Advances in ultrasound and digital display technologies developed by University of British Columbia researchers have been recognized by Canada’s leading science and engineering funding agency with two prestigious awards.
UBC Engineering Profs. Robert Rohling and Septimiu Salcudean received one of this year’s four $200,000 Synergy Awards for Innovation, presented by The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Rohling and Salcudean were honoured along with their industry partner Ultrasonix Medical Corporation for developing new ultrasonic imaging techniques that could improve cancer diagnosis and treatment while reducing the number of biopsies required.
Recent UBC PhD graduate Helge Seetzen and Physics Prof. Lorne Whitehead won this year’s $10,000 NSERC Innovation Challenge Awards grand prize for their High Dynamic Range technology. Seetzen and Whitehead’s invention, which spun-off BrightSide Technologies and was subsequently acquired by Dolby Laboratories, replaces the LCD backlight with a controlled array of Light Emitting Diodes that significantly improves contrast in high definition displays.
“We are thrilled for our researchers on these outstanding achievements,” says John Hepburn, UBC’s Vice President Research and International. “Their ingenuity in advancing knowledge while addressing critical bottlenecks in related industries will continue to have major impacts on our lives.”
The Synergy Awards for Innovation recognize partnerships between universities and industry in Canada. In addition to research funding for the honorees, the industry partners receive support to hire an NSERC Industrial R&D Fellow for a two-year term.
For more information, visit http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Media-Media/NewsRelease-CommuniqueDePresse_eng.asp?ID=164
