Kingston - A Queen’s-based water testing lab is celebrating a major growth spurt after being acquired by the leading player in global water systems and receiving $2.4m in federal funding towards the development of its next generation of water monitoring systems.

Pathogen Detection Systems Inc (PDS), and its new multinational parent company Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) are also joining Queen’s GreenCentre Canada as an industrial partner.

“This is an extraordinary example of technology transfer from university to industry,” says John Molloy, President and CEO of PARTEQ Innovations, Queen’s technology transfer office. “This technology was developed at Queen’s and licensed by PARTEQ to a small group of entrepreneurs that formed PDS. Together we attracted the attention of the world’s leading water company, which is making a considerable investment to take this technology worldwide. We look forward to continuing our work with PDS and VWS.”

Spurred by the Walkerton, Ontario tainted water tragedy, PDS was founded in 2003 to improve water quality through enhanced water monitoring and testing systems. It’s based on a novel fibre optic sensory technology developed by a team led by Queen’s Chemistry professor Dr. Stephen Brown.