Innovative Projects Realized

Development of Mechanochromic Cellulose Films for Damage-Indicating Packaging

This project will develop color-changing films made from plant-based cellulose that can show visible signs when packaging is damaged. These smart films are designed to respond to pressure or impact by changing color, making it easier to detect if a product has been dropped or crushed during transport. The focus is on using sustainable materials and safe chemical methods to create reliable damage indicators without electronics. The project will explore how to attach special dyes to cellulose to improve film performance. This work supports new research directions in green materials at both institutions and provides hands-on training in advanced materials design and testing.

Enquête sur la pratique ostéopathique au Canada: Une analyse transversale

Au Canada, environ 8 millions de personnes souffrent ou souffriront de douleur chronique, un nombre en hausse avec le vieillissement de la population. L’ostéopathie, basée sur des techniques manuelles, vise à soulager ces douleurs et améliorer la fonction. Toutefois, l’ostéopathie n’est pas réglementée au Canada, et on en sait peu sur les ostéopathes et leurs patients. Cette étude cherche à recueillir des données sur leurs caractéristiques et leur pratique.
L’enquête OPERA, un questionnaire de 54 questions adapté pour le Canada, sera diffusée aux ostéopathes entre août et décembre 2025. La promotion se fera via les associations professionnelles, les écoles et les réseaux sociaux.
Les résultats pourraient influencer la pratique, la formation et la collaboration entre professionnels de la santé mais également favoriser l’accès aux soins pour la population.

Throughput Optimization of Paint Shop Operations in Aerospace

Airbus Helicopters Canada’s one of the main important activities is to serve the Canadian market in helicopter completion and customization of civil and parapublic helicopters, including private, corporate, EMS, law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue, oil & gas, utility, and tourism. With the recent orders from Ontario Government and other customers, the production capacity is expected to double within the next two year. In helicopter completion, the paint shop process particularly creates challenges in terms of bottlenecks and high turnaround times. This process is particularly challenging to tackle due to specific constraints in paint applications, process time variability, as well as the need to use insulated paint room, causing limitations in achieving continuous operation flow. The objective of this project is to provide new facility design for paint shop process to achieve continuous flow and reduce the turnaround times from 6 weeks to 3 weeks. To achieve this objective a simulation-optimization approach will be implemented. The final recommendation of this work will lead to an updated production system design that is capable of meeting delivery targets in a cost efficient manner.

Développement d’une plateforme interactive de diagnostic durable basée sur des agents conversationnels guidés par des modèles causaux et des LLMs.

Ce projet vise à aider les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) à mieux comprendre et améliorer leurs pratiques de développement durable. Pour cela, nous allons créer une application web interactive qui permet aux entreprises de répondre oralement à un questionnaire. Grâce à l’intelligence artificielle, les réponses seront automatiquement analysées et résumées. L’application pourra ensuite proposer des recommandations personnalisées pour améliorer les pratiques environnementales, sociales et économiques de l’entreprise. Le partenaire, CAE Laprade, utilise déjà un programme appelé PROAction pour accompagner les PME. Ce projet leur permettra d’automatiser et de rendre plus accessible ce service, tout en conservant une approche humaine. Il contribuera à accélérer la transition durable des PME québécoises, tout en positionnant le Canada comme un leader de l’IA éthique et responsable.

Oi Marketing

Oi Marketing is a dynamic digital marketing agency supporting small and medium-sized businesses in achieving their growth goals through tailored marketing strategies. The organization faces a critical innovation challenge: staying ahead of rapid changes in digital marketing technologies and consumer behaviors while scaling its capacity to serve diverse clients efficiently. To address this, Oi Marketing requires a project that goes beyond its routine operations and focuses on designing new processes, tools, and content strategies that enhance client engagement and operational efficiency. This intern will contribute by researching innovative approaches to local SEO, transitioning client websites to Google Analytics 4 for advanced data tracking, and developing structured workflows for content creation. These activities demand expertise in digital marketing concepts, SEO practices, website analytics, and a strong ability to synthesize information into actionable strategies. Their work will enable Oi Marketing to streamline services and provide higher-impact marketing solutions for clients.

Real-Time Monitoring of Antioxidant Degradation in Lubricants

This project aims to improve how we monitor the condition of lubricating oils used in engines, turbines, and other critical industrial systems. These oils rely on antioxidants to prevent chemical breakdown. When the antioxidants degrade, it can cause equipment damage, costly downtime, and environmental harm.
To address this challenge, researchers at Carleton University, in collaboration with international academic partners, including V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, are developing a next-generation optical sensor. This device uses Raman spectroscopy, enhanced by nanomaterials, to detect early molecular changes in oil that are invisible to conventional methods.
The innovation will support Canadian industries, such as energy, aerospace, and defense, by improving maintenance strategies, reducing waste, and enhancing system reliability. At the same time, the project fosters global research collaboration by bringing students from Ukraine and potentially other European countries to Canada, promoting shared expertise in clean technology, sensing, and advanced materials.

