Innovative Projects Realized

Aerodynamic Noise of High-Lift Devices Year Two

The proposed project studies the noise sources of airplane high-lift devices (HLD) that are responsible for most of the aircraft noise at approach. The latter in turn creates noise nuisances that create health issues to populations close to large urban airports. Two approaches are followed. A state-of-the art simulation that predicts most of the turbulent structures that generate the HLD noise will be performed and will serve as a reference to the development of analytical models of the HLD noise that will be integrated in a unique software by the partner. The latter will both test his in-house simulation tools, increase his knowledge on HLD noise, and in turn could help both the Canadian aeronautic manufacturers and HLD suppliers at the design stage to propose quieter systems, and improve their competitiveness. Noise reduction devices could also be proposed in the course of the project.

Window of Quebec

‘Window of Quebec’ has been conceived to create awareness on racism and discrimination at workplace using digital stories. The larger objective of the program is to uphold values of diversity and inclusion; and confront racism and discrimination at various levels. Window of Quebec works with six marginalized communities in Québec namely Indigenous, Black, Arab, Latin American, South Asian and South East Asian. WoQ has launched digital stories which are collected as grass-root testimonials from the communities to create awareness on racialism and discrimination by organizing meetings with companies. The task and responsibilities are as follows:
? Identify, develop and maintain partnerships with Corporates, NGOs and government partners.
? Conduct workshops & finalize knowledge transfer strategy to ensure project implementation
? Ensure the running of the project according to the logic model and the theory of change
? Manage strategic relationships with partners throughout the project life cycle
? Provide continuous information to the team on the progress of the project
? Participate in the writing of progress and impact reports of the project
The project output is to work with 12-15 different organizations, create partnerships and conduct workshops with staff of the organization, sensitize on DEI through WoQ and reach to over 2,000 people from these organizations who will use tools, spread awareness and strengthen DEI at workplace and its importance. The key outcomes is to setup kiosks in corporations, run the stories, create public events, disseminate tools with public for wider sensitization, and capture Pre-test and Post-test information.

Season in the Life – Generating Ag Tech Ideas and Solutions

One of the barriers new Smart Farming technologies adoptions is disconnection with end users.
The disconnection leads to inefficient use of capital, talent, and time. The product often is designed with a poor understanding of enabling infrastructure to support the effective implementation and adoption. Furthermore, technologies are often developed with little understanding of economics which further prevents technology adoption. These challenges can be summarized as vague value proportions of the new product and services.
To address this gap, we target the cattle industry to map the user needs and value chain economics as market intelligence. Interns will be employed to gather cumulative data on current common elements of Saskatchewan cow-calf and forage operations, including site configuration, seasonal tasking, footprint, infrastructure, breed and herd numbers. The goal is to generate domain expertise for developing impactful digital technologies for livestock farms.
This work will establish a journey map and critical design parameter for research and Ag Tech companies for livestock. This journey map would be incredibly valuable information including domain expertise and benchmarks for the Ag Tech Ecosystem. The methodology established in this process will be ready to be replicated in other agriculture sectors to gain further market intelligence.

Stage de recherche sur la documentation de la mobilité des femmes en situation de handicap durant la période estivale à Montréal

Le projet de recherche porte sur la documentation de la mobilité des femmes en situation de handicap lors de la période estivale à Montréal. L’objectif est d’identifier les services, aménagements, communications et sources d’insécurité et d’exclusion qui empêchent l’adoption d’une mobilité durable. Plusieurs activités sont organisées afin de collecter des données auprès des premières concernées: un journal de bord hebdomadaire tenu par une dizaine d’expertes du vécu, la diffusion d’un sondage, la tenue de groupes de discussion et l’organisation de marches exploratoires. La stagiaire aidera donc à l’organisation de ces activités, au suivi, à la synthèse et à l’analyse des données obtenues ainsi qu’à la rédaction d’un document explicatif final.

PARTEMP: PARtenariat sur les migrants TEMPoraires en EMPloi (suite, 2e demande)

Le projet de recherche vise à améliorer les conditions de vie et d’emploi des migrants avec un statut d’immigration temporaire, grâce à la production de connaissances empiriques sur leur expérience au Québec et leurs besoins d’intervention. Au RATTMAQ, la stagiaire étudiera les effets du permis de travail ouvert pour travailleurs vulnérables sur les travailleurs migrants temporaires au Québec, en Ontario et en Colombie-Britannique, ce qui sera utile pour le partenaire et la santé publique. Ce projet participera au développement socioéconomique des régions en aidant les organisations à desservir cette population.

The application of the standardized RTgill-W1 cell line test in assessing the toxicity of pulp and paper effluents

Due to the lack of available standardized and scientifically defensible alternative test methods, millions of fish are used annually to evaluate the toxicity of effluent samples for regulatory purposes. Despite global efforts to reduce animal testing, few methods have been able to bridge the gap from a research technique to regulatory acceptance in Canada. One method that holds much promise uses a permanently cultured rainbow trout gill cell line to determine toxicity. This research aims to validate this test method for assessing the complex effluent from pulp and paper mills and has the potential to advance the use of alternative methods in regulatory toxicology. By reducing the use of vertebrates for toxicity testing, providing faster results, and requiring smaller volumes of effluent for testing, these methods will benefit pulp and paper clients, the Canadian environment and animal welfare.

