UWSpace

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Recent Submissions

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    OPTIMIZATION OF BATTERY-FREE WATER LEAK DETECTORS
    (University of Waterloo, 2025-11-18) OGINNI, ADETOUN
    Battery-free water leak sensors offer a sustainable solution for real-time leak detection by harvesting energy from water-triggered reactions to power communication modules such as BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). A key challenge for their practical use is ensuring reliable and rapid activation of the BLE electronics under varying conditions. This work investigates how material loading and sensor design parameters, such as water inlet size and elevation, influence activation time, current output, and structural stability. In this study, the influence of powder mass loading, water inlet size, and sensor elevation on activation time and electrical output was systematically investigated. Among the different mass loadings tested, the 400 mg configuration consistently demonstrated superior performance, achieving both shorter activation times and higher current output compared to other loadings. This optimal behaviour is attributed to a favourable balance in packing density, which improves conductivity and current generation without impeding water penetration. Design parameters such as inlet size and sensor elevation were also found to significantly affect wetting dynamics and activation timing. Further validation in natural water conditions confirmed the robustness of the 400 mg configuration, showing consistent BLE activation across 25 test samples. Mechanical drop tests revealed that lower mass loadings (e.g., 300 mg) resulted in pellet instability and performance degradation, while 400 mg maintained structural integrity. Overall, the results highlight 400 mg mass loading in combination with optimized structural design as the most effective configuration for reliable BLE activation. These findings provide critical insights for advancing battery-free water leak sensors toward real-world applications in leak monitoring and water damage prevention.
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    Control and Characterization of the Central Spin System
    (University of Waterloo, 2025-11-18) Chen, Jiahui
    Precise, coherent, robust quantum control and characterization of quantum systems play important roles in the development of applications of quantum technologies. In particular, advancing the quality of control requires precise characterization, which, in turn, depends on the quality of control. In the first part of the thesis, we introduce a general framework for designing efficient, precise, and robust quantum control strategies using effective Hamiltonian engineering. The methods enable designs that are robust to systematic control errors and variations in the Hamiltonian. The efficiency benefit of achieving control at zeroth order in the Magnus expansion is highlighted. Design tools, such as methods that identify the space of achievable effective Hamiltonians at each order from the Magnus expansion, are introduced. Objective functions for engineering arbitrary effective Hamiltonians are provided and can be used by numerical optimizers for control sequence design. The second part of the thesis explores the characterization of general noise models based on experiments on a central spin system. The noise is probed through stimulated echo experiments, multi-dimensional correlation spectroscopy, and multi-quantum experiments to characterize system/environment correlation and environmental memory effects. Combined with Bayesian inference, these experiments provide quantitative measures of correlation growth, environmental mixing, and deviations from stochastic noise models. Measures that influence the choice of control schemes include non-Gaussianity, non-stationarity, and non-Markovianity. The multi-quantum experiments can also reveal an extended environment and show how the environmental mixing propagates quantum information throughout the environment.
