RESEARCH

Trottier Chair in Sustainable Engineering and Design

The Trottier Chair in Sustainable Engineering and Design continues to have significant influence on climate research and on adaptation strategies of private and public bodies. Over the last year, the Trottier Chair, continued to promote interdisciplinary research to address today’s grand challenges. For example, application of deep learning models to develop super-resolution climate information was experimented for the first time in collaboration with Prof. Sun (Civil Engineering, TISED Member) and Dr. Belair (Environment and Climate Change Canada [ECCC]). Collaborations with other TISED members Prof. Agus Sasmito (Mining) and Prof. Salmaan Craig (Architecture), led to further advancing research at the climate-engineering interface. The Chair led the development of a Letter of Intent (Enabling Cities to Maximize Impact of Green Infrastructure on Greenhouse Gas Mitigation) in response to the call from ECCC as part of the Climate Action and Awareness Fund (CAAF) program. Though the LOI was not selected to move to the full proposal stage, some of the sub-projects that were envisaged to be part of this proposal are currently underway, funded in part through TISED.

The Chair has also been actively involved in public sector activities including:

• Contribution to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) Water Science and Technology Division’s mandate by generating, analysing and transferring climate change simulations using a fully coupled 3-D model for the Great Lakes;

• Contribution to Transport Canada’s Northern Transportation Adaptation initiative, by generating and assessing the added value of very high-resolution simulations for transport relevant variables for Nunavut and parts of the Northwest Territories;

• Contribution to the National Research Council Canada’s Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering (OCRE) research centre’s master project focused at developing the St. Lawrence Seaway Climate Risk Information System, where Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard are the main stakeholders.

Selected Publications

1. Wu, Y., B. Teufel, L. Sushama, S. Belair, L. Sun, 2021. Deep learning-based super-resolution climate simulator-emulator framework for urban heat studies. Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2021GL094737

2. Dukhan, T., L. Sushama, 2021. Understanding and modelling future wind-driven rain loads on building envelopes for Canada. Building and Environment, DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107800.

3. Teufel, B., L. Sushama, 2021. 2 °C vs high warming: transitions to flood generating mechanisms across Canada. Water, DOI: 10.3390/w13111494.

4. Huziy, O., B. Teufel, L. Sushama, R. Yerubandi, 2021. Heavy lake-effect snowfall changes and mechanisms for the Laurentian Great Lakes region, DOI: 10.3390/atmos12121577

5. Oh, S., L. Sushama, 2021. Urban-climate interactions during summer over eastern North America, Climate Dynamics, DOI: 10.1007/s00382-021-05852-3

6. Atrill, J., L. Sushama, *B. Teufel, 2021. Clear-air turbulence in a changing climate and its impact on polar aviation. Safety in Extreme Environments, 3, 103–124

7. Xu, M., S. Akhtar, M. Alzoubi, L. Sushama, A. Sasmito, 2021. Asymptotic analysis of a twophase Stefan problem in annulus: Application to outward solidification in phase change materials. Applied Mathematics and Computation, DOI:10.1016/j.amc.2021.126343

Scholars-in-Residence Program (SiR) & Visiting Professors

The Scholar- in- Residence program supports scholars and experts in conducting collaborative research with an emphasis on advancing sustainability in one of TISED’s strategic areas; Sustainable Infrastructure and Urban Development; Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; Sustainable Industrial Processes and Manufacturing or Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience. A TISED SiR spends up to six months in residence at McGill’s Faculty of Engineering to participate in interdisciplinary research with a clear policy impact and teaching.

After a two-year suspension of this initiative due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TISED reopened the SiR program in October 2021. Dr. Bruce Lourie, President of Ivey Foundation submitted his application in November. Dr. Lourie had expressed his interest in the SiR program prior to his official application and had several discussions with relevant TISED members on the meaningful work that could be achieved through his presence at TISED.

Over his career Dr. Lourie has played a central role in several of Canada’s most significant sustainability achievements including the phase-out of coal-fired power plants in Ontario, creating one of the world’s largest urban zoning protections with the Ontario Greenbelt, and advancing the understanding of pervasive chemical use and human health. He has contributed to building many of the organizations driving sustainability research and analysis, policy, and business and NGO leadership in Canada including the Transition Accelerator, the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices, the Institute for Sustainable Finance, Efficiency Canada, and the Sustainability Network.

Dr. Lourie’s current research efforts are focused on supporting Canada’s transition to a netzero economy, specifically through electrification of the global economy, with a focus on three major areas of policy work needed to support the sustainable design and engineering of a future low carbon society, specifically 1) the massive expansion of electricity 2) the decarbonisation of electrical power supply; and 3) reducing end-use energy demand and making more sophisticated connection between energy supply and end-use energy demand.

Dr. Lourie has identified several potential collaborators, including TISED members as well as faculty members from McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy and Faculty of Management and senior academics at the Institut de l’Energie Trottier at Ecole Polytechnique and HEC Montreal.

Given Dr. Lourie’s policy focused research and his broad network of collaborators both within Montreal and across Canada a recommendation for his appointment as TISED’s next SiR was made to the Dean of Engineering by the TISED Director in late April 2022. If approved, Dr. Lourie’s 6-month tenure at TISED will start on January 1, 2023.

Research Workshop Program

The Research Workshop Program (RWP) facilitates discussions on cutting-edge advances in technology and design as well as policy frameworks and interventions required to advance sustainability. Each RWP includes a specialized research workshop and a public seminar. During the research workshop, focussed discussions support the development of a timely and topical publication and/or a research funding proposal. Due to the pandemic, the Research Workshop Program was temporarily paused.

TISED expects to put out a renewed call for RWP applications to its members in the summer 2022.

TISED Supported Research Initiatives

TISED supports strategic research applications and initiatives of its members that align with our goals and mission. In Fall of 2021, TISED provided a letter of support for the application to ECCC’s Climate Action and Awareness Fund – Advancing Climate Change Science & Technology, led by Prof. Luis Miranda-Moreno entitled “Urban mobility and emission inventories in a changing climate: an integrated modelling framework”. The public announcement of the results of the competition is expected by Fall 2022.