l’actualité chimique canadienne canadian chemical news ACCN
JUNE JUIN • 2005 • Vol. 57, No./no 6
INNOVATION TO COMMERCIALIZATION
PM40021620
WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO MARKET YOUR DISCOVERIES?
ACCN
JUNE JUIN • 2005 • Vol. 57, No./no 6
A publication of the CIC/Une publication de l’ICC
Ta ble of Contents/Ta ble des matièr es
Guest Column/ Chroniqueur invité . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Ontario Chemistry Value Chain Initiative Bernard West, MCIC, and Joanne West Letters/Lettres . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Feature Ar ticles/Ar ticles de fond
8 REMEMBERWHEN 13 Innovation to Commercialization—The Role Patents Play Daphne C. Ripley, MCIC
Personals/Personnalités . . . . . . . 3 News Briefs/ Nouvelles en bref . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chemputing . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Picture This Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC Chemfusion . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Allure of Fishing Joe Schwarcz, MCIC Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Shaping the Industrial Century
16 18
Student News/ Nouvelles des étudiants . . . . . . 31 Careers/Carrières . . . . . . . . . . 32
Don’t Get Hit by the Falling Greenback Protect yourself in a climate of currency fluctuations. Mario Fallico
20
Destination 2010
Has Ballard’s progress toward the commercial introduction of viable automotive fuel cell stack technology stalled? Charles Stone and Rebecca Young
22
Division News/ Nouvelles des divisions. . . . . . . 29 NCW News/Nouvelles de la SNC . . 30
DuPont expects major bottom line impact from University of Alberta R&D partnership. Vincent Wright
CSC Bulletin SCC . . . . . . . . . . 27 Local Section News/ Nouvelles des sections locales . . . 28
Boosting Innovative Capacity
Up to Speed
Lambton College has answered the call of industry by making its flagship Chemical Production Engineering Technology Program available on-line. Bryan Aitken
24
Biomass as an Industrial Feedstock We have the technology and it is happening now! J. E. Cunningham
Events/Événements. . . . . . . . . 33
Cover/Couver ture
Employment Wanted/ Demandes d’emploi . . . . . . . . 33
What does it really take to market your discoveries? Read tips and tales from professionals in the know.
GUEST COLUMN CHRONIQUEUR INVITÉ
Editor-in-Chief/Rédactrice en chef Michelle Piquette Managing Editor/Directrice de la rédaction Heather Dana Munroe Graphic Designer/Infographiste Krista Leroux Editorial Board/Conseil de la rédaction Terrance Rummery, FCIC, chair/président Catherine A. Cardy, MCIC Cathleen Crudden, MCIC John Margeson, MCIC Milena Sejnoha, MCIC Bernard West, MCIC
THE ONTARIO CHEMISTRY VALUE CHAIN INITIATIVE Bernard West, MCIC, and Joanne West
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his edition of ACCN focuses on taking innovative ideas from R&D organizations to commercial reality and building new companies that will re-fund innovation, creating a “virtuous cycle.” Getting ideas to market is key to responding to the radical changes within the Canadian chemical industry over the last ten years. From a group of large, regionally managed Canadian companies, we have become one of branch plants and small sales organizations. As a result, there is little willingness to invest the funds necessary to take homegrown ideas through development and to the marketplace. There have been a number of initiatives undertaken to examine the revitalization of the Ontario chemical industry. The latest was a 2001 study by Ted Chudleigh, MPP, Parliamentary Assistant, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. His report entitled, “Keeping Ontario Industries Competitive in the Global Marketplace” highlighted some specific issues facing our industry. This led to the establishment of a steering group to address the problems facing the industry and identifying possible solutions. We call this group the Ontario Chemistry Industry Value Chain (OCVCI). We have identified: • potential human resource shortages as people retire; • the lack of commercialization of indigenously developed technology; • the lack of investment, and of more concern, disinvestments, by large companies; • the increasingly regulated environment, which impedes new processes and new products;
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• the lack of communication between the industry and the many “silos of technological brain-power” in the province. The two serious impediments to commercializing new products and processes are the lack of both funding and entrepreneurs. The funding problem is long-standing, but has gone unaddressed. To attract funding, the OCVCI proposes a Commercialization Innovation Fund, to act as a self-sustaining “Angel Investor,” providing companies with money to take the first step in commercialization. The challenge of developing entrepreneurial spirit within the industry is ongoing. We need to find, encourage, and reward—both monetarily and with status—people who are willing to risk their time, money, and reputations to bring new ideas to fruition. The HR group has identified the need for 13,000 new workers over the next ten years to replace operators, maintenance, and lab people. They are now starting to develop plans to fill these jobs. To break down communication and idea barriers, our steering committee includes representatives of the biological industry and the agricultural field—those who will produce our future renewable feedstocks. This link between the synthetic and biobased technology platforms has been very useful in getting government attention for development. We believe that now is the time to put our minds and energy to work so that we can commercialize the innovations from our R&D institutions and allow ourselves to achieve our vision for Ontario and the rest of Canada. Bernard West, MCIC, is chair of the CIC.
Editorial Office/Bureau de la rédaction 130, rue Slater Street, Suite/bureau 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 613-232-6252 • Fax/Téléc. 613-232-5862 editorial@accn.ca • www.accn.ca Advertising/Publicité advertising@accn.ca Subscription Rates/Tarifs d’abonnement Non CIC members/Non-membres de l’ICC : in/au Canada CAN$55; outside/à l’extérieur du Canada US$50. Single copy/Un exemplaire CAN$8 or US$7. L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News (ACCN) is published 10 times a year by The Chemical Institute of Canada / est publié 10 fois par année par l’Institut de chimie du Canada. www.cheminst.ca. Recommended by The Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, and the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the official position of the Institute, or of the societies that recommend the magazine. Recommandé par l’Institut de chimie du Canada, la Société canadienne de chimie, la Société canadienne de génie chimique et la Société canadienne de technologie chimique. Les opinions exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement la position officielle de l’Institut ou des sociétés constituantes qui soutiennent la revue. Change of Address/Changement d’adresse circulation@cheminst.ca Printed in Canada by Gilmore Printing Services Inc. and postage paid in Ottawa, ON./ Imprimé au Canada par Gilmore Printing Services Inc. et port payé à Ottawa, ON. Publications Mail Agreement Number/ No de convention de la Poste-publications : 40021620. (USPS# 0007-718) Indexed in the Canadian Business Index and available on-line in the Canadian Business and Current Affairs database. / Répertorié dans la Canadian Business Index et à votre disposition sur ligne dans la banque de données Canadian Business and Current Affairs. ISSN 0823-5228
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LETTERS LETTRES
With Respect to Chemists
PERSONALS PERSONNALITÉS
Industry
Dear Editor, Like the late Rodney Dangerfield—who used to complain that he got no respect—I contend that chemists get no respect! Recently, I had to have my passport renewed. I found that the list of guarantors included essentially the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker—but no chemists! The people who prepare the list of guarantors state (perhaps by way of assuaging those not on the list) that the list does not imply any endorsement of the status of the guarantors. If so, then why are chemists routinely left off such lists? Yesterday, I was filling in a form pertaining to OAS for my 96-year-old mother-in-law. Again I encountered a list—this time of people who could witness her signature, in case she became unable to look after her affairs. My daughter (who is a social worker), and a friend (who is a professional engineer) qualified as witnesses. But I (a PhD chemist) could not, because chemists were not on the list. Why? When will chemists be accorded the respect that we merit as professionals? Or, perhaps we are already being accorded it by our quiet acquiesce to the status quo. Thomas F. Massiah, FCIC
Give Us YOUR Two Cents Share your views at editorial@accn.ca.
Seated: Richard J. Kerekes, FCIC, director of the Pulp and Paper Centre, The University of British Columbia; Joseph D. Wright, FCIC, president and CEO of Paprican. Standing: Thomas A. Brzustowski, NSERC president; David McDonald, vice-president of research and education at Paprican; Jean Paris, director of the Pulp and Paper Engineering Research Centre at École Polytechnique de Montréal; Theo G. M. van de Ven, MCIC, NSERC/ Paprican Industrial Research Chair from McGill University. The 2004 NSERC Leo Derikx Synergy Award for outstanding long-term university-industry partnerships has been won by Paprican and three collaborating universities —The University of British Columbia (UBC), McGill University, and École Polytechnique de Montréal. The Leo Derikx Award is the most prestigious of the NSERC Synergy awards. Tom Brzustowski, president of NSERC, described the prizes as recognizing “effective partnerships that connect university-based research results to the market place.”
University John Grace, FCIC, professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering at The University of British Columbia was awarded the Killam Teaching Prize 2004–2005 (Faculty of Applied Science). Alan Nelson, MCIC, was named a recipient of the Faculty of Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award at the University of Alberta (U of A). Nelson is an associate professor in the department of chemical and materials engineering and has established the first
research program dedicated solely to surface science and engineering at the U of A. His work focuses on improving the efficiency of oil sands, heavy oil, and coal processing— key areas in Alberta’s economy. Melanie O’Neill, MCIC, has joined the chemistry department of Simon Fraser University as a tenure track assistant professor. A PhD from Dalhousie Un iversity, she was most recently a post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on biophysical and bioorganic chemistry.
Government Guy Deschenes, MCIC, Mike Fulton, and Jean Cloutier of the Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories (MMSL) received the Federal Partners in Technology Transfer Award in recognition of their work in improving gold extraction techniques and reducing environmentally hazardous discharge during the processing of gold. John Dutrizac, FCIC, also of MMSL, received the CANMET Canadian Institute
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 3
PERSONALS PERSONNALITÉS
of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum’s distinguished lecture award for his lecture on “Recent Developments in the Hydrometallurgical Processing of Base-Metal Ores and Concentrate.”
Distinction
This is Margaritis’ second PEO award, after having received the PEO Research and Development Award Medal in 1991 for his pioneering research contributions to biochemical engineering. “I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to my family, my graduate students, and all my colleagues and friends inside and outside Western for their continuing support that made this award possible for me,” says Margaritis.
committed to worldwide confidence in analytical results. Quilliam is principal research officer at the National Research Council Canada’s (NRC) Institute for Marine Biosciences. The Harvey W. Wiley Award was established in 1956 to honour Harvey W. Wiley, who was instrumental in the institution of laws regulating food quality. Over his career at NRC, Quilliam and his team at NRC-IMB have developed a variety of analytical methods for toxins, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which are now used routinely in regulatory laboratories around the world. His group has used these methods to solve many seafood poisoning incidents in Canada and other countries. Quilliam also leads the IMB Certified Reference Materials Program (CRMP), which produces toxin reference materials for other laboratories engaged in toxin monitoring.
Argyrios Margaritis, FCIC Argyrios Margaritis, FCIC, a biochemical engineering professor at The University of Western Ontario, has been honoured for his outstanding contributions to the engineering profession. The Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) awarded him the most prestigious PEO Order of Honour Award at the Officer Level for the year 2005 in recognition of many years of outstanding research and other contributions to the engineering profession. This is the highest award bestowed by PEO to a professional engineer.
Michael A. Quilliam, FCIC Michael A. Quilliam, FCIC, has won the 2005 AOAC International Harvey W. Wiley Award, for his research on the analytical chemistry of marine toxins. The award is presented to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to analytical method development in an area of interest to AOAC. AOAC International is a 120-yearold not-for-profit scientific association
In Memoriam The CIC extends its condolences to the families of: W. J. Bond, MCIC Thys Eerkes, MCIC Julius Y. Israeli
NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF
Chemical Industry Productivity The Conference Board of Canada has released a research publication called, “Performance and Potential 2004–05: How Can Canada Prosper in Tomorrow’s World?” The study compares productivity in a range of industries between Canada and the U.S. Overall, Canadian per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was 84 percent of that in the U.S. in 2003. Much of this difference is attributed to productivity in Canada being only 82 percent
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of that in the U.S. However, in 10 out of 29 industries studied, productivity was higher in Canada; one of these industries was chemicals. Productivity in the Canadian chemical industry was 6 percent higher than in the counterpart U.S. industry. In both countries, chemicals is a big industry. On the basis of GDP, it is the largest industry in the U.S. and third in Canada. The Conference Board found that of all Canadian industries, the chemical industry made the most dramatic improvement in productivity relative to its U.S. counterpart. Between 1987 and 2002, productivity increased at an
average of 3.9 percent per year in Canada vs. 1.6 percent in the U.S. For the basic chemicals subsector, the difference was even more pronounced. Canadian productivity in this subsector grew 5.4 percent per year in Canada vs. only 1.4 percent in the U.S. The pharmaceutical subsector in Canada has also been a strong performer in recent years. You can download the study after first registering with the Conference Board of Canada at www.conferenceboard.ca/pandp/. Industry Canada
NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF
Saskatoon’s Innovation Place a Beacon for Development Innovation Place on the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) campus is an economic powerhouse, employing more than 2,000 people in 127 different companies and agencies. One of North America’s most successful research parks, it contributes more than a quarter of a billion dollars annually to the Saskatchewan economy—a tribute to the
TOP: The gold-tinted windows of the Galleria at Innovation Place have become a symbol of technology research and development in Saskatchewan. The specialized facilities of the Bio-Processing Centre at Innovation Place cater to the needs of clients from the cosmetics, agri-food, and nutraceuticals industries.
