Project ideas and list of Supervisors last updated: 1 Jan 2025
Table of Contents
Introduction
Projects
Possible Supervisors
Specific Project Ideas
Generic Project Ideas
Introduction
Below is project guidance, list of possible supervisors, and topic ideas potentially available for students to undertake for their 4th Year ECE Final Projects. Supervisors can consist of both faculty members of the ECE department, as well as other external agencies, at the discretion of the PMO.
For any agencies wishing to sponsor a project, or for requests to update information given below, please contact Maj Katerina Brooks or Maj Tim Chisholm.
Projects
ECE Students are briefed at the end of their third year on the details of the 4th year projects.
The Presentation provided to the 3rd year ECE students is found here
The Project Commitment Document (PCD) is submitted to the PMO prior to course start (usually May of their 3rd year), which outlines their selected project and supervisor, all of which are the student’s responsibility to determine.
Projects must be done in groups of 2 to 3, or exceptionally in groups of 4 with the permission of the PMO and Supervisor.
List of possible supervisors with field of expertise
- Dr. Antar, Y. - antenna design
- Dr. Beguenane, R. - FPGA
- Dr. Bray, J. - radar, antennas and EM or EW projects
- Dr. Chabini, N. - computer hardware
- Dr. Chan, F. - laser and communications
- Dr. Elghamrawy, H. - GNSS positioning and Navigation, Navigation Warfare, GNSS interference
- Dr. Hefnawi, M. - smart antennas, signal processing, satellite communications
- Dr. Karime, A. - mechatronics, Internet of Things (IoT), and intelligent systems
- Mr. Lachine, B. - IT/OT/PT cyber security, anomaly detection (machine/deep learning, data visualization), vulnerability discovery (fuzzing)
- Dr. Leblanc, S. - software security, networking, gaming
- Dr. Liu, Y. - Robotics and Autonomous Systems
- Maj Lloyd, J.C. - target tracking, filtering, radar, jamming, electronic warfare
- Dr. Noureldin, A. - multi-sensor navigation, GPS localisation
- Dr. Okou, F. - control, power electronics
- Dr. Oukaira, A. - cybersecurity, embedded systems
- Dr. Roberge, V.R. - computer security, GPUs, parallel programming, metaheuristics, robotics, embedded system
- Dr. Tarbouchi, M. - motors, power, generation/robotics
- Maj Adams, A. - Embedded ML and reinforcement learning, controls, cybersecurity, audio DSP
- Dr. Ammar, H. - Wireless Communications, Signal Processing, Deep Reinforcement Learning, Mathematical Optimization
- Capt. Wiebe, J. – Reinforcement learning and machine learning, cybersecurity
Specific project ideas
Title: Guided Missile Seeker Implementation
Supervisors: Maj Lloyd
Preferred field of studies: 2x Elec Eng (one student can be Comp Eng if strong in Control)
Description: The goal of this project is to build a training aid to demonstrate guided missile seeker implementations. Students would be expected to build a guided missile seeker using a provided optical or IR sensor on a fixed platform that can track a moving object by swiveling the sensor in azimuth and elevation.
Title: Detecting COVID-like symptoms through a sensory Embedded Mask
Supervisors: Dr. A. Karime
Preferred field of studies: Elec + Comp Eng
Description: This project aims to develop an embedded mask that enables the detection and identification of COVID-like symptoms . The objective of the system is to be able to predict the presence of a virus through these three common symptoms: coughing, sneezing, and fever. The mask is embedded with different sensors such as an accelerometer, a noise sensor, a temperature sensor, and any other types of sensors that may improve the detection and identification accuracy. For instance, the accelerometer can be used to detect the sudden head movement in the event of a cough or a sneeze. On the other hand, the noise sensor can help in identifying the type of symptoms (i.e. cough or sneeze) with the use of a deep learning/neural network algorithm, and therefore some research has to be performed in order to determine the best way to achieve this goal.
Title: Build an app for the Canadian Military Journal (CMJ)
Supervisors: Dr. S. Leblanc / Dr. C. Leuprecht
Preferred field of studies: Elec + Comp Eng
Description: Contact project supervisors for more info.
Title: Radio-frequency Direction Finding System Using Software Defined Radios
Supervisors: Dr. J.R. Bray
Preferred field of studies: Elec + Comp Eng
Description: Direction finding systems help to locate the source of unwanted radio signals, such as the ground-based control signals used for small drones. The goal of this project is to use cost-effective software defined radios to build a direction finding system that can be used to geolocate threat radio sources.
Title: Aircraft/Frigate Kill Chain Integration
Supervisors: Dr Roberge and Mr. Lachine
Preferred field of studies: Comp Eng
Description: The Computer Security Lab (CSL) has been building simulated platform implementations (e.g. Frigate, Aircraft) that are used in support of cybersecurity research and education. In support of cybersecurity exercise development, there is a requirement to enable communications between these two platform types. To provide some context, consider a helicopter landing on a frigate; this project would require the development of a software implant on the aircraft that enables communications from (or through) the MIL-STD-1553B network to a rogue implant on the frigate via a wireless connection. Both the frigate and aircraft implementations already exist, including exploitation capabilities for each such as malware and rogue devices. This project would require the development of a new capability, integration with these existing virtual platforms and potentially a minor integration effort with XPlane, where these two virtual platforms will also be represented during a cyber exercise.
Title: Star Trek Medical Tricorder
Supervisors: Dr. F. Chan
Preferred field of studies: Elec + Comp Eng
Description: The objective of this project is to use the Lidar available on the iPhone 12 Pro to measure health vitals, such as heart rate, breathing, etc. Optionally, an ultra-sound scanner can also be implemented. Machine Learning will be used to analyze the data and provide a diagnostic.
