Engineering Now .: Volume 4 - Edition 7 .: April 2008

Particle Technology Research Centre holds its official launch

Friday, April 18, 2008

The newly formed Particle Technology Research Centre (PTRC) held its official launching ceremony on Friday, April 18. The Western research community, Western Engineering staff, faculty and graduate students, as well as industry, gathered together to celebrate the initiation of this new centre.

The day’s events kicked off with a tour of the Pilot Fluidized Bed Wastewater Treatment Plant at the City of London’s Adelaide Street Pollution Control Centre. The new technology located at this plant was pioneered by Professors George Nakhla and Jesse Zhu and represents a very significant break-through in the processes used to treat wastewater.

Once testing is complete, use of the pilot plant’s technology could have enormous benefits, such as improved nutrient removal from wastewater, decreased time for nutrient removal, only 1/10 of the space requirement for equipment, and an overall decrease in the environmental footprint left from the processing.

After the tour, guests were invited back to the lobby of Thompson Engineering Building for a luncheon, and speeches from several key participants. Opening comments were given by Professor Zhu, one of the two directors of the centre, followed by some words from Prof Rohani, the other director of the Centre, and the University President Paul Davenport, Associate Dean Hesham El-Naggar, and representatives from Trojan Technologies and Ontario Centres of Excellence. In the afternoon, tours of the laboratories and facilities operated by the PTRC were offered. Over 30 industrial visitors, some coming from as far as Montreal, attended this event. Many of them are collaborators with members of PTRC.

The PTRC was formally known as the Powder Technology Research Centre, which has been expanded and renamed to better reflect the diverse array of research and collaboration that is happening within the Centre.

The PTRC is dedicated to the advancement of research, innovation, and technological development related to various aspects of particle technology. The Centre aims to develop a multidisciplinary research program contributing to the Ontario and Canada's growing needs for particle research in industries such as materials, nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, metallurgical, chemical, environmental, energy, agricultural and biotechnology.

The PTRC strives to excel as a centre for cutting-edge research at national and international levels, and to be a leader in Ontario and Canada in enhancing particle related research through partnership with industry and providing comprehensive and cost effective services through its affiliated Particle Research Facility (PRF).

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Contact

.: Becky Blue
Spencer Engineering Building, Room 2074
Telephone: (519) 850-2917 Fax: (519) 661-3808
contactwe@eng.uwo.ca