may 2021, by julio heleno gomes 

with spring around the corner and the ground beginning to thaw, a device being developed by a 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 researcher could be a new tool for the city of thunder bay to improve inspection of its network of underground sanitary sewer pipes.

using a probe outfitted with sensors and a camera, this device could detect sewer defects and pipe damage, which would benefit the city’s wastewater system.

“we hope the device is easy to use and will successfully detect infiltration above and below the sewer surface inside the collection pipe,” says michelle warywoda, director of environment, infrastructure and operations for the city of thunder bay.

“we hope that results from the sewer pipe inspections with the device will inform the city’s sanitary sewer system capital replacement and rehabilitation program.”

dr. amir azimi is working on a project to detect faults along the city’s 515 kilometres of sanitary sewer pipes. during spring snow melt or severe rainfall, heavy moisture infiltrates the ground and if there’s a crack in the sewer additional water will flow into the collection system, mixing with sewage.

conventional inspection and monitoring is done via closed circuit tv cameras, which is labour intensive and requires trained operators.

“that’s not feasible and is very expensive,” azimi says of that method.

an associate professor in the department of civil engineering, azimi’s research focus is hydraulics and environmental fluid mechanics.

in the case of sewer pipes, residential wastewater is typically at room temperature (in the 20 c range), whereas water from snowmelt is only about 5 c. the resulting temperature difference would indicate a flaw somewhere in the drainage pipe.

azimi’s device consists of a temperature probe, thermal camera, gps locator, battery and memory card. it would maneuver through the pipe and take temperature readings. it can record differences of as little as one degree celsius.

“we drop it in a manhole, it flows with the sewage, we retrieve it downstream, grab the data and look at the temperature variations,” azimi says of how the device will be utilized. “if the temperature is constant, it’s ok. but at one line it could be 18 degrees, 18 degrees and then it drops to 14 degrees and then goes back to 18. when the temperature goes down, you know something is going on in the pipe.

“this is not very difficult to measure and it’s very fast and cheap.”

by detecting defects in the sewer pipes, rehabilitation work can be targeted by sending closed-circuit tv cameras to a specific spot to verify there’s a problem. this will reduce the infiltration of groundwater into the sanitary sewer system, warywoda explains.

azimi has been working on this device with a team of 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 : graduate student xunjia liang and undergraduates gurpreet chaggar and adam talbot.

along with grants from the natural sciences and engineering research council of canada, azimi has also received support from the city. he has been working on a combination of sensors and five different prototypes. but the device is not yet ready to be used in the field.

“that was not the plan for the funding,” azimi says. “funding was for the proof of concept, to see if we could build the submarine device and to see if the sensors would work.”

due to covid-19 the next stage in the project development is currently on hold but will resume once the graduate student researchers are able to reconvene.

when things return to normal, azimi hopes to run more tests, such as try to determine the rate of flow through a crack and the minimal difference in temperatures the probe could detect. the concept has other applications, such as measuring the salinity of lakes or the ph levels of industrial discharge.

the potential of wireless monitoring of sewer pipes is enough that warywoda imagines it could become a part of the city’s regular sewer inspection program. the benefits are obvious: when you reduce the volume of groundwater entering the sewer, less wastewater goes to the water pollution control plant for treatment, saving on energy, chemical usage and equipment run time.

“that translates to a reduction in maintenance and operational costs,” warywoda says.

the pipes, which are variously made of concrete, plastic, clay, steel, asbestos-cement and wood stave, are on average more than 50 years old and are susceptible to damage and deterioration.

“tree roots can get into the cracks in pipes or between pipe joints,” warywoda says. “pipes can also become misaligned or crack from movement of soils around them.”

research in action highlights the work of 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 in various fields of research.

april 23, 2021 – thunder bay and orillia, ont.

for the second year in a row, 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 has placed in the top 100 of the times higher education impact rankings.

the times higher education impact rankings measure the societal impact of universities by evaluating an institutions’ success in delivering the united nations’ sustainable development goals. the rankings measure the impact universities make to the world in the areas of poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

lakehead finished 99^th out of 1,115 universities from around the world, based on its performance in meeting the united nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (sdgs).

dr. moira mcpherson, lakehead’s president and vice-chancellor, said she was proud that lakehead ranked so highly for the second year in a row.

“we’re excited that lakehead remained in the top 100 even with nearly 350 more universities being included in this year’s ranking as compared to last year,” dr. mcpherson said.

lakehead is the only primarily undergraduate university in canada that participated in the 2021 impact rankings and one of only 26 universities from north america to be included in the top 100. the university was among just 260 universities from around the world that qualified to participate in all 17 sdgs.

ranking ahead of several top comprehensive and research-intensive canadian universities, lakehead scored highly across many sdgs, including a top 10 ranking in sdg 15: life on land.

the life on land sdg evaluates how universities support land ecosystems through education and action, how they contribute to sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, halting and reversing land degradation, and how they halt biodiversity loss by measuring their research on land ecosystems.

this year’s top 10 spot in sdg 15 recognizes the work of lakehead researchers on life on land, as well as education about, and support for, land ecosystems. lakehead’s policies and procedures relating to land-sensitive waste disposal, such as its commitment to reducing plastic waste on campus, contributed to its top 10 ranking.

lakehead also scored highly on other metrics, including a top 20 ranking in life below water, a top 30 ranking in no poverty and zero hunger, and a top 40 ranking for reduced inequalities and clean water and sanitation.

 “to be in the top 100 globally – and top 40 on a number of goals – demonstrates the significant work accomplished by lakehead 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , faculty, and staff to contribute to solving the grand challenges facing the world today through education, research and partnerships,” added dr. mcpherson. “it also shows what we already know – that lakehead offers one of the best educational experiences in the world.”  

dr. david barnett, lakehead’s provost and vice-president (academic), agreed.

“this ranking is also due to lakehead university’s longstanding commitment to indigenous learners and communities, which helps us succeed and lead with regards to sustainability and social justice,” dr. barnett said.

“as our university community continues to make these sdgs a priority, we once again see how lakehead is world-class. 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 , faculty, staff and alumni should be proud of this exceptional accomplishment.”

the times higher education impact rankings capture qualifying universities’ impact on society and align with commitments in lakehead’s strategic and academic plans.

visit 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 's times higher education profile at timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/lakehead-university.

– 30 –

media: for more information or interviews, please contact brandon walker, media, communications and marketing associate, at (807) 343-8177 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.

阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜  is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent 世界杯2022赛程表淘汰赛 and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in orillia and thunder bay, ontario. lakehead has 10 faculties, including business administration, education, engineering, graduate studies, health & behavioural sciences, law, natural resources management, the northern ontario school of medicine, science & environmental studies, and social sciences & humanities. 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 ’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among canada’s top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in maclean’s 2021 university rankings; as well as included in the top half of times higher education's 2020 world universities rankings for the second consecutive year, and 99th among 1,115 universities from around the world in the's 2021 impact rankings (which assesses institutions against the united nations’ 17 sustainable development goals). visit m.hsbcwebinars.com. 

congratulations to dr. rebecca schiff, chair and associate professor in the department of health sciences, whose article, managed alcohol programs in the context of housing first, has been selected as a highly commended paper in the 2020 emerald literati awards.

in her congratulatory email, dr. schiff learned that the editorial team said it is one of the most exceptional pieces of work they saw throughout 2019.

dr. schiff will receive a certificate as well as be listed as a winner on the journal home page.

you can read her award-winning article here for free for the next six months.