UBC engineers recognized for innovative new pulp screen technology

The British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) has awarded two Mechanical Engineering faculty members and their collaborators the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award.

The team was comprised of:
- Carl Ollivier-Gooch, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- James Olson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
- Robert Gooding, Vice President of Technology, Advanced Fiber Technologies
- Mark Martinez, Associate Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, UBC

From left: Keri Adams, CTV, presents the 2008 Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award to Drs. Mark Martinez, Carl Ollivier-Gooch, James Olson, and Robert Gooding
(photographer: Jay Shaw).

"The Lieutenant Governor’s Technology Innovation Award recognizes new and highly innovative technologies that are based on applied research conducted in British Columbia," said Soren Harbel, VP Innovation Development, BCIC. “This team has demonstrated exemplary innovation with the new advanced pulp screen technology by taking an idea common in the field of aircraft design and applying it to the pulp and paper industry.”

The team’s advanced screen rotor technology is described in detail in the Award Citation.

“The highly innovated new pulp screen technology developed by this small group has had a substantial, nearly immediate, impact on the pulp and paper industry—one of Canada’s (and British Columbia’s) largest manufacturing and export industries,” says Dr. Elizabeth Croft, Professor and Associate Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC.

The team’s achievement is currently being featured on the Knowledge Network: video clip.

View the original BCIC press release and media kit.

About the British Columbia Innovation Council
British Columbia Innovation Council is the lead organization charged with advancing innovation and commercialization in British Columbia. It is focused on accelerating the growth of our science and technology communities and competitively positioning British Columbia in the global science and technology economy in order to provide significant employment opportunities and a high standard of living for British Columbians.