Science and engineering graduate students in Alberta have been given a $1-million injection of provincial grant funds.
The Alberta Ingenuity Fund awarded $1 million last week to 20 graduate students from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
Over the next three years, the students will pursue research ranging from vision robot design to assessing water quality in Banff National Park.
“The quality of the (student) applications we received was so impressive that we plan to expand the program and support more of Alberta’s top science and engineering graduate students,” said fund president Dr. Bill Bridger.
“There’s a lot of talent here. Our other grant programs are designed to help industry, universities, colleges, technical institutes and other research centres retain their best researchers and recruit more to the province.”
The research includes:
* The use of advanced computing techniques to calibrate visual information and translate it into actual robot motion;
* Development of new approach to solve some of the problems with experimental solid oxide fuel cells;
* Creation of a radio-on-fibre system geared toward less costly wireless links;
* Development of an innovative laser-based system to detect trace gases in the atmosphere;
* A study of the water quality in the Bow River system and how human activity affects the water in Banff National Park;
* Research into what a six-tonne Tyrannosaurus rex ate 65 million years ago in Southern Alberta.
Alberta Ingenuity Fund is the trade name of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Science and Engineering Research, which was established by the provincial government in 2000 with a $500 million endowment.
