We are in the early stages of a third industrial revolution: the unimaginably tiny is becoming extraordinarily promising and powerful. We have to think on a different scale: the average human is 1.7 billion nanometres (nm) tall, while the diameter of a molecule of hydrogen is 0.1 nm. Researchers seeking to harness nanotechnology must link quantum physics and mechanics to an understanding of biology and chemistry at the molecular level. Concordia is at the vanguard of this nano-revolution.
Imagine a mail-in test kit that would allow you to do some of today’s invasive and painful medical tests quickly and painlessly, alone in your own home. Or a trouble-shooting nano-assistant sniffing your car’s exhaust fumes to find problems with your engine. Even better, what about an airplane nano-system to detect safety problems without opening up the fuselage? Sound impossible? In fact, these products are under development right now at Concordia.
Welcome to the delightful world of Dr. Muthukumaran Packirisamy, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and a Concordia Research Chair. His two patented discoveries at Concordia follow his six in industry. His research, though multidisciplinary, is primarily in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) integrating micro-fluidics with micro-photonics and much more. He is pushing the envelope in one of nanotechnology’s most promising areas, an imminent job creator for Montreal. In part, he was attracted to Concordia by his wonderful memories of life as a student in this city.
Packirisamy’s vision is bold, his enthusiasm contagious: “I knew from industry what was lacking in Montreal in this field. I was lucky to get $1.1 million from the CFI New Opportunities Fund, so right away we have state of the art equipment, including a direct-write lithographic system unique in Montreal, and a deep reactive ion etcher. This allows us to make amazingly small prototypes, tens of nm in size. So now, with the extraordinary atmosphere here at Concordia and support from our Dean, we can make a prototype, take it from ideas to design and fabrication all in-house. It’s amazing.”
Why would he leave a successful career in industry to come to Concordia? “I really love this place. It has a vibrant family atmosphere, and collaborations are very easy, much easier than at any other university. It’s very conducive to research.”
Enablence has been pleased to work with Concordia University on the design and development of a spectrometer on a chip. This project proves that it is possible to fabricate a highly miniaturized and portable device for point-of-care diagnosis and in-situ medical detection. This innovation has commercialization opportunities in chemical, biological and medical applications.
Arvind Chhatbar
Chief Executive Officer, Enablence Technologies Inc.
The global nanotechnology market was estimated at US$537 billion in 2005, according to nanotechnology information provider CMP Cientifica. Canada’s share of the global market is 3-5%, or US$30-50 billion, with lots of room for growth. In Quebec there is a central body, NanoQuébec, which coordinates this vital and expensive research.
Page Title: Technology Cluster - Nanotechnology - Dr. Muthukumaran Packirisamy - Concordia University - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Page URL:http://www.concordia.ca/clusters/nanotech/index.php
Date Printed: Mon May 21, 2012
