Innovative Projects Realized

Reconstruction 3D quasi temps réel basée sur l’apprentissage machine dans un jumeau numérique d’impression 3D

En impression 3D, une pièce peut contenir des défauts internes (par exemple de petites zones de porosité) qui sont difficiles à voir pendant la fabrication, mais qui peuvent réduire la qualité et la fiabilité. Ce projet vise à estimer plus tôt ces défauts internes en utilisant un capteur rapide déjà disponible : un scanner laser 3D (Gocator 3210) qui mesure la surface de chaque couche juste après son dépôt. Le stagiaire construira une méthode basée sur l’apprentissage automatique qui apprend le lien entre ces scans couche par couche et des scans aux rayons X en 3D (micro-CT) réalisés hors ligne, afin de produire une reconstruction 3D “probable” de l’intérieur de la pièce et des indicateurs de qualité faciles à interpréter (porosité, zones à risque, etc.). La solution sera ensuite intégrée à un jumeau numérique mis à jour après chaque couche, pour améliorer la détection précoce des dérives, réduire les rebuts et les délais d’inspection, et renforcer la traçabilité qualité des pièces imprimées.

Mitacs Application Breton Group

This project will help improve BenchBoss, a sports performance tracking app created by Breton Group, by moving it from an early prototype to a fully tested and reliable platform. The intern will research better ways to capture real-time performance data, build and validate easy-to-understand analytics dashboards, and test the app with youth coaches and parents to make sure it is simple and useful. The project will also check how well the system performs when many users and teams are active at once. The results will give Breton Group a stronger, research-backed version of BenchBoss that is more accurate, more user-friendly, and better prepared for commercial launch.

Les gros arbres habitats sont-ils des parapluies pour la rétention de dendromicrohabitats en forêt boréale mixte?

L’aménagement durable des forêts boréales du Québec doit concilier la récolte du bois et la conservation de la biodiversité, un équilibre difficile en raison de la forte utilisation des coupes totales. Historiquement dominées par des vieilles forêts, ces régions abritent une grande diversité de dendromicrohabitats (cavités, champignons, épiphytes), essentiels à de nombreux organismes. La perte et la fragmentation des vieilles forêts entraîne ainsi une perte durable de biodiversité. Une solution d’aménagement envisagée consiste à maintenir des îlots de rétention, notamment autour de gros arbres riches en dendromicrohabitats, susceptibles de jouer un rôle de « parapluie » écologique capables de protéger une grande diversité de dendromicrohabitats présents sur les arbres voisins. Le projet vise donc à tester si la présence de dendromicrohabitats sur de grands arbres favorise leur co-occurrence sur les arbres voisins, dans des vieilles forêts mixtes du Québec (FERLD, Abitibi-Témiscamingue). Des inventaires détaillés et des modèles statistiques permettront d’identifier les relations spatiales entre habitats et de définir des seuils de surface de rétention écologiquement efficaces.

Synthèse d’images par estimateurs de Monte Carlo spatio-temporels

La création d’images de synthèse ultra-réalistes nécessite des calculs de lumière complexes, souvent trop longs pour les besoins actuels. Les algorithmes récents (tels que ReSTIR) accélèrent le rendu en réutilisant les informations lumineuses d’une image à l’autre, mais ils risquent d’introduire des distorsions visuelles. L’objectif de ce stage est d’analyser les statistiques de ces méthodes pour définir le compromis optimal entre rapidité et précision. Le résultat sera une méthode de rendu plus robuste, validée par son intégration dans un logiciel de synthèse d’images. Ce travail garantira une haute qualité visuelle tout en respectant des contraintes de temps strictes.

Best Practices for Inclusive Branding, Marketing & Communications

This project is a community-based action research initiative focused on inclusive branding and communications. As the province has become much more diverse, many organizations are struggling to connect effectively with newcomers and other under-represented groups. The goal of the project is to help address that gap and disconnect by conducting research with a sample from the target group and developing an inclusive branding and communications toolkit using an intersectional lens.