Photos courtesy of Innovation Place
committed partnership with the university that has run for nearly three decades. “What we have, and what has led to so much mutual benefit, is a shared vision of a unified campus, a place where tenants at Innovation Place and university researchers are encouraged to interact with one another in a dynamic R&D environment,” says Steven Franklin, U of S vice-president of research. The latest example of this relationship is the Award of Innovation, a joint effort of Innovation Place and the university’s industry liaison office. The annual awards honour U of S faculty and graduate students whose work promises to yield innovative new technologies. Innovation Place boasts more than a million square feet in 18 buildings—space designed for the needs of technology-intensive companies with high-speed telecommunications, well-equipped lab space, and specialized service facilities. An example is the Bio-Processing Centre, which is a plant component extraction facility for customers developing a wide variety of products including nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and agri-food industries. The research park is a key partner in the U of S drive to become one of Canada’s top 10 research-intensive universities. The U of S is home to a powerful life sciences research cluster, including a vibrant biotechnology community, colleges of medicine and veterinary medicine, and the world’s leading Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. As the largest research institution in the province with an annual research income of more than $100 million, the U of S produces ideas and highly trained graduates, as well as a pool of experts for collaborative work with industrial and government partners. Some of the more than 1,000 U of S graduates that work at Innovation Place have launched their own enterprises. More than a dozen spin-off companies based on U of S discoveries are located at the park, and several have “graduated” to larger facilities elsewhere and continue to expand. Canadian Light Source, Inc. will help maintain this momentum. Already, the national synchrotron facility is drawing researchers from across the country and around the world. They will use synchrotron tools to look at the molecular structure of everything from scar tissue in heart attack patients to mercury in fish and arsenic in mine wastes, as well as
anti-wear additives for motor oil and paints for extreme environments. Innovation Place companies are partnering with the U of S to harness this new tool to power the next wave of discovery and innovation.
Speedy Drug Production University of Toronto (U of T) researchers have a developed a new chemical reaction that could greatly accelerate pharmaceutical production, while also cutting costs and toxic by-products. The reaction, designed by chemistry professor Mark Lautens, FCIC, and graduate student Eric Fang, simplifies the creation of the basic molecular framework found in many natural products and popular pharmaceuticals like some cholesterol-lowering drugs. Until now, synthesizing this framework—an indole—was inefficient, requiring six to ten steps and often producing toxic byproducts. “This new method only takes three steps and results in less waste,” says Lautens. He is the NSERC-Merck Frosst Industrial Research Chair in New Medicinal Agents via Catalytic Reactions and the AstraZeneca Professor of Organic Synthesis. Indoles are ring structures containing carbon and nitrogen. In the process, the researchers used a metallic element as a catalyst to form two chemical bonds and create a diverse range of indole-containing compounds. These compounds could then be used to make drugs now on the market or form the basis of new therapeutic drugs. Lautens says this new molecular-level technique could equal big savings and less environmental impact. “In order to make a hundred kilograms of these best-selling drugs, there are often hundreds of litres of solvent used, not to mention the many purification processes involved. Not only are you speeding up the process, you’re also reducing waste and energy used in manufacturing.” A provisional patent was filed by U of T’s Innovations Foundation in March 2005. The research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 5
NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF
Neil Branda, MCIC
Molecular Shape Shifting Scores Major Award His ability to shift shapes sounds like the stuff of science fiction. In real science though, Neil Branda, MCIC’s cutting edge ability to manipulate molecules has made him the first researcher at Simon Fraser University (SFU) to earn a Steacie Fellowship—one of Canada’s premier science and engineering prizes. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) awards only six of the fellowships, nationally, to researchers making a mark early in their career. Branda is a Canada Research Chair in Materials Science and director of molecular systems for SFU’s new research centre, 4D LABS. Within 12 years of earning his doctorate, Branda has learned how to reversibly change the shape, structure, and function of molecules on command, and use colour to signal their change. In collaboration with
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other researchers at SFU and Vancouver General Hospital, Branda is preparing to do tissue experiments. They will identify how light, electricity, and other environmental stimuli can trigger structural changes in molecules and influence their interaction. “In biology, molecular shape is everything,” says Branda. “Molecular interaction is based on complementary shapes that fit together like a lock and key system. If we can change and control the shape of molecules, then we can pre-program molecular interactions to better deliver drugs to a targeted area in the human body. Ultimately, our goal would be to deactivate or alter disease producing molecular interactions.” NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to outstanding Canadian university scientists or engineers whose research has already earned them an international reputation. The awards are coveted for their prestige, their gift of research time, and their ability to leverage more funding. Branda’s fellowship has earned him a considerable annual supplement for two years to top up a five-year annual NSERC Discovery grant, which is nearing expiration. “This award provides me with a unique opportunity to devote the next two years of my life to exploring how molecular manipulation can benefit health sciences, specifically drug delivery in treating prostate cancer,” says Branda. For more information on 4D LABS, visit www.4Dlabs.ca. Simon Fraser University
Funding Guide for International Science and Technology Cooperation A new international funding guide is available at http://fgic-gfci.scitech.gc.ca/. It outlines various sources of funding that could potentially support Canadian professors and post-doctoral fellows in their international collaborations. NSERC Contact
DuPont Closes Spandex Operations DuPont Canada Inc. announced a corporate restructuring and the shutdown of the spandex stretch fibres personal care operations at its Maitland, ON, site as part of its parent company’s worldwide workforce reduction. These steps are expected to result in a total workforce reduction of about 200 positions in Canada, which includes approximately 85 roles at the Maitland site. “This restructuring will ensure that we are positioned for sustainable growth and future success following the sale of DuPont’s INVISTA Division to Koch Industries,” said Doug Muzyka, DuPont Canada president and CEO. “We will become more competitive organizations, better integrated within DuPont across North America, and resourced with the right complement of people. As a result, we will strengthen our ability to meet the changing needs of our customers and the global marketplace.” The decision to shut down the INVISTA Division spandex stretch fibres personal care operations at Maitland was based on a global DuPont business strategy to streamline North American operations, to reduce costs, and to ensure the business unit’s long-term viability in a highly competitive marketplace. “We have had 40 years of successful spandex stretch fibres production at Maitland,” said site manager Joe Hendriks, “and we will continue to seek this kind of opportunity for the future.” DuPont Canada is a diversified science company, headquartered in Mississauga, ON, and serving customers across Canada and in more than 40 other countries. The company offers a wide range of products and services to markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel. For more information about DuPont Canada, please visit the company’s Web site at www.ca.dupont.com. DuPont Canada
NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF
Maria Aubrey (centre), senior vice-president, operations, SDTC, Steve Petrone (right), president, Quantiam Technologies Inc., and Anita Arduini, MCIC (left), technology business development manager, NOVA Chemicals Corporation, stand in front of a pilot-scale heat treatment unit used to process novel catalysts for prototype manufacture.
Clean Technology Project Edmonton-based Quantiam Technologies unveils a promising new method for the petrochemical industry to reduce greenhouse gases and manufacturing costs. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) contributed $1.45 million to a project to develop and demonstrate a technology for more efficient manufacturing of olefins—the single largest group of industrial petrochemicals worldwide. This new technology is a significant step forward in reducing greenhouse gases in the industrial sector. In addition, it could lower the energy costs of olefins manufacturing by up to 20 percent. In addition to SDTC funding, this project is leveraged by an investment of $8.3 million from other private and public sources, including consortium partner NOVA Chemicals Corporation, a leading olefins producer. The total value of the project is $9.8 million. SDTC’s funding will assist Quantiam and its consortium partners in developing and demonstrating a process that uses less heat energy than conventional methods used in the production of olefins,
which are ultimately used to make common products such as plastics, lubricants, and antifreeze. “[This] announcement clearly shows that Canadian companies, like Quantiam and its partners, are leading the world in developing clean energy technologies,” said Senator Tommy Banks on behalf of the Government of Canada. “We believe that these kinds of technologies will not only help us address climate change, but also create new economic opportunities in the years to come.” Conventional hydrocarbon steam cracking used to produce olefins is the most energyintensive process in the chemical industry, with energy costs exceeding $10 billion a year and significant carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Targeting furnace coils used in steam cracking, the consortium’s technology involves a new generation of catalytic coatings that are projected to allow for manufacturing at lower temperatures. In addition to reducing energy consumption and emissions, the technology could significantly improve plant efficiencies and profitability. The overall economic and environmental impacts are significant for an industry producing more than 110 million tonnes annually of ethylene alone (the single most important olefin), valued at $80 billion.
Vicky J. Sharpe, president and CEO of SDTC, says that “SDTC invested in Quantiam because we see the potential for the consortium’s technology to succeed in a number of ways, in both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the increased productivity and competitiveness of Canadian companies in the energy, materials manufacturing, and petrochemical sectors.” Sharpe adds, “SDTC does more than fund projects. We connect partners at all points of the supply chain and help entrepreneurs to validate their business plans. This strengthens the value proposition of technologies, making them more attractive to downstream investors and getting them to market faster. In the case of Quantiam, the participation of its consortia members indicates that industry players support what we’re doing and recognize the opportunities of the clean technologies in development today.” “I’m pleased to congratulate Quantiam on its progress to date on an initiative that will change how the world produces olefins, one of the most widely used petrochemicals,” said the Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. “The potential for this technology, both environmentally and economically, is tremendous and I’m proud that the Government of Canada, through SDTC, is supporting the project.” The development of the consortium’s olefins manufacturing technology has been accelerated with nanotechnology; Quantiam operates the most advanced private sector nanomaterials development and characterization facility in Canada. Quantiam is now building a pilot manufacturing plant for the new olefins technology as a stepping stone to full commercialization. “Quantiam and our consortium partners are committed to the successful development and demonstration of this new nanomaterials technology to the benefit of Canada, our environment and all of our stakeholders,” says Steve Petrone, president, Quantiam Technologies. “SDTC funding is helping our consortium bring this technology to market faster by addressing the most critical, under-funded links in the innovation chain—the piloting and demonstration stages.” Environics Communications
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 7
Subsidy Directory 2005 Edition The Canadian Subsidy Directory 2005 is now available. It is newly revised and the most complete and affordable reference for anyone looking for financing. It is the perfect tool for new and existing businesses, individuals, foundations, and associations. This publication contains more than 3,000 direct and indirect financial subsidies, grants, and loans offered by government departments and agencies, foundations, associations, and organizations. In this new 2005 edition all programs are well described. The Canadian Subsidy Directory is a comprehensive tool to start-up a business, improve existent activities, set up a business plan, or obtain assistance from experts in fields such as: industry, transport, agriculture, communications, municipal infrastructure, education, import-export, labour, construction and renovation, the service sector, hi-tech industries, research and development, joint ventures, arts, cinema, theatre, music and recording industry, the self-employed, contests, and new talents. Assistance from and for foundations and associations, guidance to prepare a business plan, market surveys, computers, and much more! The Canadian Subsidy Directory is available in print and electronic formats. To obtain a copy call 1-866-322-3376.
To celebrate the CIC’s 60th anniversary this year, ACCN will feature photos, articles, stories, letters, and other memorabilia related to the chemical industries. This special retrospective will appear in each issue in this section called REMEMBERWHEN.
Submit YOUR memories to editorial@accn.ca.
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REMEMBERWHEN
NEWS BRIEFS NOUVELLES EN BREF
REMEMBERWHEN JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 9
CHEMPUTING
Picture This “
T
ips to Improve Your PM” in the April 2005 issue of ACCN recommended that graphics could be inserted into word-processing documents as a means to simplify sending files to other team members. A number of people asked for more details. The method is quite simple and straightforward. It is also adaptable to most Windows applications and works equally well with graphs from Excel or images from PowerPoint, Freelance, and most other graphics programs. For this discussion, the details are based upon using Microsoft Office XP and placing Excel graphs in Word documents. Expect some minor variations with different MS versions and other graphics programs. Technical writing is much easier to read when the figures are placed in the appropriate locations within the text. To insert an Excel graph into a Word document, open Excel and choose the graph. Click on it to make it active and press Ctrl-C to copy. Switch to the Word document. Place the cursor where you want the graph to appear and press Ctrl-V to bring the copy into the document. More precisely, the route is Edit and Paste Special, but just pressing Ctrl-V does it all with less effort. Right clicking on the graph will bring up a submenu. From the list, select Format Object to bring up the numerous editing options that adjust the size and location of the graphic. It can be set as a small block within the text or centred full size on the page with or without a border or background fill pattern. This procedure has a significant limitation. It inserts a snapshot of the original graphic image. Word is not equipped to make changes to the image or update it to reflect changes in
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Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC the input data. To correct a mistake or change its appearance in the document, it must go back to the original program that produced it. A double click on the graph should bring it up in Excel for editing. I’m not too confident of success as Word has failed me too often with messages that the image file had been corrupted and could not be edited. My manuals and reports include a multitude of figures. I back up the graphic files after every change to ensure that I can replace any image that Word corrupts. A variation of the insertion procedure allows for future updating of the graphs. This might be useful in the case of a monthly report. In the real world, last month’s report gets modified and written over to become this month’s report, which then goes on to be come the next month’s report. If the spreadsheet has new data, the graphs need updating. As before, copy from Excel with Ctrl-C, but this time, take the Edit and Paste Special route. Choose Paste Link and Microsoft Excel Chart Object. Give it an OK and then set up the size and location as above. This time, Word will be linked to the original Excel file to capture any changes. If the Word document and the Excel spreadsheet are both loaded, the graph in the Word document will update whenever changes are made in the spreadsheet, whether it be a new data point or a total change to the appearance of the graph. Both can also run independently. Work on the spreadsheet over the month, and when it’s time to prepare the report, bring up the Word file. A dialogue box will ask if you want to update the links. It can do so without any need to bring up Excel. Those linking activities do take a bit of time, and with a
few dozen graphs, may seem to take forever. This procedure for linking graphics will not work with a Lotus graph, but does work with many other graphics programs. It is important to remember that those who receive that report will also be asked the same question about updating the links. If they don’t have the spreadsheet on their system, they can’t do anything about updating. Their copy of the Word document will have the graph as it was last saved. Before sending that document, open it up in Word and update the links. Save it again to ensure that all changes made to the graph have been captured. The most common scenario is that the graphics images will be needed in colour for those working with the spreadsheet and the Word document will be printed in black and white for distribution. It would be much simpler if the appearance of the graphs for both applications could be set in the spreadsheet. The best way to do this is to take whichever graph was made first and copy it to a new page. Reformat it for the other application. Having two separate graphs, one for viewing and another for the report, makes it possible to optimize the appearance for each application. Both graphs will be updated simultaneously whenever new data is added.
You can reach our Chemputing editor, Marvin D. Silbert, FCIC, at Marvin Silbert and Associates, 23 Glenelia Avenue, Toronto, ON M2M 2K6; tel. 416-225-0226; fax: 416-225-2227; e-mail: marvin@silbert.org; Web site: www.silbert.org.
CHEMFUSION
The Allure of Fishing
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port fishing is a mystery to me. I don’t understand the appeal of sitting for hours on end, testing the intelligence of fish. But I have finally discovered the allure of fishing. It’s in the lure. I would have never guessed that there are dozens of companies manufacturing thousands of varieties of lures with a combined gross intake of some $500 million dollars a year. According to a perhaps apocryphal story, sometime around 1850, a Vermont fisher was lunching in his boat when he dropped his spoon overboard. As he watched it sink, he was stunned to see a fish bolt from the deep right for the spoon, striking it head on. “Aha,” the fisher thought! Why waste time skewering slimy worms onto hooks if fish find a shiny spoon more attractive? He went home and attacked his cutlery, cutting spoons into little fragments and attaching them to hooks. By 1852, Julio Buel had the first U.S. patent for an artificial lure. Today, there is a mind-boggling array of such products, and science has entered the field. Companies have test tanks, usually filled with largemouth bass, a favourite among fishers. These bass are always ready to dine, chomping on anything from crayfish to ducklings. What attracts them to the prey? Scientists noted that the bass were more likely to go for small fish that were injured. If the prey swam erratically, the bass pounced. So they began to design lures with appropriate hydrodynamics. When such a lure is pulled through the water, it flutters back and forth like a fish in distress. It seems, that bass locate their victims by smell as well as by sight. So companies produce spray cans filled with “fishy” or “wormy” scents that can be applied to a lure. Amazingly, research has revealed that garlic is
Photos by Lucie Legault
perhaps the best odour to attract fish! And the best material to retain the scent is polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The same stuff we use to make shower curtains is used to make soft plastic lures. Lures come in the shape of worms, lizards, and minnows. You can have them in any colour of the rainbow, although the colour likely attracts the fisher rather than the fish. Most fish see only shades of red and green. All those colourful worms actually lure the fishers by what is called the “jewellery effect.” If you go to the trouble of buying these dazzling lures, you don’t want to spoil their effectiveness by transferring any “human smell” from your hands. So you can buy some Classic Sportsman Deodorizing Soap, which some anglers swear is critical. The only kind of fishing I plan to do is for interesting fish tales. Like the one about some gourmet restaurants in Hong Kong or Singapore where you’re likely to see an aquarium filled with exotic fish—the type of fish you would expect to see around a coral reef. Panther grouper, leopard grouper, and coral trout are notoriously difficult to catch—but there they are—ready to be picked out for a diner’s pleasure. They will set the customer back about $300 a kilo, but you get a “bonus” for your money—a dose of cyanide! Why? Because the fishers don’t use nets or lures to catch these fish. They use sodium cyanide in a revolting process called “cyanide fishing.” Sodium cyanide can be lethal, but in appropriate doses it just stuns fish. The fishers, if they can be called that, dive down around coral reefs with a spray bottle of sodium cyanide. When they locate a desirable fish, they chase it. The unfortunate prey looks for a hiding place and swims toward a hole in the coral reef. The diver then sprays his
Joe Schwarcz, MCIC cyanide solution into the hole. The drugged fish is easily caught. Next stop is a restaurant and then a fry pan. By that time, there is not enough cyanide left in the fish to do the diner any harm, but harm certainly has been done. Cyanide damages coral. Even worse, the divers often use crowbars to break the coral apart so they can get at their stunned fish. The Philippines, where most of the cyanide fishing used to be carried out, has taken steps to wipe out this activity, but the cyanide fishers have just moved their operations elsewhere. Stunning fish with cyanide is an abominable practice, but another type of fish stunning may have some positive spin-offs. Tephrosia toxicaria is a plant that is used in Polynesia and in the West Indies for stunning fish. Natives make an extract of the plant, drop it into the water, and collect the intoxicated fish that rise to the surface. Plants that produce toxins for defence interest researchers because of the possibility that such toxins may destroy cancer cells. Indeed, two compounds isolated from Tephrosia, isoliquiritigenin and alpha toxicarol, were found to inhibit tumour growth. Perhaps one day these will be used in cancer treatment. Cyanide itself has also been tried in cancer treatment. It was the “active” ingredient in the bogus cancer therapy known as Laetrile. It didn’t make tumors disappear, but it did lure cancer patients and made their money vanish.
Popular science writer, Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is a chemistry professor and the director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. He hosts the Dr. Joe Show every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Montréal’s radio station CJAD and on CFRB in Toronto. The broadcast is available on the Web at www.CJAD.com.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 11
Book Review
SHAPING THE INDUSTRIAL CENTURY By Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-01720-X
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handler’s book describes the rise and fall of the various chemical technology-based companies from the point of view of an objective observer. The book is important reading for those of us in the business of chemistry in all its forms. I strongly recommend it to all who have leadership positions in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It is particularly appropriate for organizations in the areas covered by the generic term, “green chemistry.” It puts the dynamics of the industry sectors into a broad, three-dimensional strategic framework: • building barriers to entry; • defining strategic boundaries; • encountering limits to growth. Chandler describes the emergence of leading companies surrounded by an infrastructure of more specialized chemical producers and engineering organizations. This is an example of the Porter notion of clusters, lead by so-called flagship companies that nurture innovation and change based on their founding science platforms. In the U.S. market, these satellite companies are independent, whereas in Europe, the flagship
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companies themselves have often operated the satellite companies. Process engineering companies, which facilitated the adoption of new processes and plant designs, have been central to this support nexus. Chandler points out that business-consulting companies, such as the Boston Group, have become a more recent satellite, often to the detriment of the chemical industry. The influence of war on the speed and depth of innovation within the industry is clearly illustrated in this book. World War I created the conditions to spur on the U.S.-based industry that was built on European technology, and World War II gave the U.S. its supremacy in the petroleum/ petrochemical field, and drove advances in pharmaceutical development. The book is not perfect. It is clearly U.S.-centric, although it does generously acknowledge the European pioneers and the continued leadership of the Rhine Valley companies. As a guide to understanding the workings of the industry at a strategic level, its non-narrative form can be a bit dry. However, insiders are likely to find it engaging. The speed of change within the chemical and pharmaceutical industries means that
recent swings in company consolidation and the increased influence of private equity funds, such as Blackstone and Bain, escape Chandler’s analysis. However the book’s merits far outweigh any shortcomings. As you would expect from a historian, the index and page notes are excellent and a source for extra reading. This book should be required reading for CEOs of chemical and pharmaceutical companies and especially for the leaders of the new industry of biological science-based enterprises.
Bernard West, MCIC, holds a BSc and PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Manchester and has held leadership positions in the Canadian Chemical industry for over 40 years. He is currently owner and president of Westworks Consulting Limited. West has been on the boards of several industry associations in Canada and the U.S. He is currently vice-chair of the CIC and co-chair of the Ontario Chemistry Value Chain Initiative. Joanne West is a Toronto-based freelance writer.
INNOVATION TO COMMERCIALIZATION— THE ROLE PATENTS PLAY
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ringing an idea to market is no easy task. The vast majority of ideas do not succeed for a variety of reasons, including lack of financing, and insufficient corporate and consumer interest. However, for those few ideas that do make it, the rewards can be considerable. Important tools in the arsenal of an inventor, university, or company to help make an idea a commercial success are intellectual property rights and especially patent rights.
What is a patent? A patent is a document issued by a government from a patent application, which describes and protects an invention. A patent gives to the owner a limited-time monopoly to practise the invention, which in many countries expires twenty years from the date the patent application is filed. Patents are publicly available documents and once the monopoly expires, anyone is free to use the invention described. It is for this sharing of the invention with the public that the monopoly is given. A patent does not give the owner the right to do anything; rather it allows the owner to prevent others from practising the invention
Photo by Carl Dwyer
Daphne C. Ripley, MCIC
protected by the patent. This right is national in scope, since a patent is only valid and enforceable in the country of grant. A patent protecting the technology must therefore be obtained in each country of interest. By enforcing the rights afforded by a patent, a person infringing the patent by practising the invention without authorization could be required to do one or more of the following: • stop the infringing activities until the patent expires; • destroy or deliver to the patent owner any goods that the party made that are protected by the patent; • pay monetary compensation or turn over its profits to the patent owner. It is also important to keep in mind that the owner, by lawfully practising an invention, may infringe a dominating patent of another party. The above consequences could therefore result to patent owners by practising their own inventions! Patents can have a high commercial value, not only because of the monopoly right, but because patents can be sold and licensed. Selling and licensing technology can be lucrative and play a critical part in the business plan of a company or university. Because of the rewards a patent can bring, it is therefore wise to consider patent protection when commercializing a technology.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 13
From patent application to patent A patent application can be prepared by anyone, but most often it’s prepared by a patent agent. Patent agents are registered professionals. The patent agent will typically work with the inventor to settle on the text of the patent application, which primarily consists of (1) a description, describing the invention and how to make and use it, and (2) claims, defining the scope of protection sought. Once the text of the application is settled, the application is filed in jurisdictions of interest in either the name of the inventor(s) or another entity. The definition for “inventor”may be different under the laws of different countries, but it is generally each person who contributed to the conception of the claimed invention. There may, therefore, be multiple inventors. Typically, an inventor is under an obligation to
assign all rights in the technology to his or her employer. Most countries allow non-inventor owners to file an application and obtain a patent in their own name, once they have established entitlement to the invention. After filing the application, examination usually follows. During this procedure, a patent examiner will examine a patent application for compliance with national patent laws, and if found non-compliant, an Office Action will issue setting out the defects. A response to the Office Action must be filed, which may require amendments to the application. The patent agent will normally work with the inventor to formulate an appropriate response. If, after filing a response, the application is still found non-compliant, a further Office Action will be issued. Sometimes there are multiple Office Actions before the application is found compliant, and sometimes an application
is refused. It may be possible to appeal the refusal or take other action to have the application reconsidered. Once found compliant with national patent laws, the application is allowed, and will issue to patent upon payment of appropriate fees. However, even after allowance or patent issuance, the application or patent may still be reviewed. An allowed application may be returned to the examiner for further examination and possibly refused, or an issued patent found invalid or unenforceable by a court or other judicial or quasi-judicial body charged to hear patent cases. Typically, an allowed application is refused or an issued patent is found invalid or unenforceable when information is revealed that the examiner was not aware of during examination, or took a different view of at the time.
