Innovative Projects Realized

Freeform fabrication and alignment of LCE micro lenses

This project develops programmable micro-lens arrays made from soft, temperature-responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). Using digital micromirror lithography, the research will enable lenses that can adjust their focus through controlled shape changes. The collaboration between the University of Waterloo and Kent State University aims to advance adaptive optics for next-generation imaging and sensing technologies.

Conversion hétérogène des isomères de spin nucléaires de l’hydrogène sur la glace

Dans les conditions de basses températures et de faibles densités qui caractérisent le milieu interstellaire, il peut être démontré, par des arguments de symétrie, que l’interconversion des isomères de spins nucléaires (ISN) de la molécule d’hydrogène, o-H2 ? p-H2, est interdite. Des calculs théoriques ont cependant estimé que, dans ces conditions, les temps de conversion seraient de plusieurs milliards d’années dans le régime quantique, soit à des températures aussi basses que 4K, lorsque la molécule d’H2 est confinée à la surface de la glace. Mme Claveau participera aux travaux expérimentaux sur les mesures de conversion des ISN visant à améliorer notre compréhension des effets de confinement sur les mécanismes, et sur les taux d’interconversion des ISN de H2. Les résultats pourraient nous guider vers l’élaboration de meilleures stratégies de stockage pour des échantillons hautement enrichis en o-H2 ouvrant de nouvelles perspectives pour l’application de la résonance magnétique nucléaire pour l’étude des dynamiques interfaciales. Elle pourrait aussi permettre de valider l’interprétation des anomalies dans les populations des ISN rapportées dans divers objets observés dans le milieu interstellaire.

Business and Financial Process Support for Deacon Investments Ltd.

Deacon Investments Ltd. is a Newfoundland-based private equity firm engaged in a variety of business ventures. This project will focus on designing and piloting a standardized reporting and communication toolkit to improve consistency and efficiency across its businesses. The intern will help map current practices, design templates and workflows, and test the toolkit with selected business areas. These contributions will provide Deacon with new tools to strengthen efficiency, investor communications, and long-term portfolio growth, while giving the intern valuable hands-on experience in business operations and strategy.

Developing a Reliability-Based Life-Cycle Cost Model for Electric Motors

The proposed internship aims to study how the characteristics and reliability of Permanent Magnet Electric Motors (PMs) affect their life-cycle cost (LCC), including initial, maintenance, and energy costs. First, the effect of the variation of design variables on the performance and initial cost of PMs will be assessed and the cost will be correlated to performance. Second, the effect of materials and processes on the reliability and the LCC of PMs will be studied and LCC will be correlated to reliability. The results will be presented to TM4 in form of a detailed database. In developing such database, theoretical and technical aspects of manufacturing PMs will be considered in close collaboration with the Electric Motors Design team of McGill University and TM4 Inc. This database, coupled with the performance models of TM4, could be used to obtain design solutions with optimum performance and minimum cost.

Projet d’augmentation de la distance de 30 cm à 100 cm

Son premier produit, déjà en phase de développement, permet de recharger sans fil des fauteuils roulants électriques dans les centres pour personnes âgées, améliorant ainsi l’autonomie des usagers et réduisant la charge de travail du personnel soignant.
Dans le cadre de ses efforts pour développer de futurs produits et augmenter les performances de ses systèmes, AWL-E cherche à améliorer significativement l’efficacité de sa technologie de couplage capacitif, ainsi que sa portée et sa capacité de recharge.

Development of A Marine Propulsion System for Shallow-water Icebreaker

Shallow Arctic waters present unique challenges for icebreaker design. A medium-to-large icebreaker intended for these environments will need to balance icebreaking capability with shallow-draft constraints, ensuring safe operation in shallow and deep waters. This project will address the key performance challenges in propulsion.

The demand for the propulsion systems would be high in ice-covered shallow waters. Propellers can experience violent impacts with ice blocks, leading to damage or jamming of the blades. In shallow depths, conventional large-diameter propellers are not feasible, i.e., the icebreaker must use smaller propellers to avoid grounding, which can limit thrust. In heavy brash ice, propulsive efficiency drops as the propellers re-circulate a mush of ice and water. The challenge is to design a propulsion solution that provides high power and high maneuverability in ice, is protected against ice impact, and still operates efficiently in open water.

Research will be carried out to explore effective solutions to address the propulsion challenges in ice-infested shallow while considering the leverage of propulsion system for ice clearing. The intern will be involved in the design and evaluation of propulsors by carrying out numerical studies.

“KnowMe Privately” – Conceptual design and prototypical implementation of a privacy-preserving, consumer-facing health portal service for active patient engagement and increased provider awareness

The aim of the project is to design effective informational security and privacy controls for a new type of patient health portal that will empower patients to share contextual information about their values, priorities and beliefs with members of their extended circle of care. Knowing “what matters” to patients is important for clinical decision-making in order to achieve the best possible outcomes from a patient perspective. However, such information is commonly not readily available to clinicians. The industrial partner in this project is developing the “KnowMe portal”, a Web-based service that empowers patients to register and share with their caregivers what matters to them. This internship project will design effective, yet easy to use mechanisms for protecting patient privacy in this portal solution.

