Thelma Green - Research Productivity Council (RPC)
Award: $65,000
Air quality issues are becoming increasingly important as we build our dwellings air tight, introduce new building materials and better understand the effects of naturally occurring substances like radon gas. RPC is an established and highly accredited leader in this field of research. Thelma Green is regarded as a leading authority on air quality and is regularly consulted by businesses, schools, hospitals, the military, and engineers, for over 30 years. The new Air Quality Scientist position will conduct breathing air research for RPC’s clients contributing to the development of new methods and technology, and expanding the professional services offering of RPC.
Currie, Campbell and Cockshutt - Mount Allison University
Award: $65,000
Drs Amanda Cockshutt, Suzanne Currie and Douglas Campbell at Mount Allison University have been working together to expand the innovation capacity of their facilities, including the acquisition of a new molecular instrumentation suite and the ongoing construction of the Crabtree Aqualab (a project supported in part by the NBIF under the Research Innovation Fund). The three researchers applied to hire a full time Research Associate to oversee the Instrumentation Suite, to develop molecular protocols and to train staff and students on the instruments. The Research Associate will also provide molecular biology services to private sector partners.
Bernard Hudgins - University of New Brunswick
Award: $60,000
As a member of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, the Research Prosthetics Technician will be immersed in research that will see the development of new innovative fittings for upper and lower-limb prosthetic devices. One project the technician will be contributing to involves the development of algorithms to decode neural information for the control of powered knees and ankles, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.
Kecheng Li - University of New Brunswick
Award: $65,000
The cellulose that naturally exists in wood, and isolated in the pulping process at paper plants, can be used to make low-carbon emitting ethanol gas for a number of applications: generating electricity, heating buildings, and running automobiles. But in order for a portion of the wood pulp to be used to make bio-fuel, a pretreatment technology is needed, and is currently in development by Dr Li. The new Research Engineer in Industrial Technologies Development will play a critical role in optimizing the pretreatment by collecting and analyzing pulp samples being tested at two of the province’s pulp and paper facilities.
Christopher McFarlane - University of New Brunswick
Award: $65,000
In November 2009 the Foundation announced funding for Dr McFarlane for the acquisition of a state-of-the-art laser and mass spectrometer for his laboratory. The facility allows Dr McFarlane to determine composition and quality of minerals with incredible speed, and currently performs such research services for Xstrata Zinc, Freewest Resources and Elmtree Resources. The Research Technician will maintain the laser and mass spectrometer at top performance, training and supervising users in the correct operation of the technology, developing new innovative analytical techniques for mineral exploration, and managing the operation of the lab.
Yonghao Ni - University of New Brunswick
Award $65,000
Yonghao Ni is the inventor of the Conductive Paper Technology (CPT) that is presently being commercialized by our portfolio company, KnowCharge Inc., by making packaging for electronics that discharges harmful static electricity shocks during shipping. Dr Li’s research in CPT has recently expanded into the realm of counterfeiting technology, by giving paper and packaging a unique electrical charge that can’t be copied. The Research Technician in Advanced Fiber Material will assist in the development and testing of the technology needed to create the engineered pulp fiber. They will be heavily involved in the pre-commercial production of the final products.
Jacques Gagnon - Coastal Zones Research Institute
Award: $35,000
Dr Jacques Gagnon is presently leading a massive effort to develop novel methods needed to extract, process and market the natural nutritional components of shrimp, herring, sea cucumber and snow crab byproducts. So far, he has prepared a library of extracts from the left over shells, heads and tails and other parts of the fish/seafood, and is now screening for biological properties that can be used to prevent obesity, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The Research Technician will work with Dr Gagnon to evaluate and characterize the presence and quality of each byproduct’s biomolecular properties, and to develop and optimize the procedures needed for manufacturing the various end products for the animal and human food industry.
Alain Haché - Université de Moncton
Award: $65,000
Dr Haché is the Canada Research Chair in Photonics, and is presently collaborating research with EG Energy Control, for the development of more advanced technologies for converting light energy into heat. At the same time, through collaboration with Dr Pandurang Ashrit, he is also working on a thin film that reflect heat producing light, for the purpose of natural temperature regulation. The Researcher in Experimental Thermo-optics will be working on both projects, conducting product trials, field testing and analysis to prepare the technology for industry.