What can be patented? An invention can generally be patented if the claims of a patent application describe something new, not obvious, and useful, and are directed to patentable subject matter. Examination and post-patent review by a court or other body will usually involve a consideration of novelty, obviousness, utility, and subject matter. An invention is usually considered to be new if it was not described exactly in a single source of information, and this source was available publicly prior to filing the application. Examples of publicly available sources of information include: • a publication, including an academic article, a published patent application, or an issued patent; • a public demonstration or presentation; • a sale of an article embodying the invention. An invention is usually considered obvious if a person skilled in the art of the inventive subject matter would have considered it to be so, with regard to information publicly available prior to filing the application such as that described above. Multiple sources of information can be considered for an obviousness analysis. Information that is used to determine both novelty and obviousness can come from the inventor or from a source independent from the inventor. It is not uncommon for a company or university to find that a
14 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
Photo by h9k
new product with significant commercial potential was previously described by one of its employees at a trade show, in a poster presentation, in an academic article, or in a press release. Such disclosure would then prevent a valid patent being obtained in most countries. It is therefore imperative to avoid public disclosures of an invention prior to filing a patent application describing the invention. In addition to novelty and non-obviousness, an invention must have utility. At a minimum this means that the claimed invention must have some use. Moreover, a patent must claim patentable subject matter. Most countries will patent a process, an apparatus, an article of manufacture, or a composition of matter. Improvements on existing technology are also considered patentable, providing the improvement is novel, non-obvious, and has utility. Most chemical, mechanical, and electrical technologies are considered patentable.
When to file? Most countries, including Canada, determine patent rights by who filed a patent application first. That is, where two or more inventors independently arrive at the same invention, it is the person who filed the application first that gains the rights in that jurisdiction. The race to file a patent application must be balanced against whether an inventor has sufficient data to file the application. There must be sufficient information in a patent application to fully describe the invention claimed and to enable a skilled person to understand and use the invention claimed. What is considered sufficient information will depend on the subject matter. Nascent technologies, like nanotechnology, may require more data to fully describe and enable a skilled person to practise the claimed invention than more established and well understood technologies. Failure to include sufficient information may result in an application being rejected or an issued patent being held invalid. Moreover, an inventor must have conducted sufficient experiments to ensure that the claimed invention works, otherwise the application or patent may fail for want of utility. Filing an application may also be delayed by a patentability search. Before filing an application, it is usually wise to conduct a preliminary search for publications that
may be novelty destroying or render the claimed invention obvious. The results of the search can help determine the scope of the invention to be claimed, and whether it is worthwhile filing an application at all.
or obviousness by the international search, decisions can be made as to whether to proceed to national entry and whether any amendments to the claims can or should be made to avoid the prior publications.
Where to file?
Other means of protection
Optimally, patent applications should be filed in every country in which the invention is to be made, sold, or used, and in countries where competitors may be operating. However, applications do not all have to be filed on the same date in every country of interest. The majority of countries in the world are members of an international treaty that allows a party to file a patent application (“priority application”) in a member country, and then file applications in other member countries within one year, claiming as their effective filing date the filing date of the priority application. In general, this means that information will then be judged relevant to novelty and obviousness only if it was publicly available prior to the effective filing date, rather than the actual filing date. It is also possible to file a single, international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). An international patent will not be granted from a PCT international application, but must entre the “national phase” in the countries for which patent protection is sought and that are contracting states to the PCT (now numbering over 120). Once the application entres the national phase, it is treated as a national application, but will have as its effective filing date the filing date of the international application. The cost of filing a PCT international application and then entering into the national phase in a country is not cheaper than filing directly in the country, but by proceeding under the PCT, national costs can be deferred until the time for national entry. The deadline for entering into the national phase for most countries is 30 months from the earliest priority date where priority is claimed to one or more priority applications or, if the PCT application is the first filed application, from the PCT application filing date. A further advantage of filing a PCT international application is that a search and opinion on patentability will be given by the international authorities. If pertinent prior publications is revealed affecting novelty
There are a number of other intellectual property rights that may be used in addition to, or instead of, patent rights to protect a company’s business interests. These other rights include: • trademarks, which give rights in a mark, such as a word or design, used to distinguish the trademark owner’s wares or services from those of another; • copyright, which gives rights in a work, such as an artistic, literary, dramatic, or musical work; • trade secrets and confidential information of a company concerning an invention; • industrial design protection, which gives rights to aesthetic features of shape, configuration , pattern, or ornament applied to an article.
Know your rights Intellectual property rights, and particularly patents, are important rights to be considered at all stages of a technology’s development. It is therefore important to consult with appropriate professionals early on in a technology’s development, such as in-house intellectual property counsel or intellectual property administrators, a university’s technology transfer office, or a registered patent agent. In deciding how to protect an invention, there are a number of considerations, only some of which were discussed above. Failure to take appropriate action early on in a technology’s development could result in important deadlines being missed, and the permanent loss of rights. Know your rights at the outset, and don’t miss out on a means to effectively commercialize your technology.
Daphne C. Ripley, MCIC, is an associate with the intellectual property law firm of Smart & Biggar. She is a lawyer and patent agent, with a focus in procuring patent protection for chemical inventions. She received her MSc in chemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston, ON.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 15
BOOSTING INNOVATIVE CAPACITY
DuPont expects major bottom line impact from University of Alberta R&D partnership.
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esearchers at the University of Alberta are developing significant new predictive models for the DuPont company’s polymer extrusion processes—tools that will help to improve yields, lower costs, and reduce cycle times across all of the company’s polymer production plants worldwide. The initiative, supported by an NSERC Collaborative R&D (CRD) grant, is spearheaded by Uttandaraman Sundararaj, a professor of chemical and material engineering and one of North America’s leading authorities on transport phenomena in polymer extrusion. Extruders are the work horses of the polymer industry. These modular devices are used for mixing, blending, and reacting polymers at temperatures up to 300 degrees Celsius. One of the challenges confronting companies like DuPont is that the extruder and its process parameters must be modified and optimized for each specific polymer type. “If you don’t design the process in the right way, or if the polymer melting doesn’t occur at the right time, you can end up with a lot of instability in the process,” explains Sundararaj. Until recently, he says, extruder modification and process design were based largely on the experience of production specialists. “It’s kind of a black art because nobody had really developed a clear understanding of how the process works.” To gain a better understanding grounded in science and mathematics, Sundararaj joined his collaborator, Krishnaswamy Nandakumar, FCIC, and a team of graduate students began to explore
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Vincent Wright
ways of visualizing and simulating polymer extrusion processes. One of the goals of the group was to increase yields by about ten percent. A key development was the design of a lab-scale extruder with windows, permitting visual observations of processes that were previously hidden from human view. “The window on the extruder gave us an unprecedented view of when and where melting occurs in this high temperature process,” Sundararaj says. “Through those observations and our work with DuPont’s pilot-scale extruder (also retrofitted with windows), we were able to develop models that could be applied to production scale extruders.” Another important milestone was the pioneering of a technique to measure the “pulse” of the polymeric material in the extrusion process. The technique, based on pressure, material concentrations, and the amount of torque required to run the extruder motor, enables the researchers to determine where melting occurs in windowless machines. The pulse technique can be used on any production-scale polymer extruder.
Photo by Philippe Ramakers
Extruders are the work horses of the polymer industry According to DuPont Canada, the research results from the CRD would likely have a “major impact on the profitability and longterm competitiveness of our business.” Dave Mitchell, MCIC, principal research scientist with DuPont Canada, says the CRD has boosted the capabilities of extrusion process modellers at the company’s headquarters R&D lab in Delaware. “We are very pleased with the work of [Uttandaraman] Sundararaj. We are very lucky to have him in Canada because he’s one of the top polymer extrusion experts in North America.” For Sundararaj, the CRD permitted an expansion of his research team. His group also secured a considerable amount of research equipment from DuPont, including a $100,000 rheometer for measuring the flow of viscous substances. More importantly, perhaps, Sundararaj has begun discussions with DuPont about a follow-up CRD project in the area of nanocomposites. DuPont recently formed a nano-composite group and the University of Alberta is home to one of Canada’s largest concentrations of nanotechnology researchers. Businesses like DuPont are attracted to NSERC’s peer-reviewed CRD grants because they allow companies to stretch their R&D resources, mitigate risk, and access highly skilled expertise not necessarily resident in-house. With industry sponsorship, NSERC’s CRD grants have a strong market-pull orientation—an important precursor to effective technology commercialization. The CRDs are part of a suite of instruments, under NSERC’s Research Partnerships Program, aimed at boosting the innovative capacity of industry through the transfer of useful knowledge and highly skilled students into Canadian companies.
Vincent Wright is an Ottawa-based freelance writer and founding editor of RE$EARCH MONEY.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 17
DON’T GET HIT BY THE FALLING GREENBACK
Protect yourself in a climate of currency fluctuations.
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anadian chemical producers have had a relatively good track record in managing the risk of currency fluctuations. The nature of the sector demands strict discipline as many inputs are sourced nationally while output is predominantly exported to the U.S. or abroad. However, the recent appreciation of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar has been so rapid that it may be worthwhile for Canadian chemical producers to revisit their currency risk management strategies. The advantage of an undervalued Canadian dollar is declining, and while predicting currency fluctuations is like predicting the weather, the signs are that the Canadian Loonie will continue to show strength versus the U.S. Greenback. Parity seems unlikely, but the 65 cent Loonie seems to be, at least for now, firmly in the past tense. Why? • Persistent U.S. government spending (in part to fund its military adventures) continues to fuel U.S. demand for foreign funds; • The trade deficit, particularly with Asia, reduces demand for the Greenback;
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Mario Fallico
• Canada’s wealth of resources, particularly oil and gas, means that U.S. demand for Canadian products will continue. Canada’s chemical sector is inexorably caught up in the challenge of managing its exposure to this risk. This is partly because costs (labour, utilities, occupancy costs such as taxes and insurance) are set in Canadian currency and many of the industry’s inputs (particularly petroleum products) are generally sourced in Canada. Although
Increasing your level of flexibility with regard to these risks can help you survive and thrive in an environment that might shut down a less-flexible competitor.
Photo by Pam Roth
these inputs may be priced in U.S. dollars, the underlying price will be impacted by currency changes depending on contract pricing terms. Taking steps to manage these risks does not mean your company is completely immune from currency swings, but it can lead to greater control over delicate profit margins. Here are some steps that chemical companies can take to deal with their currency exposure.
Identify your risks Risks depend on the nature of a producer’s underlying assets and liabilities. These fall into two categories. Contractual or monetary assets and liabilities are those tied to predictable timing and amount of cash flows—including fixed term loans, trade payables, and trade receivables. Non-contractual or nonmonetary items such as inventory have less certain payment timings and foreign exchange exposure cannot be predicted as easily. Risks also can be divided into two categories: direct—if the Loonie goes up, Greenback-priced commodities will cost you more—and indirect—the underlying product prices begin to change. Another indirect risk is the accounting impact of exchange rate fluctuations. Since accounting deals with specific reporting periods, often a year end or quarter end rate can affect the company’s profit without a direct economic consequence. The company may not have lost any more cash, but accounting
income may have declined. The indirect consequence could be the impact on lenders and investors relying on accounting figures.
