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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

November 18, 2009

Speaker: Professor Kim McAuley, Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen's University

Title: Mathematical Modeling of Chemical Processes - Getting the Best Model Predictions and Parameter Estimates using Limited Data

Abstract: One of the main impediments to using fundamental models for design, optimization and control of industrial processes is that it is difficult to obtain good parameter estimates that will ensure reliable model predictions. When confronted with limited experimental data and a large number of parameters to estimate, some modellers simplify their models to reduce the number of parameters. Others choose only a few parameters to adjust, and fix the remaining parameters at literature values or at reasonable guesses. This talk will describe an estimability analysis tool that can aid in selecting which parameters should be estimated using the available data, and which should be held constant. Comforting theoretical results about the consequences of model simplification and estimation of only a few parameters will also be presented.

Biography: ...

Disciplines: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics