Innovative Projects Realized

Machine Learning Strategies in the Physical North American Power Markets

Machine learning techniques have been applied to the financial industry for some time. They have allowed large utilities and generators to better forecast their needs, and the prices they will pay, leading to a generally more efficient grid. However, very little research has been done that could benefit power marketers, who do not have a load to serve or a generating facility to manage.
The application of machine learning techniques has yielded great results in the financial industry. Due to their capacity to uncover non-linear relationships between large sets of variables, they seem like the perfect tool to better understand the electric grid and uncover trading strategies based on these discoveries.

Accelerating home energy retrofits – building the case for local improvement charges in Ontario municipalities

In 2012, changes to provincial legislation in Ontario provided municipalities with a new market-based tool to improve the energy and water efficiency of the existing building stock; the ‘local improvement charge’ (LIC) mechanism.
The City of Toronto was the first and remains the only Ontario municipality to use LICs to finance residential energy retrofits, starting in 2014 with the Home Energy Loan Program. Many other municipalities are interested. Indeed, one of the key priorities articulated in each of Vaughan, Newmarket and Markham’s Municipal Energy Plan (MEP) is the development of an energy efficiency retrofit program for residential buildings, supported through implementation of a Local Improvement Charge mechanism. However, a lack of clarity regarding the risks to the municipality in developing an LIC program for energy retrofits, particularly in a two-tier municipal government context, is seen as a barrier to program implementation. This project aims to determine the best approach to implement a coordinated LIC-based residential energy retrofit program in the context of an tiered governance framework such as exists with these York Region municipalities.

Smart Meter IOT: Security vs Privacy in a Heterogeneous IOT environment

Internet of Things (IOT) enabled communication devices have become a ubiquitous commodity in the smart metering solutions world for the purposes of “getting the data off the meter”. Many of these devices have little to no measurable security, aside from the infamous “security through obscurity” which we can no longer rely on, as the average individual has access to off-the-shelf “discovery” tools to infiltrate any such device within physical distance. Further exasperation of the problem lies in the general heterogeneity of the whole system (from smart meter, to communications module, to cloud delivery, to network server and eventually to the centralized head end system). Achieving a novel and strong security protocol throughout the transmission pipeline (and on the end device nodes), as well as maintaining privacy of the users/customers while achieving security and allowing for adequate maintenance within the pipeline are the main objectives of this research project. TO BE CONT’D

Europe’s Differing Perceptions of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The Belt Road Initiative is grand multinational project devised by China to advance globalization and barrier-free trade. Marketed as “The New Silk Road”, this initiative goes against traditionally muted foreign policy of the Communist Party of China and will serve to transform the entire face of Central Asia, Africa, and Europe. The project is unique as it has potential to be the world’s largest platform for regional collaboration, rivaling that of the Marshall Plan during the 1950s except twelve times bigger. Yet despite its huge potential for changing the course of international affairs, very little attention has been given to it within western academic and political fields. As such, this working paper specifically looks into the current economic, regional, and normative perceptions of the Belt and Road Initiative on the future of Europe. It performs a case-by-case analysis of France and Poland’s current political and academic understanding of these initiatives and will compare their interpretations of the perceived costs and benefits in relation to their independent state interests.

Efficient Design and Implementation of Concatenated Error-Correction Coding for High-Throughput Fiber-Optic Links

The project targets design and implementation of error-correction codes for high-throughput fiber-optic communication links. We focus on the error-correction encoding at the transmitter side as well as decoding at the receiver side considering the simplicity of implementation and low power consumption at both transmitter and receiver.

Valorization of surface enhanced pulp fibers into value-added products

Domtar Inc. is investigating potential value-added applications for an advanced fiber they produce, which is referred to as SEPF (surface enhanced pulp fiber). SEPF is a key platform material for the development of new value-added, bio-based products from existing pulp and paper manufacturing sites and their forest based supply chains. The main objective of this work is to use SEPF for the preparation of said value-added products, such as, for example, paper, paperboard, or fiber-reinforced plastics, among others. Ultimately this research will result in economic benefits for the industrial partner through expansion into existing or new markets. The Canadian pulp and paper industry as a whole can benefit from this research through the publication and presentation of the results of this work.