This project is grounded in applied research, focusing on research, which includes lived experience of diverse populations and practical solutions to real-world challenges. The core research question looks at how organizations can use more inclusive branding, marketing, and communications to increase visibility and better connect with an increasingly diverse population.

Through research on best practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and by working directly with community members and organizations, the project will identify more accessible and equitable ways to design and communicate. These strategies will then be tested with real audiences, and the findings will be shared through a free community workshop and toolkit. stakeholders include nonprofit and charitable organizations, government department representatives, academic administrators, socially-focused enterprises including cooperatives and social enterprises and of course representatives from diverse communities.

For an academic supervisor, I can confirm that my previous instructor at CNA, Barry Green, has agreed to participate, and my workplace supervisor would be Roxana Fazli, a PhD candidate at Memorial University with extensive applied research experience. My coursework and school projects have given me strong research skills, including market feasibility research, survey and evaluation design, data collection and analysis, report writing, presentations, and customer relations. Academically, I’m also considering Memorial University’s business credit transfer pathway toward a BBA, while thoughtfully assessing how recent developments in AI are impacting jobs.

Étude de la mise à l’échelle d’un procédé de synthèse de catalyseurs biosourcés innovants

La valorisation des déchets alimentaires constitue un enjeu majeur pour le développement de procédés circulaires et durables. Parmi les voies prometteuses, la récupération du calcium et du phosphore issus de résidus tels que les coquilles d’œufs, les arêtes ou les os de poisson permet la synthèse d’hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), un matériau reconnu pour ses propriétés structurales et sa capacité à servir de support catalytique. Dans le cadre de projets de recherche sur la valorisation de déchets en catalyseurs pour procédés énergétiques et environnementaux, cette recherche vise à étudier la transposition à une plus grande échelle (scale-up) d’une méthode de synthèse d’hydroxyapatite développée au sein du Groupe de Recherche sur les Technologies et Procédés (GRTP) à l’UdeS, ainsi qu’à évaluer ses propriétés physico-chimiques et catalytiques après incorporation d’un métal actif.

Climate change and its effect on bioturbation and sedimentary character of tidal flats and tidal channels in the Venice Lagoon

Climate change is becoming an increasingly prominent global phenomenon causing damage and alteration to various aspects of our environment. The Venice Lagoon, a unique coastal environment elected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is extremely vulnerable to these disruptions. Since infauna (organisms that live within the sediment) are in constant interaction with the environment, their behaviour and traces reflect the conditions of the ecosystem. Therefore, by studying traces, we can better understand how environmental stresses are influencing the ecosystem. This project will last 12 weeks in Italy and consist of both field and laboratory work.

This research project will promote the exchange of knowledge, resources, and expertise, as well as establish lasting connections between the participating international institutions. Interns will apply comparable research methods to other modern and ancient environmental case studies as part of their thesis work. Consequently, the skills and experience gained through this project will strengthen both field and laboratory approaches in future research. The objective of this project is to improve our understanding of how sedimentary environments and infauna respond to changing climate, which will help us better assess the future impact of climate change on coastal lagoons and compare it to past climate change occurrences.

Processus moléculaires aux interfaces environnementales

La surface de la glace est le siège d’importants processus moléculaires qui influent sur le réchauffement climatique comme sur la chimie de l’atmosphère. Des phénomènes comme la formation du trou dans la couche d’ozone et les flux (photo)chimiques de NOx émanant du couvert nival dans le milieu polaire sont deux exemples concrets de la catalyse hétérogène environnementale par les surfaces glacées. En examinant les mécanismes réactionnels en condition contrôlée au laboratoire, nous jetons un éclairage sur l’interprétation des dynamiques moléculaires impliquées dans des phénomènes responsables de l’évolution de la composition de l’atmosphère de notre planète, des changements climatiques jusqu’à l’interprétation des traceurs paléoclimatiques qui sont emprisonnés dans les calottes polaires depuis des millénaires. Le projet de recherche portera sur l’étude de phénomènes élémentaires fondamentaux d’adsorption de molécules sur la glace en utilisant les techniques de jets moléculaires et de spectro-microscopie optique et électronique de système modèles en laborartoire.

