Innovative Projects Realized

Viscoelastic Coupling Dampers for Enhanced Dynamic Performance of a High-Rise in Toronto

The biggest challenge faced by structural engineers in the design of high-rise structures is to control the dynamic responses of these structures due to wind and earthquake vibrations. While the traditional techniques of stiffening and adding vibration absorbers can mitigate the vibrational response to a degree, they also increase the construction cost and result in a loss of leasable space in the building structure. The goal of the proposed project is to perform preliminary and detailed design of a 60-storey high-rise structure in downtown Toronto using the Viscoelastic Coupling Damper (VCD) from Kinetica Dynamics Inc, which is a spinoff company from the University of Toronto. The VCD is a novel damping system that controls high-rise wind and earthquake vibrations by adding distributed viscous damping to the building without occupying any leasable floor space. The project is divided into three stages, all focusing on a 60-storey high-rise building in downtown Toronto: i) preliminary VCD design and analytical model validation, ii) VCD design optimization and iii) Detailed VCD design. The engineering work performed during this internship will result in important design documents for future Kinetica Dynamics projects.

The use of Social Media to promote grassroots advocacy for the Living Wage

This project will engage a graduate student in communications to conduct research on usage patterns directed at social advocacy initiatives with the goal of conceptualizing how social media can be utilized to raise public knowledge and spur discourse about the living wage issue.

Metal Mixtures – Data for Field-Relevant Soil Quality Criteria to Protect Plant Health

The Black Experience Project (BEP) in the Greater Toronto Area – Phase 2

This project aims to build on Phase 1 of the The Black Experience Project (BEP) currently being undertaken in the Greater Toronto Area. The multi-year research study that this project will support aims to examine the barriers to success for Black community members living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) which have and/ or continue to prevent the GTA’s diverse Black community from attaining their potential success (e.g., to become involved in leadership positions in various sectors including, but not limited to, the public, private, educational, political, legal sectors etc.). The purpose of this study is to bring together diverse voices, perspectives and experiences of “Black” people living in the GTA in order to document a more contemporary vision of lived “Blackness” in this context. Explorations of these lived experiences will be documented through focus groups. The results of the focus groups will shed light on the current vision of lived “Blackness” in Toronto as well as the barriers to success being faced by Black community members.

LED Street Lamp Retrofit Project

The City of Hamilton has developed some basic costing and implementation models for a) the replacement (retrofitting) of existing street lighting with LED street lighting and b) incorporate LED street lighting in new construction. These models were created in conjunction with the LED technical evaluations and it was identified that there is justification and a need for a comprehensive business model – specifically for retrofitting existing street lighting. The intent of this project is to develop a new process for implementing LED street lighting to replace the existing High Power Sodium (HPS) lights throughout the city. The project also includes the creation of a business model that would assist in guiding the City of Hamilton in making future decisions related to the further adoption of LED street lighting. The development of a comprehensive business model would therefore form a great percentage of this assignment. In addition, a business model would provide a tool which the City of Hamilton would use to ensure that any future capital and operational investments are utilized as fiscally efficient as possible. The project will explore which suitable technology is currently readily available and which vendor would prove to be the best fit for the needs of the city. The project will be documented and presented so the city can make decisions based on the numbers provided for future implementation of the LED Street lamps.

Emotion Regulation & Executive Functions in Adolescents Practicing Martial Arts

The intern will play an integral role in the completion of a pilot treatment study to explore the feasibility and sensitivity of neurobiological measures to explore brain-based changes in emotion regulation and executive functions (e.g., impulse control) associated with participation in Mindfulness Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is a treatment program developed at Integra that integrates evidence-based mental health therapy into the milieu of martial arts training. The intern will develop skills in EEG and ECG administration and data analysis. She will also gain an understanding of MMA and its treatment components and how specific treatment components are associated with activation of different areas in the brain. She will share her knowledge and expertise about neurobiology and emotion regulation with the clinical and management team at Integra, thereby futhering their understanding of the LD/mental health population and the impact of MMA. Integra will use this information to support the identification of MMA as an evidence-based treatment and to develop a national/international training program to support its dissemination.