Smash and Tess Dreamwear Inc.

Smash + Tess Dreamwear Inc. is a Vancouver-designed, North American-made apparel company that has gained a cult-like following for its signature Rompers and commitment to sustainability. As a brand that prioritizes slow fashion and community connection, Smash + Tess has successfully built a loyal customer base; however, it now faces the innovation challenge of scaling its digital presence to reach new audiences and remain competitive in an ever-changing e-commerce landscape. With the rapid evolution of digital platforms and consumer behaviors, traditional marketing tactics are no longer sufficient to drive growth. This project seeks to explore and implement innovative digital marketing strategies that go beyond day-to-day operations by designing data-informed campaigns, testing emerging content channels, and refining customer acquisition approaches.

L2M Lensx AI wearable glass for the visually impaired

LensX: Empowering Independence for the Blind through AI Wearable Smart Glasses

LensX is an AI-powered assistive technology designed to support blind and low-vision individuals in navigating the world more independently. The project uses a combination of real-time computer vision and voice-based AI to help users identify their surroundings, read text, recognize objects, and receive auditory guidance all hands-free.

This project aims to develop and test a mobile-based MVP that will later integrate with wearable hardware. By collaborating with the visually impaired community, we hope to create a solution that is not only technically advanced, but also practical, respectful, and truly useful.

LensX is built with the belief that vision loss shouldn’t limit independence and this project is a step toward making that belief a reality.

Bridging the Gap Between High and Low Pressure Pyrolysis of Fluorinated Pollutants

Considerable scientific research is oriented towards providing answers to the disturbing effects of the impacts of global change. There is a growing need to introduce new methodologies to explore the often very complex and interconnected chemistry of the atmosphere. This research program aims to advance our current mass spectrometry-based studies on halogenated atmospheric pollutants with the spectroscopic tools employed in Cordoba to better understand the fate of these species at higher pressure.

Commande flexible de convertisseurs statiques pour applications en mobilité électrique

L’objectif de ce projet de stage de recherche est de réaliser une étude de méthodes de commande flexible des convertisseurs statiques en technologie de semiconducteur GaN pour la mobilité électrique. Le projet vise spécifiquement la proposition d’une stratégie de génération des signaux de commande flexible pour permettre l’optimisation simultanée du contenu harmonique de courant fourni par les convertisseurs statiques multiniveaux, l’optimisation du rendement global et l’application pour un système de traction; Il vise également, la proposition d’une architecture d’implémentation en FPGA la stratégie de commande proposée en vue de la valider expérimentalement sur un convertisseur multiniveau en technologie GaN; et enfin, il vise la proposition et la validation par simulation des algorithmes pour technologies de calcul quantique permettant la génération des signaux de commande optimisés. Le projet, en partenariat entre l’UQTR et les universités de Pamplona (Unipamplona) et Industrielle de Santander (UIS) en Colombie, permettra la formation de deux stagiaires, le premier de niveau doctorat d’Unipamplona, et le deuxième de niveau maîtrise de l’UIS en Colombie.

Deciphering the role of plant mitochondrial alternative oxidase (mtAOX) isoforms by protein carbonylation profiling

Plant cells naturally express enzymes that remove the reactive oxygen species (ROS) or prevent their production to a detrimental level under stress conditions. One such protective enzyme is the alternative oxidase enzyme (AOX) that is unique to plants among all other eukaryotes. There exist five AOX enzyme isoforms, AOX1a, AOX1b, AOX1c, AOX1d and AOX2, in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. While AOX1a was found to be the most abundant and stress-responsive isoform, redundancy in the expression of the AOX isoforms has so far made it difficult to understand the biological function of the other isoforms and to disentangle the functional specificity of each isoform. The proposed research for the internship will leverage the profiling of proteins modified by ROS (by carbonylation) to investigate the function of individual AOX isoforms of A. thaliana. New protein targets could thus be found for breeding crops of high economic importance to Canada, including canola, maize, and wheat, with a focus on enhancing stress tolerance. The internship will also enable the training of a student from India and advance research in the two laboratories, thereby contributing to the research partnerships between India and Canada.

Integration of traditional and telematics data via mass imputation

While telematics data with measurements of specific driving behaviors such as speeding, breaking, and turning, have shown significant predictive power in modeling accident risk, its usability has been challenged due to the low proportion of auto insurance policyholders that agree to provide their telematics data to the insurance companies. In this regard, we propose a novel method to create the unobserved telematics features out of the observed traditional features and insurance claim experience based on the so-called mass-imputation method for handling both telematics data scarcity and selection bias. It is also expected that by blending methodological expertise from the home institution with the host’s access to Canadian insurance applications, this partnership will set the stage for joint student supervision, co-authored publications, and mutual visiting scholar opportunities.