Young Canadian Researcher Chosen to vie for Global Innovation Award

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), Ottawa, Ont., Canada, this week announced that a PHD graduate from McGill University, Goeun Sim, has been chosen as the Canadian finalist for the global Blue Sky Young Researchers Innovation Award, based on her environmentally leading proposal to advance innovation in the forest products sector. 

Dr. Sim's research proposal is based on the novel development of smart multi-colored wood based fabrics that are free of toxic chemicals using colored nanoparticles as a dye. The resulting environmentally sustainable textile production would eliminate pollutants and the non-toxic cellulose yarns would be a value-added product for the forest industry.

The Blue Sky Award is part of a global initiative spearheaded by the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) to engage young and talented students and researchers under the age of 30 in a competition on forest-based science. Three researchers chosen from national finalists will present to a global event in Berlin in May 2017.

"Congratulations to Goeun for being the Canadian finalist for this global Blue Sky award based on her ground-breaking research on smart colored textiles," said Derek Nighbor, CEO of FPAC. "This kind of innovation will help the Canadian forest industry extract more value from every tree, better compete in the international marketplace, and improve our environmental credentials." 

Dr. Sim, now a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University, said that "this award means a great deal to me and I feel very privileged to be able to represent young Canadian researchers. I think initiatives in production process innovation to produce green products is as important as developing value added products, so I am doing research that encompasses both. I hope to interact more vibrantly with professionals in the industry, scholars, and fellow young research scientists and share our visions to make a direct impact to the forest economy."

The Canadian winner was chosen by an expert review panel including Rod Albers, a forest industry representative from West Fraser; academic Dr. Robert Beauregard of Laval University, and Jean-Francois Levasseur who works for Natural Resources Canada. They chose the winner from five strong applications based on the level of innovation, the quality of the abstract, the probability of implementation and the degree to which it would impact the industry.

  

FPAC provides a voice for Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. The $65-billion-a-year forest products industry represents 2% of Canada's GDP and is one of Canada's largest employers operating in hundreds of communities and providing 230,000 direct jobs across the country.