Innovative Projects Realized

Algae Photobioreactor Subcomponent Engineering Revision

Symbiotic EnviroTek Inc., developed and patented a proprietary technology for growing micro-algae for producing plant-based protein for human food, animal feed and for treating wastewater. The project includes engineering revision, fabrication and testing to certain subcomponents of technology to improve operational efficiencies and performance.

Clean Air for All: Enhancing Air Quality and Sustainability in Canadian Educational and Commercial Spaces

One Lightwave specializes in providing advanced UVGI air purification systems for classrooms and commercial spaces. The company’s mission is to improve the indoor air quality and health of building inhabitants. Their product line is specially designed to eliminate pollutants such as bacteria, viruses,and allergens that are commonly found in classrooms and commercial spaces. As this is a one-of-a-kind system, a challenge has been to locate key audience sectors at provincial and federal levels.

A study found that 30 out of 37 schools in New Brunswick had peak carbon dioxide readings of about the desirable amount. The testing results were published by GNB here.The Department of Education is planning to overhaul the systems, seven being completed last year. One Lightwave system is specifically designed to tackle these issues. This project will help optimize business processes, promote and create marketing campaigns and increase product distribution and network. Through completing these tasks, One Lightwave will be able to provide much-needed air quality support and interventions for Atlantic Canada.

Kwickadee Android Application

The project will be to build out the Android version of the Kwickadee dating app currently available on iOS. This will encompass a wide variety of feature sets including onboarding, login, profile creation, matching, date location selection, date setup and more to come! This will be a huge benefit to the partner organization as there is an estimated 41% of users in Canada on Android devices. This will allow us to reach an extended user base which is critical to this type of social application to succeed.

A computer vision-based approach for performance analysis of boxing sparring and competition

Quantitative performance analysis of boxing bouts is presently limited by the time it takes to manually process video footage, as well as the expertise that is required. We propose to develop an automatic performance analysis and action classification system for boxing sparring and competition bouts that is based on a computer vision action recognition pipeline. In recent years, advances in deep learning and the creation of large image datasets has produced numerous models for action recognition and pose estimation from monocular camera footage. However, many of these data sets focus on action recognition for day-to-day tasks, and thus accuracy in classification of pose and action diminish quickly when models trained on generic datasets are applied in specific domains. We propose to augment datasets of video footage with motion capture data by developing a synthetic dataset pipeline wherein variations of the motion, 3D environment, and camera angles are generated by a photorealistic game engine. Through domain randomization and adaptation techniques, our novel synthetic dataset will result in a model for robust classification of boxer actions and other metrics, such as ring position, and allow for unprecedented motion and performance analysis for boxing.

Calibration, Characterization and Optimization of Microwave Imaging System for Grain Monitoring

Microwave Imaging (MWI) is an emerging modality where the goal is to estimate the electrical properties of an object-of-interest. This is done by transmitting a microwave signal into the OI and collecting measurements outside the OI. The measurements are inputs to an optimization algorithm that solves for the unknown electrical properties. It has been proven using computational techniques that the proposed modality can be successfully adapted for monitoring moisture content inside grain bins. Based on the aforementioned study, prototype hardware and instruments, used in the actual grain-bin MWI system, have been designed and built.
In this work, calibration techniques for actual datasets collected from a grain-bin MWI system are investigated and applied. The calibrated data are then inverted using state-of-the-art inversion algorithms. Further, novel techniques for reducing the modelling error via hardware optimization are studied and tested using scaled prototype metallic chambers. The research is conducted at the Electromagnetic Imaging Laboratory at the University of Manitoba.

Application of Data Analytics for Warm Applied Solvent Process Pilot Analysis

This project will develop data-driven models for production performance analysis and optimization for solvent-assisted bitumen recovery operations and related processes. Effective operations of solvent processes are crucial for reducing GHG emissions associated with bitumen extraction processes. Although the recent developments in digital oilfield technologies have enabled real-time surveillance of downhole operating conditions and production data, analyzing a large amount of collected data remains challenging without customized data analytics tools. The industry partner has gathered a comprehensive data set in a pilot study. Machine-/deep-learning approaches will be integrated to establish relationships between reservoir characteristics, operational parameters, and production responses. The project outcomes will offer important insights into how to optimize solvent operations.

