Innovation Anthology #602:
The Ingenuity Lab at the University of Alberta promotes new technology centred around nature, nanotechnology and networks.
Director Dr. Carlo Montemagno says water purification is a good example. – In this case a process to remove low concentrations of pollutants from tailings ponds for use elsewhere.
DR CARLO MONTEMAGNO: So the first process that we’re looking at is extracting out vanadium. Vanadiumis found in both the tailings ponds, its found in copper mines, and its found in concentrations where its a pollutant, it’s around 500 parts per million, or less. But if you are able to concentrate it and sell it, you’re able to generate money out of it. So you clean up the environment while at the same time you’re generating revenue. You’re maximizing the utility of the world that we’re living in. We’re not wasting it. The technology that we’re using is built on much of the work that was done for the last 15 years on doing targeted drug delivery. We’ve all heard about targeting individual cancer cells for therapies or being able to image it for diagnostics. We’re leveraging off that knowledge base and applying it to industrial pollution, industrial problems and using it now as a mechanism of creating additional value and wealth.
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Carlo Montemagno at www.InnovationAnthology.com
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
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Sponsor
Ingenuity Lab
Program Date: 2014-04-01