Determine the implications of the risks The effect of these risks depends in part on how diversified you are. This can rely on: • the input sources you have—if you can switch to a supplier in Germany, for example, you will be less affected by Greenback fluctuations; • the variety of customers—having customers in other parts of the world will similarly provide insulation against the U.S. dollar; • the products you sell—each product will have a different level of currency risk. Increasing your level of flexibility with regard to these risks can help you survive and thrive in an environment that might shut down a less-flexible competitor.
Manage exposure The most common way to manage currency exposure is through operating strategies. This involves matching operating cash flow to offset the exposure. If the company is expecting to collect U.S. cash over the next quarter, then shift operating decisions to find an outflow of cash, possibly a purchase of raw materials in U.S. dollars over the same period to act as a natural hedge. A company supplying farm fertilizer to the U.S. market, for example,
might buy some of its nitrogen in U.S. dollars, insulating it partly from currency swings. By comparison, a financial strategy would involve the use of hedging tools such as forward contracts, futures, or options. A forward contract is in effect a commitment to exchange currencies at a pre-arranged exchange rate. These contracts can be for any amount (with some minimum thresholds) and they are more akin to a private deal for a specific amount and delivery date. This may apply if a company is purchasing a U.S.-made piece of equipment to be delivered and installed on a specific date. To ensure that the currency rates used to assess the capital budgeting decision remain unchanged, the company could enter into forward contracts at a set rate, timed for the expected delivery date of the equipment. Futures are similar to forward contracts but are set in standardized unit amounts (usually smaller than forward contracts) with pre-set quarterly delivery dates making them tradable. This market for futures reduces some of the risk otherwise present in forward contracts that depend on parties meeting contract obligations. The default risk is also reduced with futures as cash is trading daily rather than once over the contract term. This makes futures more appealing where credit risk is a concern. Options provide even greater flexibility because the company is not required to buy or sell the gross amount of foreign currency. Instead there is an option to be exercised at the company’s discretion. This flexibility comes with a price tag since there is a separate cost to the option itself and once expired this becomes a sunk cost. Options are usually more appropriate where future cash flows are uncertain. For example contingent contracts or sales orders that have not yet been confirmed. It may be too soon to commit to a future or forward contract but the company can proactively buy some currency insurance in effect through options. Despite the perceived complexity of these tools, this is no excuse for indecision. Ignoring currency uncertainties really is a risky business.
Mario Fallico, CA, is a partner in Mintz & Partners LLP. He leads the firm’s manufacturing team. He can be reached at 416-644-4323 or at mario_fallico@mintzca.com.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 19
the technology can be made commercially viable ... not decades from now, but in five years’ time
DESTINATION 2010 Has Ballard’s progress toward the commercial introduction of viable automotive fuel cell stack technology stalled?
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ignificant progress has been made in fuel cell technology development over the past several years. What may once have seemed like a faraway vision of the future—the technology of missions into space—is today being demonstrated in real-world applications globally. Fuel cell technology is powering approximately 500 vehicles on roads around the world, being driven by (and transporting) people just like you and me. At the same time, fuel cells are providing back-up power in mission-critical applications, as well as providing electricity, heat, and hot water to family homes in Japan. So, why does it seem that perceptions abound, whether among policy makers, opinion leaders, analysts, journalists, or members of the general public, that fuel cell technology development, and its progress towards commercial introduction, has stalled? From an automotive perspective, there are numerous reasons (both right and wrong) that skepticism about the technology and the timetable for its introduction has increased. For one thing, consumers, whether “green” in their politics, or concerned about the rising cost of gas prices, are turning to hybrid electric vehicles. Hybrids offer immediate benefits, using mostly conventional technology, without the requirement for a new fuel storage and delivery infrastructure. For now, there seems to be an ample supply of buyers who are willing to pay the premium for a hybrid electric vehicle. At the same time, many of the automakers—who generally prefer not to be mandated when it comes to introducing new technology— seem to be adopting more conservative forecasts of commercialization timelines. And then there are critics and pundits who, with varying levels of insight, choose to focus on the difficulties faced by companies in the fuel cell industry, rather than the significant advances that are being made every day to bring fuel cell technology to market. 20 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
Charles Stone and Rebecca Young
Whether critics or fans of fuel cell technology, many people are saying that the technology will not be commercially viable for over a decade because of cost issues and limitations in the technology’s reliability and durability. Ballard Power Systems Inc. decided it was time to provide a line-ofsight to how the technology can be made commercially viable ... not
Fuel Cell Stack Cost—one of four technology trendlines that make up Ballard’s Technology Road Map. The cost of automotive fuel cells will need to be competitive with today’s internal combustion engines for the technology to be adopted widely. Ballard’s target cost for the fuel cell stack, like the U.S. DOE’s, is US$30/kW by 2010. Stack technology innovation, new materials development, and system optimization are the drivers for achieving this cost target. TOP: Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell vehicles are on the road today in Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the U.S.
Prime Minister Paul Martin stands in front of Ford Motor Company’s Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) at the BC Hydrogen Highway announcement in 2004. Five Focus FCVs, powered with Ballard® fuel cells, are now being driven on BC roads as part of the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Project. decades from now, but in five years’ time. In March 2005, Ballard published its Technology Road Map, which comprises four technology trendlines, laying out the technology milestones to demonstrate commercially viable fuel cell stack technology by 2010. At Ballard, we believe it’s essential to provide our stakeholders with greater insight into our technical progress; to educate the industry, investors, political leaders, the regulators, the media, and the public that fuel cell commercialization will happen. Ballard has adopted this more transparent approach for a number of reasons. First, we believe we can address skepticism by releasing actual data on our progress to date and by sharing our five-year Technology Road Map. By replacing myths with demonstrable results, we believe we can help encourage a broader industry commitment to early adoption. In the end, the actual timeline of fuel cell commercialization is going to be determined by a combination of factors including such things as free market competition, fuel infrastructure and fuel storage, regulatory action, oil price and availability trends, and technical readiness. In February 2005, Ballard announced the results of the Technology Hat Trick. With the Hat Trick, advances were simultaneously achieved in three major fuel cell attributes— durability, cost, and freeze start capability—all in a single, common fuel cell stack
Photos by Ballard Power Systems Inc.
design. Demonstrating advancements in a single design is key. With focused effort, it’s not difficult to demonstrate a single technology advancement without discussion about what other elements of stack cost or performance attributes have been sacrificed. Overall technology does not advance if improvements in one attribute are made at the expense of others. Key elements of the Road Map, unveiled in March, relate to cost (US$/kWnet), durability, volumetric power density (Watts net/Liter) and freeze start. Ballard’s Road Map trendlines are aligned with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) targets were developed with input from the key industry constituencies and as such, represent a reasonable consensus of what a fuel cell engine must deliver to be considered commercially viable. The DOE’s target cost for commercial introduction of a fuel cell system in 2010 is US$45/kW of net system power (fuel cell stack [US$30/kW] and balance of plant [US$15/kW]). Ballard’s objective is to demonstrate sub-scale stacks (3–5 kW) that embody the technologies (e.g. reduced active area, improved catalyst, increase in membrane conductivity, high volume manufacturing processes, etc.) required to meet the cost target of US$30/kW in 2010. With this hardware, Ballard will concurrently demonstrate the advances in durability, power density, and operational
characteristics, such as freeze start, necessary to meet customer requirements for internal combustion engine performance equivalency. Ballard’s Technology Road Map speaks to technology development and demonstration. When we talk about a commercially viable fuel cell stack by 2010, we are talking about having the technology ready for volume production. You will not see this stack in vehicles in 2010, as it takes time to move technology innovation into actual products. It will likely take two to four years before automakers can integrate Ballard’s 2010 technology into their vehicles. Ballard has already demonstrated its capabilities to produce and develop high-yielding, controlled processes for component manufacture, and to close the loop between technology development and producing the stack products that our customers need. Ballard’s leadership begins in the lab, but it certainly doesn’t end there. With over 1.3 million kilometres of on-road testing since January 2004, products and technology to meet the needs and requirements of the transportation and power generation markets, and ISO-certified facilities in Europe and North America, Ballard is positioned to build a strong and sustainable future. You can read more about the Technology Road Map at www.ballard.com, where you can also download the charts laying out the trendlines. For each of these four important criteria—freeze start, power density, durability, and cost—we’ve identified and understand the technology paths that will be required to deliver to these targets. By sharing our Road Map, we provide an effective means by which our progress will be measured over the next five years. Ballard leads by example in an industry that for so long has been talking about a vision for the future—a world powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
Charles Stone is Ballard’s vice-president of Research and Development. His responsibilities include research and development, intellectual property, and ensuring the strategic alignment of technology development to product development. Rebecca Young works in Ballard’s corporate relations group and is responsible for media and public relations.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 21
Lambton College has answered the call of industry by making its flagship Chemical Production Engineering Technology Program available on-line.
UP TO SPEED
T
his highly acclaimed, one-of-a-kind three-year diploma program is the result of a group of industry representatives and Lambton College coming together with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to create a top-notch, world-class program of study to meet the changing operating needs of today’s production facilities. One of the endeavours emerging from this “pooling of the minds” was a $10.6 million Centre of Excellence for Process Manufacturing, which houses state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment used in today’s manufacturing plant operations, and technology programs that provide the specialized skills required by industry. Lambton College’s Chemical Production Engineering Technology Program (CPET) is one of the programs offered within the Centre of Excellence, along with Instrumentation Control Engineering Technology and Mechanical Technician—Industrial Maintenance, to name a few. The CPET program is unique in North America and is recognized for its academic excellence and outstanding graduate placement. No other training facility offers the same program that meets the precise needs of industry. The CPET program provides students with knowledge of the principles underlying the complex technologies used in today’s processing industries—including oil and chemical, power generation, steel production, food processing, and pulp and paper. “The skill level required of a plant operator has significantly increased as a result of increases in complexity of each of the areas of business environment, regulatory compliance, and controls and equipment. Entry-level operator training needs to be significantly upgraded if plants are to continue to be operated safely and efficiently in an environmentally protective manner,” says Bryan Aitken, coordinator of the CPET program at Lambton College.
22 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
Bryan Aitken
The courses prepare students to write operating engineering examinations and cover regulations pertaining to environmental and health and safety legislation. In addition, the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) recognizes this program as meeting all the academic requirements for certification in the Certified Engineering Technology (C.E.T.) category. In July 2003, Lambton College was approved by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority to offer a nine-month practical time reduction for operating engineering to eligible candidates. Since 1995, Lambton College has produced over 200 graduates from this program and 91 percent of these graduates found employment in their field. Its graduates are highly sought-after in the chemical, refining, nuclear and other power, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Once the CPET program was fully established as a flagship program for Lambton College, a project was established to make the full program available in an on-line format. The on-line courses are taught by the same faculty as the on-ground courses. These faculty members have been trained to become actively involved in e-learning at the college’s Learning Innovation Centre (LInC). Dee Cox, manager of the LInC explains its role in the development of the CPET on-line program. “Our mandate at the Learning Innovation Centre is to assist our faculty in designing and creating on-line learning material for our students. We provide assistance, training and technology to meet the
Photo by Carl Dwyer
needs of this mandate. We have taken the lead in the CPET on-line project to ensure a quality product.” Says Aitken, “There is a pressing need to update training for existing employees in the oil and chemical, power generation, steel production, food processing, and pulp and paper industries. Making the CPET program available on-line provides a flexible and portable solution to employers looking for accessible training for their employees. Now, employees will be able to continue providing valuable skills to their companies, while learning new technologies and preparing to fill the serious shortage that is predicted to take place in the industry in the near future. They can continue to work while completing courses leading to a diploma or certificate in chemical production.” Employees or employers can contact the college to determine if any credit can be given for prior learning and work experience. Lambton College is interested in working with employers and employees to grant credit where credit is due thereby allowing the student to take only those courses they need to complete their program of study. Currently, one-third of the CPET program is available on-line, including all of the first semester courses. A schedule is in place that ensures the entire CPET program will be available on-line by 2007, with required periods of residency to allow for completion of the on-campus labs. The on-line program material is the same as the on-ground program. Every attempt will be made to arrange lab times that suit the students’s needs. The development of the CPET on-line diploma program would not have been possible without the initial and ongoing support of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. This joint effort of the Centre of Excellence for Process Manufacturing and the Learning Innovation Centre, further establishes Lambton College as a leader in the fields of process-related education.