Identification of potential areas and associated benefits of MUT on the territory of the city of Montreal

The City of Montreal desires to evaluate the potential for the implementation of Multi-purpose Utility Tunnel (MUT) within its territory and to assess the overall benefits it could derive from it. This exercise would be initiated by a review of the state of the art to identify the criteria of choice and the associated benefits of developing MUT that have been used in the places around the world where MUT have been built. In a second step, we will work with the city to analyze the opportunity of building MUT by involving all the partners associated to the project. The result of this opportunity analysis will mainly be the creation of a multi-criteria grid that can be applied in future infrastructure projects to determine the locations where it would be appropriate to install MUT. TO BE CONT’D

Conception d’un système intelligent pour l’analyse en temps réel des efforts dans la main

Le projet consiste à concevoir un système portable pour la mesure de la force des doigts, adapté à la production à grande échelle. Ce système permettra d’étudier la progression physique d’athlètes et de patients issus de centres d’escalade et de cliniques de réadaptation.
L’entraînement de la force des doigts, pour des fins de performance physique ou de réadaptation après blessure, est complexe et encore très peu d’information est disponible quant aux résultats des protocoles d’exercices existants. Les blessures aux doigts sont fréquentes et il n’existe pas encore de plans de réadaptation standardisés efficaces.
Le système développé permettra de numériser l’information sur les exercices de la main pour former une base de données accessible pour tous. Les facteurs menant à une récupération plus rapide, à de meilleurs résultats d’entraînements et de prédiction des blessures pourront être déterminés à l’aide de ces données. Cela engendrera une meilleure compréhension de la progression de la forme physique des doigts.

The Greater Toronto Area Watershed Readiness Pilot Project: Gaging how climate and land use change might impact aquatic ecosystems in urban environments.

Cities are often located near sources of water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. Due to their location, the effects of climate change and urbanization will introduce unique challenges to aquatic habitats located within cities. These challenges could range from flooding, extreme wind, ice storm damage, extreme heat events, and drought as well as long term climate changes. Not only will climate and land use change impact everyday life and personal property, but these changes will impact the ecosystem components and services of urban drainage systems, i.e., species diversity, water flow systems, nutrient export, dilution of pollutants, habitat for water-based plants and animals. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how to address these environmental impacts before they become too severe to ameliorate. This project will provide the TRCA with innovative research that will allow the conservation authority to measure, mitigate and respond to potential impacts of climate change on aquatic ecosystems in urban environments.

Analyse des méthodes participatives et collaboratives pour appliquer de meilleurs pratiques à laréalisation de projets de développement durable en aménagement

Le CHSLD des Pommetiers du Groupe Champlain a monté un comité post construction LEED de

leur nouveau bâtiment .Presque deux ans plus tard, certains aspects de l’aménagement restent à

être pensés et conçus afin d’exploiter le bâtiment de façon plus écologique et économiquement

rentable mais surtout de procurer à leurs occupants des milieux de vie et de travail sains.

La stagiaire-chercheure étudiera et proposera d’implanter des méthodes

participatives et collaboratives afin d’élaborer de nouvelles façons de penser et

de mettre en place des structures de projet donnant place aux diverses parties

prenantes dans le cadre de l’élaboration d’un projet d’aménagement.

Il s’agira de voir comment les pratiques de réalisation de projets plus intégrées,

plus participatives et plus adaptatives sont nécessaires afin de répondre aux

enjeux sociaux, économiques et environnementaux dans l’optique de réaliser un

aménagement durable de qualité qui répond aux besoins de chacun.

Développement d’outils minéralogiques pour l’amélioration de l’efficacité de la séparation magnétique

La concentration des minerais de fer peut être effectuée grâce à différents procédés (ex : séparation physiques, flottation, etc.). Ces procédés requièrent au préalable la fragmentation, parfois très fine, du minerai ce qui représente souvent la plus importante dépense énergétique des usines de concentration de minerais.
L’efficacité de la séparation magnétique, au-delà de la finesse du broyage, dépend des caractéristiques des minéraux composant le minerai. L’importance de chacune de ces caractéristiques est méconnue en termes d’influence sur les performances du procédé.
Le présent projet permettrait de comprendre et de prédire le comportement des minéraux pendant la séparation magnétique pour un minerai donné et surtout d’établir la granulométrie de broyage requise pour libérer efficacement les minéraux magnétiques de valeur.
Le projet se poursuivra afin de développer un procédé de séparation magnétique plus efficace utilisant une intensité magnétique adaptée à chacun des stades de concentration ainsi qu’aux caractéristiques minéralogiques spécifiques du minerai à traiter.

Translation of a Personalized Genetic Medicine Vector Production System

Mediphage Bioceuticals aims to leverage its DNA ministring platform for personalized genetic medicine. Mediphage Bioceuticals Inc. greatly appreciate Mitacs Accelerate program in providing support to (1) validate msDNA for gene delivery by carrying out a two-phase study, (2) develop and validate phage display libraries for the specific targeting and delivery to target host cells, and (3) determine potential targets for gene therapy in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with examination of potential negative effects of bacteriophage vector platforms. The research efforts in these key areas will enable Mediphage Bioceuticals to further advance genetic medicine.