FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, March 19, 2009 — The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), today offered his congratulations to the Canada Research Chair at the University of New Brunswick, whose position was recently renewed.
Bruce Balcom is the renewed Canada Research Chair in Materials Science Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Dr. Balcom's research involves the application of new methods of MRI to a broad array of problems in materials science. This research will help develop and improve a new materials research capability in Canada and facilitate the introduction and development of new processes and products.
“Dr. Balcom, one of Canada's leading scientists and engineers, will generate the knowledge we need to solve tough problems,”said Minister of State Goodyear. “That is why we are pleased to announce the renewal of Dr. Balcom's Canada Research Chair in Materials Science MRI here at the University of New Brunswick.”
As Director of the University of New Brunswick's MRI (UNB MRI) Centre, Dr. Balcom and his team have invented a family of new MRI methods. The successful application of the centre's new MRI techniques, with allied hardware and software innovations, has opened new vistas in material science research. Detecting how water and oil move through rock and concrete is one of the many practical applications of Dr. Balcom's work, which is already being used by the oil and gas industry.
The UNB MRI Centre is the only material science MRI laboratory in Canada and the only university-based laboratory of its type in North America. The birthplace of the Single-Point Ramped Imaging with T1 Enhancement (SPRITE) technique, it is considered the leading laboratory worldwide in many aspects of material science MRI.
On February 23, 2009, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $120.4 million to fund 134 new or renewed Canada Research Chairs in 37 Canadian universities. The research chairs will conduct research in variety of fields of direct interest to Canadians. This investment also includes $6.6 million for the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support research infrastructure.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Gary Toft
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Gary Goodyear
Minister of State (Science and Technology)
613-943-7599
gary.toft@ic.gc.ca
Trevor Lynn
Manager, Communications
Canada Research Chairs Program
613-996-7302
613-302-9879 (cell)
trevor.lynn@chairs.gc.ca
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Yves Melanson
Coordinator, Media Relations
Canada Foundation for Innovation
613-996-3160
613-447-1723 (cell)
yves.melanson@innovation.ca
Backgrounder
Canada Research Chairs Program
List of recipients, February 2009 (PDF version, 104kb)
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The Canada Research Chairs Program is designed to attract the best talent from Canada and around the world, helping Canadian universities achieve research excellence in health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities. Since the program was launched, chairholders have improved Canadians' depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthened the country's international competitiveness, and helped train the next generation of highly skilled people. There are currently 1831 research professorships at 70 universities across Canada. Of these positions, 574 researchers were recruited from abroad, including 265 Canadian expatriates. For more information on this announcement, including detailed research profiles for each chairholder, visit www.chairs.gc.ca.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI's mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. For a complete listing of CFI contributions, please visit www.innovation.ca.
