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Thesis Projects
The Honours Thesis research projects listed below are available only to McGill Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate students in the Honours program and registering in 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 2016-2017 school year:

Thesis Project 2016-1
Title: Study the influence of design topology optimization
on the sustainability of product fabricated via additive manufacturing
Supervisor: Prof. Yaoyao Fiona Zhao
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2016 or Winter 2017
Brief description: The student will learn topology optimization
procedure and life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to compare the
environmental impact of the product designed for conventional manufacturing
and the re-designed product for additive manufacturing. The comparison result
will be analyzed to understand the influence of topology optimization on the
sustainability of products.
Contact e-mail: yaoyao.zhao@mcgill.ca
Posted: June 3, 2016

Thesis Project 2016-2

Title: State estimation and nonlinear control of very flexible aircraft
Supervisor: Prof. James Richard Forbes
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2016 or Winter 2017
Brief description: In order to fly at very high altitudes for long
periods of time, aircraft must have a very high lift-to-drag ratio and be
extremely lightweight, resulting in an aircraft that has significant
structural flexibility. Moreover, the structural dynamics and aerodynamics of
such aircraft are highly nonlinear, resulting in a flight control problem
that is quite challenging. Compounding issues is the fact that sensors, such
as rate gyros and accelerometers, do not measure quantities such aircraft
attitude, or wing-tip deflection, both of which are needed in order to
control the aircraft. The focus of this project will be the use of state
estimation methods, such as extended Kalman filtering, to estimate quantities

of interest from noisy, biassed, and limited sensor data, as well as

nonlinear control using the generated state estimates. Students interested in
aerospace systems, UAVs, control, estimation, dynamics, aerodynamics, will
find this project challenging yet inspiring. Students who apply should be
honours thesis students who are willing to learn MATLAB if they do not know
it already.
Contact e-mail: james.richard.forbes@mcgill.ca
Posted: June 3, 2016

Thesis Project 2016-3

Title: Composite water intake model
Supervisor: Prof. Pascal Hubert
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2016
Brief description: Develop a model to predict the water content in a composite part, especially
thick structures:
1.

Perform water intake tests at Hroux-Devtek M&P Lab;

2.

Perform mechanical tests (3-points bending);

3.

Perform addition characterization (e.g., thickness, microscopy observation);

4.

Process the test data (inc. Hroux-Devtek legacy data);

5.

Develop a model and the associated tool considering the different

conditions (thickness, temperature, free surfaces);

6.

Apply the developed model on an actual part.

This project is in collaboration with Heroux-Devtek

Contact e-mail: pascal.hubert@mcgill.ca
Posted: June 6, 2016

Thesis Project 2016-4

Title: Shape transforming mechanical metamaterials
Supervisor: Prof. Damiano Pasini
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2016 or Winter 2017
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 explore different design

concepts for creating new architected periodic materials with desired
shape-shifting functionalities. Additive manufacturing techniques will be
employed to fabricate prototypes and the performance of the fabricated
mechanical metamaterials will be examined with mechanical testing.
Contact e-mail: damiano.pasini@mcgill.ca
Posted: June 9, 2016

Thesis Project 2016-5

Title: Stethoscope array for heart sounds measurements
Supervisor: Prof. Luc Mongeau
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2016
Brief description: The project is to explore the use of an array of
accelerometers placed on a human subject chest to record heart sounds. The
sensors are low-cost hearing aid devices powered by a microchip. The data
are acquired and processed using an Agilent multi-channel data acquisition
system. Signal processing algorithms, including machine learning techniques,
will be used to characterize hearts sounds for the possible detection of
pathologies.
Contact e-mail: luc.mongeau@mcgill.ca
Posted: July 19, 2016

Projects for 2015-2016 school year:

may or may not be still available - you may use contact e-mails to
find out.
Thesis Project 6
Title: New bioinspired glasses for architectural and touchscreen
applications
Supervisor: Prof. Francois Barthelat
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2015 or Winter 2016

Brief description: We have recently discovered that by engraving

three-dimensional patterns within glass using a focused laser, its mechanical
response can be completely changed. In particular, we showed that toughness
and resistance to impact can be increased by orders of magnitude. In this
project you will implement this new method to high-performance windows and
touch-screens, in collaboration with industry. You will use combinations of
experiments, modeling and bio-inspiration to explore and fine-tune the
micro-architecture of these materials at low loading rates, and at high
loading rates representative of impacts.
Contact e-mail:francois.barthelat@mcgill.ca
Posted: September 6, 2015

Thesis Project 7
Title: Bio-inspired flexible protective systems
Supervisor: Prof. Francois Barthelat
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2015 or Winter 2016
Brief description: Safety gloves and other personal protective
systems are common in difficult industrial environments. These protections
must be lightweight, flexible and breathable to maintain comfort and
mobility, but they also must be hard to protect from abrasion, puncture and
lacerations. In current designs, flexibility comes at the expense of hardness
and vice-versa. In this project you will explore new design for flexible yet
hard protection systems inspired from fish scales and osteoderms (alligators,
armadillo). The study involves the characterization of natural armor systems
using experiments and microCT imaging in collaboration with the Department of
Biology at McGill. You will also use finite element modeling, 3D printing
and mechanical experiments to optimize the size, shape and arrangement of
hard protective plates embedded in a soft substrate.
Contact e-mail: francois.barthelat@mcgill.ca
Posted: September 6, 2015

Thesis Project 8

Title: Research on detonation

Supervisor: Prof. John Lee
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2015 or Winter 2016
Brief description: A number of research projects in the general area of detonation are available. Details will be
provided in person.
Contact e-mail: john.lee@mcgill.ca
Posted: September 9, 2015

Thesis Project 9
Title: Development of a method for waste recycling to useful
composite materials
Supervisor: Prof. Larry Lessard
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2015 or Winter 2016
Brief description: There are ways in which useful materials can be
made from waste materials. Waste fiber and other materials can be converted
into composite materials using a minimal amount of equipment and some
ingenuity. There is great potential to help third-world countries develop
such an industry, which would allow them to produce good products and
building materials while at the same time reducing/consuming waste materials.
This is a pilot project in collaboration with University of Western
Australia and Sri Lanka. McGills role is to develop a simple but
efficient manufacturing process for the project. The project involves
experimental manufacturing based on composite materials theory.
Contact e-mail: larry.lessard@mcgill.ca
Posted: September 9, 2015

Thesis Project 11
Title: Fabrication and mechanical testing of composite angles
brackets
Supervisor: Prof. Larry Lessard
The term(s) to begin: Fall 2015 or Winter 2016
Brief description: The project involves fabrication of L-angles using
composite materials as per a fabrication plan and carrying out a basic

mechanical test on them. The materials for the L-angles/ brackets would be
hybrid fiber architectures of carbon/PEEK. Hybrid fiber architecture refers
to a combination of randomly oriented strands (ROS) or short fibers and
unidirectional tapes (UD) in specific proportions. Compression molding
technology will be used for fabrication. 4-point bending test will be
performed on the L-angles/brackets. Stiffness and strength comparisons of the
various configurations will be made. The candidate might have to obtain
micrographs by polishing the cross-sections of the coupons as required. This
project will be a part of a bigger project for Bell Helicopter Textron
Canada, and the candidate might be expected to sign a non-disclosure
agreement with the company, so as to restrict the disclosure of companys
confidential data.
Contact e-mail: larry.lessard@mcgill.ca
Posted: September 12, 2015

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