[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/schellhorn.jpg” caption=”Herb Schellhorn is among three faculty members who will receive support from the Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence program. Schellhorn’s team has developed a research strategy to create an inexpensive remote device capable of sensing microbial and chemical contamination in water and transmitting the information through wireless networks to alert public officials of problems. “]Researchers at McMaster have received more than $5.6-million from the
province for three major projects: to develop systems to detect bacteria levels at public
beaches, improve how electronic health-care data is shared and address the challenges
of sustainability in manufacturing.

Scientists and engineers led by biology professor Herb Schellhorn have developed a research strategy to create an inexpensive remote device
capable of sensing microbial and chemical contamination in water and transmitting the
information through wireless networks to alert public officials of problems.

“Improving our ability to monitor water resources is a key public health concern that
requires effective interaction between governments, universities and industry,” said
Schellhorn. “Our project represents an important interaction between these partners
that will facilitate the development of new diagnostic tools to help identify and remedy
water contamination problems. This funding helps ensure our research team, together
with our industrial project partners, can investigate and develop new technologies in the
next five years.”

The sensor project has been awarded $2.8-million from the provincial government,
announced today by Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale,
and Sophia Aggelonitis, Minister of Revenue, Minister Responsible for Seniors and MPP
for Hamilton Mountain.

“Hamilton is a city of ideas, generating world-class research and driving economic
growth. We are fortunate to have leading researchers in our community who are
dedicated to building a stronger city and a better world,” said Aggelonitis.

The province's investments in McMaster come from the Ontario Research Fund –
Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program.

Radiologist David Koff will be leading a project team to develop technologies for
accelerating how large data sets – diagnostic and medical images such as x-rays,
ultrasounds and MRIs – are shared among health-care providers. The research will
ensure that the images associated with a patient's medical history are shared seamlessly
and securely.

Chemical engineer Christopher Swartz, director of the McMaster Advanced Control
Consortium (MACC) will lead an initiative to provide new mathematical models and
technology to Canadian companies, focusing on sustainable process operations which
are efficient, reliable, safe, use low amounts of raw materials and energy, and produce
benign waste.

Each of the three projects holds important potential benefits, said Mo Elbestawi, vice-
president research and international affairs.

“Our engineering project is forging new paradigms in the manufacturing industry by
focusing on process operations coupled with process design – all with a view to
enhancing sustainability and benefiting our environment,” said Elbestawi. “The Medical
Imaging Informatics Research Centre at McMaster will help transform health care by
image-enabling electronic health records and the MacWater project will develop and
commercialize inexpensive, next generation sensing systems to monitor water quality –
an ongoing global concern.”

“We're proud of the exceptional work our McMaster researchers do. Their contributions
are making the world a better place, starting right here with new ideas and jobs in our
community,” said McMeekin.

Today's announcement also included recognition of the University's most recent Early
Researcher Award (ERA) recipients: kinesiologist Gianni Parise, biologist Joanna Wilson
and music cognition professor Michael Schutz. The ERA program helps promising,
recently-appointed Ontario researchers build their research teams.

Parise's research team will investigate whether fitness programs for bone marrow
donors can improve transplant success; Wilson will lead her research lab in a study to
determine the impact of pharmaceuticals released into our rivers and lakes on the
reproduction, development and physiology of fish; and Schutz will use live music to
explore audio-visual integration among autistic children. The ERA provides $100,000 to
the researchers over five years, with a further $50,000 match from the University.