Engineering and Computer Science Faculty receives most key grants

Khalid Koraitem (left) and Percy Graham, mechanical and industrial engineering master’s students working with Dolatabadi, demonstrate a nozzle attachment similar to his proposed design. Lasers are used to measure the particulate movement. | Photo by Concordia University.

This year, six Concordia professors received Discovery Accelerator Supplement (DAS) grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

This marks the highest number of DAS awards that Concordia has ever received, a sign the quality of the Faculty’s research is becoming increasingly recognized nationally.

The recipients are: Ibrahim Hassan and Ali Dolatabadi from Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; Catherine Mulligan and Osama Moselhi from Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering; Sofiène Tahar from Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Amr Youssef from the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering.

Each researcher will receive $120 000 over three years.

The DAS Program provides resources to small groups of well-established researchers who show strong potential to become international leaders in their fields of research.

For example, Dolatabadi has designed a nozzle attachment to improve the application of protective sprays used in aerospace, automotive, power generation and biomedical industries. The design increases the velocity of the coatings’ nano-sized powder particles as they are sprayed, providing better adhesion to protect against heat, corrosion and wear.

The funding will allow Dolatabadi to further develop the design and will facilitate manufacturing of components, which could have a notable impact on Quebec industries, he predicts.

Engineering and Computer Science Dean Robin Drew says the funding will go towards supporting graduate students (or highly-qualified personnel, according to NSERC) within the research teams. He states an influx of funds such as this could allow for the number of research personnel on some projects to double.

“These grants will provide quite a significant boost to the faculty members and very significant recognition to Concordia. We’re going to see a significant increase in the amount of research activity from these individuals,” says Drew.

Listen to Dean of Engineering and Computer Science Robin Drew speak about what the Discovery Acceleration Supplements mean for Concordia: