Innovative Projects Realized

Evaluating Dementia Inclusivity in Retirement Communities

Retirement Communities (RCs) are an attractive bridge between aging-in-place/staying at home and going to full care/LTC by allowing older adults to remain independent while still receiving minimal assistance, as well as access to activities and socialization opportunities. With the mean age of residents being 85 years old, these communities offer unique insight into the future of Canada’s aging population. This research will offer preliminary findings on the state of dementia inclusivity within RCs as well as offering viable solutions to reducing stigma and becoming a dementia inclusive community. Two research questions guiding this study are: 1) What is the current state of dementia inclusivity in RCs? and; 2) From the residents and staffs’ perspectives- what are the barriers and facilitators to dementia inclusivity? Data generation methods will include the use of the following: (i) online survey methods; (ii) semi-structured interviews; (iii) focus groups and; (iv) observations. TO BE CONT’D

Evaluation of interventions for improving maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes: Systematic literature reviews and network meta-analyses

Poor nutrition, sanitation and hygiene, and infectious diseases during pregnancy and early childhood can lead to poor growth and development that can be everlasting negative effects on the child. A large number of clinical trials have been conducted, but as many interventions have not been compared against each other, it is unclear what interventions are effective and should be provided over different life stages of the child. Instead of pairwise meta-analysis, which has been done in the existing literature reviews, this project aims to utilize network meta-analysis (NMA), an analytical approach that utilizes all of the available evidence, direct or indirect comparisons. This intern and MTEK Sciences are partnering up to perform comprehensive reviews on interventions aimed to improve maternal and child health outcomes. The reviews will be analyzed with NMAs by statisticians at MTEK to inform Canadian and international policies on maternal and child health.

Concept design and feasibility evaluation for the QEYSSat microsatellite mission

This project focuses on the concept design and ACS/Geolocation simulation of an Earth-observation microsatellite in Low Earth Orbit. MSCI has a long history of building microsatellites, but not for an Earth observation mission. In this research, we will evaluate the current MSCI multi-mission bus design capability, given its current hardware, for use in the QEYSSat microsatellite mission proposal. QEYSSat is a proposed mission to create a quantum link between ground and space using polarized photons and to transmit encryption keys to ground based users using this link. The proposed project will determine ways to improve the satellite bus mechanical design as well as its attitude control and Geolocation capabilities in order to meet the QEYSSat mission requirements. This will include analysis of the current multi-mission bus structure, solar panels, orbit and attitude determination sensors and actuators, hardware timing latency, and the bus Geolocation/ACS accuracy using conventional algorithms. TO BE CONT’D

Mise au point d’une méthode de mesure objective de l’effet d’occlusion basée sur la voix

Environ 360 000 travailleurs québécois sont quotidiennement exposés à des niveaux de bruit susceptibles d’engendrer des problèmes d’audition. Les protections auditives individuelles sont utilisées afin de réduire les risques de surdité, mais des inconforts associés à leur port poussent les utilisateurs à les retirer, même brièvement, et diminue ainsi grandement leur efficacité. Ce projet s’intéresse principalement à un inconfort de type acoustique : l’effet d’occlusion. Ce phénomène consiste en une amplification des basses fréquences perçues par l’utilisateur lorsque le canal auditif est occlus par des bouchons ou serre-têtes. Afin de sensibiliser les travailleurs et de mieux comprendre ce phénomène acoustique, le but de ce projet de recherche est de développer une méthode de mesure microphonique simple, efficace et robuste de l’effet d’occlusion basée sur l’effort vocal pouvant être réalisée sur le terrain.

On differential Glacial Isostatic Adjustment across the Grand Banks and the impact on hydrocarbon migration

Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), also known as Postglacial Rebound, describes how the Earth responds to different loading/unloading processes, through deformation and vertical motion. One important loading/unloading process includes the Wisconsinan Glaciation Episode and the last glacial maximum, approximately 21ka BP. The unloading processes since led to vertical motion centered around James Bay/Hudson Bay, Canada, with uplift rates up to 12 mm per year. The spatial distribution of vertical motion differs which leads to differential vertical motion of the Earth surface. Together with the deglaciation cycles, this can lead to surface erosion, re-activation of faults, and tilting of geological units including oil and gas reservoirs. Oil traps potentially deform and release hydrocarbons out of the trap, making it challenging to find using conventional exploration tools. This project aims at identifying the potential of the GIA processes to tilt hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Grand Banks offshore Newfoundland.

