Innovative Projects Realized

Improving Anti Money Laundering through Active learning Methods

Fighting against financial crime is a battle that humanity is losing as a whole. Money Laundering is the critical component of any criminal activity that needs to be profitable. Therefore, fighting money laundering is fighting against all crimes including terrorism, human trafficking, drugs and wildlife trafficking. The United Nations (UN) estimates 2 trillion USD is laundered globally, and only less than 0.2% of that can be recovered by the authorities. The main responsibility lies in the financial institutions, where the majority of the laundering activity occurs. However, these institutions use rule-based systems that generate huge amount false-positive alerts and fail to catch criminals. Machine learning is a promising tool that has shown good results for complex tasks such as this one. In this project we propose to tackle the problem of money laundering detection through active learning strategies, where a human expert provides labels for cases carefully selected by the machine learning algorithm. We will identify the most well suited active learning strategies for the problem using multiple types of data including individual customer data and sub-graphs. A new special-purpose active learning solution will be developed to achieve better performance for this problem

Reaction-diffusion equations and hydrodynamic limit of interacting particle systems

Consider a physical system comprising a substantial quantity of particles that dynamically interact with each other over time. Since the number of particles is large, an explicit description of the microscopic behavior of the system becomes effectively impossible. An approach to understanding how these systems behave is to look at certain observables on a macroscopic scale, such as pressure, temperature, etc., and then to derive partial differential equations known as hydrodynamic equations which describe the evolution of the particles. In this project, we study the theoretical mechanism by which the microscopic dynamics give rise to the macroscopic ones. In particular, we are interested in systems whose hydrodynamic limit corresponds with an important class of equations known as reaction-diffusion equations. We expect to identify particle systems with the aforementioned property, and then rigorously establish the convergence to its corresponding hydrodynamic limit.

Cooperative Inversion of UAS-based Magnetic and Radiometric Observations in Mineral Exploration

Mineral exploration is one of the biggest drivers of the Canadian economy, and the critical minerals discovered in Canada
have global relevance for a green energy market. However, today’s mineral exploration projects require higher spatial
resolution and better subsurface models to become viable. Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) present new exploration platforms
that carry geophysical sensors and acquire radiometric and magnetic data closer to the target than any other airborne platform.
This enables new modelling opportunities towards improved subsurface models. This study will combine radiometric data and
magnetic data in a cooperative inversion model to quantify how the acquisition of both data types improves mineral exploration
success. This project will result in innovative approaches which will keep Canada at the forefront of developing geophysical
exploration methods.

Evaluating mammalian diversity across a gradient of disturbance in Tsay Keh Dene Territory using eDNA

This project aims to identify the effects of human activities, particularly logging and mineral exploration, on mammals that live in the Tsay Keh Dene (TKD) Nation Territory. We plan to use a method called environmental
DNA (eDNA), which involves detecting genetic material from animals in the environment, to understand how much logging and at what distance logging activities influence the diversity of mammal species downstream in river
networks. The research will provide information about the different types of mammals in the TKD Nation area and will be useful for future land management and conservation planning. It will help the TKD Nation make decisions
about where and how much resource extraction should happen on their land. Moreover, this project will also help evaluate how effective eDNA can be as a tool to monitor the impact of disturbances on native fauna.

Vibration serviceability performance of mass timber slabs with glulam beam supports and concrete toppings

This research addresses the vibration performance of mass timber floors, which is crucial for their structural design and maximum allowable span. As mass timber construction is relatively new, there is a lack of specific design
guidance, especially for floors with beam supports and concrete toppings. Our goal is to assess the vibration serviceability of a large-scale mass timber floor with glulam beam supports using vibration testing and subjective
evaluation. The outcomes will provide valuable data for the industry partner to support the design of vibrationresistant mass timber floors. Additionally, our research will contribute to the wood construction industry, potentially
influencing future revisions of the Canadian engineering wood design standard CSA O86. By enhancing our understanding and design capabilities, we aim to improve the overall performance and guidelines for mass timber
floors.

The role of automobility engagement in consumer response to new mobility innovations

The transport sector is the second highest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada. The prevalence of car use in passenger transport, also referred to as “automobility”, is a key driver of GHG emissions and other societal issues. Transport innovations can reduce emissions – for example, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are an essential component in achieving climate goals. However, automobility patterns may still represent a challenge for transport sustainability. The Sustainable Transportation Action Research Team (START) and Navius Research Inc. are leaders in analyzing impacts from transport innovations in Canada. This project analyzes data from a large-scale survey of Canadian citizens to investigate consumer preferences for PEVs and other innovations, and their relationship to mobility by private cars. The project aims to improve knowledge of sustainable transportation pathways from a consumer perspective, which may help to inform transport and climate policies.

Microbial Dyes

Lite-1 utilizes innovative technologies like synthetic biology and biofabrication in pursuit of a novel solution. Many bacteria naturally produce colourful, non-toxic pigments (Ahmad, et. Al, 2013). Through the lens of design, we identify and study organisms that produce the market’s desired colours. Lite-1 dyes reduce water pollution, are safe for workers as well as the ecosystem, and eliminate our dependence on non-renewable resources. The product offers an overhaul to the dye industry to shift from one of the preeminent polluters to a regenerative and more humane industry.

This project is focused on leveraging the expertise and highly specialized equipment at the Lee Lab to improve the productivity of the Lite-1 organisms to achieve higher yields, streamline production and downstream processing protocols and decrease culture times through genetics.

RevMate: Towards an optimized review process in AAA game development

In software development, code reviewing is an essential code validation step during integration [1, 2]. When developers submit their code for review, human reviewers need to validate the changes made to source code
and other artifacts (e.g., data files, artifacts created by artists). This review process can go through several iterations in which the reviewers comment on the submission and the submission’s developer revise the
submission by submitting a new version (“revision”) addressing the suggested changes. Eventually, the (revised) submission either is accepted and forwarded to integration in the main development branch, or
rejected.
In this research project, we study different automation approaches to improve the velocity of the code review process at Ubisoft, our industrial partner. More specifically, we intend to build techniques for code chunk
ordering, hot-spot detection and review comment prediction. We will also establish a pre-review protocol where the developer validates and/or modifies our approaches’ results, as to have actual developers’ input and insights
in the review process. We aim to conduct this study on several AAA game productions, both ongoing and past games, to empirically assess the generalization of our results.

A High-Performance, Rapid-Cure Epoxy Resin Formulation for High Voltage Coils Using Radical-Induced Cationic Frontal Polymerisation (RICFP)

This project explores new polymer cure methods using a combination of light and thermally sensitive catalysts for epoxy thermoset resins. These resins can be used for a number of applications, including as insulators in high voltage coils. The postdoc and MSc interns will identify simpler epoxy formulations that utilize specially tuned photoinitiators and thermal catalysts. This will be accomplished by a design of experiments to identify potential formulation candidates followed by in-house testing at TMU and at the Trench site. The benefits to the partner is a simplified, more stable formulation with a much smaller carbon footprint and an increased throughput of epoxy coated electric coils during manufacture.

Territoire en transformation. Accroissement démographique et augmentation de la fréquentation récréotouristique à Bromont

La ville de Bromont connait présentement des transformations géographiques découlant d’une forte croissance démographique issue de migrations interrégionales. Ces migrations de résidents provenant des milieux urbains se sont accrues depuis le début de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Certains urbains choisissent de s’établir à Bromont, notamment pour profiter des activités en milieu naturel de montagne. En plus de cet accroissement démographique, le territoire bromontois enregistre une augmentation de la fréquentation récréotouristique. L’arrivée d’un grand nombre de nouveaux résidents soulève des interrogations quant aux impacts sociaux et environnementaux. Comment les Bromontois perçoivent- ils cette migration sur leur milieu de vie ? Quels sont les impacts de cette transformation du territoire sur la communauté ? Ce projet de recherche vise à connaitre les préoccupations et les attentes de la population bromontoise et des touristes. Des dimensions telles que l’appartenance au territoire, l’aménagement urbain et le développement des infrastructures récréotouristiques seront abordées. Les résultats de cette recherche, la méthodologie employée ainsi que les stratégies d’innovation sociale développées lors de ce projet pourront profiter à d’autres territoires de montagne, au Québec et au Canada, qui connaissent des transformations similaires.

Evolution of flower shape : 3D modelling applied to the Gesneriaceae

The project aims at studying the patterns of evolution of the flowers of the Gesneriaceae family. It will use a newly developped 3D modelling approach that uses photogrammetry to study the evolution of flowers in 3D without losing color information. The research aims at testing if there are gaps in the variation of flower shape across the family, it certain regions of the flower evolve faster than others and if flower shape in color evolve in a correlated fashion. This research will contribute to having a better understanding of flower evolution.

Co-développement d’ateliers pour promouvoir le bien-être psychologique après un accident vasculaire cérébral

Puisque les enjeux de santé mentale sont fréquents à la suite d’un accident vasculaire cérébral, l’organisme ARTÈRE, basé à Québec, cherche à intégrer des activités qui permettraient de soutenir le bien-être psychologique de ses membres. Ce projet vise à développer des ateliers pour promouvoir le bien-être psychologique. Quatre objectifs spécifiques seront?poursuivis: (1) identifier les enjeux principaux et les stratégies à prioriser; (2) développer les ateliers en s’assurant que le contenu et le format sont adaptés à la réalité des personnes avec un AVC et de leurs proches; (3) réaliser l’implantation et l’évaluation des ateliers; et (4) développer du matériel de formation afin d’assurer la pérennité des ateliers pour ARTÈRE.