FPTT announces 2006 award winners

Two teams of scientists and a researcher have been recognized for their work in moving research out of government labs and into the marketplace. The awards were presented in Ottawa on June 1 by Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) - a 10-year-old organization dedicated to developing and disseminating best practices.

Two Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer were announced. The advanced radio systems group at the Communications Research Centre (CRC) was chosen for its leadership role in the development of Software Defined Radio (SDR). SDR simplifies the way radio hardware and software components interact, allowing a special hardware unit to be adapted and reprogrammed to as many frequency bands or communications protocols as required. The team worked with an industry forum to develop the technology and the software suite has been licensed to 16 companies, generating $600,000 in royalties last year. The CRC team is comprised of Claude B‚lisle, Steve Bernier, Hugues Latour, Francois L‚vesque, S‚bastien Gauthier and Charles Auger.

The second Award for Excellence was won by a research team at the National Research Council's Institute for Research in Construction and FireFlex Systems Inc, Boisbriand QC. Together they developed Integrated Compressed Air Form (ICAF) fire suppression technology that extinguishes fires twice as fast using less water. The technology was transferred to FireFlex which anticipates North American sales of $15 million within five years and $1 million in annual royalties to NRC. The NRC team is comprised of George Crampton, Andrew Kim and the late Harris Cunningham, along with Jean-Pierre Asselin of FireFlex.

The Award for Leadership in Technology Transfer was awarded to Steve Cui, a researcher with the food research program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Cui was instrumental in developing and marketing technology for dehulling flax, which is rich in Omega-3 fatty acid, lignans and dietary fibre. The process is commercialized by Ottawa's Natunola Health Inc, which has built a manufacturing plant in the region.

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