Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Project Summaries
Supervisors
Akira Tokuhiro | Akramul Azim | Horia Hangan | Hossam Gaber | Hossam Gaber | Hossam Gaber |
Supervisor name: Akira Tokuhiro
Project title: Small Modular Reactor Research Grant Initiative
Summary of research project: The emergency planning zone (EPZ) of a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) can be smaller (in size) than traditional larger reactor designs that are currently operating in Canada and globally. The EPZ of SMR technically depends on its "safety-in-design"; that is, integrated passive and inherent safety features are expected to reduce the probability of unanticipated accidents to be increasingly small or eliminated by design. The SMR's ability to mitigate consequences from design extension conditions is also expected. This challenge is investigated.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Learn technical aspects, challenges and uncertainties of the SMR design with respect to the EPZ. This includes virtual reality (VR) usage for radiation protection training.
- Learn to use a software tool and support current MASc students.
- Generate at least one student paper to be presented on-campus.
- Participate in weekly hybrid research meetings and report research progress.
Student qualifications required:
- Ideally a B.Eng., Nuclear Engineering student who is currently 3rd year or entering 4th year.
- Completion of as many program map engineering courses as possible.
- Quick to learn technical analysis software and to generate data using software.
- Demonstrated ability to ask questions; situational awareness; willingness to read and self-study.
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- Orientation to research group projects, weekly hybrid meetings; co-supervision by 2 professors.
- Awareness of Equal by 30, Women in Nuclear goal.
- Software training from one or more MASc mentors; importance of analyses and new data generation.
- Professional researcher conduct; dedication, time management, reliability, effective communication, priority setting, technical curiosity & know-how.
- New knowledge gained on technical and non-technical nuclear reactor issues and challenges, in today's world.
- Introductions, once professional conduct is demonstrated to the professors' network of professionals.
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: Hybrid
Available Award: NSERC USRA
Project title: A Hardware-in-the Loop Testing Framework for Connected/Autonomous Vehicles Software
Summary of research project: Connected/autonomous vehicles are disruptive technologies and the software on these vehicles are always on the rise. Software bugs in these vehicles can have a significant impact if they are not detected and handled properly. For example, a recent "Jeep Hack" incident showed us that a car be controlled remotely. We need effective testing strategies in place to run the connected/autonomous vehicles safely and securely. The project involves identifying the key safety and security aspects to test them in real-time and the framework can help us to enable useful features (over-the-air updates) safely or securely in next-generation vehicles.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Configure/set-up experimental platforms and develop tools/prototypes.
Student qualifications required:
- Good systems programming skills, hardware programming, hardware prototyping.
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- Hardware software co-design.
- AI/ML integration in hardware/software.
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: In-Person
Available Award: NSERC USRA
Project title: Adverse Weather Impact on Autonomous Vehicles
Summary of research project: Emerging vehicle technologies, particularly autonomous vehicles, rely heavily on advanced sensor systems to perceive their surroundings and support safe navigation. However, adverse weather conditions, including rain and snow, can lead to contamination of exposed sensor surfaces, potentially degrading sensor performance and compromising operational safety. The proposed research aims to develop robust methods for characterizing these contamination processes and improving the physical understanding of how precipitation interacts with optical sensor surfaces. The findings will provide a foundation for developing fundamental models as well as innovative mitigation approaches and technologies.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Perform experiments with simulated snow on model vehicles and optical sensors.
- Develop concepts of passive aerodynamic devices and strategies to minimize surface contamination of the sensors.
- Use CFD to evaluate the effectiveness of all concepts and strategies.
- Conduct 3D printing of the most effective concepts for future wind tunnel testing and validation.
Student qualifications required:
- Students must have finished 2nd year with a GPA of 3.5 or better.
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- The applicant will work closely with a Ph.D. student who is working on this project, as well as students in the researcher's team.
- The student will learn teamwork and technical communication skills.
- The methods to be employed for the proposed research are wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
- The student will develop skills in wind tunnel testing and CFD.
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: In-Person
Available Award: NSERC USRA
Project title: Radioactive Waste Treatment Process Engineering
Summary of research project: Analyze radioactive waste, conduct Multiphysics simulation, develop simulation models of low level radioactive waste from SMR and CANDU. Analyze waste properties for BWRX and MSR models. Analyze treatment process design parameters, simulation, shielding and experimental analysis.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Literature review
- Reports and presentation development
- Multiphysics simulation
- Experimental tests
- Data analysis
Student qualifications required:
- Engineering or physics degree background, simulation and experimental tests.
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- Simulation, experimental work
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: In-Person
Available Award: NSERC USRA
Project title: SMR-in-the-loop
Summary of research project: Design real time simulation with hardware-in-the-loop for SMR as integrated with grid and control room. Develop operation models and scenarios in normal and emergency conditions. Develop SMR simulation and evaluate performance measures with grid and control room integrations.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Literature review
- SMR simulation
- Hardware-in-the-loop
- Operation analysis for grid-SMR integration
- Analyze normal and emergency operation scenarios
Student qualifications required:
- Engineering design
- Hardware-in-the-loop
- SMR simulation
- Grid simulation
- Control room modeling
- Human-in-the-loop
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- SMR simulation
- SMR operation modeling
- Grid simulation with SMR
- Hardware-in-the-loop and real time simulation
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: In-Person
Available Award: NSERC USRA
Project title: Control Room for SMR Implementations
Summary of research project: Develop advanced digital control room with human factors for SMR deployments. Modeling of SMR operation, human performance, control room design, integrate real time data, control room simulation, human-in-the-loop.
Student responsibilities/tasks:
- Literature review
- SMR operation modeling
- Simulation
- Human performance analysis,
Student qualifications required:
- Modeling and Simulation
- AI algorithms
- Control system
Expected training/skills to be received by the Student:
- AI algorithms
- Modeling and simulation
- Human performance analysis
Length of award: 14 Weeks
Location of award: In-Person
Available Award: NSERC USRA