Innovative Projects Realized

Architecture exploration for high-integrated and low-cost avionic systems

Digital avionics systems of today are designed for the most part with embedded computers. These computers run safety-critical real-time applications such as flight management systems (FMS) and flight control systems (FCS). Even if avionics use conservative technologies, economic concerns are constantly pushing for changes. Space, weight, power and cooling (SWaP-C) considerations are gaining importance in the aviation industry. High fuel and maintenance costs encourage aircraft manufacturers to reduce the footprint of new models. For many years, avionics systems have been designed to run a single application on dedicated hardware in tightly coupled hardware/software architecture. These federated systems are no longer economical, given the duplication of hardware they incur. Modern airplanes like the Airbus A-380 use Integrated and Modular Avionic (IMA) architecture to reduce the footprint of new avionics systems by combining several applications within a single computer hardware unit. The interns in this project will work on the IMA development environment and design a platform demonstrator to help our partners make the right decisions regarding architectural tradeoff and optimization. 

Green sustainable telco cloud

Bringing cloud computing from the Internet domain to Next Generation Networks (NGN) in order to provide Telco cloud services will leverage the use of NGN, reduce costs and create many value-added services. It is therefore becoming critical for world-class carriers, like Bell and Telus, to adopt a cloudbased communications model. However, unlike public Internet clouds, a Telco cloud has specific requirements, such as performance, scalability, security and isolation. The CANARIE GreenStar Network (GSN), led by Mohamed Cheriet, recently became the first network in the world to be powered entirely by renewable energy. The proposed project will evolve the GSN platform and will address challenges in building interoperable elastic cloud services that are green and sustainable, by designing open and scalable clouds with environmental control features that optimize workload, energy consumption and GHG emissions. Unlike most of the server-centric public Internet cloud solutions, the proposed model will be network-centric and target the telecommunications industry. The partnership with Ericsson will help to systematically investigate the Telco cloud architecture, with a view to developing optimal and reliable designs for next generation green and sustainable clouds. 

Selectomics to monitor and predict the emergence of resistance to new therapeutic approaches

Multiple antibiotic resistances have increased over the past decades, challenging our ability to treat bacterial infections and thwarting our ability to develop new antimicrobial agents. Many resistance genes have not evolved within the pathogenic isolates but were acquired by lateral transfer. We recently showed that genes conferring glycopeptide resistance are highly prevalent in the human flora. Some of these genes are present in novel commensal anaerobic species of the gut suggesting that these bacteria may serve as a reservoir for resistance genes. We will use the human gut microbiome to monitor the emergence of resistance genes that could have the potential to be transferred to pathogens and address the question of how these reservoirs of resistance detenninants respond to antibiotic pressure. The selectomics strategy generated by this project will constitute useful tools to assess the potency of novel chemical compounds to select for resistance. 

Medical grade programmable smart battery charger and analyzer

Evaluating enzyme activities in sprouted wheat and their functional properties in baked products

Exploring a salutogenic model through the sense of coherence with Executive Health patients at Cleveland Clinic Canada.

Assessing the impact of an electronic patient tracking board on organizational performance

This study will investigate the process of information technology adoption within the Canadian health care system in order to uncover the underlying promoters and barriers to technology implementation. The knowledge gained from this study will assist McKesson and other health IT companies to adjust their technologies and deployment strategies for effective technology implementation. Ultimately, more effective technology implementation will result in more efficient workflows and health are delivery. This study may uncover ways to improve work processes and reveal the process of hospital systems adaptation to new technologies. Methods to increase the adoption of new technologies such as new change management programs at Southlake and other Canadian hospitals may be developed. This study will help demonstrate the role of technology in improving efficiency, safety, and lowering cost which will help make Canadian health care more sustainable. 

Supporting Ontario EcoSchools: building capacity in schools and school boards to implement environmental initiatives

Evaluation of “Steps to Success Community Learning and Wellness Program”

Real-time detection & 3D-location estimation of moving objects

Continue the development of PanSharp software system

Product development research