Innovative Projects Realized

Enhancing data access through geovisualization using aerial imagery of coastal habitats

Coastal landscapes, bridging the terrestrial and marine environments, are characterized by their dynamic shorelines and diverse geomorphological features, including soft and rocky shores, cliffs, coastal shelves, and wetlands. These habitats are crucial for supporting life cycles, marine food webs, and broader ecosystem functions. As climate change and human activities increasingly impact these areas, effective monitoring and management have become more complex. ShoreZone, which is widely utilized and predominantly funded by public resources, plays a vital role in coastal management and research, across public, private, and non-government agencies. This project seeks to advance data visualization practice by developing an interactive, web-based tool designed to share shoreline imagery acquired by SeaChange. The goal of this proposed project is to work closely with SeaChange to utilize the ShoreZone database to utilize a variety of immersive methods, to reflect the coastscape, and assess the development and functionality, focusing on visualizing temporal and spatial changes in habitat data.

Suppressing the Scarring of Burn Wounds with Genetically Educated Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Large burn wounds are a leading cause of morbidity and a major burden on Canadian patients and the health care system. Burns can be clinically treated by transplanting donor mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that suppress inflammation and regenerate the recipient tissue. However, the stiff culture surfaces of bioreactors stress-activate MSCs during expansion into scar-promoting ‘myofibroblasts’ with reduced regeneration potential. Our project aims to prevent MSC-to-myofibroblast activation in the stressful mechanical conditions of expansion culture by ‘relaxing’ MSCs with genetic approaches. Using normal and scar tissue-mimetic culture approaches, cell phenotypic and transcriptional profiling, we identified a novel transcription factor that is prevalent in relaxed MSCs. In gain- and loss-of-function experiments, we will test the potential of genetic manipulation of this this factor to re-educate scar-forming into regenerative MSC in culture and in animal transplant experiments – for better healing outcomes.

Évaluation des performances d’un procédé de biolixiviation pour la récupération du Cu et du Zn présents dans des rejets miniers abandonnés

Dans le cadre de la transition énergétique, la demande pour les minéraux critiques et stratégiques (MCS) augmente constamment. Cependant, l’extraction et le raffinage de ces MCS à partir de sources primaires peuvent s’avérer coûteux et techniquement complexes, surtout lorsque les métaux recherchés sont présents en faibles concentrations. C’est pourquoi les rejets miniers, souvent considérés comme des résidus sans valeur, sont de plus en plus perçus comme des ressources secondaires potentielles et prometteuses de MCS. Ce projet de recherche vise à évaluer la performance d’un procédé de biolixiviation pour la gestion de rejets miniers provenant de sites miniers abandonnés et la récupération des métaux de valeur (i.e., Cu, Zn et autres potentiels MCS). Des essais préliminaires de biolixiviation seront réalisés en erlenmeyers sur des rejets miniers afin d’évaluer les effets des conditions opératoires (i.e., nature des microorganismes, pH, taux d’O2) sur l’efficacité de solubilisation des MCS. Des essais de biolixiviation seront ensuite effectués en béchers agités pour évaluer l’impact de la recirculation du biolixiviat sur les performances de biolixiviation. Les résultats obtenus permettront une meilleure compréhension des avantages/limites du potentiel de valorisation des MCS présents dans les rejets miniers, tout en minimisant les risques de génération de drainage minier contaminé.

Employing Network Analysis and Mining for Effective Crowdsourcing Market Research and Reporting

The main aim of the project is to develop the characteristics of a Prosumer, i.e. a consumer that interacts on-line with a company providing useful and insightful comments on its products. Data from consumer interaction databases are will be analyzed using the tools of data mining in order to accomplish the goals of the project..

Amélioration des pratiques en gestion de projet au sein de Bâtir son quartier

Le projet de recherche a pour objectif de formaliser un ensemble de pratiques de gestion de projet via une plateforme numérique au sein d’une entreprise d’économie sociale œuvrant dans le domaine de l’habitation social et communautaire. Ces entreprises sont de plus en plus sollicitées afin de répondre à la crise du logement grandissante au Québec. L’entreprise d’économie sociale Bâtir son quartier (BSQ) coordonne la réalisation de projets d’habitation et d’immobilier communautaire depuis 1976. À la lumière d’une croissance anticipée des projets et du personnel, et dans une volonté d’amélioration continue, BSQ a entrepris depuis peu un chantier pour revoir et harmoniser ses pratiques de gestion de projet. Dans le cadre de ce chantier, BSQ cherche notamment à formaliser et à mettre en place des mécanismes pour améliorer l’accès aux données et informations ainsi que de permettre un suivi de la performance des projets par ses gestionnaires de projets. Ce projet de recherche permettra à BSQ de formaliser ses pratiques de gestion de projet et de les opérationnalisées au moyen de la plateforme, du développement des outils et des stratégies pour soutenir cette mise en œuvre.

Caractérisation avancée de biocomposites hybrides à base d’acétate de cellulose fonctionnalisée et de cellulose microcristalline pour des applications électroniques durables

Ce projet vise à développer des matériaux composites 100% cellulose pour des applications dans l’emballage électronique biosourcé et biocompostable.
L’idée consiste à plastifier le diacétate de cellulose par greffage chimique des chaines de polycaprolactone (PCL) flexibles afin de fabriquer la matrice CA-g-PCL. Les greffons PCL ont l’avantage d’avoir une température de transition vitreuse basse (Tg = -60°C) et d’être biodégradable. Les composites CA-g-PCL/MCCx (x est le pourcentage de fibres MCC qui sera rajouté) seront préparés par le couple extrusion-thermocompression. Les analyses morphologiques, diélectriques, calorimétriques, thermogravimétriques, mécaniques seront utilisés pour analyser les performances de ces nouveaux biocomposites. Les résultats seront comparés avec ceux des composites préparés via la plastification externes.

