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NSERC pays tribute to Canada's top researchers in natural sciences and engineering: Polytechnique researchers honoured
His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, today hosted a ceremony honouring Canada's top researchers in natural sciences and engineering. Eight prestigious prizes were awarded to deserving recipients, and three of them went to researchers at Polytechnique Montréal.
E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship
Christophe Caloz, professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal
Christophe Caloz is a research leader in the field of electromagnetic engineering who is solving growing challenges in wireless communications. His pioneering technology offers higher processing efficiency than the digital signal processing currently in use. His future research is aimed at tackling the problems associated with wider adoption of analog signal processing in wireless radio, which will be faster, more energy efficient and less costly.
NSERC's E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships are awarded annually to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising scientists and engineers who are faculty members at Canadian universities. The Steacie Fellowships honour the memory of Edgar William Richard Steacie, an outstanding chemist and research leader who made major contributions to the development of science in Canada during, and immediately following, the Second World War.
Each of the six winners receives a research grant of as much as $250,000 over two years.
The
Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering
FORAC Research Team: Daoud Ait‑Kadi, Robert Beauregard, Sophie D'Amours, Jonathan Gaudreault,
Luc LeBel, Nadia Lehoux, Alain Martel, Moustapha Nourelfath, Diane Poulin and Mikael Rönnqvist,
Université Laval and Jean‑Marc Frayret,
associate professor, Department of Mathematical and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal
FORAC (De la FORêt Au Client – Forest to Customer) is a research team that has applied value-chain optimization to maximize the economic impact of the forest industry and minimize its environmental impact. Companies and clients use Web-based decision-making platforms developed by FORAC to model processes that include harvesting, mill operations and manufacturing; and to develop harvesting plans that include the measurement of environmental impacts. Today, these tools are used globally by forest companies and manufacturers that rely on wood products.
In tribute to the pursuit of research excellence the late Canadian scientist Bertram N. Brockhouse exemplified and inspired, NSERC offers an interdisciplinary research prize in his name. Dr. Brockhouse won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Since 2004, the Brockhouse Canada Prize has recognized outstanding Canadian teams of researchers from different disciplines who have combined their expertise to produce achievements of outstanding international significance in the natural sciences and engineering in the last six years.
The winners receive a team research grant of up to $250,000.
Synergy Award for Innovation– Leo-Derikx Award
(pre-competitive partnership with multiple companies)
Arthur Pelton, professor, Patrice Chartrand, associate professor, and Christophe Bale, professor, Department of Chemical Engineering,
Polytechnique Montréal, and In-Ho Jung, McGill University and Rio Tinto, Iron & Titanium, Alcoa Technical Centre,
Corning Incorporated, Teck Metals Ltd., Xstrata Process Support, General Motors of Canada Limited,
Rio Tinto Alcan et Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology
The recipients of NSERC's 2012 Leo Derikx Award have created a diverse chemistry simulation software tool named FactSage. It allows users to perform complex chemical equilibrium calculations using a vast, critically evaluated database, saving time and costs associated with physical experimentation.
The software is one of the largest fully integrated database computing systems in chemical thermodynamics in the world. Run on a personal computer, it is used in fields as diverse as materials science, metallurgy, glass technology, nuclear waste disposal, solar energy storage, combustion and ceramics. This software is currently used by over 500 industrial, governmental and university laboratories in 43 countries.
The Synergy Awards for Innovation were launched by NSERC in 1995 to recognize partnerships between universities and industry in natural sciences and engineering research and development. Since their inception, the Awards have honoured the most outstanding achievements of university-industry collaboration in the natural sciences and engineering.
The winners receive a $200,000 research grant.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
NSERC is a federal agency that helps make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators. The agency supports almost 30,000 post-secondary students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding approximately 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging over 2,400 Canadian companies to participate and invest in post-secondary research projects.
Click here to read about all the winners of the main NSERC awards.
Our heartiest congratulations to the researchers who honour us by winning these prestigious awards!