The CIC’s
Career Services
• CareerSite: The CIC’s job search and résumés— on-line service is available at www.chemjobs.ca. • Employer list: Over 1,600 Canadian company listings—available to CIC members only. • Free membership: Full-fee members are entitled to up to two years free membership while unemployed. • ACCN: Post an Employment Wanted ad, check the Careers section for openings and keep abreast of issues in your community. • Attend the CSC and CSChE Graduate Studies Fairs and Career Fairs: These fairs are part of the annual conferences for the Societies. • Networking opportunities: Local Sections and Divisions can keep you connected. • Need information on certification, professional status, or immigration issues: We can direct you on where to find help.
Bryan Aitken is the coordinator of the Chemical Production Engineering Technology Program at Lambton College, in Sarnia, ON. He can be reached at 519-542-7751, ext. 3340 or at bryan.aitken@lambton.on.ca.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 23
BIOMASS AS AN INDUSTRIAL FEEDSTOCK We have the technology and it is happening now!
It makes sense for Canada Energy, chemicals, and materials are central to Canada’s sustained growth, and it is becoming progressively harder or more costly to extract from fossil fuels. Increases in the cost of petroleum relative to biomass is enabling biomass to become more competitive as an industrial feedstock for a whole new range of industrial products. With advances in our knowledge of biosciences, enzyme production, and engineering, bioproducts that will transform our lives are now being developed. A hybrid crude oil-biomass economy is emerging where either feedstock may be used depending on the technical and environmental performance required of the end product as well as the cost of production. Canada has a natural green advantage in biomass; our future manufacturing industries will transform this biomass to meet our needs for some of our fuels, chemicals, and materials!
24 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
J. E. Cunningham Analysis conducted by the BIOCAP Canada Foundation (www. biocap.ca) and documented in the “Canadian Biomass Inventory: Feedstocks for a Bio-Based Economy, June 2003” indicates that: • of the 998 million hectares (M ha) of land in Canada, about 42 percent is forested and about 25 percent (245 M ha) is considered timber-productive forest. A further 6.8 percent (67.5 M ha) is agricultural land of which 3.6 percent (36.4 M ha) is crop land; • the 245 M ha of timber-productive forest in Canada has an energy content of 566 EJ (exajoules) that is equivalent to 69 times Canada’s annual energy demand that is met by fossil fuels (8.24 EJ); • the total annual biomass harvest from Canada’s forest and agricultural sectors is approximately 143 Mt (megatons) of carbon that is almost equal to the annual emissions of carbon into the atmosphere from fossil carbon use in Canada (approximately 150 Mt of carbon);
• the energy content of the total annual harvest of forest and agricultural biomass in Canada is 5.1 EJ, that is equal to approximately 62 percent of the energy derived annually from combustion of fossil fuels; • residues from agriculture and forestry operations and municipal solid waste account for approximately 66 Mt per year of carbon residues and wastes. Of this, about 60 Mt per year could be considered as an available feedstock. On an annual basis, this is equivalent to about 42 percent of the entire forest and agricultural harvest and has an energy content of 2.2 EJ or about 27 percent of Canada’s current energy demand that is met by fossil fuels. This coincidentally is also approximately the percent of total fossil fuel consumption that is used by the transportation sector in Canada. Canada has a major opportunity and a “green advantage” compared to other countries in its forest, marine, and agricultural resources to provide a renewable and sustainable supply of biomass for production of biobased energy, chemicals, and materials. This has immediate relevance for some Canadian industry sectors such as steel, cement, forestry, mining, agriculture, food processing, chemicals, and energy that are now dealing with the rising cost and environmental consequences of using fossil carbon. We have the feedstocks and we have the “value-creation,” that is the technology to transform this into fuels, chemicals, and materials. We must capitalize on this “value-capture” by creating viable business partnerships and enterprises. This is our challenge in securing alternate industrial feedstocks for the Canadian manufacturing sector.
The way ahead—innovation to commercialization The business case for future bio-fuel and bio-product ventures, however, needs to be better developed and communicated widely. The “Innovation Roadmap on Bio-Based Feedstocks for Fuels and Industrial Products” (February 2005 ACCN, p.13) focuses on taking advantage of commercial opportunities, increasing biomass productivity, and capturing value from agriculture, forest, marine, and municipal solid waste sources. Canadian companies are exceptional well
positioned to capture strong financial, economic, and social returns from these materials. Industry research and development is close to the market and at a strong commercialization phase. The recommendations presented in the Roadmap identify several technology priorities; of equal importance are elements that focus on measures to promote innovation and commercialization including a supportive policy framework. Work on these activities is underway and it is our hope to deliver on these recommendations over the next 24 months. Some activities are in progress such as research for new and improved technologies, public awareness and engagement and bioproducts community development. One of the most important tasks is to continue to build the networks of people involved and engaged in the development of the Roadmap. This is one of the most important legacies of the Roadmap—the people from various sectors of the economy that collaborated to deliver the project. We need to keep this collaboration alive and growing and directed at the detailed, analytical work to develop the multitude of bioproduct themes and value chains.
The Roadmap can be accessed from the BioProducts Canada and Industry Canada’s “Strategis” Web sites: www.bio-productscanada.org/am/ home_e.html Username: TRM-BBIP Password: bioproducts Please note that the username and password are case sensitive. http://strategis.gc.ca/trm http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/ intrm-crt.nsf/en/h_rm00051e.html
Building the business case Many companies in the manufacturing sector are now exploring and even producing products from biomass. A more accurate assessment of this economic activity in Canada will be available later this year
when Statistics Canada releases the results of its first survey targeting bio-products manufacture. Contact Canada has just released its second directory of BioProduct Manufacturers, “Canadian Bioproducts and Bioprocessing 2005.” The directory can be accessed on the BioProducts Canada Web site at www.bio-productscanada.org. Now that the Kyoto Agreement is a global reality and coupled with historic rises in fossil fuel prices, energy security and efficiency will reshape the Canadian manufacturing sector. Companies are searching for new and innovative means to manufacture. They are seeking alternate feedstocks for the manufacture of traditional and new products made possible by the new knowledge on the transformation of biomass. The Government of Canada has provided focus on energy and energy-related technology development through programs targeting the use of biomass feeds. These projects include detailed feedstock inventory assessment, advanced biomass mapping, novel conversion technologies, application of green chemistry principles, and theory (new reaction systems, advanced and energy efficient separation, and purification technologies, etc.). These include realignment of the Program of Energy Research and Development and the introduction of the Technology and Innovation Research and Development program led by Natural Resources Canada and 19 federal partners. Technology Early Action Measures (TEAM) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), established to respond to climate change challenges, are both well established and positioned to provide support for consortia-based projects that develop, innovate, and commercialize viable, sustainable technologies capable of delivering alternate energy sources, energy efficiency, and chemical intermediates having ancillary GHG emission reductions. Other programs at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Industry Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Environment Canada, and National Research Council Canada also provide support for sustainable technology development and demonstration. New measures relating to “clean” technologies and “partnership” funds announced in Budget 2005 and presented in the climate change for Canada announced in April 2005 will hopefully take shape over the next several months to complement and extend existing programs
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 25
to advance the drive toward sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials. Provinces and regional governments also have programs that provide support for bioproducts development and innovation. The key is to identify good projects and commercialize them with the help of these programs and the private sector financial community. While there are companies currently manufacturing bioproducts from biomass, there are many technologies at the precommercial—late stage R&D relating to pyrolysis, gasification, chemical/thermal/physical reactions, and fermentation technologies that will emerge as viable, commercial ventures over the next 12 to 24 months. Natural fibres are emerging as viable performers in the manufacture of panels and fibre, reinforced molded materials. Our focus must be on moving these projects through innovation to commercialization. If we are to have viable and significant manufacture of bioproducts in Canada, the
time is now. We have the technology. We need to turn this information into commercial ventures — a job for the network of companies, academia, and governments that participated in the development of the Roadmap to take this work to the next level. We need to form working groups/networks around each of the feedstocks from forest, marine, agricultural, and municipal sources and undertake the detailed, analytical work to develop all the threads/value chains of bioproduct manufacture and estimate of potential markets. Similar work is underway in the U.S. and led by the U.S. Council on Chemical Research as part of the Chemical Vision 2020 Technology Partnership (www.ccrhq.org/meetinfo/meet.html). There is a need to conduct a similar and complementary exercise in Canada because we have a different mix of feedstocks. Industry-led, collaborative research networks are key to the commercialization of the many technologies that are available and near ready. Through these networks,
the identification and detailed review of near-ready technologies and product opportunities will enhance the development and preparation of strong business plans to establish research priorities and lever the needed financial and technical resources available through government programs and private sector venture capital. There is a need to develop as many value chains as possible (biomass feedstock—conversion technology—bioproduct). This work is starting now and we hope that you will take an active interest in this important work. For more information on this work, please contact me at Cunningham.joseph@ic.gc.ca.
J. E. Cunningham is the senior commerce officer at the Manufacturing Industries Branch of Industry Canada.
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GELLMAN DELIVERS THE 2005 APOTEX PHARMACHEM INC. DISTINGUISHED LECTURE AT QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY
Samuel Gellman attends a Snieckus group meeting. Left to right: Allan Rey, MCIC, Bhaskar Reddy-Guntoori, MCIC, Samuel Gellman, and Victor Snieckus, FCIC. The department of chemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston hosted the 2005 Apotex Pharmachem Inc. Distinguished Lecture on April 6, 2005. This year’s invited speaker was Samuel H. Gellman, the Evan P. Helfaer Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After a stimulating lecture entitled, “Foldamers: from Structure to Function,” Gellman met with students and faculty at Queen’s. The following day, Gellman visited Apotex Pharmachem Inc. in Brantford, ON, and presented a second lecture and also engaged in discussions on topics from synthesis to biology showing the breadth of his knowledge. Gellman’s work represents a beautiful example of the significant and exciting work being done at the chemistry/biology
interface. The first half of the lecture pertained to Gellman’s preparation and analysis of synthetic foldamers, which are oligomers that display discrete folding propensities. Examples of the foldamers discussed by Gellman included scaffolds composed of alternating a-amino acid and cyclic b-amino acid residues (six or more), which adopt helical conformations mimicking RNA and proteins. The second half of the lecture discussed the uses of foldamers to further probe relationships among covalent structure, molecular shape, and function. A significant ultimate goal of Gellman’s research is to design and develop foldamers for various biological and medical applications including their use as pharmaceuticals.
For a recent example of Gellman’s work, see “Backbone Thioester Exchange: A New Approach to Evaluating Higher Order Structural Stability in Polypeptides,” M. G. Woll and S. H. Gellman, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 126, 11172, 2004. Previous Apotex Pharmachem Inc. Distinguished Lecturers in the series, which began in 1999 at Queen’s in collaboration with Victor Snieckus, FCIC, include Dennis Curran of the University of Pittsburgh, Barry Trost of Stanford University, and Julius Rebek of The Scripps Research Institute. Apotex Pharmachem Inc. has an aggressive program in process research and development focused on the development of commercial processes to active pharmaceutical ingredients (API’s). The company holds over 60 patents relating to proprietary compounds and processes. The company is situated in Brantford, ON, and employs approximately 320 people, including over 100 chemists and engineers. In addition to process research and development, Apotex Pharmachem Inc. also houses cGMP compliant manufacturing facilities. The company supplies API’s to all major pharmaceutical markets, including Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Allan Rey, MCIC Apotex Pharmachem Inc.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 27
LOCAL SECTION NEWS NOUVELLES DES SECTIONS LOCALES
PROJECTS GAGNANTS À L’EXPO-SCIENCE
Denis Bérubé, MCIC, chercheur à Santé Canada, présente le premier prix à Natasha Chouinard-Mullen et Stéphanie Mercier à l’Expo-Sciences régionale de l’Outouais 2005.
ACCN
La section d’Ottawa-Gatineau a récompensé trois projets à l’Expo-Sciences régionale de l’Outaouais 2005. L’évènement présentait 80 projets et s’est déroulé du 11 au 13 mars à la polyvalente Le Carrefour du secteur Gatineau. Natasha Chouinard-Mullen et Stéphanie Mercier, élèves en secondaire V à la polyvalente Mont-Bleu, ont obtenu le premier prix avec « La vitamine C ». Elles avaient mis au point une méthode pour déterminer la vitamine C, et nous décrivaient les résultats de leurs expériences sur la stabilité de la vitamine C dans les aliments. Deux projets se sont ensuite classés ex-aequo, et se sont partagés les deuxième et troisième prix. Le projet intitulé « Le VIH : un résidant cache » était de Marie-Hélène Constant de secondaire IV à la polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau. Elle nous décrivait les expériences qu’elle avait faites pour isoler des protéines du VIH. L’autre projet était de Laure Bourgault de 6e primaire à l’école Mont-Bleu, et s’intitulait « Bonjour le Téflon ». Elle nous expliquait la structure du téflon ainsi que ses propriétés, et décrivait des essais pour tirer profit de ses propriétés hydrophobes.