Automated System for Tote Verification using Machine Vision

The project objective is to develop a machine vision-based system for reliably determining

that the correct type and number of oil filter brackets are loaded in a tote. After

accomplishing the main objective, a training manual will be written , and Orlick personnel will

be trained how to operate and maintain the system. The system will benefit Orlick by

improving quality control and decreasing the probability of shipping errors. At the same time ,

the internship will strengthen Orlick’s relationship with academia via knowledge and

technology tran sfer. This will allow Orlick to capitalize on new methods and technologies.

Cartographie des zones à risque de glissements pelliculaires dans le parc national de la Jacques-Cartier

Le parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, sous la responsabilité de la Sépaq, subit de façon continue des glissements pelliculaires, un type de glissement de terrain, menaçant les infrastructures et les sentiers pédestres. Afin d’assurer la sécurité des randonneurs et des investissements en infrastructures prévus, il est nécessaire d’identifier les zones à risque de glissement. Ce projet propose d’identifier et de cartographier ces zones. Un logiciel SIG sera utilisé pour réaliser des analyses spatiales et multicritères (pente, type de sol, drainage, végétation, géologie) afin d’identifier, de localiser et de cartographier les zones à risques de glissements pelliculaires et l’étendue des zones qui pourraient être impactées par un glissement. Les cartes qui seront produites permettront à la Sépaq d’accroître la sécurité des randonneurs, de mieux planifier la construction de nouvelles infrastructures et par conséquent, de réduire les dommages (et les coûts) liés aux glissements pelliculaires.

Feasibility Study of Switch Module Redesign

Structural and vibration analysis is performed on a proposed design change on electronic assembly to ensure that it meets customer requirements and is a more cost-effective design. Such design change should be cost efficient. The important aspect, in addition to the design, is interacting with different engineers at different positions in the company. Working with mechanical engineers and suppliers in achieving such targets and ensuring the work done is viable and on track. Furthermore, creating a technical report at the end that outlines the process taken, the results obtained and whether the new design is satisfactory, cost wise and structurally.

System Controller – Connector/Harness/Baseplate Redesign Feasibility Study

Electronic assemblies are used to control various systems in an aircraft. Under normal operating conditions, these assemblies undergo vibration, and therefore have an expected life span. Different designs are analyzed to reduce production cost, and these designs have to ensure that the electronic components contained within the hardware can tolerate the same operating conditions without failure. With time continuous research projects are being conducted to produce products with the same quality and lower costs, and this is one of them.

End-of-line Testing for Safety and Quality with Machine Learning

Safety-critical systems are pervasive throughout our society with everyday objects such as airplanes, cars, trains, or medical devices. The requested functionality and expectations from these systems are growing rapidly and consequently, they become more complex. The complexity is usually handled by breaking the system into manageable smaller components and parts. Factories then integrate these parts into the final product. However, while some complexity can be managed
by this divide & conquer strategy, the assembly is still a challenging task. End-of-line testing provides the quality assurance to ensure that no defective product leaves the factory.
In this project, the research team and Acerta develop new learning-based algorithms to assist in end-of-line testing to detect defective product before it leaves the factory. A sequence of interns concentrate on developing classification technology, refining prediction mechanisms, and improving the analytics infrastructure.

Highly Efficient Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) Modules

The UPS market has recently experienced an exponential growth due to the increase in the number of data centers and IT centers. In this research program, superior UPS products will be designed and developed to comply with the new performance requirements of the UPS market. This research program has tremendous value for Alpha Technologies Ltd. to be able to acquire significant market share and attain more revenue. This research program can place Alpha as the leading company in future advanced UPS technology.

Development of plant-based beverage with high content and quality proteins.

Plant-based beverages are inappropriate alternatives to bovine milk, due to lower protein content and not sufficient amount of essential amino acids. To produce nutritionally complete plant-based beverage with high overall acceptability, the technological interventions and fortification techniques need to be developed. Oat is one of the promising raw material for preparation of functional plant-based milk due to the presence of dietary fibres and good nutritional quality of oat proteins. Appropriate complementation of oat proteins with other high nutritious plant protein isolate will enable to produce plant-based beverage with all essential amino acids required for a complete source of protein in a single serving. The applied interventions may lead to process improvements for better quality and performance of plant based beverages and further growth and global competitiveness of Canadian products in a global market.