$1.125M funding supports clean-tech research

London, ON – A donation of $1.125 million by waste management company Newalta will support research and development efforts at the University of Western Ontario to discover technologies to create value from wastes generated by industrial sectors such as oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, mining and manufacturing.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with North America’s leading provider of resource-recovery solutions,” said Janice Deakin, provost and vice-president (academic) and acting vice-president (research). “We will be able to provide unique learning opportunities for our students and researchers, while working to bring innovative, environmental technologies to market more quickly.”

The company will provide $1 million over the next five years to advance novel environmental engineering research, including development of clean technologies. The first project identified will develop cost-effective solutions for recycling and recovering valuable products from industrial residues and waste streams in oil sands.

An additional $125,000 will support the Newalta Corporation Ontario Graduate Scholarships for Master’s or Doctoral graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering who are focused on environmental engineering research in the areas of waste treatment, recovery or recycling. Every $5,000 in funding from Newalta will be matched on a 2:1 basis by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program to create five $15,000 scholarships annually for each of the five years.