Title: Development of Autonomous Mobile Manipulator for Transportation
Supervisors: Dr. Y. Liu and Dr. K. Khayati
Preferred field of studies: 2x Elec/Comp Eng + 2x Mech Eng
Description: Serial, parallel and hybrid motion devices play important roles in industrial production systems and applied science fields. In particular, the development of mechanisms with three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) mounted on top of wheeled mobile platforms has attracted extensive attention. This integrated structure enhances the mobility, the manipulation capability of the traditional mobile platforms or robotic manipulators, which have great potentials and advantages for material handling and transportation tasks.
The objective of this project is to develop a robot executing a 3-DOF planar motion of an end-effector platform with an adjustable height, pre-determined envelop, and mounted on a mobile platform, allowing mobility and manipulation autonomy for in-door use.
The students will be expected to investigate and compare multiple configurations, complete the steps of design engineering (conceptual design, configuration design, and parametric design), including selection of materials, instrumentation selection (motors, sensors and controllers), required calculation, and building the mechanical structure. The students will also be expected to develop software (graphical interface) for human/robot interaction, motion control, as well as autonomous manipulation.
Title: Bearings-only Target Tracking
Supervisors: Maj Lloyd
Preferred field of studies: Elec Eng (one student can be Comp Eng if strong in Control)
Description: Some sensors do not provide range information, but only the bearing to the target(s). Combining multiple sensors in a distributed manner can permit triangulation of the targets. Furthermore, tracking algorithms can drastically improve the ability of the sensor network to determine the position and velocity of the targets. Students undertaking this project will build a distributed sensor network and implement a bearings-only tracking algorithm.
Title: Machine Learning Applied to Radar Processing, Target Tracking or Electronic Countermeasures
Supervisors: Maj Lloyd
Preferred field of studies: Elec Eng (one student can be Comp Eng if strong in Control)
Description: Machine learning, neural networks, and artificial intelligence are all hot topics in the field of research right now. It would be highly interesting to apply these techniques to the topics of Radar Processing, Target Tracking or Electronic Countermeasures. Students interested in pursuing this project would need to be highly motivated and capable of self-directed study. The actual project will be negotiated between the students and supervisor depending on their particular interests. In some areas, the supervisor may be able to provide some prior work for the students to build upon.
Title: Safety in advanced design of integrated microsystems
Supervisors: Dr. Oukaira
Preferred field of studies: Strong skills in real-time embedded systems design and programming.
Description: The cybersecurity system can be embedded on an FPGA and therefore reconfigurable and faster in the case of an attack and this in real time. This is not possible with a software defense system. We present a technique during design to implement intrusion detection for secure embedded systems by detecting the differences in behavior between the good system and the malware. The system is implemented using FPGA logic to allow the detection process to be regularly updated to adapt to new malware and system changing behavior.
Title: Système de positionnement par caméra et PSO
Supervisors: Dr Roberge
Preferred field of studies: Elec + Comp Eng
Description: In order to determine its position, the robot is equipped with a Raspberry pi and a camera with a fisheye lens pointing upwards. On the ceiling, a precise shape is drawn with LEDs of different colors. The positioning system analyzes the image, detects the position of the LEDs and calculates, using a particle swarm optimization algorithm, its x, y, z, roll, yaw, pitch position. This system can then be installed on a differential drive robot to travel a specific path in the laboratory.
Title: Incremental Improvements to Spartacus
Supervisors: TBD
Preferred field of studies: Computer Engineering
Description: Spartacus is an open source learning environment developed by CSE. It aims in helping students learn the basis of assembly programming and operating system development. It is portable and easy to learn.
Spartacus is still in its early age and is far from being entirely done. Multiple things are still required to make this project as useful as it can be. On the list of things that would need some attention are:
- Low level memory system overhaul (removing remnant from the original game environment and adding support for virtual memory);
- The original environment required full traceability of memory usage and access by players (as is who last accessed a specific byte of memory). While nice to have this is currently hurting performance. Since the game is no longer part of Spartacus, this can and (possibly) should be removed. Note that, from an academic stand point the presence of this feature could have some interesting impact.
- Assembler and Linker overhaul;
- Compiler implementation (any existing or invented languages);
- New devices implementation (networking, serial communications, etc.);
- Adding support for floating point instructions;
- Adding support for multiple (2) privilege levels;
- Experimental OS development;
- Unit test adjustment;
- Many unit tests were written before the assembler was ready. This resulted in the presence of a lot of byte code within the test cases. As the machine grows and more tools become available the presence of byte code here becomes non desirable.
- Any form of experimental use for the machine would also be rather interesting to witness.
Title: Rocket Propulsion Instrumentation
Supervisors: TBD
Preferred field of studies: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Description: The Mechanical Engineering Department has a rocket propulsion system for which they would like to monitor different parameters. The project would involve determining what sensors to use, the best location for them, interpreting their output and displaying the values.
Generic project ideas
Finally, we provide here a more generic list of project ideas. Use these as a starting point to formulate your own project
Robotics
- Design a robot for a specific task (surveillance, patrolling, search and rescue etc.)
- Development of an autonomous tracking system
Electronics
- Home security system
- Wearable health monitoring system (fall detection, mobility measurements)
Power and control
- Steerable solar system
- Regenerating breaking system
Radar
- Radar countermeasure
- Radar tracking
- Radar system performance enhancement
- Microwave frequency direction finding antenna array
Software
- Learning application
- Scheduling application
- Network security