant costs in both surgery time and materials.
Phagelux Canada had developed expertise in the use of bacteriophages in many fields including agriculture and animal health. TO BE CONT’D

Photometry- and Radiometry-based Precision Agriculture

Labor cost and availability are identified as the biggest challenges facing Canadian agriculture. The DOT Technology Corporation, as part of the SeedMaster, is to create an autonomous power system that acts as a primary locomotion unit for carrying a multitude of farm implements used for seeding, fertilizing, and tilling. This simple autonomous power will enable farmers to employ a number of farm functions through a shared, smaller, and economical locomotion base, called DOT. This project is on adding a myriad of sensors to the DOT power unit such as: visible-light cameras, Lidar, GPS, and IMUs. They will provide feedback information on the vehicle’s location, its direction of motion, and the environment it moves through, to the control system for real-time navigation and control. Furthermore, the information obtained via the imaging systems will be used for: (1) obstacle detection and avoidance, (2) crop-row identification, (3) motion planning for the DOT for optimal performance of the farm function it carries out.

Energy storage integration into electrified vehicle systems for shared and transit mobility applications

The deployment of electric and alternatively-fuelled vehicles in urban transportation constitutes a core component of current federal and provincial policies vis-a-vis Climate Action Strategies across Canada.
In the heavy-duty vehicle context specifically, the lack of standardized charging infrastructure combined with a lack of understanding as to the value of integrated energy storage devices to reduce or eliminate demand/delivery charges for high-powered charging constitutes an ongoing technology barrier to electric transit integration.
These important challenges will be addressed in this proposal through the partnership between the fellow and the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC). The active intervention of utilities and industry members will enable the researcher to capture proprietary data and technical information not normally available to academic researchers who are studying electrified transit and energy storage systems outside of industry partnerships.
TO BE CONT’D

Cancer tissue classification using machine learning/deep learning algorithms

Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive laser-based optical technique that provides information on the molecular composition of biological tissue. Using this technique, it is possible to distinguish different types of tissue and use this information to develop prognostic tests to evaluate, for example, how a patient will respond to a specific therapy. Combined with other spectroscopy techniques, it is possible to acquires a wide range of information about the cancer/normal tissues in different organs and use this database to perform a very efficient tissue classification using the machine/deep learning algorithms. This research will lead to the development of new prognostic system, using spectroscopy techniques to predict and categorize tissues to for different types of cancers. These developments will setup the stage for future clinical trials using spectroscopy to improve treatment for patients affected with cancer, for example, the potential efficacy of immunotherapies.

Terahertz Distributed Sensing Platform Based on Waveguide Bragg Gratings – Year two

Distributed sensing is an advanced technology that enables real-time monitoring of variations along the entire length of a waveguide, and offers the possibility of sensing from a long distance. In the optics domain, distributed sensing based on optical fibers has been successfully demonstrated. However, the realization of distributed sensing in the terahertz domain is still at an embryonal stage. This project aims at introducing the concept of distributed sensing into the terahertz domain, and developing, for the first time to our knowledge, a prototype of novel terahertz distributed sensing platform by integrating multiple THz Bragg grating sensing units into a low-loss and high coupling-efficiency THz two-wire waveguide. TO BE CONT’D