Seven researchers at the University of Waterloo are receiving more than $3.9 million to collaborate with Canadian-based companies and government organizations on strategic research projects.

The funding for Strategic Partnership Grants announced today by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) helps bring expertise from academia and industry together to collaborate on research that will lead to innovation and commercialization. Waterloo has a long history and reputation for successful industry partnerships, and was ranked second in Canada for collaboration with industry by the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2015.

“Strategic Partnership Grants are excellent opportunities for researchers to develop partnerships with industry, and for industry to benefit from academic research,” said D. George Dixon, vice-president, university research at Waterloo. “These early-stage projects lead to new products and technologies that support innovation worldwide and further enhance the Canadian economy.”

The researchers who will receive funding through Strategic Partnership Grants are:

  • Professor Slim Boumaiza (Electrical and Computer Engineering) with BlackBerry Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc: Digitally-assisted analog/RF circuits for enhancing the performance of 5G millimeter-wave massive MIMO transceivers ($581,844).
  • Professor Jean Duhamel (Chemistry) with EcoSynthetix: Hydrophobically modified thermoresponsive starch nanoparticles for use in oil recovery of oil sands ($574,220).
  • Professor Karim S. Karim (Electrical and Computer Engineering) with Teledyne DALSA: High resolution, hard X-ray digital imagers for non-destructive testing applications ($597,000).
  • Professor Hyung-Sool Lee (Civil and Environmental Engineering) with AMEC Foster Wheeler: Innovative technologies for controlling dissolved methane and nitrogen in anaerobic wastewater treatment ($567,300).
  • Professor John Long (Electrical and Computer Engineering) with Sidense Corp. and Skyworks Solutions Inc: 2D material thin-film transistors and components for RF/mixed-signal applications ($633,613).
  • Professor Sriram Narasimhan (Civil and Environmental Engineering) with the City of GuelphC3WaterTerepac CorporationToronto Water and Eramosa Engineering Inc: A novel monitoring and decision support system to manage water loss in urban water distribution systems ($503,448).
  • Professor Aiping Yu (Chemical Engineering) with Grafoid Inc. and Microbonds Inc: Advanced graphene fiber based wearable supercapacitor ($450,000).

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, made the announcement in Toronto today.

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