NSERC Green Surface Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (Green-SEAM) Network

Challenge

The NSERC Green Surface Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing (Green-SEAM) Strategic Network is a far reaching collaborative research effort by leading Canadian researchers and their industry and government partners to position Canada as a world leader in emerging coating and surface engineering technologies. It supports key Canadian economic sectors that generate high value jobs and are export intensive. Coatings are increasingly used to improve the performance, economics and safety of components and systems. Rapid developments in materials science and application technologies are increasing their importance. This five-year Network will, for the first time, result in pan-Canadian collaborations involving surface engineering disciplines that have previously tended to progress independently. The Network also pioneers the development of standard methodologies to ensure environmentally responsible practices and solutions by the entire Canadian coating and surface engineering community, a model which will be applicable to other industry sectors.

Network Structure

The Green-SEAM Strategic Network comprises 29 leading Surface Engineering (SE) researchers from 11 Canadian universities in four provinces. Green-SEAM’s partnerships with 15 companies and government organizations accelerate innovations demanded by influential end-user members and deployed by partner SE supply chain specialists.
The Green-SEAM Network is chaired by Canada Research Chair holder and internationally recognized surface engineering leader Professor Christian Moreau. The Board of Directors (BoD) comprised of distinguished experts from both industry and academic institutions is the ultimate governing body of the Network. The Network includes a Scientific Committee (SC), a Training Committee (TC) and an International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC).
Research Objectives:

The objectives of the Network are to collectively conduct SE research in a network structured to address the end-user requirements. More specifically, the Network objectives are:

• To develop and compare innovative SE solutions that maximize environmental benefits, performance and economic impact throughout the product lifecycle
• To develop the methodology to assess impacts and benefits of SE solutions
• To train HQP for future deployment of responsible SE solutions

The research program is structured in five themes of Environmental Protection, Functional Coatings, Process and Coating Development, Performance and Characterization Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Each project access the appropriate expertise of the researchers, whether Modelling & Simulation, Process/Materials Development, Process Diagnostics, Characterization and LCA.

Green-SEAM is unique in embedding Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology as a decision support tool in all its activities. LCA is a holistic approach that avoids impact shifts from one life cycle stage or environmental issue to another, maximizing environmental benefits and minimizing adverse impacts across the product life-cycle. It helps researchers estimate and incorporate environmental characteristics of their solutions at an early development stage. Embedded LCA enables SE solutions with superior environmental performance and provide guidance to Canada’s sustainability policies.

Outcomes

Key outcomes of the Green-SEAM Network include the following:

• Bring together for the first time experts from complementary but distinct SE domains and provide a national platform for comprehensively and systematically comparing the properties conferred by different coating processes and assessing their environmental impact by application of an established methodology.
• Provide a broad-based HQP training experience to 97 undergraduates, MSC and PhD students who, together with PDFs, invest a combined 150 person years in Network research. They benefit from access to a vast and unique range of expertise as well as substantial mobility opportunities such as performing research in university, government and international partner laboratories.
• Position Canada as a world leader in SE in an environmentally responsible manner and prepare HQP to become future leaders in the field. It integrates Canada’s SE leaders into a cohesive community to research, develop and deploy innovative globally competitive solutions to the benefit of Canada’s economy.
• Make critical contributions to NSERC’s target areas of Advanced Manufacturing, Natural Resources and Energy. Canada’s aerospace, automotive, mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy industries contribute $280 B or 15.5% to the national GDP. Estimated savings are measured in billions of dollars.
• Accelerate knowledge transfer by spin-off partnership activities such as collaborations with provincial funding sources, CARIC, NSERC CRD grants and others.

Contact

Christian Moreau, PhD
Director of Green-SEAM Network
Tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 7921
Email: christian.moreau@concordia.ca

Simon Durham, PhD
Manager of Green-SEAM Network
Tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 5788

Website:  http://www.concordia.ca/ginacody/research/green-seam.html?utm_source=vanity&utm_campaign=greenseam