As the school year enters its final five months, the upcoming graduating class will be applying to post-secondary education facilities and Sask Polytech has been in the news most recently regarding the biomass boiler project that Prairie Clean Energy is engaged in at the Moose Jaw campus.
For many people, Saskatchewan Polytechnic is synonymous with apprenticeship training and skilled trades. However, since 2012 when SIAST joined Polytechnics Canada, it has been part of an alliance of research-intensive, internationally recognized post-secondary institutions.
Researchers at a university “discover things,” while researchers like those at Sask Polytech focus on how to apply those discoveries and then businesses take those applications to market.
With a focus on applied learning and applied research, polytechnics equip students with the practical knowledge and skills they’ll need. Being employer-driven means the curriculum is built collaboratively with employers and students graduate with real-world expertise aligning with employers’ needs.
Polytechnics invest in research spaces filled with world-leading technologies and are developed to support partners in a range of applied research activities including proof-of-concept, technology adoption, process design, and prototype development, as well as field/lab testing and simulation, and business development and enhancement services. (https://polytechnicscanada.ca)
Polytechnic institutions develop areas of specialty based on the industry in their region, and applied research is responsive by nature. Prospective partners identify a business or societal need, then polytechnics pull together faculty expertise and student support in response.
Applied Research is research aimed at finding solutions to real-world problems. At Sask Polytech, the Sustainability-Led Integrated Centre of Excellence (SLICE) is an applied research centre advancing sustainable resource management with a full life-cycle lens approach.
Dr. Robin Smith, academic chair of Applied Research Operations at SLICE, explained that the research carried out by SLICE is driven by questions or challenges brought forward by industry or community partners which focus on key sectors of Saskatchewan’s economy including energy resources, manufacturing, agriculture, and forestry.
SLICE is really about delivering solutions to applied research partners in support of a circular, bio-based economy which prioritizes cycling materials and energy back into a system rather than the more linear process of process/use/discard…minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency and seeing where resources can be recycled and upcycled into new products.
Sustainability is often a complex and multidisciplinary challenge, but SLICE offers a single-entry point to accessing research expertise in Saskatchewan’s key sectors thereby supporting the Saskatchewan economy, people, and environment.
Dr. Satya Panigrahi is just one of the researchers at Sask Polytech. With more than 30 years of experience in plastics, and as an expert in biocomposite materials such as plastics reinforced with plant fibres, he joined Sask Polytech in 2011. Dr. Panigrahi holds a PhD in Engineering and is the research chair in Innovative Manufacturing.
He leads the Biomaterials Testing and Prototyping (B-TAP) Innovative Manufacturing Centre (IMC) which includes a fibre processing facility at Hafford. B-TAP aims to help produce innovations from Saskatchewan products and train students to innovate. B-TAP also offers laboratory testing and product certification.
The Hafford B-TAP lab was established in 2017, with fine fibre processing equipment, primarily used with animal fibres such as sheep, alpaca, llama, and bison. Recently obtained funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Innovation Saskatchewan, has enabled B-TAP to purchase state-of-the-art biomass processing equipment which can focus on agricultural biomass and biomaterials.
The new equipment will open doors for further research into the usage of agricultural biomass in composite materials and help industries create innovative new commercially sustainable and environmentally friendly products.
Consultations with industry experts have already identified numerous applied research projects that could benefit from this new equipment. Utilizing agricultural waste for biomass processing helps reduce agriculture’s environmental impact by converting its waste residue into valuable and reusable materials, provides new revenue opportunities for producers, and enhances sustainability.
As partners in applied research, Sask Polytech provides access to facilities and expertise, but it is the drive of the businesses or individuals who entertained the original concept that takes the made-in-Saskatchewan innovative developments to market.
The researchers at Sask Polytech’s SLICE are always on the lookout for new ideas from industries to explore and support. SLICE’s collaborative, integrated, multidisciplinary approach is focused on understanding the relationships required to address complex issues related to sustainability which is one of Sask Polytech’s four key values.
To help build a better Saskatchewan, Sask Polytech encourages students to engage in applied research projects related to their field of study. By joining a project as a research assistant, students not only gain experience working on a project but also can see themselves as part of a solution to a practical problem experienced by a partner organization.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic announced on December 7, 2023, it had achieved an impressive standing amongst research colleges by reaching the ninth overall position in Re$earch InfoSource Inc.’s “Top 50 Research Colleges” list, moving from 35/50 five years ago.
The media release celebrating this achievement stated, “Sask Polytech remains committed to assisting companies in product development, technology enhancement and innovation commercialization needed for Saskatchewan to be a global economic leader. Intellectual property for applied research projects at Sask Polytech is retained by partners, which fosters future creative engagement and collaborations.”
– Carol Baldwin, Wakaw Recorder, Local Journalism Initiative