Innovative Projects Realized

Waste heat recovery in aluminium smelters: technical and economic analysis (part II)

Aluminium smelters are energy intensive and not particularly energy efficient, as most of the energy required to produce aluminium is lost along the production line. This is the reason why it is mandatory to perform a detailed analysis of the thermal wastes produced in these factories. The main objective of this project is to investigate the solutions to recover the thermal wastes and to convert them into useful power. The feasibility of these solutions is analysed by considering technological and economic aspects: in this way, a reliable solution to improve the energy efficiency in aluminium smelter is provided.

Versatile Systems-on-Chip Integration to Reduce Aircraft Weight and Gas Emission (VairCRAFT)

The aeronautic and aerospace industries are exploring new approached to reduce the mass of cables, bulky electronic systems. This rationally leads onto aircraft weight reduction as well as the amount of CO2 and greenhouse gas emitted by aircrafts. To reduce the mass of cables, merging/embedding different electronic systems in a single chip is an alternative. In this approach, massive electronic modules are miniaturized in a so-called SoC. Different SoCs can be embedded in a single package called SiP. Having had such techniques, it is anticipated to lower the number of bulky devices in an aircraft resulting in reduce amount of green house gass.

Effet des changements climatiques anticipés sur les bryophytes en forêt boréale mixte

Les changements climatiques influencent la distribution des espèces. Notre étude souhaite étudier cet effet en divisant le climat en deux périodes : climat passé (1950-1980) et actuel (1980-2010) sur la base du basculement des températures mondiales en 1980. Cette étude est réalisée en forêt boréale et se concentre sur les bryophytes (mousses, hépatiques et sphaigne) qui en sont des éléments structurants fondamentaux. Nous souhaitons étudier la distribution des bryophytes en réponse au climat et identifier des espèces bioindicatrices des variations climatiques. Une réponse préférentielle au climat passé ou actuel suggérera respectivement une adaptation « à retardement » ou « en temps réel » des bryophytes au climat et nous renseignera sur les capacités d’adaptations de la forêt boréale aux changements climatiques. La connaissance de cette relation permettra d’améliorer les outils de recherche sur de tels sujets et d’appréhender la réponse des écosystèmes et de la biodiversité aux variations climatiques futures.

Simulation and analysis of light scatter in head mounted display lens

Head-mounted display (HMD) lenses can include a high degree of scattering (ghosting) which reduces brightness and contrast, and is distracting to the user. This can directly impact the utility of the device, if for instance some of the display is illegible because of excess light scatter and blurring. In this research, we want to investigate ways to model sources of light scattering in a HMD with freeform lenses, using non-sequential raytracing software. From the results of the investigation, recommendations will be made with regards to the to the design of freeform lens to reduce the light scattering while maintaining image quality and brightness. Then, we will make freeform lenses with recommended design changes and compare their optical performances.

Designing quality control strategies to assess the self-assembly and biological stability of chitosan nanoparticles

In this grant, the consortium will develop new methods to characterize nanoparticles prepared with a proprietary polymer. This study will enable the fabrication and characterization of better performing nano-sized particles encapsulating therapeutic molecules, commonly called nanomedicines. This study will allow to monitor how the polymers self-assemble into nanoobjects under different conditions, and to study how the nanoparticles perform in various environments. The project will develop and validate methods to streamline the development of nanoparticles with a variety of characteristics. Eventually, this technology will translate into the development of a new generation of drugs to treat various important human ailments, notably cancer, antibiotic-resistance, and neurologic diseases.

Evaluation of probiotic bacterial strains for enhanced microbial biotransformation of polyphenol-rich potato extract

The proposed project searches to understand the effect of probiotic bacterial strains belonging to the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium genera on the degradation and bioavailability of phenolic compounds present in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) after in vitro digestion. The more easily absorbed metabolites are associated with protective effects against cancer and diabetes mellitus type II. Additionally, the combination of probiotics with phenolic-rich potato extract may have beneficial effects on the human colonic bacterial composition. Lallemand Inc., the partner organization that produces the probiotics, will benefit from this study as its results will describe additional health benefits through the consumption of their products.