Engineering Curvature in Metal-Embedded Molecular Macrocycles

Macrocycles are ring-shaped molecules with internal cavities that can interact with single molecules, ions, or small clusters, making them valuable across areas such as catalysis, optoelectronics, sensing, and environmental remediation. Most known macrocycles are purely organic because their synthesis is well established, while macrocycles that incorporate metal atoms directly into their ring backbone remain rare and poorly understood. The host research group at the University of Saskatchewan is developing new strategies to build these metal-containing molecular rings and explore the unique properties they enable, including tunable optical, redox, and magnetic behavior.

This project explores a new way to construct curved molecular structures by embedding platinum or palladium centers directly into ring-shaped molecules rather than attaching metals at the periphery. These precisely defined ‘molecular nanhoops’ allow systematic investigation of how molecular curvature influences electronic and light-responsive properties, which is important for the rational design of advanced functional materials.

The collaboration brings together complementary expertise in macrocycle chemistry and self-assembly from the home institution in Mexico (Cinvestav, Tiburcio Lab) with advanced synthetic and characterization capabilities in Canada. It will provide high-level research training while fostering long-term international collaboration and strengthening Canada’s leadership in fundamental molecular and materials science.

Studies of Magnetic Fluctuations and Disruption Dynamics Using Internal Mirnov Coil Array in the STOR-M Tokamak

Tokamak is the most promising magnetic confinement fusion reactor configuration for clean energy with practically inexhaustible fuel supply on the Earth. Even though significant progresses have been made, challenges still exist. For example, catastrophic disruptions due to various instabilities in tokamak must be avoided since the sudden interruption of a huge current may destroy the expensive reactor beyond repair. Identifying disruption precursors and mitigation of disruptions are among the most important research topics for tokamak physics and engineering development.

STOR-M at the University of Saskatchewan is currently the only tokamak in Canada for research and training. The intern will utilize the excellent facility to conduct experimental studies of instabilities and the induced minor disruptions in STOR-M. Being small in size, STOR-M is robust enough to withstand the disruptions artificially induced and allow studies of the disruptions. This study may help to identify the precursors leading to disruptions and to develop technology to suppress the instabilities and to avoid major disruptions. Intern will learn rich laboratory skills such as vacuum, electrical, control, data acquisition and processing.

Advancement in Visualization Design for Intensive Outreach and Education: Novel Denture and Anti-snore Devices

Dentures are oral appliances or prosthetic devices that replace missing teeth and restore oral function, speech, and aesthetics. The denture market is driven mainly by the older adult population, which is expected to grow by 68% in the next 20 years according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. These individuals often suffer from sleep-related breathing disorders such as sleep apnea, exhibiting moderate to excessive snoring which is typically ignored or neglected. This neglect can increase the risk of more severe health problems such as stroke, hypertension, chronic heart failure, diabetes, and many others. This applied design research project will explore the continued development of novel denture and anti-snoring devices that aim to address these issues. It will build upon earlier concepts previously explored. More particularly, this project will focus on communication and visualization design aspects to explore ways of increasing awareness around such issues and the proposed solutions. The ultimate goal is to move product concepts up the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale and establish a more effective outreach and education strategy that will support the introduction of new innovations in materials, manufacturing, and design to the target markets.

Cognitive Navigation and Task Reasoning in Field Robotics

This project explores how a mobile field robot integrates semantic perception, task reasoning, and task-aware planning to operate autonomously in unstructured, real-world environments. The work focuses on implementing and evaluating existing perception and task-reasoning components that enable the robot to interpret visual and spatial information, infer task intent, and select feasible actions under uncertainty. Experiments are conducted primarily on the ANYmal quadruped robot, with Unitree Go1/A1 platforms used for rapid prototyping and early validation. The project progresses from simulation to field testing over a four-month period, assessing task execution performance and the quality of semantic environment mapping. Conducted in collaboration with the UCL Robot Perception and Learning Lab, the project supports supervised undergraduate research training and strengthens international research ties by providing access to advanced robotic platforms and academic expertise in AI-enabled robotics.