Innovative Projects Realized

Compressive Superresolution Projector

Research into so-called computational displays has shown that new and extended imaging modes can be made possible by augmenting novel optical design with computation. Examples include highdynamic range display via local LED backlights and multilayered autostereoscopic (glasses free 3D) displays. While there has been considerable progress in standard television form-factors, this line of research has only recently started to be explored for projectors. This project will examine the use of dual-modulated digital micromirror device (DMD) projector designs for the display of super-resolution content. Dual modulation refers to imaging one spatial modulator onto another in order to map each pixel of one modulator onto multiple pixels of the other. Spatial modulators may be LCD panels in standard displays or DMDs for projectors. The proposed design will be able to provide improved resolution to a variety of projection systems of the future, including digital cinema projectors, event setups, and home theater applications.

INTERACTIVE DISCOVERY WALKS: A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR EXPLORING TORONTO PARKS AND NATURAL HERITAGE FEATURES

City parks and outdoor recreational opportunities are among Toronto’s most valued resources. The Discovery Walks Program has been one of  Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation’s flagship outreach efforts to engage residents and tourists alike in learning about culturally and environmentally significant areas across the city. The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a mobile interactive Discovery Walks application that delivers an in-depth and customizable experience to users. Information describing the local environment, recreational opportunities, as well as cultural and historical features will be combined with mobile geolocation technology to allow users the opportunity to participate in self-guided and interactive tours. Development of the mobile mapping tool will use HTML5 with several Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and libraries such as jQuery and Google Maps/Fusion Tables. The project’s organizational partner is the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation, which believes that engaging a new generation of visitors to parks and natural areas (a mobile generation) provides a contemporary approach to the promotion of many of Toronto’s most valued characteristics and may also serve to enhance stewardship of the city’s prominent natural heritage features.

Amplifying youth voices: A qualitative investigation of Raising the Grade

Raising the Grade is an innovative after-school program launched last year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGCC) in 35 clubs across Canada. Through the use of online learning tools, mentorship, and the early promise of a scholarship, the program hopes to engage youth at risk of dropping out of high school and help them graduate from high school and enrol in post-secondary education. The proposed internship is part of a long-term developmental, formative evaluation of Raising the Grade currently conducted by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC). Renewal of the present internship will enhance the evaluation in a number of meaningful ways. Firstly, it will utilize an innovative, multimedia data collection platform to capture youths’ perspectives and amplify youth voices through online focus groups and discussion forums. The methods used here align well with Raising the Grade’s focus on digital literacy and participatory action research, and will provide valuable, much needed information from the youth participants. It will also enable youth to provide rapid, detailed, and nuanced information about their experiences in the program, supporting the participatory approach used for the program and its evaluation. The internship will inform SRDC and BGCC on how to engage youth in the evaluation, as well as ways in which the program can be improved and scaled up in the future.

Personal Analytics to Enhance Smarter Commerce

Personal analytics refers to a recent trend where individuals wish to collect, analyze and visualize personal information so that they can gain knowledge about one’s behaviours, habits and thoughts in the context of their personal goals. The trend of self-tracking is rapidly increasing as people are becoming smarter about choices available to them, and seek awareness into the value of the actions they take and the purchases they make. While significant research effort is going into the research of ubiquitous tools to support the collection of personal data, a critical component of personal informatics tools is to support the integration, reflection and action phases of personal analytics: people need the ability to bring data together, to explore their data to understand their patterns, and to understand themselves in an objective way to devise plans of action. In this project, we aim to develop more advanced visualization and interaction techniques to present the data to the user so that they can make sense of their data, reflect on it and ultimately make more informed decisions within the context of smarter commerce initiatives at IBM.

Open MIDaaS – Mobile Identity as a Service

I will be working on open MIDaaS project. It stands for Mobile Identity as a Service. The project aims at making a mobile application the centre of user authentication. The app will be like a personal wallet which will store the list of attributes like verified email, address, and phone and credit card numbers. A merchant can request these attributes using push messages, QR code or other means. This will reduce the repetitive form filing and verification steps every time one goes to a new merchant site. I will also create MIDaaS library and hub. The library will enable any merchant or organization to integrate with open MIDaaS. MIDaaS hub will provide two-way communication between different and anonymous devices. I will also provide integrity solutions for the app and library, to protect the code from hackers. The partner organization will benefit from my knowledge, interest, and prior experience in mobile application development and information technology.

Integrating aboriginal perspectives into health, safety and environmental compliance systems

Many Aboriginal peoples want to participate in economic development on their territories. They want to be treated with respect and have their cultural heritage recognized. They also want to ensure that resource development on their territories is safe, healthy and does not degrade the natural environment. There are business and IT solutions that exist that could help fill that gap, ensuring that aboriginal peoples are able to monitor business activities on their land. The use of natural resources or access to traditional territory needs a solution that works for existing industry and for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Software systems, informed by a comprehensive review of compliance management and the unique needs of aboriginal peoples, can be developed. These systems will help encourage economic activity that respects Aboriginal title and rights while also being efficient in its delivery to industry (and to some extent government regulators as well).

