About two years ago, fire staff in Dryden tested night-vision technology and how these goggles could help detect forest fires. Reaction was positive, especially with the bright flickering characteristics of fire.

Two of the MNR鈥檚 helicopters have been equipped to accommodate the night flying system. Since then, 91亚色 and the National Research Council, as part of an Ontario Centres of Excellence project, tested out the night-vision goggles on a June 16, 2009 flight.

The test project is entering into its third and final year, said Don Filliter, chief helicopter pilot.

The group will continue to assess the effectiveness of the night-vision goggles on early detection of lightning fires throughout the season. It鈥檚 expected the group will publish a paper on the test after this year鈥檚 fire season.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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91亚色 Professor K.W. Michael Siu has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the highest honour a Canadian scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences.

This year鈥檚 new Fellows will be inducted at a ceremony to be held Nov. 28 in Gatineau, Que.

A specialist in mass spectrometry whose work is highly regarded by researchers around the world, Siu is also known for service to his field in a number of professional聽organizations, including president of the Canadian Society for Mass Spectrometry and chair of the Canadian National Proteomics Network Board of Directors.

Right: Professor K.W. Michael Siu

"We are tremendously proud that Professor Michael Siu is elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society," said Stan Shapson, 91亚色 vice-president research & innovation. "Michael Siu is a pioneering scientist who has made significant contributions to advance research in chemistry, and especially in mass spectrometry, and has made great strides in establishing collaborations and partnerships regionally and internationally."

The citation for his election as a Fellow to the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences reads:

鈥淧rofessor K.W. Michael Siu is one of Canada's foremost bioanalytical and biophysical chemists and an exceptional mass spectrometrist with an outstanding record of innovation and accomplishment. He has made most-significant contributions to understanding the structures, energetics, and ionization and gas-phase chemistries of protonated and metalated peptides as well as peptide radical ions, developing new mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation in collaboration with Canadian industry, and developing innovative MS technologies and methodologies for proteomics, especially in the discovery, identification, verification and quantification of protein biomarkers for better diagnostics and prognostics of cancers.鈥�

Siu is a Distinguished Research Professor (see YFile May 8, 2007) who did his PhD at Nova Scotia鈥檚 Dalhousie University and arrived at 91亚色 in 1998 after a successful career at the National Research Council Canada (NRC) where he first developed some of the pioneering techniques that he uses to help other scientists in their investigations as well as his own. He is director of 91亚色's , holds an Industrial Research Chair funded by the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council and MDS Analytical Technologies (formerly Sciex), and is developing new instrumentation and methodologies in mass spectrometry in collaboration with the industrial partner.

He is also collaborating with researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital, St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, University Health Network and the Hospital for Sick Children on discovering and verifying protein biomarkers for endometrial, head and neck, brain, and renal cancers. Siu also has extensive collaboration within and outside of 91亚色 on proteomics and fundamental chemistry relevant to mass spectrometry.

Since 2005, Siu has also been聽91亚色's associate vice-president research, science & technology.

He is the recipient of numerous distinctions, including a New Pioneers Award (see YFile, Jan. 22, 2007), the Maxxam Award for distinguished contribution in the field of analytical chemistry (see YFile Aug. 2, 2006), the 2005 Lossing Award (see YFile Jan. 20, 2006) and the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Canadian Society for Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy (see YFile, Sept. 13, 2004).

In an article first published in 91亚色U 尘补驳补锄颈苍别鈥檚 2007 Special Research Edition, Siu said he was 鈥渋n the right place at the right time鈥� to ride the technological revolution in biomolecular analysis: electrospray ionization 鈥� a Nobel Prize-winning discovery that made it possible to analyze and measure proteins with hitherto unheard of sensitivity and accuracy. 鈥淭he concept of moving proteins from the solution to the gas phase in order to weigh them accurately was completely revolutionary. This was entirely virgin territory,鈥� Siu explained. He and his colleagues at NRC quickly modified an existing mass spectrometer and began exploring the new technology鈥檚 capabilities. As the technique opened up new possibilities, Siu鈥檚 work earned him recognition as an innovator and much sought-after collaborator.

Published in 91亚色's e-newsletter YFile.

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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