SPIFF

Spotlight

A Sense of Discovery

Dr. Aaron Fisk, researching the impact of climate change on arctic ecosystems, studies the Greenland shark.

FACULTY RESEARCH

Stephen Loeb

Dr. Stephen Loeb
Canada Research Chair in Supramolecular Chemistry & Functional Materials

The Centre for Catalysis and Materials Research has been established at the University of Windsor to help address issues such as the increasing demand in the industrial sector for new materials and chemicals to develop products and high technology tools, and for conducting research on new chemical processes, catalyst technologies and high tech materials to stimulate industrial growth while minimizing environmental damage. The Centre builds on the university's established expertise in catalysisand new materials to form a critical mass of researchers capable of having a significant academic and economic impact.

Dr. Stephen Loeb and other researchers at the Centre are seeking to uncover new catalysts for the production of polymers, bulk chemicals, specialty products and pharmaceuticals. The team will use funding from the Canada Research Chair to help develop approaches to the alteration of traditional polymers and the discovery of new polymers and solid-state materials. Supramolecular polymers have potential applications in electro-optics and photo-switching. Another focus of research will be layered and three-dimensional metal-organic solids with the potential for detection and adsorption (or adhesion) of small molecules such as pollutants.

The Canada Research Chair funds will also enable Dr. Loeb to accept more graduate students and to hire more post-doctoral fellows, which will aid significantly in the operation and management of the research group.

The production of chemicals is an integral component of the Canadian economy and the development of new technologies for the production of these materials is critical if Canadian manufacturers are to maintain a globally competitive position.