An industrial partnership between Proto Manufacturing and the University of Windsor has resulted in the development of a cutting-edge scientific instrument for the discovery of new solid materials.

The system uses X-rays to rapidly test small amounts of materials, such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, minerals, and nanomaterials. The team, spearheaded by chemistry and biochemistry professor Nick Vukotic, filed a provisional patent around the design of a new instrument in early 2022.

“The partnership we have with Proto is truly unique in that it has both a local and global impact,” says Dr. Vukotic.

“Locally, it enhances the research capabilities of the University, creates jobs, and provides an excellent training environment to students who get to use the newly developed equipment. Globally, it gives academic and industrial researchers everywhere new tools to speed up their research and reduce the time required to make ground-breaking discoveries.”

Proto is a high-tech scientific instrument company which builds X-ray diffraction equipment for materials testing. The newly developed system, called the High-Throughput Laboratory Powder Diffractometer (LPD-HT), has shown such a significant increase in performance that the company has already added the instrument to its product line and plans to build them in its new production and research and development facility in LaSalle.

The system, which is expected to retail for over half-a-million dollars, brings Proto a significant advantage in the competitive global market of high-end scientific instrumentation, says company president Mike Brauss.

“It is a significant advance in our X-ray diffraction technology,” he says. “We are excited to commercialize the system, as the production and sales of these instruments will lead to new jobs in the Windsor-Essex region.”

Vukotic holds an Industrial Research Chair in X-ray Diffraction and Crystalline Materials. He says the project advanced from being just an idea when he joined the University faculty in 2019: “Now seeing it built and working as we hoped is just tremendous.”

The instrument operates 100 times better than previous campus instruments, allowing researchers to collect data 10 times faster on a very small amount of sample, just 10 per cent of what was previously required.

“Our ability to test very small quantities rapidly and obtain high-quality data means that researchers can quickly find out if they are on the right track, saving valuable time and resources,” Vukotic says. “Previously, we could only run around 20 samples in a day. Now if we want to, we can do over 500; it’s quite amazing.”

The instrument will become the cornerstone of a new materials discovery facility which will be open to other universities and interested companies and partners. The team anticipates significant interest from companies working on everything from pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals formulations to environmental companies interested in soil analysis.

The facility is run by Anton Dmitrienko, a member of Vukotic’s research team who helped develop the system and works within the Advanced Materials Centre of Research (AMCORe) at the University of Windsor.

The newly developed system contributes to AMCORe’s world-class facility and gives researchers the tools to develop the next generation of advanced materials for improved medications, sensors, and to push the bounds of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Other members of Vukotic’s team, such as graduate students Joy-Lynn Kobti, Ali Baranbo, and Michelle Dao, have already begun to use the system for rapid screening of new controlled drug-release materials which could lead to improved medical treatments and therapies.

The next stage of the project involves developing accessories for the system to help identify unique materials, such as those that can capture greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. Fuelled by the success they have had so far, Vukotic’s team expresses excitement for what future developments will bring.

A project that can reduce the time and cost of designing individualized seats for children’s wheelchairs has earned a team of engineering students an award from the Office of Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility.

The students — Luka Mlinarevic, Pavneet Sarao, Alea McLellan, Jasmine Bull, and Saifaldin Abdelhamid — took on the capstone project “Develop a Rapid, Robust, Low-Cost Solution for Specialty Wheelchair Seat Design and Manufacturing” under professor Colin Novak. Their solution has the potential to reduce production time to three or four weeks rather than the current six to eight months.

Bull says she hopes their process will find broader application “so that everybody can enjoy day-to-day life and it’s all accessible to everyone.”

The group has been honoured with an award for contributions to enhance accessibility.

Watch a video on their achievement:

This is the first in a five-part series recognizing recipients of the 2022 OHREA awards.

Michel de Montaigne’s exploration of the self heralds the emergence of modern subjectivity, says English professor Stephen Pender.

“His monumental text, The Essays, first published in 1580 and revised over the remainder of his life, interrogates passion and prejudice, food and fortune, medicine, and moral philosophy,” he says.

Students in Dr. Pender’s graduate seminar explore Montaigne’s thought and its legacy in a colloquium Tuesday, Dec. 13, entitled “Histories of Experience: Montaigne and the Essay.”

“In a series of engaging, wide-ranging, these students will explore the histories of experience, of selfhood, of death, with a focus on what is still the main genre of expression and evaluation in the human sciences: the essay,” Pender says.

The colloquium is free and open to the public from 3 to 7 p.m. in McPherson Lounge, Alumni Hall. Pender asks that those interested in attending notify him at spender@uwindsor.ca.

When a podcast with one million listeners in 200 countries wanted to do a segment on the ban of beer sales at this year’s FIFA World Cup, they turned to UWindsor’s Sarah Gee.

Dr. Gee, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, recently spoke to Heritage Radio Network’s Meat and Three about the contentious role of alcohol sponsors in sports.

“Sponsors have a very key role,” Gee said. “When a country or a city bids to host one of these sports mega-events, the sponsors are very much considered.”

Gee said organizers normally “ensure the sponsors are seen and have their pride of place and get their money’s worth.”

This year’s World Cup is taking place in Qatar, an Islamic country that very strictly controls the sale and consumption of alcohol.

AB INBev, Budweiser beer’s parent company, paid US$75 million to be an official sponsor of the World Cup, expecting its brand of beer to flow as freely at this year’s event as in tournaments past. But two days before the event’s opening match, Qatari officials declared none of the eight stadiums hosting matches would serve alcohol.

While consuming alcohol is not illegal in Qatar, drinking in public or being drunk in a public space can result in fines or even imprisonment. As such. beer sales are permitted in the official FIFA fan zone areas where people can watch the games on giant screens.

“They are creating this special space for fans who are largely coming from non-Middle Eastern countries… to experience the event as they had hoped and not to be found disobeying these very restrictive laws.”

Listen to Gee’s interview on the Meat and Three episode entitled “Sporting an Appetite” here.

—Sarah Sacheli

The 12 Days of Giving & Kindness workplace challenge, which called on staff and faculty to collect non-perishable food, hygiene products, and warm clothing accessories for donation to the student food pantry, ends today.

Participating teams may tally up their points and submit tracking cards to Oliga Tserakhava at oligat@uwindsor.ca by Wednesday, Dec. 14. The organizing committee will reach out to arrange pick-up of the collected items.

The University of Windsor Board of Governors has approved a new three-year collective agreement with Local 1393 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents about 300 members of the UWindsor trades, technical, and professional staff.

Union members ratified the agreement in a vote Dec. 7.

Canterbury College celebrated the welcome return of a 20-year tradition Wednesday, its annual Christmas Dinner and Dessert Extravaganza for its resident students and members of Campus Ministry.

Staff and volunteers provided a traditional holiday meal with turkey, ham, and all the trimmings — as well as more than 1,000 homemade dessert items.

The event had been on hold the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic but once again provided a time to gather, relax, and unwind before the start of final examinations, said executive director Shelley Bolger.

“Canterbury was very pleased to once again offer the opportunity to its residents, which not only included a delicious meal and fantastic desserts but, more importantly, a time for fellowship and celebration,” she said. “This event would not be possible without the assistance of the many volunteers and the broader Anglican community for their donations and ongoing support.”