Polytechnique Montréal ranks first, winning 24% of all funds awarded to Québec universities
Montréal, Québec, Thursday February 25, 2021 – Polytechnique Montréal researchers have once again demonstrated their ability to kick start large-scale projects that have a concrete impact on the country’s citizens. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) recently announced its support of 20 Polytechnique-based projects as part of the Alliance Grants program. The latter translates into NSERC grants approaching $9.8 million - making Polytechnique Montréal the most-funded Québec university under the Alliance Grant program.
NSERC Alliance Grants foster collaboration between university researchers and private, public, or non-profit sector partner organizations. Further, the grants support research projects that bring together complementary partners in order to generate new knowledge, and accelerate the application of research results for the benefit of all Canadians.
The 20 NSERC supported Polytechnique Montréal-based projects testify to the diversity and relevance of the institution’s expertise. Projects range in subject from aircraft cybersecurity to the implementation of geothermal energy in schools, the development of agricultural pesticides alternatives, the creation of a lunar rover, and the design of artificial intelligence personalized teeth, to highlight just a few of the notable research projects (a full list can be found below).
The $9.8 million in grants obtained by researchers enables Polytechnique Montréal to take a prized place among Québec universities, given that the engineering university has thus earned nearly a quarter, or 24.4 %, of the $40.1 million awarded by NSERC via the Alliance Grant Program. Across Canada, Polytechnique Montreal has no less than 8.3 % of the total budget allocated by NSERC to Alliance grants.
RESEARCH FOCUSED ON SOCIETY’S NEEDS
The results of the first NSERC Alliance Grant competition bear witness to the dynamism of research at Polytechnique Montréal. Since June 1, 2018, the university has hired 57 professors, bringing its professorial and research staff to nearly 300 strong.
The growing number of Polytechnique Montréal-based researchers can only increase its scope and quality of research – a fact reinforced by a recent Stanford University study and article. According to the Stanford article, in 2019, 50 current and former Polytechnique Montréal researchers were among the top 2 % of most-cited researchers worldwide in their respective fields.
THE NUMBERS
- $9,784,458 of $117,843,682 NSERC Alliance Grant dollars were awarded to Polytechnique Montréal projects, or 8.3% across Canada;
- 20 of 414 NSERC Alliance Grants were awarded to researchers at Polytechnique Montréal, or 4.8% across Canada;
- Polytechnique Montréal is the home of 18.5 % (20/108) of Québec-based NSERC-supported projects within this competition;
- Polytechnique Montréal ranks first among Quebec universities in terms of funding, with 24.4%, or $9,784,458 of $40,103,996 total, granted by NSERC to projects in Quebec universities
CITATION
“The support provided by the NSERC Alliance Grant Program to Polytechnique Montreal researchers, truly highlights our intuitional objectives to lead research projects that meet society’s current and future needs. These research projects enable our university to train the engineers of tomorrow – superb quality engineers who are destined to become genuine agents of change in our ever-evolving world."
- Philippe A. Tanguy, Polytechnique Montréal President
Source: Polytechnique Montréal
Table - 20 Awarded NSERC Alliance Grants
|
Professor |
Project title |
Area of application |
Funding amount |
|
Ajji, Abdellah |
Sustainable, Safe and Smart Polymer Flexible Packaging |
Manufacturing processes and products; Polymers, rubber and plastics |
$1,000,000 |
|
Beltrame, Giovanni |
Robust multi-robot localization and mapping |
Surveying and photogrammetry |
$30,000 |
|
Boffito, Daria Camilla |
CO2 to jet-fuels technology platform |
Energy resources (including production, exploration, processing, distribution and use); Engineering |
$140,000 |
|
Boffito, Daria Camilla |
Intensified extraction and recovery of critical minerals from ore tailings |
Mineral resources (prospecting, exploration, mining, extraction, processing); Engineering |
$98,660 |
|
Dagenais, Michel |
Monitoring and Debugging of High Performance Distributed Heterogeneous Cloud Applications |
Information, computer and communication technologies; Computer software |
$1,028,580 |
|
David, Jean Pierre |
Methods and tools for the development of explainable embedded artificial neural networks for autonomous transportation |
Transport equipment; Electrical and electronic machinery and equipment (including computer hardware) |
$540,000 (to be confirmed) |
|
Fernandez, José Manuel |
Cyber security of current and future aircraft |
Aerospace; Information systems and technology |
$800,000 |
|
Gosselin, Frederick |
Digital Twins of hydroelectric generating units: AI insight from sensor data combined with physics-based simulation |
Energy resources (including production, exploration, processing, distribution and use); Engineering |
$521,736 |
|
Guibault, François |
Deep learning approach to generate patient-specific teeth |
Biomedical engineering; Human health (including medically-related psychological research) |
$300,156 |
|
Kashyap, Raman |
Advanced sources for QUantum information technologies and devices: ASQUID |
Information systems and technology; Physical sciences |
$300,000 |
|
Le Digabel, Sébastien |
Numerical Optimization and Machine Learning |
Advancement of knowledge; Communication systems and services (planning, organization, services) |
$781,500 |
|
Leblond, Frederic |
Intraoperative margin assessment technique for breast conserving surgery using Raman spectroscopy imaging |
Biomedical engineering; Medical and health sciences |
$521,740 |
|
Pabst, Thomas |
Valorization of waste rocks in engineered cover systems to reclaim tailings storage facilities generating acid mine drainage |
Waste, waste management and recycling; Mineral resources (prospecting, exploration, mining, extraction, processing) |
$84,000 |
|
Pasquier, Philippe |
Use of permanent geothermal standing column wells for the effective electrification of the institutional and commercial sectors |
Energy efficiency; Energy resources (including production, exploration, processing, distribution and use) |
$1,737,651 |
|
Prévost, Michèle |
Integrated management of Legionella risk in cooling towers by rapid detection, innovative treatment and prevention of transmission |
Engineering; Environment |
$1,036,509 |
|
Ruiz, Eduardo |
Recycling carbon black from used tires for greener materials |
Waste, waste management and recycling; Materials sciences |
$120,000 |
|
Shakibaeinia, Ahmad |
Fully-Lagrangian three-dimensional modelling of river ice jam initiation |
Water; Environment |
$20,000 |
|
Tavares, Jason Robert |
Project DeNETer - Polymer nets with absorbent properties: combining exclusion with biological control, confusion and repulsion of pests |
Agriculture and primary food production; Agricultural chemicals (fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides) |
$178,560 |
|
Therriault, Daniel |
Development of a scalable and efficient lightning strike protection system for composite aircraft |
Transport equipment; Aerospace |
$232,250 |
|
Therriault, Daniel |
Design and advanced manufacturing of a lunar rover using thermoplastic composites |
Manufacturing processes and products; Space and astronomy |
$313,116 |
Source : CRSNG/NSERC
About Polytechnique MONTRÉAL
Established in 1873, Polytechnique Montréal is one of Canada’s largest engineering education and research universities. It ranks first in Quebec in terms of the scope of its engineering research activities, and is located on the Université de Montréal campus - North America’s largest Francophone university campus. With over 52,800 graduates and over 120 academic programs, Polytechnique has trained 22% of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ)’s current membership. Polytechnique Montréal is also distinguished by its 285 talented professors, more than 9,000 students, and overall annual budget of $260 million, nearly $100 million of which is reserved exclusively for research activities.
Information and interview requests
Martin Primeau
Communications Advisor – Scientific Outreach
Polytechnique Montréal
martin.primeau@polymtl.ca
