Waterloo researchers explore how best to renew Canada's infrastructure, build better cars

WATERLOO - University of Waterloo researchers have received funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation to investigate how Canada can make the most of its spending to renew the country's infrastructure such as bridges and highways.

Other Waterloo researchers will also study how to improve the fuel efficiency of cars by reducing their weight with the use of new materials. Still others will study the creation of new materials and better ways to manufacture industrial products.

In the latest round of CFI funding, Waterloo received a total of $8.3 million for two new projects under CFI's new initiatives fund, which aims to enhance Canada's capacity in promising new areas of research and technology development, and two continuing projects under the leading edge fund, which enables institutions to build on already successful initiatives supported by past CFI investments.

"This new funding will lead to new discoveries and technologies that will keep our country internationally competitive," said George Dixon, vice-president of university research at Waterloo. "The investment will enhance the ability of UW researchers and students to carry out important world-class scientific research and technology development that will benefit society."

The two new Waterloo research projects are:

* Facility for the Assessment of Engineered Rehabilitation Systems for Infrastructure Renewal. CFI funding: $468,909. Lead researcher: Khaled Soudki, Canada Research Chair in Innovative Structural Rehabilitation, and a professor of civil and environmental engineering. Other researchers: Sriram Narasimhan, Susan Tighe, Scott Walbridge and Jeffrey West, all from University of Waterloo.

The new infrastructure, which features a component and materials fatigue testing system, will allow researchers to develop innovative solutions for the renewal of civil structures such as bridges, buildings and pavements. They will conduct fundamental and applied engineering research on how to rehabilitate civil infrastructure, resulting in less expensive and long-lasting repairs.

"Our aim is to develop ways to repair deteriorated structures in a cost-effective and timely manner and well-suited for the Canadian climate," said Khaled Soudki, lead researcher and Canada Research Chair in Innovative Structural Rehabilitation. "The evaluation and rehabilitation of Canada's aging civil infrastructure is a serious issue costing billions of dollars a year."

The project's work will result in 'smart' rehabilitated structures that will transform the way civil infrastructures are rehabilitated.

* Materials and Manufacturing for Light Weight Automotive Structures and Advanced Occupant Protection. CFI funding: 3,774,926. Lead researchers: Michael Worswick, Canada Research Chair in Lightweight Materials and a professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Waterloo, and Joseph McDermid, NSERC\U.S. Steel Canada\Xstrata Zinc Industrial Research Chair in Zinc Coated Advanced Steels and a professor of mechanical engineering at McMaster University. Other researchers: Jack Callaghan, Duane Cronin, Shahrzad Esmaeili and Mary Wells, all from Waterloo; Mukesh Jain, Joseph Kish, Nikolas Provatas and David Wilkinson, all from McMaster.

The new infrastructure will propel research initiatives, expanding on the world-class expertise in automotive materials and structures currently based at the University of Waterloo and McMaster University. The research aims to develop and commercialize light-weight automotive materials and structures.

"The global automotive sector will undergo revolutionary change in automotive body structures through the widespread adoption of ultra-high strength and ultra-light weight materials," said Michael Worswick, lead researcher and Canada Research Chair in Lightweight Materials. "Our work seeks to address key elements of the automotive life cycle, spanning material production, fabrication into structures and superior service performance in corrosion protection, vehicle crash-worthiness and occupant safety."

Expected results include developing the next generation of low-weight, high-strength automotive materials, particularly ultra-high strength steels, magnesium and aluminum alloys. Such innovations will cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle weight and deploying innovative manufacturing processes.

The two ongoing Waterloo research projects are:

* Smart Materials Ontario: Advancing New Functional Materials Technology. CFI funding: $2,903,866. Lead researcher: Tong Leung, professor of chemistry at Waterloo. Other researchers: John Honek, Lyndon Jones, Flora Ng, Siva Sivoththaman,Norman Zhou, all from University of Waterloo; Aicheng Chen, Lakehead University; Vladimir Kitaev, Wilfrid Laurier University; Peter Kruse, McMaster University; and Jacek Lipkowski, University of Guelph.

The multi-disciplinary project focuses on materials research, especially 'smart' functional materials for technology innovation. These structures can provide novel properties and 'smart' functions based on stimulus-and-response, enabling a wide range of new applications and technologies.

"The goal is to develop a fundamental understanding of these molecular self-organization processes and to design and build multi-functional prototype devices for a wide range of targeted applications," said Tong Leung, lead researcher and director of WATLab at Waterloo.

The project draws on recognized strengths in multi-disciplinary materials research at Waterloo and participating universities - Wilfrid Laurier, Guelph, McMaster and Lakehead.

The project's new facility will include the most advanced ion microscopes and spectrometers in the world and a rapid prototyping facility for multi-functional materials and device research. It will support key research aimed at complex problems in applications. The work will result in innovations in materials technology, such as biosensors, industrial catalysts, electronics and biomolecular devices, environmental materials, green energy generation and storage, and nanotechnology.

* Advanced Joining Facilities for Macro, Micro and Nano Level Fabrications. CFI funding: $1,183,608. Lead researcher: Norman Zhou, professor of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at Waterloo. Other researchers: Walter Duley, Michael Mayer, Joseph Sanderson, Andrei Sazonov and Tze-Wei Yeow, all from Waterloo; Lyndon Brown, University of Western Ontario; David Mitlin, University of Alberta; and John Embury and Joseph McDermid, both from McMaster University.

The project's new facilities will add to research strengths in advanced welding and joining to make Waterloo a leader in the field. Joining, whether at the macro-, micro- or nano-scale, is used to fabricate manufactured products ranging from aircraft, automobiles, ships and nuclear power plants, to microelectronic packages and medical implants.

"Researchers in joining and welding are being continually challenged to deliver technology advancements to support faster and more reliable fabrication, continuing miniaturization and cost reduction," said Norman Zhou, lead researcher and director of the Centre for Advanced Materials Joining at Waterloo.

The new infrastructure includes a femtosecond pulsed laser facility for developing nano-joining processes and a real-time assessment facility for testing more reliable microelectronics interconnects. There's also a performance test station to evaluate corrosion resistance for bio-medical microwelds, along with a fibre laser system for higher speed welding of lightweight metals.