Professor Laurent Drissen receives the Synergie Award (category “partnership with a large company”) from NSERC

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is awarding the Synergy Award for Innovation 2017 to Professor Laurent Drissen of Université Laval and member of the Center for Research in Astrophysics of Quebec (CRAQ), in collaboration with the analytical division of ABB, of Quebec, for the development of the Fourier transform spectro-imaging technique for astronomy.

This collaboration began in 2001 with the design and construction of SpIOMM, a prototype designed for the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic 1.6 m telescope and resulted in the recent installation of SITELLE, a similar instrument, at the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). These devices make it possible to obtain the spectrum of each light source in a field of view corresponding to one third of the diameter of the full moon in selected optical bands. Two dozen graduate students at Université Laval participated in the project, as well as a large number of technicians and engineers from ABB, researchers from Laval and Montreal universities, and the CFHT. SITELLE is now available to the international community to study the physical properties of nebulae and galaxies in order to better understand their chemical and kinematic evolution.

The Synergy for Innovation Awards were created by NSERC in 1995 to recognize research and development (R & D) partnerships in natural sciences and engineering between universities and Canadian industry. These awards recognize outstanding achievements in the natural sciences and engineering from these collaborations.

It is with great pride that the CRAQ congratulates Laurent Drissen for winning this prestigious award.

Source:
Robert Lamontagne
Media relation and public outreach
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec
Phone : (514) 343-6111 x3195
lamont@astro.umontreal.ca

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Prizes-Prix/Synergy-Synergie/Profiles-Profils/Drissen-Drissen_eng.asp