The Honours Thesis research projects listed below are available only to McGill Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate students in the Honours program and registered for MECH 403-404 courses.
If you are interested in one of the thesis projects, please send an expression of interest to the contact email provided. Although we do our best to keep this list up-to-date, some projects may no longer be available.
If you are a professor who would like to add or remove a thesis project, please complete the honours project posting form.
Projects for Winter 2024 and Fall 2024:
Thesis Project 2023-1
Title: Development of a method for recycling fibreglass composite
wind turbines
Supervisor: Prof. Larry Lessard
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023 or Winter 2024
Brief description: There is growing concern about recycling of end-of-life composite materials.
Waste fiber and other materials cannot be put into landfills so recycling
methods must be developed. Used wind turbine blades can be recycled to
recover the fibers and these fibers can be re-used to make materials for 3D
printing. So this project aims to solve two simultaneous problems: that of
growing amounts of waste and the need for stronger/more high tech materials
for the growing 3D printing industry. The project involves experimental manufacturing based on composite materials
theory.
Contact e-mail: larry.lessard [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: May 2, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-2
Title: Multi-robot collaborative state estimation
Supervisor: Prof. James Richard Forbes
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Brief description: Autonomous vehicles, such as autonomous cars, trucks, and
trains, must fuse various forms of sensor data together in order to
ascertain their position, attitude, velocity, and angular velocity.
Typical sensor data includes inertial measurement unit (IMU) data and
some sort of position data, such as GPS data, or range data, such as
optical camera, radar, or LIDAR data. In multi-robot systems, an
individual robot can also utilize information from its neighbors by
having the robots communicate their state estimates. However, the
estimates of different robots are often correlated, and without
properly modelling these cross-correlations, the performance of the
estimator might be very poor. This project will then focus on
modelling those cross-correlations for collaborative state estimation
in multi-robot systems. The main task will involve the development and
coding of a sigma point Kalman filter to enable multi-robot
navigation; however, based on the student’s interests and background,
alternatives to the sigma point Kalman filter could be considered.
Students best fit for this project are those interested in using
mathematical tools, such as linear algebra, numerical methods,
probability theory, and numerical optimization, to solve problems
found in robotics. Experience with Matlab and/or C programming is
desired.
Contact e-mail: james.richard.forbes [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: May 2, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-3
Title: Robot navigation
Supervisor: Prof. James Richard Forbes
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Brief description: Autonomous vehicles, such as autonomous cars, trucks, and trains,
must fuse various forms of sensor data together in order to ascertain their position,
attitude, velocity, and angular velocity. Typical sensor data includes inertial measurement
unit (IMU) data and some sort of position data, such as GPS data, or range data, such as
optical camera, radar, or LIDAR data. This project will focus on sensor fusion for robot navigation.
The first task will be the development and coding of a matrix Lie group integrator,
in the spirit of a Runge-Kutta integrator, but tailor to matrix Lie groups. The second task will be
the development and coding of a cascaded sigma point Kalman filter to enable multi-agent navigation
(i.e., navigation of many robots). Students best fit for this project are those interested in using
mathematical tools, such as linear algebra, numerical methods, probability theory, and numerical optimization,
to solve problems found in robotics. Experience with python and/or C++
programming is desired.
Contact e-mail: james.richard.forbes [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: May 2, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-4
Title: Reconfigurable metamaterials for soft robotics
Supervisor: Prof. Damiano Pasini
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Brief description: Mechanical metamaterials are manmade materials,
usually fashioned from repeating units, which are engineered to achieve
extreme mechanical properties, often beyond those found in most natural
materials. In this project, the student will use the lens of mechanics of materials to generate material concepts for soft robotics.
Additive manufacturing techniques will be employed to fabricate prototypes and their performance will be examined through mechanical testing.
Contact e-mail: damiano.pasini [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: May 9, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-5
Title: Nonlinear dynamics/vibrations of architected materials for
aerospace applications
Supervisor: Prof. Damiano Pasini and Prof. Mathias Legrand
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Brief description: When launched in space, satellites need to endure an explosive upright boost
that generates extremely large vibrations throughout their bodies.
If uncontrolled, these vibrations end up spoiling the performance of their
components with the risk of making them nonfunctional.
In this project we study the nonlinear vibrations of a satellite component
made of ultralight weight architected materials of unprecedented performance.
The goal is to model its dynamic behaviour and understand the geometric
factors that control its highly nonlinear response at the onset of a launch
in space. The work involves a combination of theoretical and computational analysis.
