Partnership honoured at ADRIQ award gala
Composite materials have a wide range of applications
Dr. Suong Van Hoa
Suong Hoa (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) was among those honoured at the ADRIQ (Association de la recherche industrielle du Québec) 2006 Prix Innovation gala.
The Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ) sponsored the project for which Hoa received ADRIQ’s Prix Partenariat. The Project involved the participation of École Polytechnique, Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Ltd. (BHTCL), and Pratt and Whitney Canada. It was an integral part of a larger $2.2 million research program that relied on the expertise of collaborators from Delastek Inc., the National Research Council’s Institute for Aerospace Research, and the Defense Research Establishment at Val Cartier.
The partnership between the research teams of Hoa and Robert Fews of BHTCL (Mirabel, Quebec) was also celebrated in October by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), which awarded the partners one of seven national Synergy awards for their highly productive 18-year research and development collaborations in the area of composite technology for aerospace applications.
Composites, as the name suggests, are a combination of two or more different materials. The resulting material leverages the best properties of the original products. Composites are highly desirable in aerospace applications because they are durable and maintain their structural integrity at high altitudes and in space despite extreme temperature fluctuations.
“Composite materials are appropriate for a wide range of industrial applications, particularly where weight, durability and resistance to environmental conditions are important considerations,” said Shelley Sitahal, Manager, Industry and Partnerships, in the Office of Research.
The ADRIQ prize was awarded at a gala on Nov. 23 at Windsor Station. On hand to accept the award were: Louise Dandurand, Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies; Claude Lessard, President, Delastek Ltd.; Guy Lambert, Vice-President Engineering, BHTCL; Pierre Dicaire, Director NRC-IAR (AMTC); and Sami Girgis, of Pratt and Whitney Canada.
For more information on the research project, see the next story.