Halifax’s Discovery Centre Discovery Awards 2017
November 24th, 2017
On November 23, 2017 Halifax’s Discovery Centre held their 15th annual Discovery Awards. This great annual event recognizes talented individuals and outstanding companies for their innovative contributions to science and technology. This year’s awards were sponsored by Dalhousie University.
Award Recipients:
Professional of Distinction Award: Jason Clyburne, Saint Mary’s University, Department of Chemistry
Dr. Clyburne is recognized as a leader in the study of green chemistry and his research is widely recognized for its potential to mitigate a wide range of environmental challenges, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. His focus lies on the application of simple chemical principles to identify designer chemicals for the removal of environmentally hazardous substances from industrial processes.
Find out more about Dr. Clyburne’s work, click here.
Science Hall of Fame recipients: Peter Allen, Dalhousie University, Faculty of Engineering and William Howard Feindel
Dr. Allen is recognized for his contributions to the solar energy research and development community. He is CEO and founder of Thermo Dynamics Ltd, a Dartmouth company that carries out research, development and manufacture of solar thermal equipment for domestic and export markets.
Dr. Feindel (1918-2014), was a graduate of Dal’s Faculty of Science. He was recognized posthumously for his outstanding contributions to neurosurgical research and development of medical diagnostic equipment.
Emerging Professional: Ghada Koleilat, Dalhousie University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Koleilat developed the world’s first functional colloidal quantum dot tandem solar cell employing a single quantum tuned material during her graduate studies at the University of Toronto. She also conceived a material processing that enabled prolonged stability and improved electrical properties in photovoltaic junctions based on colloidal quantum dots. Before joining Dalhousie University in 2016, Dr. Koleilat investigated the properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes and their potential in photovoltaics. Her work has frequently been highlighted in major media outlets for technology reporting. Notably, her first research publication in the American Chemical Society’s journal “ACS Nano” was one of the ten highest cited articles in the journal for four consecutive years.
See what Dr. Koleilat’s group is working at the moment.
Science Champion: Matthew Lukeman, Acadia University, Department of Chemistry
Dr. Luekmans’ passion for teaching chemistry has been recognized through winning the Student Union Teaching Recognition Award twice, along with the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science Teaching Award. He was instrumental in the development of a course for non-science majors entitled “Chemistry in Our World” which has become Acadia’s most highly registered class. The demonstrations Dr. Lukeman developed for his courses became the basis for a science education “show” featuring attention-grabbing and hands-on activities which has been presented now dozens of times to school and community groups – including regular interactions with the Acadia Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience ( or “S.M.I.L.E.”) Program. Dr. Lukeman has also developed a series of public lectures on Pseudoscience and The Sky is Falling: Separating Fact from Fiction in Our Chemical World aimed at demystifying the media’s many conflicting messages about chemicals.
Innovation Award recipients: Densitas Inc.
An early stage medical software company, Densitas Inc., focuses on machine-learning solutions in the breast imaging enterprise and sees digital mammograms as “imaging fingerprints” that enable tailored patient care. Densitas was founded in 2011 by Mohamed (Mo) Abdolell, a biostatistician with 25 years’ experience in modeling data for clinical decision-making, and currently also an Associate Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Dalhousie University and an Affiliated Scientist at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. Densitas’ flagship technology is DM-Density, an automated breast density assessment tool which serves as the foundational product for a suite of technologies that complete a comprehensive imaging analytics platform targeting mammography quality and delivery of personalized care.
Youth Award Recipients: Janani Venkat and Anisha Rajaselvam
Congratulations to all recipients.