The asymmetric spin glass as a model of altered cognition in schizophrenia and the psychedelic state: A neuromagnetic and computational study

This project investigates the brain mechanisms underlying schizophrenia and altered cognitive states using advanced computational models inspired by physics and machine learning. It focuses on understanding how the brain’s activity, thought to operate in a balance between order and disorder (known as criticality), may shift away from this balance in schizophrenia and in the psychedelic state, affecting cognition. By analyzing existing brain data from patients and healthy individuals, the project aims to uncover the dynamical regimes of the brain that are linked to altered cognition and explore their implications for brain-inspired artificial intelligence systems. This collaboration between the Donders Centre for Neuroscience and the University of Montreal brings together complementary expertise. Prof. Kappen’s team at Donders contributes deep knowledge in statistical physics, machine learning, and control theory, while Prof. Jerbi’s team provides advanced neuroimaging analysis and psychiatric insights. This partnership bridges physics, AI and neuroscience, promising innovations in diagnosing and treating mental health disorders, as well as generating insights into the many dimensions of biological and artificial intelligence.

Détection acoustique d’anomalies en usine

L’usine du groupe Canam située à Sherbrooke est équipée de plusieurs perceuses magnétiques et statiques qui sont utilisées pour le perçage de pièces en acier. Ces outils doivent être opérés de manière optimale afin de limiter les bris d’équipement qui entraînent des coûts et du temps de maintenance supplémentaires. Notamment, la vitesse de rotation, la pression exercée sur l’outil et le type de mèche doivent être choisis judicieusement pour chaque tâche à accomplir. Le partenaire possède pour le moment peu de rétroaction pour s’assurer d’une utilisation optimale des outils. Cependant, les ouvriers expérimentés sont en mesure de déterminer l’état d’un outil à partir du son émis par celui-ci. Cette observation demeure néanmoins subjective, et gagnerait à être mesurée et analysée grâce à des méthodes numériques avancées. Ce projet vise à concevoir un système automatique d’écoute des perceuses pour fournir une rétroaction aux opérateurs moins expérimentées et garantir une utilisation optimale des outils.

L2M – Otherside Health

The project aims to provide accessible, empirically-guided, and population-specific mental health interventions. These interventions will be co-created with the populations who will benefit from them, using a participatory action framework developed by applicant Kev Kokoska’s PhD research with incarcerated people. The core idea is to tailor and repurpose the mental health tools that have proven effective in the hardest setting (prison) so that other hard to reach or “treatment resistant” communities may also benefit. Our mental health market research to date tells us that tailored (population-specific) approaches to mental health are of significant need, especially in historically marginalized communities. The main commercialization challenge we have faced is clarifying the difference(s) between ‘customers’ and ‘users’. Therefore, this will be the primary focus during this Lab2Market Validate process. We wish to better understand the needs of customers (institutions/organizations) and how solving their institutional pains will promote mental wellness in our users (specific segments of the ‘general public’).

Parameterized Pulse Encoding for Quantum Machine Learning

Chemical property predictions using quantum machine learning (QML) lie at the intersection of machine learning, quantum computing, and computational chemistry. QML models often use parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs) that abstract gate-level quantum operations but offer limited flexibility in adjustable parameters. To enhance QML model performance and generalizability, incorporating pulse-level operations, which lie below gate-level in the quantum computing stack, is crucial. These operations enable more adjustable parameters and finer control, potentially improving robustness against noise on real quantum hardware.

We hypothesize that integrating pulse-level operations into QML models will improve their ability to predict chemical properties like bond dissociation energies through regression tasks. The goal is to develop hybrid quantum circuit-pulse learning algorithms to optimize both pulse- and gate-level parameters. We will use quantum-mechanically calculated chemical data to train and test the models, investigating how training data size affects generalization error.

Additionally, the project will evaluate whether hybrid circuit-pulse learning offers advantages over standard quantum circuit learning in accurately predicting chemical properties. By addressing PQC limitations and exploring pulse-level operations, this work aims to advance QML’s application in computational chemistry, paving the way for more powerful and adaptable models.

Sii T’ax Development Corporation Five-Year Strategic Plan

This project is a strategic planning project designed to transfer skills and capacity building in the form of a five-year strategic plan for the Sii T’ax Economic Development Corporation. This project will also include an assessment of the current business units of the Sii T’ax Economic Development Corporation. Based on recent and current ISIS projects with the four villages of the Nisga’a First Nation, ISIS proposes to expand its economic development planning initiatives into a capacity building, skills transfer and mentoring role with the board of directors at the Sii T’ax Economic Development Corporation. In its highest-level form, this would involve an ISIS student spending an initial 2 months to become familiar with the Sii T’ax Economic Development Corporation and designing a five-year strategic plan. At the end of this 2-month period, ISIS would work on recommendations of implementation for the growth of the business units of Sii T’ax Economic Development Corporation.

Strengthening the Transition to Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Quebec: Understanding the Barriers, Mobilizing Stakeholders and ESG Strategies

The project aims to support Terre à table, an organization committed to sustainable agriculture, by deepening the understanding of the economic and environmental challenges related to agri-environmental practices in Quebec. The intern will conduct research to identify barriers to farmers’ adoption of sustainable practices and ways to overcome them. It will also analyze the sustainability strategies of food companies to foster beneficial partnerships between producers and businesses. At the same time, it will study the specific needs of other actors in the organization’s areas of action, such as indigenous communities . This project will enable Terre à table to better support producers in the transition to a more environmentally friendly agriculture, while strengthening its links with other players of the agri-food value chain.