Dreamcatcher Informatics: a Web-based and Mobile Information System to Support Land Management, Consultation, and the Preservation of History, Culture and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

The role of this internship is to assist in reaching the SSHRC goal for the Dreamcatcher system of capturing cultural data, traditional ecological knowledge, and traditional land use. This internship will contribute to the growing area of critical Indigenous research in Canadian planning practice and theory. Canadian planning structures, including heritage recognition and conservation, are one example of how post-colonial policy structures continue to fail to effectively work with Canada’s First Nations communities (RCAP, 1996); Indigenous heritage as a result remains underrepresented and under threat. By altering heritage planning policy and practice to include intangible heritage, resulting policy can more fully recognize heritage diversity in Canada and suitably protect Indigenous culture and knowledge for future generations. The development of community-centred collaborative heritage tools, such as Dreamcatcher, are prime examples of alternative planning tools central to the protection of Indigenous intangible heritage and traditional knowledge in Canada.

Strategic Decision Making in Adversarial Planning applied for Used Water Management

This research proposal is in the field of decision making under uncertainty. More specifically, we focus upon improving decision making in adversarial, stochastic and/or partially observable situations. In any situation where there is more than one agent that can impact its current state, or any variable that is outside the control of the agent, we are in the presence of adversarial planning. Failing to recognize the impact of other agents on a situation leads to suboptimal solution. Thus, finding a good solution to a problem in adversarial planning can lead to important shift in decision making paradigm and is of relevance for many fields of research. More specifically, we focus upon improving the decision making applied in the field of municipal used water management. The long term objective of this research program is to provide an adversarial decision making platform for researchers and practitioners to facilitate the decision making process. As we have 2 partners in this project, both have convergent yet slightly different interests. For our municipal partner, their interest lies at the improvement of their current situation regarding the evaluation of different decisions.

Process flow improvement at a Parallam mill using simulation modeling

In this project, the intern will study the production process at a Parallam mill in Vancouver working closely with its Production Manager. The objective of this work is to develop simulation models to evaluate potential alternatives in order to improve the process efficiency of the final stage of operations at the mill. The final stage is called the remanufacturing department. This stage is the bottleneck of the system and limits the mill’s productivity. It is operational 4.5 days a week and the intention is to be able to have it operational 24/7. It is important to first study the system to identify issues limiting the throughput of the remanufacturing department and propose potential scenarios for improvement. Then, simulation models will be developed to evaluate each potential scenario and determine the best option to help the mill increase its outputs

L2M – Low-Pressure-Drop Air Filtration for High-Volume HVAC Systems

Wildfire smoke and airborne pollutants are an increasing threat to indoor air quality, yet existing filtration systems struggle to balance efficiency, energy use, and proper airflow in large-scale applications. This venture is developing a novel air filtration system that integrates directly into building air handling units to deliver superior particulate removal without high pressure drop or energy consumption. By leveraging advanced particle flow dynamics, this technology can provide adaptable, low-maintenance filtration for large indoor spaces such as sports facilities and commercial spaces, as well as critical environments including hospitals and manufacturing facilities. In a world facing climate-driven air pollution challenges, this technology addresses the growing need for resilient, energy-efficient air quality solutions.

Developing a centralized SQL-based data management system to modernize portfolio and risk management operations

Cortland Credit is a rapidly growing alternative investment manager specializing in private debt and public bond portfolios. Five years ago, the firm operated with fewer than 15 employees; today, the team has expanded to over 30 professionals. With this growth, the firm’s existing data management system – based primarily on Excel and CSV files stored on Microsoft SharePoint – has become increasingly inadequate for supporting portfolio and risk management operations. Cortland Credit plans to modernize its infrastructure by developing a centralized SQL-based data management system. This database will consolidate and standardize datasets, enforce consistent update processes, and provide structured permission controls across teams. Once implemented, this system will serve as the backbone of a Portfolio Management Platform that integrates portfolio analytics, risk management tools, and performance monitoring into a unified framework. A central component of this initiative is the development of a private debt pricing model that leverages the SQL-based platform. Unlike public bond markets, private loan markets currently lack standardized and widely adopted pricing methodologies. As a result, private debt valuations are often less transparent and less consistent across the industry. Cortland Credit, as one of Canada’s leading private debt managers, is uniquely positioned to address this gap by drawing on its extensive proprietary data and institutional expertise. The proposed model will be innovative in two key ways: 1. It will integrate real-time, multi-source datasets across origination, credit, and portfolio management teams, ensuring that valuations automatically update as new information becomes available. 2. It will establish a robust, market-based framework for private loan pricing, improving transparency and reliability in an area where only limited models currently exist. This innovation has the potential to benefit not only Cortland Credit but also the broader Canadian private debt industry by advancing best practices in credit valuation and portfolio risk assessment.