Innovative New Research Will Speed Up Conversion of Data Into Accessible Information

(Edmonton, Alberta) - Dr. Tom Brzustowski, President of NSERC, today announced the new NSERC/Matrikon/ASRA Senior Industrial Research Chair in Computer Process Control at the University of Alberta. NSERC funding for the chair is $500,000 to be paid over five years.

Canadian industries continue to accumulate vast amounts of data - more than can be rapidly converted into useable information. The research, to be led by Professor Sirish Shah, will develop technologies that will process these large amounts of data on the spot. Matrikon, founded in 1988 by Nizar Somji, a former graduate student of Dr. Shah's, will be implementing the findings of the research. The company is now a global player in the field of data-processing, process automation and system connectivity solutions. Major industrial names, such as Celanese Canada and Syncrude Canada, have expressed interest in offering their sites for beta-testing by Dr. Shah and his team.

"Canadian industry will benefit from the process improvements that will be generated by this research," said the Honourable Brian Tobin, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). "This innovative technology, developed at the University of Alberta, will give us quick and efficient access to important data."

"The industrial world is currently awash with data," explained Dr. Shah. "Most of it is just gathering dust on the shelf and companies do not know how to turn it into valuable information. The new technology will give industry the opportunity to immediately convert data into knowledge. Its value is crucial to a wide spectrum of fields from medicine to industry at large. Being able to analyze the data in real-time means that problems can immediately be diagnosed and prevented before they cause any harm or disruption. For example, unexpected disruptions cost the US economy at least US$20 billion per year in the chemical process industry alone."

"Canadians figure prominently among the top names both in data-processing research and in real-time control," said NSERC president Dr. Tom Brzustowski. "This work holds out the prospect of a fruitful marriage of the two, with the added promise that, through the involvement of Matrikon, the benefits of the technology and the training of personnel will remain in Canada."

The NSERC chair is funded through the council's Research Partnerships program which is designed to encourage collaborations between Canadian universities and the private sector. ASRA (Alberta Science and Research Authority) is contributing $955,000 over five years; and Matrikon's contribution is $500,000 over the same period.

NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, invests in people, discovery and innovation and is the national instrument for making strategic investments in Canada's capability in science and technology.

For more information contact:

Francis Lionnet
Public Affairs Officer
NSERC Communications
Tel: (613) 992-9001
E-mail: francis.lionnet@nserc.ca.

Dr. Sirish Shah
University of Alberta
Tel: (780) 492-5162
E-mail: sirish.shah@ualberta.ca