Development of a Design-for-manufacture-and-assembly (DfMA) Framework to Enhance Design and Production Efficiency in Offsite Construction

Offsite construction presents an alternative approach to traditional stick-built construction methods. This technique involves fabricating building components in an indoor offsite environment before transporting them to the construction site for installation. Offsite construction offers flexibility in terms of construction product types. In the manufacturing industry, the design-for-manufacture-and-assembly (DfMA) approach assesses the ease of assembly and manufacturability of a product from a design standpoint. Due to the similarities between manufacturing and offsite construction, the application of DfMA principles to offsite construction ensures efficient and high-quality product prefabrication. For example, in offsite construction, computer-aided design (CAD) models must be transformed into computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) information for production purposes. Consequently, it becomes imperative for the offsite construction industry to establish DfMA frameworks that evaluate design and manufacturing efficiency and utilize these assessments as a foundation for continuous improvement. In this proposed project, Prestige Homes, a company based in New Brunswick, Canada, will collaborate with the University of New Brunswick’s Off-site Construction Research Centre to achieve two primary objectives. Firstly, the study aims to explore interoperability among various Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools utilized in offsite construction. Secondly, it seeks to develop DfMA-based metrics that evaluate design and production efficiencies.

Standard-Operational optimization of fleet management of Autonomous Mobile Robots

In smart factories, the seamless operation of operations heavily relies on efficient fleet management of
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). While fleet management algorithms play a crucial role in ensuring
smooth operations, they may encounter difficulties in effectively handling conflicts and tracking the
performance of AMRs. To address these limitations and develop an enhanced fleet management system
that boosts the availability of AMRs, it is imperative to delve deeper into Conflict Management and
Performance Monitoring approaches. This research aims to investigate the primary challenges faced by
AMRs fleet when utilizing the mentioned approaches. By identifying the specific pain points and
shortcomings, we can devise a comprehensive design specification that optimizes the performance of
AMRs fleet. Through this study, we seek to propose novel strategies and techniques that effectively
address conflict management issues and enable efficient performance monitoring of AMRs in real-time.

Virtual Humans for Visual Effects: Machine Learning Methods for Face, Head and Body Performances

Today’s TV shows and films are supported by a large industry of visual effects studios for post-processing. To enhance actor performances, virtual humans are created and used to provide hyper-realistic 3D renderings of actors’ performances. The artists working on these high-quality virtual humans currently perform a heavy workflow of scanning actors in 4D to obtain hi-fidelity textures, rigging body models and capturing motion capture performances to apply adjustments to virtual humans and creatures. In this project, we will apply machine learning algorithms to improve the artists’ workflow and push forward research in performance enhancement for 2D and 3D performances.

Quand la tarification carbone volontaire ne fonctionne pas : analyse de trois stratégies alternatives pour lutter contre les changements climatiques

Lors de la COP27 sur les changements climatiques, la directrice générale de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, déclarait que « si le commerce en soi génère des émissions liées à la production et au transport, le commerce et les politiques commerciales peuvent accélérer la diffusion des technologies de pointe et des meilleures pratiques » (OMC, World Trade Report 2022). Face à l’urgence d’agir contre les changements climatiques, les États doivent trouver des solutions tangibles à adopter. Or, « le parasitisme est un obstacle majeur à la solution des externalités mondiale » (Nordhaus, 2021). Autrement dit, quand une entité reçoit les avantages d’un bien sans contribuer à son coût, des conséquences dommageables en découlent. En matière de réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES), plusieurs stratégies permettent de répondre à cet enjeu, notamment, les ajustements carbones aux frontières, les clubs climatiques et la mise en place d’une tarification mondiale du carbone. Ce projet propose de mener des recherches sur ces trois mécanismes et de produire une analyse juridique à destination du gouvernement du Canada pour qu’il puisse s’outiller de la meilleure manière et ainsi remplir ses objectifs de diminution de GES.

Étude de faisabilité de soudage à angle par friction malaxage d’extrusions standards en aluminium

Le soudage par friction malaxage est une technique de soudage à l’état solide qui permet de produire des assemblages plus résistants que les techniques de soudage conventionnelles et qui est particulièrement bien adaptée au soudage de l’aluminium. Cependant, en raison de la géométrie de l’outil utilisé, son application demeure principalement limitée aux surfaces planes. Lorsque des assemblages doivent être effectuées entre des poutrelles à angle, certaines astuces doivent être développées.

Ce projet a pour but d’étudier la possibilité d’assembler des poutrelles conventionnelles en aluminium à angle par soudage par friction malaxage et de caractériser les assemblages produits. Pour le partenaire AluQuébec dont la mission première est de développer et d’accroître l’utilisation de l’aluminium, la réalisation de ce projet lui permettra d’acquérir de nouvelles connaissances adaptées aux besoins actuels et futurs et d’améliorer la qualité et la résistance des assemblages soudés en aluminium.

Action on Just Transition: City of Edmonton Change(s) for Climate

The City of Edmonton corporation has declared one of its top goals is to move away from business-as-usual ways of working, to be able to integrate climate justice thinking and future fit solutions into organizational processes, including but not limited to the institutionalization of a carbon budget/accounting system. In August of 2019, the City declared a climate emergency; six months later the COVID-19 pandemic derailed its climate plans. Post-pandemic, City leadership now plans to refocus its efforts. “Research in development will not be on the market in time to help us achieve 2030 climate targets”, says the academic lead, Dr. Wilson. “Our best chances to meet 2030 and even 2050 climate targets are to adopt technologies already available and to change our ways. Therefore, the most impactful money at this time needs to be spent on energy transition as a social issue.” Said otherwise, we need to fund research and climate action that focuses on shifting the culture. At the City of Edmonton corporation, this starts with changing the culture of work: from business practices, to what employees value, and how they are evaluated.