Contact e-mail: damiano.pasini [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: May 9, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-6
Title: Can you hear the shape of a robot?
Supervisor: Prof. Audrey Sedal
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2023, Winter 2024
Brief description: Unlike traditional robots, soft robots can take a variety of unusual 3D shapes.
However, it is challenging to estimate the shape of a soft robot while it operates, which makes
precise control difficult. Inspired by Mark Kac’s question, “Can one hear the shape of a drum?”
Short answer: not all the time, due to the existence of isospectral manifolds. This project investigates
fusion of acoustic sensing with other modes (e.g., cameras) to estimate the 3D shape of soft robots as they operate.
You will build a variety of soft robot prototypes, develop sensing frameworks, and evaluate their performance.
This project will involve fabrication, hardware development, programming, and a little bit of geometry.
Contact e-mail: audrey.sedal [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: May 22, 2023
Thesis Project 2023-7
Title: Development of a Digital Twin of a Mill Yard
Supervisor: Prof. Inna Sharf
The term(s) to begin: Winter 2024, Fall 2024
Brief description: Digital twin is an emerging technology that goes hand in hand
with increasing automation of machines,processes and advances in IofT. Professor Sharf’s industrial
collaborator, FPInnovations, is working on increasing autonomy and intelligence of log loading machines
and transport vehicles operating in the mill yards. This will ultimately be followed by moving
the operators from the seats in the machines into an office, i.e., where they can no longer directly
observe their environment. Furthermore, other processes, such as, measuring the size of piles,
are already executed remotely, for example, with drones, and will soon be executed autonomously, thus
producing information on the state of assets in the mill yard. Ultimately, it will be important to have
a digital twin of the mill yard, which will provide digital and visual information on the state of
the mill yard, in particular, location and size of log piles, the location and status of machines
operating in it, incoming and outgoing log trucks, the status (e.g., traversability) of roads
and other information. Professor Sharf is interested in beginning the development of such a digital
twin. This will require identifying a suitable platform to house the twin, laying out the roadmap for
building the twin in a sequence of phases sand developing the phase 0 of the digital twin.
Contact e-mail: inna.sharf [at] mcgill.ca
Updated: November 23, 2023
Projects for 2018-2019 school year:
may or may not be still available - you may use contact e-mails to find out.
Thesis Project 2018-11
Title: Dynamics of photon-driven lightsails for interstellar flight
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: The use of lasers to propel sails via direct photon pressure has the
potential to achieve very high velocity spaceflight, greatly exceeding
traditional chemical and electric propulsion sources, and enables the serious
consideration of interstellar flight. However, the dynamics and stability of
thin sails (lightsails) under intense laser illumination is an outstanding
problem. This project will examine the dynamics of very thin membranes both
theoretically and experimentally. The response of a lightsail to
perturbation will be analyzed both analytically and via computer simulation.
Use of gasdynamic loading techniques (shock tube) will enable the same
driving load to be applied in the laboratory, but without the use of
megawatt-class lasers. Experimental diagnostic techniques (photonic doppler
velocimetry, 3-D digital image correlation) will be developed to study the
lightsail dynamics that will eventually be applied to a laser-driven sail
proof-of-concept facility.
Personnel sought: Student should have a strong interest in advanced space
exploration concepts, with general background in physical optics, numerical
simulation, and experimental techniques.
Skills involved: Experience with photography and high-speed data acquisition
would be helpful. Completion of Mech 321 (Mechanics of Deformable Solids)
and Mech 430 (Fluids 2) is required for the project.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018
Thesis Project 2018-12
Title: Dynamic soaring on a shock wave
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: Dynamic soaring is a technique exploited by birds and sailplanes to increase
their flight speed by exploiting differences in airspeed of different masses
of air. This project will explore this approach by examining dynamic soaring
of a hypersonic glider on a shock wave. In essence, the technique consists
of “bouncing” back and forth from either side of a shock wave via a high
lift-to-drag turn, increasing the net velocity of the glider. The ability to
“surf” on a very strong blast wave (such as resulting from a
thermonuclear blast or asteroid impact) from ground all the way to space will
be explored. The use of the technique on shock waves that occur in
interplanetary space (coronal mass ejections, etc.) that might enable
spacecraft to be accelerated to very high velocities “for free” will also
be explored.
Personnel sought: Student should have a strong interest in advanced space
exploration concepts and flight dynamics, with general background in
numerical simulation.