Development of Novel Chemistry for Copper Deposition by ALD

Copper is an important metal for microelectronics: it acts as interconnects (i.e., the wiring) between the devices in the microchip. As microchips get smaller, it is more difficult to make this wiring by traditional methods. Thus, a new technology (atomic layer deposition, ALD) is positioned to enable the deposition of copper when interconnects need to be formed on the nanoscale. Presently, there is no ALD process that adequately deposits copper with the necessary conductivity to act as an interconnect. This research will continue to develop the chemistry of a family of copper-containing compounds that show excellent characteristics for ALD. This family of compounds have been defined in a provisional patent application, and this term internship will provide the improvements that this technology needs to demonstrate its excellence as a premiere copper precursor.

Retrospective molecular subtyping of pediatric medulloblastomas and poor prognosis gene markers

Medulloblastoma is the most common brain tumor in children. It is treated with a combination of surgical resection, chemotherapy and radiation. Radiation to a child’s brain can have harmful side effects that may have implications in later development. We intend to use molecular gene expression to validate our findings from BC Children’s Hospital regarding low and high risk tumor subgroups. Along with this, we will analyze the expression of polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1), which may be a key protein for drug therapy development to treat high risk patients. In addition, we will investigate the underlying molecular characteristics of the highest risk medulloblastoma tumor subgroup by expanding our gene target panel to include epigenetic regulatory proteins with the goal of developing personalized cancer therapy. Molecular gene expression and clinical outcome will be correlated to better understand trends in this disease. We hope to avoid irradiating mild cases unnecessarily while ensuring aggressive treatment for poor prognosis medulloblastomas.

Optimization of a TMP production process by Implementing a new online pulp quality analyzer

Irving Paper is a specialty paper producer located in Saint John, New Brunswick. The mill has made significant investment most recently. There are three TMP lines that produce high quality TMP to be used by two super- calendered (SC) paper machines. The TMP quality, including the fiber characteristics, would be critical in producing high- quality SC paper. The project is part of Irving Paper’s goal to optimize the overall production process, including the decrease in the production cost. This internship will work on a project related to a new on line fiber control system that will target to improve the TMP refining, screening, and paper making process. The student will use the facilities at UNB and Irving Paper to complete the proposed project. It will provide a strong training opportunity to the intern.

Fluids and Fracture for Video Games

Animated fluid effects based on physical simulation have been a staple part of the visual effects industry. They are characterized by offline simulation and rendering that produces high-fidelity dynamics and visuals. As the technology for computer games advances, the opportunity to create such effects in real-time as either a playback technique or dynamic simulation is becoming feasible. The internship will explore the integration of fast methods for fluid dynamics and fracture dynamics to determine their effectiveness for use in the video game industry.

Virtual Hamilton

This research project entails the development and user study assessment of a prototype participatory urban planning tool for the City of Hamilton (Virtual Hamilton), which integrates GIS data with a 3D virtual city model to facilitate stakeholder visualization, collaboration, content contribution, and communication. In consultation with City of Hamilton ward councilors and urban renewal, planning and economic development officials, Barton Street and Kenilworth Ave, areas of the downtown, slated for significant redevelopment activity, were selected as appropriate sites to be included in the development of a prototype virtual city model in partnership with McMaster University. The feasibility of developing the virtual city prototype has been considered and ensured by its limitation to a small subsection of the City of Hamilton and its utilization of a prepared virtual world platform and access to GIS expertise and data. The Virtual Hamilton prototype will be hosted for the City of Hamilton by McMaster University on a prepared open source (Open Sim) virtual world research platform (macGRID) under the directorship of the Supervising PI, Dr. David Harris Smith. The GIS data will be provided by the McMaster Centre for Spatial Analysis and GIS Lab. User study testing and stakeholder consultation will ensure the designed prototype virtual city planning tool conforms to the needs of the Hamilton urban planning community.

Minds in Motion: Evaluating Impacts and Guiding Progress

The Minds in Motion Initiative (MIMI) is a community-based project run by Waterloo Regional Homes for Mental Health, Inc. This initiative has three main goals: to assist mental health consumers in the recovery process by providing access to physical health activities, to raise awareness in the community at large about mental health issues, and to provide a unique walking race experience for athletes and amateurs alike. The study will evaluate the impacts of this project on well-being through the collection and analysis of both numerical and narrative data from key participants in MIMI. The project will be guided by a steering committee composed of consumers of mental health services, their family members, staff members of Waterloo Regional Homes, and members of the community at large. This research aims to contribute both to the development of MIMI and to the literature regarding community-based mental health.