Professor Mohini Sain (MIE) has received a University of Toronto President’s Impact Award, recognizing faculty members whose research has made a significant impact outside of academia. Recipients receive $10,000 per year for five years to be used toward their research, and become members of the President’s Impact Academy.
Sain is being recognized for developing advanced low-carbon materials and sustainable energy and manufacturing technologies, resulting in greater sustainability in several industries, including transportation, healthcare and energy.
Sain’s research has contributed to groundbreaking developments in advanced materials, biomanufacturing and low-carbon materials derived from natural and industrial waste. His pioneering work developing micro- and nano-fibrillated natural composites catalyzed the inception of the natural composites industry and its growth into a $12B global market. He is founding director of the Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing, the world’s first research translation centre in this area.
Sain’s work has addressed scientific and technological challenges related to the low-energy conversion of renewables and industrial byproducts, to create novel low-carbon and carbon-neutral 2D advanced materials that are greener, lighter, multifunctional and mechanically robust. His 16 patents in this area have been widely licensed, resulting in advanced bio-derived nanomaterials and their derivatives. These are used in many sustainable lightweight energy and structural products commercialized through at least 20 companies in 12 countries, most notably in creating lightweight auto parts for the Ford Motor Company.
Sain has also invented and patented novel biodegradable plastics, which have been commercialized in the packaging, cosmetics and healthcare sectors, replacing single-use fossil-derived plastics. This technology was used by his spinoff company, GreenNano Technologies, to manufacture and commercialize disposable rapid testing kits for infectious diseases. More recently, he has developed technologies critical for industrial-scale recycling of CO2 from industrial emissions for sustainable manufacturing.
Sain is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K. He has received the Society of Chemical Industry’s Kalev Pugi Award, the NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation and the Canadian Plastics Industry Innovation Award.
“Professor Mohini Sain’s work in developing novel low-carbon and carbon-neutral materials is enabling various industries — including healthcare, agriculture and the automotive sector — to become more sustainable,” says Chris Yip, Dean of U of T Engineering.
“On behalf of U of T Engineering, congratulations to Professor Sain on this well-deserved recognition.”
