U of S Awarded $1 Million for Research into Biofuels and Computer Networking

Posted April 28, 2006


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Friday, April 28, 2006 - 9:30 a.m.
2006-04-15-OTHER

U of S Awarded $1 Million for Research into Biofuels and Computer Networking

Two University of Saskatchewan Canada Research Chairs have been awarded a
total of $1 million over the next five years from the Government of Canada
to further cutting-edge research into more natural and intuitive computer
networking environments and creating renewable, environmentally friendly
diesel fuel from vegetable oil.

Carl Gutwin, computer science professor and CRC in Next Generation
Groupware, and Ajay Dalai, a chemical engineering professor who holds a CRC
in Bio-Energy and Environmentally Friendly Chemical Processing, have both
had their appointments renewed for another five years.

"These chair renewals reflect the quality of our faculty in leading
internationally significant programs that strengthen the University's
position as a major centre for research excellence," says U of S
Vice-President Research Steven Franklin. "This provides opportunities for
our students to learn from the leaders in their fields."

The renewals are included in an announcement of new appointments and
renewals across the country made today at the Université Laval,
Québec by Minister of Industry Maxime Bernier, who is responsible for
the CRC program.

"The important investments made in university research have re-energized our
campuses and given the country's top researchers - our Canada Research
Chairs - the support they need to fully realize their innovative ideas,"
Bernier says.

Gutwin's research explores the potential and dangers of having widespread
computer networks across the globe and how people interact with this
technology. He is also researching ways to protect privacy and to control
the information environment.

His team is developing new ways of designing and evaluating groupware,
finding ways to deal with the problems of network delays, and inventing new
techniques that make online group interaction easier and more natural. In
the process, he has built a strong laboratory and research program,
publishing more than 50 papers in top-ranked journals and conferences, and
providing training to more than 25 undergraduate, graduate, and
post-graduate students.

"Over the next five years, we will explore ways to make network
communication more natural, expressive, and manageable than anything
currently possible," Gutwin says. "We will be investigating techniques for
maintaining awareness of others on the Internet without compromising
privacy, and visualizations that dramatically increase the expressiveness of
people's online representations. The goal is to make online meetings as good
as, or better than, face-to-face interaction."

Dalai's work focuses on the development of gas-to-liquid technologies
including biodiesel. In 2001, he developed a novel process to produce a
renewable fuel as an effective biodiesel from low-grade canola oil and fryer
grease. More than 20 research institutions and industries collaborate in
Dalai's research.

"My research will continue the development of viable technologies for the
economical conversion of vegetable oils to biodiesel fuel, the conversion of
waste biomass to biodiesel for the transportation sector, and for
value-added products from biomass," Dalai says. "This proposed research aims
at reducing costs of biodiesel production and use of waste biomass."

Dalai's team will also use the U of S-owned Canadian Light Source (CLS)
synchrotron to probe the structure of catalysts such as those used to
produce hydrogen for fuel cells and greenhouse gas reduction.

In his four years as a CRC, Dalai has presented 65 papers at conferences,
performed more than 20 different research projects, published 50 research
papers in refereed journals, and written 30 technical reports. He has
supervised more than 50 graduate and post-graduate students and currently
supervises 20.

The U of S has so far named 28 Chairs under the $900-million Canada Research
Chairs program, created to enhance universities as centres of world-class
research excellence by attracting and retaining excellent researchers in
Canadian universities. For profiles of U of S Canada Research Chair holders,
visit http://www.usask.ca/crc or the national website at
http://www.chairs.gc.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Ajay Dalai
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4771 (306) 966-8646
ajay.dalai@usask.ca gutwin@cs.usask.ca
http://www.usask.ca/crc/profiles/dalai.php


Carl Gutwin
Department of Computer Science
College of Arts and Science
University of Saskatchewan
http://www.usask.ca/crc/profiles/gutwin.php


Dave Hutton
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6490
dave.hutton@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research


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