As part of more than $92 million invested by the provincial government, two University of Guelph research projects have received funding.
The Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF-RE) program provides funding to research institutions such as universities, colleges, research institutes and research hospitals across the province.
At U of G, improving winter road safety and reshaping the control of waterborne diseases are the two projects being supported.
“This investment will support our researchers as they create cutting-edge, sustainable solutions to enhance the capabilities of Ontario’s infrastructure and public health sectors,” said Shayan Sharif, interim vice-president, research and innovation.
“We thank the Government of Ontario for helping us transform these discoveries into solutions that promote health and safety in our communities.”
Bahram Gharabaghi, professor in the School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, will develop the next generation of ‘smart’ salt trucks designed to improve road safety, reduce traffic accidents and mitigate environmental concerns associated with road salt during the winter.
According to a recent U of G release, currently, salt trucks in Ontario are operated manually. Drivers use hands-on controls to dispense salt and brine and adjust the rate and amount being applied while operating plow blades and watching the road at the same time.
The planning process for salt application is also manual.
Gharabaghi said a lack of automation and consistency can lead to challenges. Roads remain slippery without enough salt and overapplication wastes resources. Also, overapplication near vulnerable areas, such as freshwater sources, may be contaminated by road salt, resulting in runoff that can harm ecosystems.
The tools being developed by Gharabaghi and his team, including Amir Aliabadi and Ed McBean, professors in the school of engineering, will equip trucks with real-time, mobile road, weather and surface monitoring technology for precision salt application.
Built-in, remotely operated control systems will apply salt and brine at optimum rates and combinations that are automatically calculated using road condition sensors, a vehicle’s GPS location and weather forecasts for that area.
Together, these technologies will help to make driving safer, save resource costs and protect ecological areas.
David McCarthy, professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, Ontario Agricultural College and Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Waterborne Pathogens: Surveillance, Prediction and Mitigation, will develop innovative technologies that will enable earlier detection and better control of waterborne diseases.
In the recent university release, McCarthy said current disease surveillance methods for water systems are limited. Poor sampling methods, expensive and time-consuming analytical methods, and incorrect identification of disease sources can reduce the efficiency of management strategies aiming to control pathogens in our waters.
Without fully understanding where they come from, how they travel and where they end up, this can lead to costly mistakes and persistent health risks. Traditional water treatment methods are also expensive and often harmful to the environment.
McCarthy and his team will develop accessible, integrated solutions for the surveillance, prediction and treatment of waterborne pathogens.
These include technologies that can detect pathogens and their sources in near real-time, which is critical for disease risk reduction, modelling tools for pathogen tracking and risk assessment so that health organizations can respond to threats more accurately.
The project will also allow for sustainable, cost-effective water infrastructure treatment systems to better control infectious agents in agriculture, recreation and drinking water scenarios.
The Ontario Research Fund – Research Infrastructure (ORF-RI) program’s Small Infrastructure Fund co-funds with the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). Other U of G researchers also receiving these matching funds were awarded JELF funding in August 2023 and September 2024.
The ORF-RI program provides research institutions with funding to help support infrastructure needs, including modern facilities and equipment.