A publication of the CIC/Une publication de l’ICC
REQUEST FOR READER RESPONSE What do you think of our name: L’Actualité chimique canadienne/Canadian Chemical News(ACCN)?
Does it suit the magazine? Does it represent our readers? Would you change the name? Why? What would you change it to? Action will not necessarily be taken but 28 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
your opinion counts!
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DIVISION NEWS NOUVELLES DES DIVISIONS
THE CATALYSIS AWARD— APPEL DE CANDIDATURES CALL FOR NOMINATIONS POUR LE PRIX DE CATALYSE The Catalysis Award, sponsored by the Canadian Catalysis Foundation, is awarded biannually to an individual who, while resident in Canada, has made a distinguished contribution to the field of catalysis. The recipient of the award receives a rhodiumplated silver medal and travel expenses to present the award lecture at the Canadian Symposium on Catalysis or the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition or Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference. Nominations for the award must be submitted in writing to the awards coordinator of The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), by October 31, 2005, using The Chemical Institute of Canada nomination form. Previous winners of the Catalysis Award include: R. J. Cvetanovic and Y. Amenomiya, FCIC (1977) R. B. Anderson (1979) C. H. Amberg, FCIC (1982) H. Alper, FCIC (1984) H. W. Habgood, FCIC (1986) J. B. Moffat, FCIC (1988) B. R. James, FCIC (1990) B. Wojciechowski, FCIC (1992) I. Dalla Lana (1994) M. Ternan, FCIC (1996) S. Kaliaguine, FCIC (1998) G. L. Rempel, FCIC (2000) M. C. Baird, FCIC (2002) C. A. Fyfe, MCIC (2004) For more information, please contact the division chair, Jacques Monnier, MCIC, CANMET Energy Technology Centre, Natural Resources Canada, 1 Haanel Drive, Nepean, ON, K1A 1M1; 613-995-1631; fax: 613-996-9400; jmonnier@nrcan.gc.ca, or Gale Thirlwall-Wilbee, awards coordinator, The Chemical Institute of Canada, 130 Slater Street, Suite 550, Ottawa, ON, K1P 6E2; 613-232-6252, ext.223; fax: 613-232-5862; awards@cheminst.ca.; www.cheminst.ca/awards/cic_index__e.htm.
Le Prix de catalyse, parrainé par la Fondation canadienne de catalyse, est remis bisannuellement à un chercheur dont la contribution au domaine de la catalyse est considérée comme exceptionnelle, et ce, pour la recherche effectuée au Canada. Le récipiendaire du prix reçoit une médaille d’argent plaquée de rhodium et le remboursement de ses frais de déplacement pour présenter la conférence du prix de catalyse au Symposium canadien de catalyse ou au Congrès et expositions canadiens de chimie ou au Congrès canadien de génie chimique. Les mises en candidature pour le prix doivent être soumises par écrit à la coordonnatrice des prix de l’Institut de chimie du Canada (ICC), d’ici le 31 octobre 2005, à l’aide du formulaire de mise en candidature pour les prix de l’ICC. Les récipiendaires précédents du prix sont : R. J. Cvetanovic et Y. Amenomiya, FICC (1977) R. B. Anderson (1979) C. H. Amberg, FICC (1982) H. Alper, FICC (1984) H. W. Habgood, FICC (1986) J. B. Moffat, FICC (1988) B. R. James, FICC (1990) B. Wojciechowski, FICC (1992) I. Dalla Lana (1994) M. Ternan, FICC (1996) S. Kaliaguine, FICC (1998) G. L. Rempel, FICC (2000) M. C. Baird, FICC (2002) C. A. Fyfe, MICC (2004) Pour tout renseignement supplémentaire, veuillez contacter le président de la division, Jacques Monnier, MCIC, Centre de la technologie de l’énergie de CANMET Ressources naturelles Canada, 1 chemin Haanel, Nepean (Ontario) K1A 1M1; 613-995-1631; téléc. : 613-996-9400; jmonnier@nrcan.gc.ca. Vous pourrez également contacter Gale Thirlwall-Wilbee, coordonnatrice des prix, Institut de chimie du Canada, 130, rue Slater, bureau 550, Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 6E2; 613-232-6252, poste 223; téléc. 613-232-5862; awards@cheminst.ca.; www.cheminst.ca/awards/cic_index__e.htm.
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 29
NCW NEWS NOUVELLES DE LA SNC
DIVISION NEWS NOUVELLES DES DIVISIONS
MARITIME INORGANIC DISCUSSION WEEKEND REVIVED
PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF CHEMISTRY THE SPONSORS (as of May, 2005)
Gold CIC Chemical Education Fund Dow Chemical Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research
Silver
2005 MIDW organizers and guest speakers Martin Cowie, MCIC, Neil Burford, MCIC, Cathleen Crudden, MCIC, Steve Westcott, MCIC, and Glen Briand, MCIC. Inorganic chemistry is alive and kicking in the Maritimes! After a long wait, the first Maritime Inorganic Discussion Weekend (MIDW) since 1990 took place at Mount Allison University on March 19 and 20, 2005. The event was very well attended, with approximately 70 students and faculty from Mount Allison University, the University of Prince Edward Island, Acadia University, Atlantic Baptist University, the University of New Brunswick, Saint Mary’s University, St. Francis Xavier University, and Dalhousie University participating. The meeting was modelled after similar gatherings held in Quebec, Ontario, and in the West, and provided an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate research students to present their ideas and results to students, post-doctoral fellows, and professors in an informal environment. The festivities kicked off with a plenary lecture by invited guest, Martin Cowie, MCIC, from the University of Alberta. This was followed by 23 oral presentations by students and postdoctoral fellows from the participating Maritime universities. A very lively informal mixer was also held at the Coastal Inn Sackville on the evening of March 19, which was accompanied by ten poster presentations. The MIDW concluded with a plenary lecture by guest speaker, Cathleen Crudden, MCIC (Queen’s University), which was gratefully sponsored by Sepracor Canada Ltd. (Windsor, NS). The revival of the MIDW was fuelled by the addition of many new inorganic chemistry faculty in the Maritime academic institutions over the past few years. A substantial enrichment of inorganic chemistry research in the region was very evident from the large interest in the meeting, and the number and quality of presentations. Prizes for oral presentations were awarded to undergraduate students Jonathan Webb and Anita Smith of Mount Allison, Vidath Shetty (of UPEI), and graduate students Jeff Landry, Judy Cipot, and Heather Spinney of Dalhousie. Matt Rankin (Dalhousie) was awarded the prize for Best Poster Presentation. The meeting was a tremendous success, and plans have already begun for next year’s meeting. The organizers are grateful to NSERC, Sepracor Canada Ltd (Alex Jurgens, MCIC), the CSC, Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University, and Labatt Breweries for financial support. Also acknowledged are Rob Gossage, MCIC, of Acadia University for fundraising assistance, as well as the many student volunteers who helped out. For further information, check out the MIDW Web site at www.mta. ca/faculty/science/chem/wildtoads/midw.html. Glen Briand, MCIC 30 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
Anachemia Science Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. H.L. Blachford Rhodia Canada Rohm and Haas Canada Inc. Syngentia Crop Protection (Canada) Inc.
Bronze Atofina Canada Inc.
STUDENT NEWS NOUVELLES DES ÉTUDIANTS
STUDENTS HONOUR GREIDANUS-STROM Grace Greidanus-Strom, MCIC, of The King’s University College’s department of chemistry has been awarded the 2005 CSC Faculty Ad v i s o r Awa rd , s p o n s o re d by McGraw Hill Ryerson. This award is presented to a faculty advisor who has demonstrated exceptional performance working with students to plan and implement Student Chapter activities. The difference with this award, as opposed to many other academic awards, is Grace Greidanus-Strom, MCIC, that the students are the nominators, 2005 CSC Faculty Advisor giving them the opportunity to thank Award winner their faculty advisor for his/her involvement in their community. Greidanus-Strom received a BSc (with Distinction) from the University of Calgary in 1996. She then attended the University of Albert der the tutelage of Jeffrey M. Stryker, MCIC. After receiving her PhD in 2001, Greidanus-Strom began her academic career as an assistant professor of chemistry at The King’s University College in Edmonton, AB. Her commitment to undergraduates is evident in GreidanusStrom’s research, teaching, and service to the community. NSERC and CFI have supported her research interests in developing novel chiral ligands for Lewis acidic asymmetric transition metal catalysts. To date, all research conducted in her laboratory has been performed by undergraduates. Greidanus-Strom is a dedicated mentor, working one-on-one with both high school students and undergraduates to enhance their chemistry experiences. These experiences have resulted in most of her students presenting their research projects at local and national conferences, such as the annual Western Canadian Undergraduate Chemistry Conferences (WCUCC). Her service to students and the community is evident in her volunteer work. She served as a WCUCC poster judge from 2002 to 2004. She is the organizer for the King’s Undergraduate Research Symposium that occurs each year on campus. She is faculty adviser to the King’s Science Society and secretary of the Edmonton CIC Local Section. Greidanus-Strom also supports and participates in Women in Scholarship, Engineering and Science Technology (WISEST) and the Edmonton Science Outreach Network (ESON).
MEET WITH ORGANIC CHEMISTS IN BANFF THIS FALL
In 2003, a group of graduate students from the University of Alberta took the initiative to organize the first Banff Symposium on Organic Chemistry (BSOC). With more than 120 Canadian and international chemists in attendance, the first BSOC was a tremendous success. The enthusiasm generated at this conference is reflected by the expansion of this year’s organizing committee. Graduate students from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and Simon Fraser University have joined efforts and combined contacts, financial support, and different fields of expertise with ambitions to surpass 2003’s major accomplishment. Maintaining the relatively small conference size, the symposium will provide a friendly environment for graduate students to present their research to peers, faculty, and industrial representatives. BSOC 2005 kicks off at the Banff Park Lodge on November 10, 2005 with an opening mixer and a lecture by an internationally renowned speaker. Spanning two and a half days, the conference aims to highlight students’ research in the fields of synthetic, bioorganic, materials, and organometallic chemistry. In addition to numerous graduate-level oral and poster presentations, the weekend also features prominent speakers from academia and industry, including Matthew Shair (Harvard University), Carolyn Bertozzi (University of California, Berkeley), Ben Feringa (University of Groningen), John Hartwig (Yale University), and Cheng Chen (Merck & Co., Inc.). As Canada’s first national park and part of the UNESCO Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site, Banff National Park is home to a great variety of distinctive cultural and historical attractions. The park’s breathtaking natural beauty not only attracts thousands of tourists from around the globe each year, it has also made Banff a popular conference destination. With the experience gained from the first symposium and the combined resources of the three universities, the organizers wish to make this conference one of Canada’s best. Registration has already begun and will be limited to ensure an intimate atmosphere and detailed discussion. For more updated information and to register, please visit www.bsoc.ca. We hope to see you in Banff this fall! BSOC 2005 Organizing Committee JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 31
CAREERS CARRIÈRES
Inkjet Research & Development Chemist A.R. Monteith Corporation is a manufacturer of ink jet printings inks and specialty coating products for a wide array of applications and customers. With sales worldwide, A.R. Monteith Corporation has a reputation for high quality products, excellent service and strong technical know how. To ensure A.R. Monteith’s continued success in the ink jet ink market we are now searching for an Inkjet Research & Development Chemist to join our research team. Based in Toronto, Canada the successful candidate will be involved in, and responsible for, the development of new and improved ink jet inks, problem solving, responding to technical enquiries from customers and remaining up to date on new ink jet development opportunities. The successful candidate will be competitive, an agile thinker, and must be able to listen to customer needs/problems and bring new products, ideas and solutions successfully to fruition in a timely manner. Suitable candidates will possess a minimum of a degree in Chemistry, or other related discipline, and have demonstrated experience in ink jet, UV or other ink formulation areas. A working knowledge of resins, solvents, ink jet printers and printhead technology would be an advantage. Please forward your resume to Janet Lamb, A.R. Monteith Corporation, 2615 Wharton Glen Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L4X 2B1, janet@armonteith.com. Closing date 30 June 2005 We thank all candidates for their interest, however, only successful candidates will be contacted.
