Nouvelles
CFI and the Government of Québec award more than $20 million to four research projects headed by Polytechnique Montréal professors
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Government of Québec and various partners will contribute to supporting research infrastructures for projects under the direction of Polytechnique Montréal professors Carl-Éric Aubin, Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, Daniel Therriault and Ke Wu.
The CFI and the provincial government will each contribute $10,163,340 to the research projects headed by professors Aubin, Kéna-Cohen, Therriault and Ke. These Polytechnique Montréal projects will receive a total of $27,973,205 in funding from the two governments and partners.
Through the Innovation Fund, the FCI will be investing more than $554 million in 117 infrastructure projects at 61 universities, colleges and research hospitals across the country.
“Our government understands that scientists need to have the best labs and tools if they’re going to make discoveries that will pave the way to a brighter future for all people,” said Federal Science Minister Kirsty Duncan. “That’s why today’s funding announcement is so important; it gives scientists and their students the opportunity to further their research in areas where Canada has a competitive advantage. The discoveries, innovations and skills developed in these new, state-of-the-art labs will go a long way in improving our lives, our economy and our future prosperity.”
Added Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the CFI: “The Innovation Fund encourages institutions and its researchers to think big and strive to be global leaders by conducting world-class research. This funding pushes researchers to aim higher in their pursuits by collaborating across disciplines, institutions and sectors. With this support, institutions can build on their current research strengths and set their sights on accelerating research that will create social, health, environmental and economic benefits for all Canadians.”
And Hélène David, Minister of Higher Education and Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Government of Québec, added: “The Government of Québec is proud to invest in university research and to support the training of the next generation of scientists. By enabling our brilliant students to work with cutting-edge equipment and infrastructure, we are contributing to their personal and professional development so that they can become major players in bringing about the evolution of our society into a better world.”
Following is the list of research projects at Polytechnique Montréal receiving federal and provincial government funding:
Project: Unité intégrée en ingénierie clinique (UNIC; Integrated Clinical Engineering Unit)
Lead researcher: Carl-Éric Aubin, Full Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Contribution from the CFI: $877,558
Contribution from the Government of Québec: $877,558
Total project value: $2,889,478
The project headed by Professor Aubin will involve implementation of leading-edge imaging technology and biomedical engineering infrastructure at the Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine. These infrastructures will also be key to the TransMedTech Institute at Polytechnique Montréal, a transdisciplinary, intersectoral, open-innovation ecosystem—better known as a living lab—dedicated to the design and implementation of next-generation medical technologies for treatment of cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and musculoskeletal disorders.
The project will enable a North American first: establishment of a prototype low-dose multi-energy radiology imaging system that will be used to develop technologies for 3D diagnosis of musculoskeletal disorders as well as for simulation and optimization of orthopedic treatments.
The project also aims to implement a high-resolution dynamic 3D surface topography system for imaging the human body, the only one of its kind in the world, that will enable innovative research into postural control along with approaches for detection and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Lastly, the project will enable implementation of next-generation 2D/3D fluoroscopy methods for development of innovative applications for optimizing complex surgeries and guidance of new spinal surgery approaches.
Project: Platform for the Quantum Engineering of Low-dimensional Systems
Lead researcher: Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, Adjunct Professor, Department of Engineering Physics
Contribution from the CFI: $2,860,655
Contribution from the Government of Québec: $2,860,655
Total project value: $8,592,793
The project headed by Professor Kéna-Cohen targets implementation of tools found nowhere else in Canada: a CVD (chemical vapour deposition) system for growing isotopically purified materials, a low-energy electron microscope with high energy and spatial resolution, a time-resolved photoemission electron microscope, a system for pump-probe spectroscopy and coherent optical control, a pulsed and continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, and an ultralow temperature magnetic-field electron transport system.
These tools will enable the manufacture and characterization of novel low-dimensional materials, to be used to develop new, more efficient, better-performing and potentially revolutionary quantum technologies in the areas of energy, information and communications.
The research infrastructure will be used, among other things, to develop more efficient and cost-effective photovoltaic and thermoelectric devices, faster transistors that give off very little heat, chemical reactions controlled by quantum states on the surfaces of single-layer materials, and very-low-threshold lasers.
Project: Next-Generation Composites for Greener, Safer and Lighter Transportation
Lead researcher: Daniel Therriault, Full Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Contribution from the CFI: $4,004,516
Contribution from the Government of Québec: $4,004,516
Total project value: $10,251,609
The project headed by Professor Therriault aims to implement manufacturing and mechanical characterization tools that will be used to develop the next generation of recyclable composite materials for use in the aerospace and automotive industries. Such materials will be lighter and offer mechanical performance potentially superior to traditional metal structures.
The research infrastructure implemented as part of the project will also have a positive sustainable-development impact. For one thing, the materials developed using the tools will mean aircraft and vehicles with lower structural mass, resulting in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. For another, the infrastructure will be used to develop innovative technologies for reducing residual materials during forming and for reusing end-of-life-cycle materials.
The project will involve interconnections of five research areas: base materials (recyclable thermoplastic resin composites, advanced 3D fibres, multifunctional materials), advanced forming processes (additive manufacturing, pultrusion, stamping, welding), repairs to damaged structures, modeling, and end-of-life-cycle recycling.
Project: Upgraded Facility for Advanced Millimeter-wave Engineering (U-FAME)
Lead researcher: Ke Wu, Full Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
Contribution from the CFI: $2,420,611
Contribution from the Government of Québec: $2,420,611
Total project value: $6,239,325
The first phase of the project headed by Professor Ke involves upgrades to equipment obtained as part of the following infrastructure projects: FAME (Facility for Advanced Millimeter-wave Engineering), established in 2000, and E-FAME (Extended Facility for Advanced Millimeter-wave Engineering), established in 2009, both implemented at the Advanced Research Centre in Microwaves and Space Electronics (Poly-Grames) at Polytechnique Montréal.
The second phases of the U-FAME project will involve strengthening of the existing infrastructures and expansion of the frequency range to 1.1 terahertz to allow for study of the use of segments of the electromagnetic spectrum that are as yet undeveloped for scientific applications. The third phase will target establishment of a process for low-cost mass production of printed devices, in collaboration with the Institut des communications graphiques et de l’imprimabilité at Collège Ahuntsic in Montréal.
The research to be undertaken or continued using the equipment upgraded or installed as part of the project will serve development of wireless telecommunications, remote sensing and wireless power transfer devices based on new concepts, new techniques and new materials.

Left to right: Carl-Éric Aubin, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal; Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, Professor of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal; Daniel Therriault, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal; Ke Wu, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal.

Left to right: Stéphane Kéna-Cohen, Professor of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal; Martin Lévesque, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal (representing Professor Daniel Therriault); Chahé Nerguizian, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal (representing Professor Ke Wu); François Bertrand, Chief Research, Innovation and International Officer, Polytechnique Montréal; Farida Cheriet, Professor of Computer and Software Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal (representing Professor Carl-Éric Aubin); Hélène David, Minister of Higher Education and Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Government of Québec; Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO, Canada Foundation for Innovation; Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, Government of Canada; François William Croteau, Mayor, Borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie. (Photo: Benoît Champagne Photographe)
En savoir plus
Expertise profile of professor Carl-Éric Aubin
Expertise profile of professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen
Expertise profile of professor Daniel Therriault
Expertise profile of professor Ke Wu
Website of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal (In French)
Website of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal (In French)
Website of the TransMedTech Institute
Website of the Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal
Website of the Centre Poly-Grames, Polytechnique Montréal
Website of the Canada Foundation for Innovation