Thermodynamic and phase equilibrium modeling for inert anode species dissolved in the electrolyte used for aluminum production

Currently, aluminum is produced with the Hall-Héroult process. Usually, consumable carbon anodes are used, thus leading to high rate of emissions of greenhouse gases in the environment. Anodes based on a new carbon-free material are being developed in Québec by Elysis, which originated from a partnership between Alcoa and Rio Tinto. This would be very beneficial to the environment since O2 would then be emitted instead of CO2. This change in anode material requires to understand the possible reactivity between it and the cryolite-rich fluorinated electrolyte. This project is intended to provide reliable experimental data that will permit the best calibration of a thermodynamic model, compatible with the FactSage thermochemical software package. The developed model will be used to assess the reactivity and solubility problems associated with constituents of the anode and their partial dissolution in the electrolyte.

Cancel Culture: Who, What, Where, When and Why

Cancel culture has rapidly developed into a social phenomenon sweeping through the internet as a new-age moral enforcement mechanism. When individuals call out others for their actions (past or present), they are attempting to bring attention to said others in order to bring about a form of justice. As social media has provided a medium for any individual to have a voice, and the population of individuals watching everyone else’s behavior has become broader and more diverse than ever before. On the surface, it appears anyone can be cancelled by anyone for any reason and it all may look random or unjustified – but only at first. The student working on this project will be part of pioneering the academic literature on this topic. The proposed project will investigate the individual differences, including personal views and personality, that predict likelihood to experience moral catastrophizing, and in turn participation in piling on and ultimately canceling others.

Enabling services for naturally-occurring ageing in place

Canada’s rapidly ageing population has drawn attention to the housing and care needs of older adults.
Supporting older Canadians to age in the right place will require innovative housing models and infrastructure
that can support their independence, safety, health and social well- being. One such model is Naturally
Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs), which integrate health, social and physical supports directly
within the community. Working with our partners, the Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC)
Innovation Centre at UHN and Bridgeable, experts in service design, the proposed research involves studying
the service model, outcomes, and requirements needed to support front-line staff in NORC contexts. This
research will be used to develop a beta version of an online portal to be used by staff to support residents in
these communities. This research and outcomes will directly benefit both partner organizations; first by providing
important social and technical assistance to NORC in developing this important online portal; second, by
exposing Bridgeable to a new context where service design can provide direct social impacts.

Ultra Casual – Investigation of game design with cognitive analysis in casual games

This project centers around what we refer to as “ultra casual” games with the goal of discovering more efficient ways to develop engaging casual video games. The industry partner Victory Square Games has partnered with Microsoft to develop 20 games for the Windows tablet to further expand their Windows 8 app library. The associated internship project seeks to advance the state of game design through the formation and application of new theories for greater user engagement and cognitive analysis, and adapt into an agile game development methodology.

Assessment of Markerless Motion Capture for Pediatric Populations with Difficulty Walking

A new artificial intelligence based markerless motion capture technology could improve care children with difficulty walking. Marker-based gait assessments are often used to help make decisions about treatments. We will explore if this new markerless approach works in kids and specifically if it works in kids with difficulty walking. We will determine if this approach gives similar results to the existing marker-based approach that requires more time, specific clothing and cooperation from children. We will also find out how much faster it is and if children like it more. Lastly, we will determine if we can do markerless assessments for kids who we cannot do marker-based assessments. This has the potential to make care more patient and family-centered and to increase the population of children with neuromotor impairments who can have a 3D gait assessment to guide their treatment.

Formulation et caractérisation d’enrobés municipaux contenant du plastique souple recyclé

Le recyclage des 4 millions de tonnes de déchets plastiques post-consommation produits chaque année est quasi-inexistant au Canada. Alors que les centres de traitement intermunicipaux sont capables de trier ces déchets, ils finissent en très grande partie enfouis faute de solution technique de recyclage mature et compétitive. L’ÉTS et ses partenaires souhaite créer un débouché important pour ces plastiques, en particulier les plastiques souples (emballages, stretch…), en tant qu’additifs bénéfiques dans les enrobés bitumineux utilisés pour revêtir nos chaussées (plus communément appelé « asphalte »). Le potentiel taux de recyclage est aussi important que les défis techniques que pose l’incorporation des plastiques recyclés dans l’enrobé. Le projet aura pour objectif d’établir et d’optimiser en laboratoire la formulation d’enrobé modifiés aux plastiques sur la base de performances mécaniques et environnementales. Ainsi, nos partenaires auront une référence pour produire et utiliser des additifs issus de plastiques recyclés localement.