July 16, 2025
Education News Canada

POLYTECHNIQUE MONTRÉAL
Professor Oussama Moutanabbir will receive $8.3 million for a project also supported by the CFI and the Government of Quebec

March 10, 2021
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Full Professor Oussama Moutanabbir (Department of Engineering Physics) will receive funding for a multi-institution atomic tomography research infrastructure project, via the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund.


Professor Oussama Moutanabbir.
 

Professor Moutanabbir is the Lead Researcher for this project, which will study and monitor, at the atomic level, new generations of advanced materials. Project infrastructure will also be employed to study and monitor devices used to implement functionalities that target applications used in quantum information technologies, nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, energy conversion and storage, and alloy metals for aerospace and bio-integrated technologies.

The total value of the project led by Oussama Moutanabbir is $8.3 million, of which $3.1 million will be provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and $3.1 million of which will come from the Government of Quebec.

The Université de Montréal, the École de technologie supérieure - ÉTS, McGill University, and the Université de Sherbrooke, all of whom are project partners, will establish a laser-assisted system of atomic probe tomography, which will be installed at Polytechnique. Several researchers from partner institutions are part of the project team, and will use Polytechnique's research infrastructure. Polytechnique's Associate Professor Myriam Brochu (Department of Mechanical Engineering), and Full Professor Michel Meunier (Department of Engineering Physics) are members of the project team.

Some 102 projects in 35 post-secondary institutions and research hospitals across Canada are currently being funding through the 2020 competition of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation's contribution to these projects amounts to over $518 million.

The CFI's Innovation Fund provides infrastructure investments ranging from basic and applied research equipment, to tools for technological development, and fosters Canada's position in global leadership by supporting world-class research or technological development activities. The fund also increases and optimizes institutions' and the research community's capacity to carry out proposed research or technological development activities. Lastly, the fund seeks to generate social, economic, environmental, or health benefits for Canadians.

"Canada's researchers and scientists are some of the brightest and most skilled in the world. Today's investments will ensure that they have the cutting-edge laboratories and equipment needed to help us build a Canada that is healthier, greener, and more competitive," comments The Right Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"High-caliber science and research are the engines of innovation. Canadians are turning to their researchers to find innovative solutions to real problems like never before," notes the Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. "The Government of Canada is proud to support the recipients of the funding awarded today. Their expertise and dedication lead to important discoveries that improve the lives of Canadians, now and in the future."

Roseann O'Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation commented, "Investing in research is an investment in Canada's future. Discoveries promote economic growth and help solve the problems facing the world today. These projects reflect the breadth and depth of Canadian expertise and excellence, and these financial contributions enhance the esteem we have for researchers across our country."

Participation in projects across several establishments

Further, six Polytechnique Montréal faculty members are part of four multi-institution research infrastructure project teams with institutions who are in partnerships with Polytechnique Montréal:

  • Full Professor Soumaya Yacout (Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering), is Project Co-chair and Scientific Director of "Intelligent Cyber Value Chain Network (CĒOS Net)" a project directed by ETS' Professor Mohamed Cheriet. Full Professor Foutse Khomh (Polytechnique Montreal's Department of Computer Engineering and Software Engineering), is also part of the project team.

A cloud computing and peripheral connectivity platform, collaborative robots, a control and planning room network, a 3D printer, an intelligent warehouse, optical measurement instruments, hybrid manufacturing devices and computer hardware will all be installed at Polytechnique.

  • Full Professor Yves-Alain Peter (Department of Engineering Physics), is Co-Research lead of the "Center for Hybrid Interfaces and Intelligent Thin Films (HIIT)" project, directed by University of Ottawa's Professor Ghassan Jabbour. Full Professor Clara Santato and Associate Professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen are also members of the project team.

    Cleanroom deposition and engraving tools, high-resolution direct-write 3D printing equipment, and characterization tools will be installed at Polytechnique Montréal. Infrastructures provided by this project will make it possible to consolidate the services offered by the central facilities of the Thin Film Physics and Technology Research Group at Polytechnique.

  • Professor Clara Santato is also a member of the Functional Atomic-scale Materials Engineering (FAME) project team, led by McGill University's Professor Thomas Szkopek.

    As part of the project, an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope system will be installed at Polytechnique.

  • Full professor Robert Tremblay (Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering), is a member of the Mega-Scale Multi-Dimensional Experimental Facility for Enhancing Canada's Infrastructure Resilience project team, led by Professor Constantin Christopoulos from the University of Toronto.

The project will enable the addition of force transducers, and the modification of control systems to eliminate the effects of friction generated in hydraulic cylinder joints in existing hybrid test systems at Polytechnique.

Congratulations to Professor Moutanabbir and to our faculty members involved in these projects!

Learn more

For more information

Polytechnique Montréal
2500, Chemin de Polytechnique, Bureau A-201, 2e étage
Montréal Québec
Canada H3C 3A7
www.polymtl.ca


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