Greg Rickford, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced yesterday an investment of $63 million in equipment, laboratories and tools to achieve tomorrow's breakthroughs and improve the lives of Canadians. Polytechnique is one of the 37 Canadian universities to receive funding through the CFI's John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

Shim and Real-time Compensation System for MRI of the Human Spinal Cord
Lead investigator: Julien Cohen-Adad, Adjunct Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
CFI grant: $158,828

Spinal cord lesions are a serious cause of morbidity, as they may induce paralysis and in some cases intense chronic pain. Every year, some 130 new spinal cord injury sufferers are admitted to one of Québec's two major rehabilitation centres. This project will make it possible to obtain spinal cord images of greatly improved quality, such that clinicians can more precisely characterize the spinal cord lesions in patients undergoing rehabilitation. Of course, this system will also be used to diagnose other illnesses affecting the spinal cord, such as tumours and multiple sclerosis. This project, the only one of its kind in the world, at the interface between cutting-edge technology and medical research, will encourage the training of highly qualified staff. 

Laboratory for Non-Invasive Imaging and Navigation Technologies in Neurosurgery
Lead investigator: Frédéric Leblond, Adjunct Professor, Department of Engineering Physics
CFI grant: $199,825

In Canada, brain tumours represent about 1.5% of all new cancer cases. The standard of care is open-skull surgery in order to resect the lesion as completely as possible, which significantly affects survival and the effectiveness of subsequent treatments using radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The research program consists of synergistically integrating complementary, non-invasive imaging techniques to improve the precision, safety and thoroughness of tumour resection in both adults and children.

Low-Temperature Geothermal Mobile Test Unit
Lead investigator: Philippe Pasquier, Adjunct Professor, Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering
CFI grant: $225,000 

In Québec, more than half of a residence's electricity consumption is devoted to heating and air conditioning. While the use of geothermal heat pumps can significantly reduce this energy consumption, real-estate developers are slow to adopt the technology due to the initial high investment required to construct the system. This research project aims to address this difficulty by studying a promising technology: geothermal systems that use a standing-column well, a technology aiming to boost the efficiency of geothermal systems by directly using the groundwater circulating in a well that can be up to 500 metres deep. The research activities planned on the standing column well are based on the use of a trial mobile unit and an instrument-equipped standing-column well designed to reproduce the thermal and hydraulic impact of a building on the operation of a well, measure the system's operating parameters, and process a fraction of the groundwater circulating in the well in order to maintain groundwater quality. 

About the CFI
The CFI was created to fund research infrastructure (state-of-the-art equipment, buildings, laboratories and databases) necessary to conduct research. Its mission is to build the capacity of Canada's universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development to benefit Canadians.

See also:
Professor Cohen-Adad's expertise  
Professor Leblond's expertise
Professor Pasquier's expertise   

Visit the CFI's website to see the full list of funded projects, listed by university.