FPTT honours public-private tech transfer

The Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) presented its annual awards on May 30. Three awards were presented in the area of technology transfer. They went to:

MDS Nordion, Kanata ON, and the National Research Council (NRC) for the development of an improved technique for radiation treatment of cancer patients. Dubbed the Monte Carlo technique, the process was developed by a research team at NRC’s Institute for National Measurement Standards and led by Dr Iwan Kawrakow. The breakthrough treatment is expected to generate $2 million in annual sales.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) also received a tech transfer award in collaboration with Weir-Jones Engineering Consultants Ltd, Vancouver, for microseismic monitoring technology to interpret rock failure. The real-time, remotely controlled digital seismic data acquisition system were taken by NRCan to the prototype stage and enhanced by Weir-Jones. To date, 40 systems have been sold.

The Department of National Defence and O'Dell Engineering Ltd were cited for their development and transfer of a reactive skin decontaminant lotion that protects the skin against chemical warfare agents.

The 2001 Innovator Award went to Dr Jocelyn Paré, a scientist with Environment Canada’s environmental technology advancement directorate, for the development of microwave-assisted process (MAP) technology. The 2001 Leadership Award was made to the NRC’s Arvind Chhatbar for his role in the formation and spin-off of firms and adoption of NRC technology. Chhatbar is director of NRC’s Ottawa Regional Innovation Centre.

FMI on FPTT and the award winners, go to http://scitech.gc.ca/fptt/fpttawards.html.

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