NRC Annual Report 2001-2002

More documents

Recommendations

Info

N R C – F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T O I N N O V A T I O N...18Tele-oncology project forNew BrunswickNRC-IIT’s e-Business team in New Brunswick ishelping deliver a major health research initiativewith four hospital corporations, three Aboriginalcommunities, the province’s Department of Healthand Wellness, the Université de Moncton andothers. Researchers are working to develop an efficient,comprehensive cervical cancer screeningsystem in the province to reduce the incidence andmortality of this disease.“Nanospintronics” – opening newhorizons for IT and electronicsResearchers at the NRC Institute for MicrostructuralSciences (NRC-IMS) have invented a new typeof nanoscale transistor based on “spintronics.” Thedevice employs a new principle for controlling andswitching electrical current based on electron“spin.” The new transistor is made from a “quantumdot” – a type of electrical well or mound that holdsonly a few electrons. While this breakthroughcannot yet be incorporated in any practical device,the research opens the way for quantum computingand, further down the road, optical memory. If thepotential of quantum dots and nanospintronics isrealized, an incredible amount of information couldbe contained in one device and then programmedto interact with other such devices – ushering in aworld where the computing power now containedin a series of computers could be contained in asingle, very small and inexpensive device.ROSA success opens new doors forCanada in space explorationUsing technology developed by NRC-IIT, MDRobotics made a technological leap in the area ofvisual perception and autonomous service of spacevehicles as part of the ROSA – Remote Operationwith Supervised Autonomy – project. The new technologypositions Canada as the leading partner inintelligent visual surveillance in space missions. Inthis project, robotic equipment demonstratedintelligent autonomy while operating remotely inspace. The new technology holds great economicpotential since spacecraft components can beupgraded or reconfigured rather than replacingwhole satellites.3D laser scanning technologytested on space shuttleNRC’s internationally recognized 3D laser scanningtechnology underwent its first on-orbit testingaboard NASA’s Space Shuttle. Researchers successfullydemonstrated that a prototype could automaticallytrack moving targets and operate underthe extreme lighting conditions found in space. Thedevelopment and testing of this new technologymarked another milestone in Canada’s ongoingcontributions to space exploration. The firstCanadarm and the current space vision system –used in some 20 past missions – are both productsof NRC research. This new 3D technology has thepotential of becoming the new “eye” of CanadarmII. The new 3D laser camera marks a scientificbreakthrough. It is the first laser tracking systemthat can simultaneously digitize in 3D, detectsurface defects, track geometrical features in realtime and remain immune to extreme lightingconditions.
Advances in manufacturingCutting costs – reducing wearfor the resources sectorThe NRC Innovation Centre(NRC-IC) in Vancouver is helpingCanada’s resources sector cutcosts by reducing wear and tearon equipment. Working on behalfof the Mining Wear ResistanceMaterials Consortium – an affiliationof NRC, two universities andnine private firms from Australiaand Canada, including oil sandsgiant Syncrude, the researchersare unravelling the mysteries offriction and wear. This R&D has amajor impact, allowing firms thatmine the oil sands, for example,to cut their overall productionexpenses significantly.Image courtesy Syncrude Canada Ltd.D i s c o v e r yManufacturing remains one of Canada’s majoreconomic forces, touching virtually every sector ofthe economy. NRC’s R&D programs are targeted tohelp manufacturers increase their competitivenessand improve the commercial viability of productsand services. The programs also help manufacturerscreate and adapt to new technologies, materialsand processes, and meet their environmentalresponsibilities.Refining processes for food industriesResearchers at the NRC Institute for ChemicalProcesses and Environmental Technologies (NRC-ICPET) collaborated with Montréal-based ColarômeIncorporated, helping the company improve itsprocessing system for refining food grade coloursfrom vegetable extract. Process modificationsincluded replacing a biological processing stagewith a physico-chemical stage. The modifications,successfully implemented on-site, reduced thenumber of process stages, decreased processingtime by 33 percent, and improved product quality.Artificial cornea researchmoves forwardNRC-ICPET researchers, workingin collaboration with theUniversity of Ottawa’s EyeInstitute and other partners, aredeveloping new biosyntheticpolymers for use in tissue engineered(TE) corneas. Thechallenge is to develop a familyof synthetic materials that canbe made into TE corneas strongenough for transplantation, transparent enough tomimic natural corneas, and resistant to biodegradationand rejection by the body’s immune system.So far, they have developed a series of biosyntheticpolymers that can be tolerated by living cell tissueand modified to improve the strength of thematerial and cell adhesion. They have advancedcell biology to the point where both nerve cell andblood vessel ingrowth were demonstrated. And, theteam has been successful in developing proceduresthat allow the production of transparent, collagenbasedpolymeric materials to produce artificialcorneas.19S C I E N C E A T W O R K F O R C A N A D A
Page 1 and 2: Science atworkforCanadaNRC Annual20
Page 4 and 5: N R C - F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T
Page 12: N R C - F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T
Page 15 and 16: Protein folding - better understand
Page 17 and 18: NRC’s construction R&DThe constru
Page 19: Wave impact and scaling - better sh
Page 23 and 24: Value for CanadaTaking technology t
Page 25 and 26: Intellectual propertyThe importance
Page 27 and 28: Meningitis-Cvaccine approved for Ca
Page 29 and 30: One of NRC’s newest industrypartn
Page 56: N R C - F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T

NRC Annual Report 2001-2002

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?