Efficacité des amendements alcalins et cimentaires à stabiliser les résidus miniers problématiques dans des conditions de terrain

Les exploitations minières génèrent des quantités importantes de rejets miniers sans valeur économique. Parfois, ces rejets miniers contiennent des phases minérales qui peuvent s’altérer sous l’effet des conditions météorologiques. L’altération de ces rejets peut causer des problèmes environnementaux (contamination des eaux). Ce projet recherche vise à tester des scénarios de stabilisation des rejets problématiques en ajoutant des matériaux avec un apport d’alcalinité; cette technique est communément appelée ‘amendement minier’. L’ajout de la neutralité permettra de diminuer ou éliminer la contamination causée par l’altération des rejets miniers. L’efficacité des amendements miniers sera évaluée en utilisant des essais en conditions réelles du terrain. La méthodologie consiste à comparer les eaux provenant d’un résidu et les eaux provenant d’un résidu mélangé avec un amendement minier pour évaluer la performance de cette technique.

Mapping the surface flow velocity of Minas Passage using RADAR data

This project will investigate the use of RADAR data to estimate the ocean surface velocity in regions of interest, specifically where tidal turbines will be deployed in Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy. The Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) currently owns a single RADAR on the North side of the Minas Passage. Initial investigations have been done with this single RADAR; however, more intensive analysis must be done to reach the long-term goal of having a network of RADARs in the area. This network will monitor surface flow changes in real-time via a tidal atlas that will be operated by FORCE. This specific project contributes to this goal by assessing the feasibility of real-time flow monitoring with the single existing radar that FORCE currently operates. TO BE CONT’D

Circulating Tumour Cells and prostate cancer outcome

In Canada, 25,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011, and 4,100 will

die of the disease. New approaches are required to predict clinical outcome and personalized

management of patients. Drs. Mai and Cayre will combine their two newly developed

technologies and work towards obtaining a new solid biomarker that enables the assessment

of a patient’s clinical outcome from the start. With the use of special filters, circulating tumour

cells (CTC) will be isolated from prostate cancer patients’ blood. These cells are

characterized using three-dimensional (3D) imaging of telomeres (the ends of chromosomes)

in the cells’ nuclei. This will be the first time these new technologies are combined to

investigate the link between CTCs, their 3D telomeric profiles and clinical outcome of prostate

cancer. A much better understanding and personalized management of prostate cancer,

which is a major goal of Cancercare Manitoba will be achieved by this project.

Deep Learning to assist requirement translation

Cutting edge techniques in artificial intelligence will be applied to extract semantic information from natural language and work towards building a system that can help engineers write clearer and less ambiguous requirements for complex systems. Models will be developed that are similar to current techniques used by popular translation tools, and will be adapted for paraphrasing and ambiguity reduction.

Development of the supporting peripherals for bioelectrode system operation in oxygenated environments

In this project, a pre-conditioning system to remove the oxygen prior to reaching a bioelectrode system sensor will be developed and tested. Bioelectrode system sensors require anoxic conditions for operation, and a low complexity solution would extend use cases of the technology. Bioelectrode system sensors measures the microbial activity of bacteria and the data can be used to optimize treatment efficiency, detect deleterious substances, and quantify Biological Oxygen Demand.

Advancing Out-of-Band Network Measurement for Multi-Hop Sensor Networks

This collaborative project with Rimeware will investigate out-of-band measurement approaches that can passively monitor the network traffic and provide rich detailed network information, e.g., latency, loss, route path, etc. The goal is to build a programmable system for accurate, generic, and robust network measurement. It includes two sub projects. In the first sub-project, we will research the sniffer deployment problem with lossy and correlated link models and develop a set of instructions that provide programmable interfaces for network administrators. In addition, we plan to build a set of programmable interfaces that are in highly abstract forms, which can simplify various typical network tasks from thousands of lines of code to just dozens. In the second sub-project, we intend to investigate the trace synchronization problem and build a range of measurement applications for multi-hop sensors networks. TO BE CONT’D