Information Session details
Tuesday, 15 December
3:00-4:00 pm AST
Zoom meeting
Please click here to register.
Graphite Innovation and Technologies Inc. (GIT) has partnered with the Ocean Frontier Institute’s Ocean Graduate Excellence Network (OGEN) and Mitacs Accelerate to offer up to four unique opportunities for those embarking on a Masters or PhD.
OGEN pairs Masters and PhD students with academic supervisors and industry leaders, re-imagining and amplifying the impact of existing university degree programs. Through OGEN:
- Students gain access to a full-spectrum, hands-on experience, designed to equip them for novel career opportunities
- The best are brought together to form a collaborative research network that makes a real difference academically, commercially, and to government
We are seeking academic supervisors to participate in OGEN.
Supervisors must be affiliated with one of the Ocean Frontier Institute’s OGEN partner universities (Dalhousie University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Prince Edward Island, University of New Brunswick), and have a background in green renewable coatings, materials science, paint formulation, advanced coatings for antifouling, and anticorrosive protection.
This joint research program runs out of the Bays at Innovacorp in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (formerly known as the Technology Innovation Centre). Supervisors and students from other areas will be considered but should provide a plan for how they will address the requirement of the student to physically work in the Dartmouth facility for 75% of the time.
In order to facilitate the process, we will be holding an information session with GIT on December 15, which will be followed a call for expressions of interest that will be due in mid-January. It is anticipated awards will be announced in mid-February.
About the project
Advanced Marine Coatings – Development, characterization, and assessment of Smart Marine Coatings
This joint research program runs in the Halifax-Dartmouth technological park for 3 years, and began in June 2020. It encompasses three sub-projects:
1. Life cycle assessment of Smart Marine Coatings (Engineering)
2. Study of the fundamental elements of biofouling growth on engineer surfaces (Biology or Chemistry)
3. Development and characterization of durable foul release smart marine coatings (Materials Science)
Description
The project consists of a comparative assessment between the new environmentally friendly coatings that will be developed by GIT and a benchmark marine coating – such as anti-fouling biocide-based, copolymer auto polishing, or foul release marine coatings. Graphene-based coatings have demonstrated potential to be a suitable eco-friendly alternative to protect ship hulls against corrosion and biofouling. The significance of this project is to demonstrate the ability of graphene-based coatings versus traditional marine coatings to reduce marine industry emissions while minimizing harm to marine life.
The development will include the synthesis of green chemistry formulations that will have surface characteristics that are repulsive to ocean micro-organisms and develop an “easy to clean effect,” other than being ultra-low drag surfaces so the ships will consume less fuel. Factors such as biofouling growth, adhesion of fouling organisms, types of fouling in each environmental, operational, and environmental impacts, coating adhesion performance, effect of surface characteristics on shipping fuel efficiency, effect of VOC/GHG emissions on a global scale.
The project will consider marine coatings in its five stages, as follows: production of coating, application of coating, operation of the ship with coating, maintenance of the ship (hull cleaning and recoating if necessary), end of life and disposal.
About Mitacs
Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions. It is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon. For information about Mitacs and its programs, see mitacs.ca.
About the Ocean Frontier Institute
The Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) was established in September 2016 through a partnership led by Dalhousie University, Memorial University and the University of Prince Edward Island.
An international hub for ocean research, OFI brings together experts from both sides of the North Atlantic to explore the vast potential of the ocean.
OFI research focuses on the North Atlantic and Canadian Arctic Gateway, which includes the Labrador Sea and eastern portions of the straits of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
About Graphite Innovation and Technologies (GIT)
As Canada’s leading graphene protective coatings company, GIT is focused on using graphene to deliver solutions for a wide range of applications, including marine transportation. Our smart coatings technologies aim to tackle and solve complex issues by being part of the solution, with the end goal of solving the environmental crisis and saving money for the shipping industry.
Please connect with us at ogen@oceanfi.ca with any questions.