Chemical nanosynthesis of laser filters for aviation applications

Protection from laser light has become increasingly important due to the proliferation of cheaper and more powerful laser systems, especially in regards to interference with aircraft operations. Laser attacks, otherwise known as laser illuminations can be serious safety risks for aircraft operations as it can cause temporary flash blindness or irreversible injuries to the eyes of the pilot during takeoff or touchdown. Such incidents are increasing at an alarming average annual rate of 63% over the past ten years. The goal of this project is to aid in the development of a platform thin film filter technology called metaAIR that can be adhesively applied on the inner surface of an aircraft’s cockpit glass window and block any laser beams of predetermined light wavelengths. Large-scale metaAIR films will be superior to existing inadequate laser filtering solutions and reasonably cheap to fabricate, providing passive, hassle-free laser protection. 

Geological and Geophysical Studies of Source and Reservoir Units in the Flemish Pass Basin, Offshore Newfoundland

Suncor Energy Inc. and Memorial University will collaborate on a research program for three Master’s student interns to study the crustal structure and geological history of the petroleum-bearing Flemish Pass Basin and adjoining Central Ridge, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador. The goal of the research is to understand the large and small-scale tectonic processes that formed and modified the basin and underlying crust; reconstruct the ancient drainage system that deposited the sedimentary rocks in the basin; and define the timing and distribution of fluid and oil migration after the rocks were deposited. Geophysical, mineralogical and geochemical techniques will be employed. Suncor holds interests in several exploration and significant discovery licenses in the study area. The internships will provide the company with data and interpretations that will be useful for planning their exploration program in the licensed areas.

This research project was undertaken and completed with a grant from and the financial assistance of Petroleum Research Newfoundland & Labrador.

Marketing research for nuclear power plant refurbishment & life extension and an Establishment business strategy in targeted region

The sponsor company, Gnest Inc has plenty of experience in the consulting and design of nuclear power plant and specialized specific nuclear power engineering projects. Internship periods for 4 months can help the sponsor company to prepare for new promising fields of nuclear power engineering with specialized plan. The output of internship can help sponsor company to establish short and long term business strategy and enhance the strengths in expected or announced nuclear power plants refurbishment and life extension projects in target countries. To achieve goals the intern carry out market research of refurbishment and life extension of nuclear power, analysis of target countries nuclear power policy, analysis and list up of related projects for sponsor company, establish preparation list for new projects through discussion, business trip and researches. Then the intern finally submit marketing research for nuclear power plant refurbishment & life extension and Business strategy in Asia and South America as final report.

Exploration of Authoring Features to Facilitate Rapid Creation of STEM Subject Content in Mobile Practice Applications

This internship is a continuation of a previous Mitacs Accelerate Internship during which time Mathtoons worked with Dr. Wang of UBC Okanagan and intern, Yipin Guo of the Math and Computer Science faculties. The previous research enabled Mathtoons development team to incorporate many features within its Content Editor software which will allow teachers of upper level STEM subjects to create complex questions (without requiring software coding ability), preview the question within the software to view device constraints, and easily embed LaTeX formatted formulas that can be read and reviewed by students using small, handheld mobile devices. The second and current phase of the internship will now consider these next potential softwareeatures for collaborative content editing: 1) Ability to easily incorporate graphs in questions; 2) Addition of content tagging features to allow global content searchability, 3) User Customized Buttons for easy creation of complex STEM subject questions, 4) Testing of new editing tools within Mathtoons Content Editor. Mr. Guo and supervising professor, Shawn Wang, will help Mathtoons development team discover, test, assess and refine further authoring tools that will make their app content authoring software more accessible for more STEM content creators.

Photovoltaic Production-Developing new Materials and Approaches

Through the Ontario Green Energy Act, solar manufacturing is rapidly growing in Ontario with S2E being involved in several new initiatives including a new lamination facility in London, Ontario. Several fundamental problems need to be addressed in the lamination procedure and materials required for photovoltaic (PV) panel construction. To increase panel efficiencies, this project will examine new materials and the integration of various light absorbing materials into the poly (ethylene vinyl acetate) EVA encapsulants. We will examine new polymer coatings and films with light harvesting properties in which UV radiation from the sun is converted efficiently into more useful higher wavelengths for higher panel efficiencies. Novel EVA films integrated with nanocrystals such as Quantum dots, mesoporous silica nanoparticles for temperature control, and light harvesting nanowires. The lamination process will also be examined for implementing new technologies.

Investigation of fugitive dust emissions from Nepheline Syenite mine tailings near Nephton Ontario

UNIMIN extracts and produces feldspar at two adjacent sites located north of Havelock, Ontario. In recent years, there have been occasional complaints from nearby residents concerning high levels of dust deposition on their properties. The residents believe that the dust originates from the mine site. In response, UNIMIN has invested heavily in several dust control strategies. However, the relative efficacy of these strategies has not been quantified for the given site conditions. Damilare Ogungbemide is a PhD candidate working within the internationally-recognized Trent Environmental Wind Tunnel group (TEWT) at Trent University. He will carry out field and wind tunnel measurements which will investigate the physical properties of the mine tailings as related to dust emission. The ultimate goal of this research is to provide information that will allow UNIMIN to customize/optimize their dust management program for the range of climate and topographic conditions found at the mine.