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TRAFFIC, BONES, BRAINS—UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA LANDS MAJOR SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH
What can you get for $2.3 million? If three engineering researchers and their teams at the University of Alberta succeed, the answer is a better morning commute, better bone repair, and better brain treatment for babies. Through federal grants awarded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Western Economic Diversification Canada (WEDC), Tony Qiu, P.Eng., PhD, Hasan Uludag, P.Eng., PhD , and Larry Unsworth, P.Eng., PhD , will be able to continue their work in their transportation and biomedical areas. Dr. Qiu, an associate pro- fessor in the U of A Faculty of
TALKING CARS Dr. Tony Qiu, P.Eng., and the Hon. Amarjeet Sohi, Federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communi- ties, discuss a connected vehicle project that could change the way traffic works. -photo by Aalyssa Atley
bleeding, infection, and chronic pain. If successful, the method would remedy a variety of bone disorders caused by injury or disease. “It’s gratifying to be given the means to tackle this problem. As in any research project, there are some risks in our approach—we are proposing a new ap- proach to regenerate bones that is different from con- ventional methods. Unforeseen obstacles are probably waiting for us, but I have complete trust in my col- leagues and our research team,” Dr. Uludag says. Finding a treatment for prenatal brain injury in infants is the province of Dr. Unsworth and his team. A brain that doesn’t develop as it should, whether because of abnormality or trauma, can lead to cerebral palsy. Dr. Unsworth’s team hopes to develop a peptide that can shuttle drugs to an afflicted part of the brain, broadening the opportunities for therapy. The team will use $218,000 from CIHR in their research. “It’s heartbreaking to think that so many infants worldwide suffer brain injury and acquire a spectrum of motor, behavioural, and intellectual impairments that so drastically affect their entire lives and those of their families. Their plight is even more astounding when you consider that these infants have little to no treatment and diagnostic options available to them,” says Dr. Unsworth, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.
Engineering’s Civil and Environmental Engineering De- partment, and his ACTIVE-AURORA team have accepted $934,000 from WEDC. It will allow them to continue testing the ability of vehicles with special technology to receive, use, and transmit information about location, speed, following distance, weather, road conditions, and more. The widespread use of this connectivity would help ease gridlock, improve safety, and increase energy efficiency. The City of Edmonton and Alberta Transpor- tation also provided financial support for the project. “Our objective is to identify (connected-vehicle) applications relevant to Western Canada that could have a positive effect on the environment by reducing fuel consumption, improving the efficiency of vehicles, and reducing emissions,” says Dr. Qiu in a U of A website story. “New technology allows us to travel in greater safety, deliver goods and people on time, and even reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As roads, cars, and people become connected and share information, our daily lives will improve." Dr. Uludag, a professor in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, and his team have $505,000 from CIHR to bolster their bone repair research. Using gene therapy and strategic protein delivery, the plan is to provide a new way of mending bones that isn’t subject to grafting’s risks of clotting,
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