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    State, Society, and Huquq: Rights-Based Governance and the Making of Urban Space in Amman, Jordan
    (University of Waterloo, 2025-11-18) Abu Ali, Mahmoud
    Urban planning in Jordan has long operated within technocratic and centralized models that remain institutionally and epistemically disconnected from the normative frameworks of social values and Islamic legal principles valued by many of its residents. This disjuncture is particularly visible in Amman, where imported planning systems, initially introduced under British colonial rule, displaced longstanding Islamic spatial practices grounded in jurisprudence, community ethics, and reciprocal obligation. Yet these Islamic planning rights, huquq, such as ihyaa’ al-ard (revivification of land), la darar wa la dirar (no harm and no reciprocating harm), and mulk tam (full ownership), continue to hold relevance beyond their historical origins and are increasingly invoked in grassroots negotiations over land, access, and authority. This dissertation investigates the status and potential reintegration of these rights into contemporary planning discourse and practice through a case study of Amman. It draws on interviews with key informants, narrative interpretations, planning documents, and policy texts to trace how institutions and communities interpret and operationalize huquq. This multi-layered empirical approach allows for an in-depth exploration of how formal institutions and everyday actors negotiate the meaning, relevance, and applicability of huquq in shaping urban life. Amman is a salient site for this study, as it exemplifies both the entrenchment of colonial planning legacies and the persistence of alternative rationalities in informal practice and community discourse. The findings are developed across three chapters. The first chapter revisits the literature on Islamic cities through the lens of New Institutionalism, offering a framework for analyzing both the historical displacement and the continued potential of Islamic planning principles. With a specific focus on Jordan as a case study, the chapter illustrates how these principles, grounded in enduring normative commitments, may support the development of decolonized and community-responsive approaches to urban governance. It proposes an expanded institutionalist model that incorporates Islamic jurisprudential foundations, presenting them as a conceptual anchor and a practical guide for rethinking urban planning in contexts shaped by Muslim legal and epistemic traditions. The second chapter examines public and professional awareness of Islamic planning rights, revealing both fragmented understandings and significant potential for institutional reintegration if accompanied by curricular reform, participatory planning platforms, and juridical clarity. The third chapter analyzes institutional ambiguity and identifies ‘soft spots’ in the Jordanian planning system, zones of partial implementation, normative dissonance, or legal silence, where reinterpretations of huquq can re-emerge, while resisting the symbolic-functional divide that relegates these rights to moral rather than legal relevance. Altogether, the dissertation repositions Islamic planning rights as viable tools for decolonial governance. It contributes to urban planning theory by offering a rights-based institutional framework grounded in Islamic jurisprudence and enriched by decolonial and sociological insights. In practice, it advocates for reforms that bridge ethical commitments and legal systems, re-embed local epistemologies into formal planning, and foster urban futures that are more just, responsive, and culturally resonant. Planning in Amman, the dissertation argues, need not remain alienated from the communities it governs. Through the principled revival of huquq, an alternative path toward legitimate, grounded urban governance becomes imaginable.
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    Costs of hydrogen production with net-zero emissions: a case study in Kitchener
    (IEEE, 2025) Uwineza, Laetitia; Wu, Xiao Yu
    This study estimates the cost of hydrogen production with net-zero emissions, focusing on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (LCA) and including CO2 removal costs. We design a PV-grid system for hydrogen production using HOMER’s energy modelling software with simulations based on data from a site in the city of Kitchener. Additionally, we examine the relationship between the hydrogen production and its carbon intensity. The results illustrate that the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), when including CO2 removal costs, is 9.22% to 11.39% higher compared to the LCOH without carbon removal costs. These preliminary findings can serve as potential indicators for hydrogen pricing.
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    Immersive Invaders: Privacy Threats from Deceptive Design in Virtual Reality Games and Applications
    (Association for Computing Machinery, 2025-10-18) Hadan, Hilda; Valiquette, Michaela; Lennart, Nacke; Zhang-Kennedy, Leah
    Virtual Reality (VR) technologies offer immersive experiences but collect substantial user data. While deceptive design is well-studied in 2D platforms, little is known about its manifestation in VR environments and its impact on user privacy. This research investigates deceptive designs in privacy communication and interaction mechanisms of 12 top-rated VR games and applications through autoethnographic evaluation of the applications and thematic analysis of privacy policies. We found that while many deceptive designs rely on 2D interfaces, some VR-unique features, while not directly enabling deception, amplified data disclosure behaviors, and obscured actual data practices. Convoluted privacy policies and manipulative consent practices further hinder comprehension and increase privacy risks. We also observed privacy-preserving design strategies and protective considerations in VR privacy policies. We offer recommendations for ethical VR design that balance immersive experiences with strong privacy protections, guiding researchers, designers, and policymakers to improve privacy in VR environments.