The University of New Brunswick was the birthplace, in 1854, of engineering education in Canada. Today, UNB’s Faculty of Engineering in Fredericton is ranked among the top 20 per cent of engineering schools in North America and is known nationally and internationally for its applied science programs. Rapidly evolving and new emerging technologies have fostered a strong interdisciplinary culture among the Faculty’s seven major field s of study. The University of New Brunswick, Department of Chemical Engineering, in cooperation with major external funding from industry and government is establishing a Chair in Nanobiotechnology. The Department is seeking an established researcher with a demonstrated record of achievement and publication in the field of Nanobiotechnology. The successful candidate will be expected to establish a strong and active research group, conduct and publish research of international stature, and to teach at graduate and undergraduate levels. The candidate will work in a collaborative environment with established faculty members within the various departments of the Faculties of Science and Engineering and seek external collaborations or partnerships as is appropriate. Preference will be given to qualified applicants with a demonstrated expertise in nanomaterials and their applications, especially as relates to the creation of biosensors. The rank and salary of the position will be commensurate with the qualifications of the successful candidate. Please send applications including a CV and the names of three referees to: Dr. David Coleman, Dean ,Faculty of Engineering, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3 Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Position pending receipt of external funding. Information about UNB and the City of Fredericton are available at www.unb.ca and www.city.fredericton.nb.ca respectively. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Applicants should indicate current citizenship status. THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK IS COMMITTED TO THE PRINCIPLE OF EMPLOYMENT EQUITY.
32 L’ACTUALITÉ CHIMIQUE CANADIENNE JUIN 2005
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY The Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, invites applications for a contractual appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the area of Organic Chemistry, effective on or after September 1, 2005, for a one year period, with a possibility of renewal for up to two additional years subject to budgetary approval. The successful applicant will be responsible for teaching introductory and advanced level organic chemistry courses. Salary will be in accordance with the Collective Agreement. Memorial is a well equipped, modern university with an undergraduate student enrolment of more than 15,000 and M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs in all the major areas of science. The Chemistry Department has 22 tenured faculty, about 40 graduate students in NSERC supported research programs, and modern research instrumentation in all areas of Chemistry. Interested candidates are invited to review the Chemistry Department home page at http://www.chem.mun.ca for further information. Memorial University is the largest university in Atlantic Canada. As the province’s only university, Memorial plays an integral role in the educational and cultural life of Newfoundland and Labrador. Offering diverse undergraduate and graduate programs to almost 18,000 students, Memorial provides a distinctive and stimulating environment for learning in St. John’s, a very safe, friendly city with great historic charm, a vibrant cultural life, and easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities. Memorial University is committed to employment equity and encourages applications from qualified women and men, visible minorities, aboriginal people and persons with disabilities. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents will be given priority. Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a statement of potential research interests and a research proposal, and should also arrange for the names and addresses of at least three referees to be sent to: Dr. Robert W. Davis, Head Department of Chemistry Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 3X7
Telephone: (709) 737-8772 Fax: (709) 737-3702 E-mail: chemhead@mun.ca
You MUST use the code VPA-CHEM-2005-001 on all correspondence Deadline: July 1, 2005
EVENTS ÉVÉNEMENTS
Canada Conferences July 31–August 4, 2005. 18th Biennial Chem Ed Conference, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Web site: http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/chemed2005/welcome.htm. August 7–12, 2005. IUPAC 17th International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry, Toronto, ON. Contact: Javad Mostaghimi; tel.: 416-978-5604; e-mail: mostag@me.utoronto.ca. August 14–18, 2005. IUPAC 11th International Symposium on Novel Aromatic Compounds (ISNA-11), St. John’s, NL. Contact: Graham Bodwell; tel.: 709-737-8406; e-mail: gbodwell@mun.ca. August 16–19, 2005. 12th Canadian Semiconductor Technology Conference, National Research Council Canada and the Electronic Materials and Processing Division of the American Vacuum Society, Ottawa, ON. Web site: www.canadiansemiconductor.org. August 19–26, 2005. 20th International Symposium on Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (ISPAC 20), Toronto, ON. Contact: Chris Marvin; tel.: 905-319-6919; e-mail: chris.marvin@ec.gc.ca. August 19–26, 2005. 25th International Symposium on Halogenated Environmental Organic Pollutants and POPs (Dioxin 2005), National Water Research Institute, Toronto, ON. Contact: Mehran Alaee; tel.: 905-336-4752; e-mail: mehran.alaee@ec.gc.ca; Web site: www.dioxin2005.org.
EMPLOYMENT WANTED DEMANDES D’EMPLOI
September 11–14, 2005. LNG: The Environmental Safety Agenda, Vancouver, BC. Run jointly by AIChE/CSChE. Web site: www.aiche.org/conferences/LNG/cfp.htm.
Chemist/Geologist with several graduate-level courses seek-
October 16–19, 2005. Innovation for a Healthy Planet—55th Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference, Toronto, ON. Web site: www.csche2005.ca.
meric paint, stucco, detergents, asphalt emulsions, and drywall
October 17–18, 2005. CSCT professional development course— ICPES–Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy. Toronto, ON. Web site: www.cheminst.ca/profdev.
macneildavid@hotmail.com.
October 17–18, 2005. CSCT professional development course— Laboratory Safety. Toronto, ON. Web site: www.cheminst. ca/profdev.
product formulation and development of biomaterials and paper
U.S. and Overseas June 20–24, 2005. 2nd International Conference on Green and Sustainable Chemistry and the 9th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, Washington, DC. Contact: Robin Rogers; e-mail: rdrogers@bama.ua.edu. July 10–14, 2005. 7th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Glasgow, Scotland. Contact: Sarah Fitzpatrick; e-mail: sarah. fitzpatrick@concorde-uk.com; Web site: www.chemengcongress2005.com. August 13–21, 2005. IUPAC 43rd General Assembly, Beijing, China. Contact: IUPAC Secretariat; tel.: +1 919-485-8700; fax: +1 919-485-8706; e-mail: secretariat@iupac.org. December 15–20, 2005. Pacifichem 2005 Conference, Honolulu, HI. Web site: www.pacifichem.org.
ing a part-time Product Development position in the Calgary area. I possess relevant research experience pertaining to elastojoint cement compounds. I plan on taking mining geophysics next fall. Please contact David at 403-280-7706 or by e-mail at
PhD in physical chemistry with six years’ experience in R&D, additives. Skilled in colloids, spectroscopy, chromatography, pilot process optimization. Adaptable to new challenges in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, coatings. Contact Andrew at 514-631-2594 or DrRedHouse@yahoo.com.
Looking for the Perfect Position? • Post a free Employment Wanted ad in ACCN. • Read the Careers Section for openings. • Check the CIC Chemjobs site at www.chemjobs.ca!
JUNE 2005 CANADIAN CHEMICAL NEWS 33
The Chemical Institute of Canada Medal is presented as a mark of distinction and
The Macromolecular Science and Engineering Award is awarded to
recognition to a person who has made an
an individual who, while resident in Can-
outstanding contribution to the science
ada, has made a distinguished contribution
of chemistry or chemical engineering
to macromolecular science or engineering.
in Canada.
Sponsored by NOVA Chemicals Ltd.
Award: A medal and travel expenses.
Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,500, and travel expenses.
The MontrĂŠal Medal is presented
The Chemical Institute of Canada
2006 AWARDS
as a mark of distinction and honour to
The CIC Award for Chemical Education
a resident in Canada who has shown
(formerly the Union Carbide Award) is
significant leadership in or has made
awarded as a mark of recognition to a person
an outstanding contribution to the
who has made an outstanding contribution
profession of chemistry or chemical
in Canada to education at the post-secondary
engineering in Canada. In determining
level in the field of chemistry or chemical
the eligibility for nominations for the
engineering. Sponsored by the CIC Chemical
award, administrative contributions
Education Fund.
within The Chemical Institute of Canada
Award: A framed scroll, $1 000 cash
and other professional organizations
prize, and up to $400 travel expenses
that contribute to the advancement of
to the annual conference.
the professions of chemistry and chemical engineering shall be given due consid-
Deadlines
eration. Contributions to the sciences
The deadline for all CIC awards is July 4,
of chemistry and chemical engineering
2005 for the 2006 selection, except the
are not to be considered. Sponsored by
Catalysis Award, the deadline for which
the MontrĂŠal CIC Section.
is October 3, 2005 for the 2006 selection.
Award: A medal and travel expenses.
The Catalysis Award is awarded
Please submit your nominations to:
biennially to an individual who,
Awards Coordinator
while resident in Canada, has made a
The Chemical Institute of Canada
distinguished contribution to the field
130 Slater Street, Suite 550
of catalysis. Sponsored by the Canadian
Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2
Catalysis Foundation.
Tel.: 613-232-6252
Award: A rhodium-plated silver medal and
Fax: 613-232-5862
travel expenses to present the award lecture.
awards@cheminst.ca
The Environmental Improvement
Nomination forms and the full Terms
Award is awarded to a Canadian com-
of Reference for these awards are avail-
pany, individual, team, or organization
able at www.cheminst.ca/awards/
for a significant achievement in pollution
cic_index_e.html.
prevention, treatment, or remediation. Sponsored by the Environment Division. Award: A plaque and travel assistance.
Important ... Submission deadline is July 4, 2005
Nomination Procedure
The Canadian Society for Chemistry
2006 AWARDS Important ... Submission deadline is July 4, 2005
The Alcan Award is awarded to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguishing contribution in the fields of inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Alcan International Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.
contribution to industrial or academic inorganic chemistry while working in Canada, and who is within ten years of his or her first professional appointment as an independent researcher in an academic, government, or industrial sector. Sponsored by the Inorganic Chemistry Division. Award: A framed scroll, travel expenses for a lecture tour, and the registration fee to the CSC Conference in the year of the award to enable presentation of an award lecture at the conference.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Award is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant whose PhD thesis in the field of organic or bioorganic chemistry was formally accepted by a Canadian university in the 12-month period preceding the nomination deadline of July 4 and whose doctoral research is judged to be of outstanding quality. Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses. The Clara Benson Award is presented in recognition of a distinguished contribution to chemistry by a woman while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC). Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses. The Maxxam Award is awarded to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Maxxam Analytics Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses.
The Alfred Bader Award is presented as a mark of distinction and recognition to a scientist who will not have reached the age of 60 by January 1 of the year of nomination, for excellence in research in organic chemistry carried out in Canada. Sponsored by Alfred Bader, HFCIC. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $3,000, and travel expenses.
The Award for Pure or Applied Inorganic Chemistry is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding
The R.U. Lemieux Award is awarded to an organic chemist who has made a distinguished contribution to any area of organic chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by the Organic Chemistry Division. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses. The Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award is awarded to a scientist residing in Canada, who shall not have reached the age of 40 years by April 1
of the year of nomination and who has made a distinguished contribution in the fields of organic chemistry or biochemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Merck Frosst Canada & Co. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses.
The Bernard Belleau Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of medicinal chemistry through research involving biochemical or organic chemical mechanisms. Sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Co. Award: A framed scroll, $2,000 cash, and to cover travel expenses to present a lecture at the annual conference.
The E.W.R. Steacie Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada. Sponsored by Sciex Inc., Division of MDS Health Group. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $2,000, and travel expenses. The Fred Beamish Award is awarded to an individual who demonstrates innovation in research in the field of analytical chemistry, where the research is anticipated to have significant potential for practical applications. The award is open to new faculty members at a Canadian university and they must be recent graduates with four years of appointment. Sponsored by Eli Lilly Canada Inc. Award: A framed scroll, a cash prize of $1,000, and travel expenses.
Deadline The deadline for all CSC awards is July 4, 2005 for the 2006 selection.
Nomination Procedure Please submit your nominations to: Awards Coordinator The Canadian Society for Chemistry 130 Slater Street, Suite 550 Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2 Tel.: 613-232-6252 Fax: 613-232-5862 awards@cheminst.ca Nomination forms and the full Terms of-Reference for these awards are available at-www.chemistry.ca/awards/ csc_index_e.html.
89th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition
Preliminary Announcement May 27–31, 2006
World Trade and Convention Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Canadian Society for Chemistry • 1-888-542-2242 • www.csc2006.ca
89e Congrès et exposition canadiens de chimie
Annonce préliminaire du 27 au 31 mai 2006
World Trade and Convention Centre Halifax (Nouvelle-Écosse) Canada Société canadienne de chimie • 1-888-542-2242 • www.csc2006.ca
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