Collège Montmorency and INRS announce partnership on research grant to promote the circular economy
by CM Staff
This Innovation Links grant, obtained at the beginning of the year, will support the research project "Composite Hydrogel-Based Biostimulant Systems".
Collège Montmorency and INRS are proud to contribute to the development of sustainable and circular agriculture (CNW Group/Institut National de la recherche scientifique (INRS))
LAVAL — Collège Montmorency and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) have partnered for the first time in implementing the circular economy through a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) research grant.
This Innovation Links grant, obtained at the beginning of the year, will support the research project “Composite Hydrogel-Based Biostimulant Systems” led by professors Maritza Volel at Collège Montmorency and Philippe Constant at the INRS Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie (AFSB) Research Centre, in partnership with the company Technologies Ecofixe, Inc.
NSERC research grant represents $54,000 per year over three years, with an additional $162,000 contribution from its industrial partner.
This project will involve cleaning water and enriching the nutrient profile of soil: two key elements that are equally necessary for eco-responsible and sustainable agriculture. Organic and inorganic hydrogel-based composite materials, combined with selected microorganisms, are the basis of this innovative approach.
Through this process, research partner Technologies Ecofixe hopes to establish a recovery channel for wastewater treatment residuals, resulting in biofertilizers that improve the growth of various crops and replace traditional fertilizers.
In the context of globally expanding green technologies based on the circular economy and sustainable development, this project hopes to generate economic benefits.
Materials chemistry researcher Maritza Volel and soil microbiology researcher Philippe Constant will co-supervise the doctoral thesis of INRS student based at the AFSB Research Centre. They will also lead the participation of three Collège Montmorency students each year as part of this project.
“I am very excited about this opportunity to be involved in this innovative water treatment and sustainable agriculture project. My work will consist of re-employing composite hydrogels from Technologies Ecofixe in order to promote soil health for sustainable and circular agriculture. I will be supervised by professors Philippe Constant and Maritza Volel, and their combined expertise will be invaluable to my training. Technologies Ecofixe’s commitment to sustainable development makes me excited to collaborate with the company to achieve their objectives,” said Xavier Baril, a doctoral student at INRS.
“I am very pleased with this new collaboration with Professor Constant from INRS. Merging of our respective expertise in this multidisciplinary project will create an excellent opportunity to enrich the pool of knowledge on biostimulants, and catalyze growth for Technologies Ecofixe,” said Maritza Volel, professor at Collège Montmorency.
