Five U of T Engineering researchers are among U of T recipients of Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Strategic Project Grants (SPG) programs announced February 8, 2013.

Professors Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE), Ömer Gülder (UTIAS), Nazir Kherani (ECE, MSE), Jorg Liebeherr (ECE) and Andreas Mandelis (MIE) received grants under the program, which is designed to increase research and training in targeted areas that could enhance Canada’s economy, society and environment within the next decade.

The funding is focused on large-scale, multidisciplinary research projects in targeted research areas that require a network approach and involve collaboration between academic and Canadian-based organizations. The SPG program helps to address Canada’s science and technology priorities. The primary goal of these grants is to increase research and training in targeted areas that, like the SNG program, could enhance Canada’s economy, society and/or environment in the next 10 years.

The grants awarded to U of T Engineering researchers were:

Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE), $489,400: Expanding the ability to anaeorobically digest pulp and paper mill waste;

Ömer Gülder (UTIAS), $738,000: Environmental performance, sustainability and durability improvements in fuel-flexible combustors for stationary and motive engines;

Nazir Kherani (ECE, MSE), $536,160: Efficient light harvesting using nanoparticle-based selectively transparent and conducting photonic crystal and index-graded antireflective films;

Jorg Liebeherr (ECE), $218,270: Enabling heterogenous self-organizing machine-to-machine networks; and,

Andreas Mandelis (MIE), $403,500: Non-destructive imaging of manufacturing flaws in industrial automotive power metallurgy green and sintered parts using a novel IR thermal-wave technology.