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University of Alberta
IndustryMechanical Partnership Program
Your Cost Efficient Access to Research, Development, & Advanced Engineering
MechSource
Mechanical Engineering
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Moving Life Forward
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If you operate an industrial company, you
MechSource
know that success and growth are often dependent on your ability to improve current products and imagine new ones. Outsourcing research and development has traditionally been a long term proposition, involving a significant investment of your financial and human resources. What if you had an applied research and development partner who could access grants and other funding sources to double or even triple your R&D investment? What if this partner could transform your research challenge into a solution in two to three years instead of the usual three to five? That’s exactly what MechSource, the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s industry-mechanical partnership program, can do for you.
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Your Access to Experts When you partner with MechSource, you gain access to Mechanical Engineering faculty professors, all of whom are Professional Engineers and who, collectively, have over 400 years of research and industrial expertise. Your project also benefits from a team of world class engineers, scientists and researchers across all Engineering disciplines.
Graduate Engineers Onsite for You
IMPP success stories Graduate engineers in the Department of Mechanical engineering have the opportunity to work on R&D challenges that span a wide range of industry sectors.
S U C C E S S
MechSource is an innovative approach to matching Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate students with industry research and development projects. Our graduate engineers have completed their undergraduate engineering degrees and are working on advanced degrees that give them additional tools to tackle complex R&D projects. So, when you partner with MechSource, your company benefits from onsite state-of-the-art research and development expertise while our graduate engineers have the opportunity to solve real world problems.
S T O R I E S
GOING WITH THE FLOW Dr. Warren Finlay and his team of graduate engineers worked with pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer, Sanofi-Aventis, Alexza, Novo Nordisk among others, using a simplified model of the human mouth and throat (the “Alberta mouth throat”) that matches the average deposition of aerosols in the human mouth and throat. The model was developed using extensive measurements and numerical simulations of fluid flow and aerosol deposition and helps pharmaceutical companies improve inhalers used to treat the symptoms of lung diseases. The “Alberta mouth-throat” is now being used by companies worldwide.
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Shorter Timelines Faster Results Time and money drive advanced engineering degree programs. That means our students are required to complete their graduate degrees within a fixed period of time. Working with MechSource, you can expect results within one to three years, depending on the project requirements. That’s at least two years sooner than most private research and development firms can deliver.
Built in Accountability
Contact Dr. Alidad Amirfazli 780-492-6711 alidad.amirfazli@ualberta.ca
Our graduate engineers are assigned projects as their graduate work, so they have a professional and personal interest in ensuring the project is successful, on time and on budget. Your company’s technical staff provides mentorship and technical supervision in collaboration with the participating Engineering professor. Our Engineering staff also provides quality assurance, project management and technical mentorship. In addition, we manage all the administration related to the student and their project, thus freeing you to focus on your core business.
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World Class Facilities and Equipment In addition to an outstanding team of engineers, scientists, researchers and administrators, you will have access to cutting edge equipment and facilities to support your project. The Mechanical Engineering building on the U of A campus houses a modern, well-equipped machine shop and state-of-the-art laboratories. Other facilities include:
Thermo-fluids • • • • •
Aerosol research laboratory Thermal spraying Surface thermodynamics and interfacial phenomena laboratory Combustion laboratory Laser doppler velocimetry/thermal laboratories
Contact Dr. Alidad Amirfazli 780-492-6711 alidad.amirfazli@ualberta.ca
S U C C E S S
S T O R I E S
GREAT RECOVERY Dr. Sushanta Mitra and his team of graduate engineers worked with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the largest oil and gas exploration company in India, to develop new strategies for conventional oil recoveries using horizontal and vertical wells in waterflooding. Dr. Mitra’s team invented a new three-dimensional core holder for performance evaluation of oil well configurations. The team now holds a patent on the novel core holder for oil exploration and successfully demonstrated the use of horizontal wells for additional oil recovery when the traditional vertical well stops producing oil from reservoirs.
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Applied mechanics • • •
Experimental stress analysis laboratory Vibrations laboratory Material testing
Other • • •
Metrology laboratory includes Browne and Sharpe microval digital coordinate measuring system Hardinge 10 tool live tooling CNC lathe Hermle 32 station CNC milling machine with tool changer
In addition to on campus facilities, two large facilities off campus are used for building science, acoustics and flammability studies.
S U C C E S S
S T O R I E S
GROUND CONTROL As part of a multi-disciplinary R&D project team from different companies and research institutions, Dr. Michael Lipsett led efforts to find ways of applying laser range imaging for scripted and direct telerobotic control in unstructured environments, contributing to machine design and control, collision avoidance, scripting, and remote condition monitoring. MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has since used this architecture for its Orbit Express system for ground-based control of satellite servicing robots, and is developing terrestrial systems for mining and inspection and refurbishment of nuclear facilities. Dr. Lipsett has since provided consulting services to MDA & others on new technology development in surface mining robotics.
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Making the most of your resources Successful companies understand the importance of R&D investment to long term growth and financial return. For small and mid-sized companies, however, the cost of that investment can create a barrier to success and growth. MechSource can help remove that barrier. As an MechSource partner, the budget you have available for a research and development project can be doubled or even tripled because of our ability to access provincial and federal grant funding to offset the costs of research. One of these grant sources is the Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grants program <www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ Professors-Professeurs/RPP-PP/CRD-RDC_eng.asp> offered through Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). CRD grants are intended to give Canadian companies access to the unique knowledge, expertise and educational resources available at Canadian universities and colleges, and to train students in essential technical skills required by industry. The Faculty of Engineering has a 90 per cent success rate in obtaining CRD grants. In short, we are able to leverage your research and development investment, manage development risk and maximize research outcomes.
Contact Dr. Alidad Amirfazli 780-492-6711 alidad.amirfazli@ualberta.ca
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Mechanical Engineering University of Alberta
If you would like to learn more about MechSource, the Department of Mechanical Engineeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industry-mechanical partnership program, contact: Alidad Amirfazli, Ph.D., P.Eng. Associate Chair - Research 5-1M Mechanical Engineering Bldg University of Alberta Edmonton AB T6G 2G8 email: alidad.amirfazli@ualberta.ca ph: 780.492.6711
Your Cost Efficient Access to Research, Development, & Advanced Engineering