Grant: Alliance Grants
University of Waterloo
$92,308.00
High-performance nanogenerator devices for energy harvesting applications_x000d_
FY 2020-21
Summary
The importance of air travel as a fast and efficient form of transport of passengers and cargo continuously increases in the current context of globalization and population growth. Without exception, the highest priority for air travel is the structural integrity of the aircraft itself. Aircraft structural health monitoring (SHM) is the assessment of an aircraft's structural condition using advanced sensor technologies, where data can be collected, transferred and analyzed to assess vehicle integrity. Wired sensors have been incorporated and deployed in aircrafts for the SHM purpose. Nevertheless, the deployment of wired sensors is largely constrained due to the extra weight of the running wires (for power supply and signal transmission) and the installation/maintenance difficulties. Shimco North America Inc. (Shimco), a Cambridge-based company with a leading position in the shim industry, identified this gap and niche market. In 2015 Shimco decided to collaborate with the University of Waterloo to develop novel self-powered sensor technologies that can be incorporated in their next-generation shim products. After completing one NSERC Engage project in 2016-2017, one Ontario Center of Excellence (OCE) VIP II project (2017-2019) and one NSERC CRD project (2018-2020, ongoing), the UW team and Shimco have successfully developed the first generation of self-powered sensors based on triboelectric devices. In a proof-of-the-concept demo system, an energy harvesting unit, an energy collection and storage unit and a wireless transmission unit have been integrated. Inspired by the excellent progress, Shimco decides to continue the collaboration with the UW team. In this follow-up project, high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators will be developed by exploring new materials, advanced fabrication and optimized device structure and packaging. This project will get the energy harvesting technologies mature for the commercialization phase, enable Shimco to develop the next generation, high-value shim products and, provide excellent training opportunities for HQP in the fields of nanotechnologies, material sciences, nanoelectronics and shim manufacture.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
549228-2019
Name nom
Ban, Dayan
Department département
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Organization id
33
Institution établissement
University of Waterloo
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2020
Competition year année de concours
2019
Award amount
92308
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
703
Area of application group en
Transportation systems and services
Area of application group fr
Services et systèmes de transport
Area of application en
Aerospace
Area of application fr
Aérospatial
Research subject code
2515
Research subject group en
Electrical and electronic engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie électrique et électronique
Research subject en
Electronic materials and components
Research subject fr
Matériels et composants électroniques
Installment
inst:1 - 1
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
High-performance nanogenerator devices for energy harvesting applications_x000d_
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
The importance of air travel as a fast and efficient form of transport of passengers and cargo continuously increases in the current context of globalization and population growth. Without exception, the highest priority for air travel is the structural integrity of the aircraft itself. Aircraft structural health monitoring (SHM) is the assessment of an aircraft's structural condition using advanced sensor technologies, where data can be collected, transferred and analyzed to assess vehicle integrity. Wired sensors have been incorporated and deployed in aircrafts for the SHM purpose. Nevertheless, the deployment of wired sensors is largely constrained due to the extra weight of the running wires (for power supply and signal transmission) and the installation/maintenance difficulties. Shimco North America Inc. (Shimco), a Cambridge-based company with a leading position in the shim industry, identified this gap and niche market. In 2015 Shimco decided to collaborate with the University of Waterloo to develop novel self-powered sensor technologies that can be incorporated in their next-generation shim products. After completing one NSERC Engage project in 2016-2017, one Ontario Center of Excellence (OCE) VIP II project (2017-2019) and one NSERC CRD project (2018-2020, ongoing), the UW team and Shimco have successfully developed the first generation of self-powered sensors based on triboelectric devices. In a proof-of-the-concept demo system, an energy harvesting unit, an energy collection and storage unit and a wireless transmission unit have been integrated. Inspired by the excellent progress, Shimco decides to continue the collaboration with the UW team. In this follow-up project, high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators will be developed by exploring new materials, advanced fabrication and optimized device structure and packaging. This project will get the energy harvesting technologies mature for the commercialization phase, enable Shimco to develop the next generation, high-value shim products and, provide excellent training opportunities for HQP in the fields of nanotechnologies, material sciences, nanoelectronics and shim manufacture.
