An announcement of $2.3 million investment in 17 Memorial-led R&D projects was made on the St. John’s campus July 8. The projects will address opportunities and challenges related to harsh and Arctic environments.

The news conference, hosted by Dr. Ray Gosine, associate vice-president (research) was joined by Susan Sullivan, minister, Innovation, Business and Rural Development, minister responsible for the Research & Development Corporation (RDC), and minister responsible for Francophone Affairs, as well as Glenn Janes, chief executive officer, RDC.

The Research & Development Corporation (RDC) is investing more than $2 million in academic-led R&D projects that help overcome technical challenges in the oil and gas sector, particularly in harsh offshore environments. These Memorial University projects aim to improve safety, environmental protection, efficiency and asset integrity associated with challenging oil and gas projects, both in Newfoundland and Labrador, and around the world.

RDC’s investment in 17 projects is $2.3 million and will leverage an additional $4.4 million from other funding sources, for a total project value of $6.7 million.

Twelve of the R&D projects are being carried out in collaboration with industry partners or other researchers. Five projects are aimed at attracting highly qualified researchers and building new R&D capacity in areas relevant to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy.

The investment also builds capacity at Memorial University through the purchase of specialized equipment, the training of students and attraction and retention of highly qualified researchers.

“This is an important time in our history,” said Dr. Gosine. “Opportunities for our province continue to grow in the offshore petroleum sector. There are still many challenges related to harsh and Arctic environments, however, that must be addressed.

“Memorial University’s researchers are positioned, both geographically and academically, to undertake research to address these opportunities and challenges and support the development of our natural resources and our province.”

Memorial’s Dr. Christina Bottaro was one of the researchers benefitting from the funding who attended the event. She discussed her current project, which focuses on the development of a sensor technology design for rapid detection of contaminants in remote and harsh environments.

For a list of projects and project descriptions, please visit here.