Skills involved: Completion of Mech 430 (Fluids 2) is required for the
project.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018
Thesis Project 2018-13
Title: Rapid transit within the solar system via directed energy:
laser thermal vs. laser electric propulsion
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: Directed energy in the form of a ground or space-based laser providing power
to a spacecraft is a disruptive technology that could enable a number of
rapid-transit missions in the solar system and interstellar precursor
missions. This project will compare two different approaches for a
spacecraft to utilize beamed laser power: (1) laser thermal propulsion,
wherein a laser is focused into a chamber to heat propellant that is expanded
through a nozzle and (2) laser electric propulsion, wherein a laser directed
onto a photovoltaic array generates electricity to power electric propulsion
(ion engine, etc.). These two concepts will be compared for a number of
missions of interest, as defined by NASA: (1) Earth orbit to Mars orbit in
no more than 45 days and (2) Traversing a distance of 125 AU in no more than
ten years.
Personnel sought: Student should have a strong interest in advanced space
exploration concepts, with general background in physical optics and
numerical simulation.
Skills involved: Prior exposure to spacecraft mission design (e.g.,
experience with Kerbal Space Program, etc.) would be helpful. Completion
of Mech 430 (Fluids 2) and Mech 346 (Heat Transfer) is required for the
project.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018
Thesis Project 2018-14
Title: Impact of dust grain on lightsails for interstellar flight
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: Laser-driven lightsails are a promising technique for interstellar flight,
however, sails will experience impacts of dust grains in the interplanetary
and interstellar medium. The impact of a sub-micron grain can deposit as
much as 1 J of energy into the sail when travelling at speeds necessary for
interstellar flight. This project will examine the subsequent dynamics of
the sail and the damage incurred. This problem will be modelled both
analytically and numerically, and experiments will be performed in the lab
with gas gun-launched particles onto candidate thin-film materials.
Personnel sought: Student should have a strong interest in advanced space
exploration concepts, with general background in materials and stress/strain,
numerical simulation, and experimental techniques.
Skills involved: Experience with ANSYS would be very enabling for the
project. Experience with photography and high-speed data acquisition would be
helpful. Completion of Mech 321 (Mechanics of Deformable Solids) is required
for the project.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018
Thesis Project 2018-15
Title: Percolation model for detonation in a system of discrete energy sources
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: Detonation waves propagating in combustible gas mixtures exhibit very complex
dynamics, with transverse and longitudinal shock waves that sweep across the
front. This project will attempt to model this process by treating
detonation as an ensemble of interacting blast waves. Approximate, analytic solutions of
blast waves will be used to treat the problem. Results
will be interpreted with the assistance of percolation theory, a branch of
statistical physics. Results will also be compared to reactive Euler
simulations using supercomputing resources.
Skills required: Strong coding skills (language of your choice) and
awareness in advanced mathematics is of interest.
Personnel sought: Completion of Mech 430 (Fluids 2) is required for this
project. Interest in nonlinear physics and pattern formation in nature would
provide helpful motivation for this project. Exposure to concepts in
statistical physics (Ad. Thermo) is also desirable.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018
Thesis Project 2018-16
Title: Pellet stream propulsion for interstellar flight
Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Higgins
The term(s) to begin:Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Fall 2019
Brief description: A promising approach to deep space propulsion that may enable interstellar
flight is pellet stream propulsion, wherein high velocity pellets (with
velocity exceeding that of the spacecraft) are used to impart momentum onto a
spacecraft. Such a pellet stream may be able to be collimated and focused
over much greater distances than a laser beam, making it an attractive
alternative to laser-driven directed energy. This project will examine the
ability of a charged particle to be steered and re-directed via a static
magnetic field (e.g., quadrupole beam steering, etc.), both via computer
simulation and experimental testing in the lab. The ability to steer a small
(mm to cm scale) pellet via magnetic field of rare earth magnets at speeds of
~1 km/s would be a significant validation of the concept.
Personnel sought: Student should have a strong interest in advanced space
exploration concepts, with strong background in electromagnetism and physics.
Interest in or familiarity with conventional, fundamental particle
accelerators would be desirable.
Skills involved: Basic coding skills (language of your choice) and numerical
simulation is required. Experience with basic electronics and
microcontrollers (Arduino, etc.) and 3-D printing would be very helpful for
the project.
Contact e-mail: andrew.higgins [at] mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2018