Marciel聽Gaier is on a mission to聽transform聽the global shipping industry. Even the challenges of a聽worldwide聽pandemic聽haven鈥檛 stopped聽the聽up-and-coming聽entrepreneur聽from advancing his first-of-its-kind聽smart聽coating聽for ship聽hulls聽that聽is enabling him to do just that. 聽
The disruptive paint,聽which聽is the first patented technology to use nanoparticles of graphite聽鈥斅燾alled graphene聽鈥斅爐o achieve a high-performance, sustainable marine coating,聽has earned聽the former Mitacs PhD researcher in Advanced Materials Science at Dal, and co-founder and CTO, a聽prestigious聽award from聽,聽a聽national聽innovation organization聽that fosters growth by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic聽institutions. 聽
Dr. Gaier (shown left) is one of聽five聽winners of this year鈥檚聽Mitacs聽Entrepreneur Award聽who聽are being recognized for their efforts to turn their research into an innovative business聽that impacts the lives of Canadians.聽The Environmental Entrepreneur category recognizes the importance of聽investing聽in innovation in clean technology聽to build a greener and more sustainable future, which is a priority聽for聽Mitacs.聽
鈥淪upporting聽innovation聽is essential to聽help Canada rebound from the repercussions of the聽global pandemic,聽and聽Mitacs聽is extremely proud聽of the remarkable accomplishments achieved by聽our network聽of聽talented聽entrepreneurs,鈥� said John Hepburn, Mitacs聽CEO and scientific director. 鈥淲e are thrilled聽that聽our聽continued investment in talent, research and development聽is translating聽into聽more and more Mitacs interns successfully turning their聽groundbreaking聽research into dynamic聽startups,聽helping to聽boost聽both聽Canada鈥檚聽economy聽and聽our country鈥檚聽position聽on聽the聽global聽innovation聽stage.鈥�
GIT, the company Dr. Gaier co-founded along with Mo AlGermozi聽(who is also a Dal grad), was established at Dal and has become a leading Canadian materials engineering firm focused on delivering disruptive uses for graphene and graphite ingredients. The growing company plans to create 20 jobs by 2022 and continue to hire highly-skilled personnel from 新加坡六合彩开奖直播 and beyond.
鈥淐ongratulations to Dr. Gaier on receiving this wonderful recognition from Mitacs,鈥� says Alice Aiken, Dal鈥檚 vice president research and innovation. 鈥淭his innovative company is playing a key role in solving a significant ocean environment challenge, and we are so proud that it was able to get its start at 新加坡六合彩开奖直播.鈥�
Reducing emissions, protecting species
The innovative coating system,聽developed by Dr. Gaier聽and AlGermozi聽鈥� while Dr. Gaier was conducting his PhD under the direction of Kevin聽Plucknett and Zoheir Farhat, both professors of Mechanical Engineering in Dal鈥檚 Faculty of Engineering聽鈥斅爐ackles the most pressing聽environmental聽challenges facing the global shipping industry, which is responsible for transporting roughly 80 per聽cent of the world鈥檚 goods.聽First and foremost, on the聽heels of聽international legislation聽banning the use of toxic compounds in ship coatings,聽it provides a聽low-VOC, non-toxic alternative that reduces the amount of greenhouse gases聽emitted per journey.
The company is聽also聽working on聽two innovative paints: XGIT-Fuel,聽which聽reduces聽fuel consumption聽and聽mitigates聽the聽damaging聽buildup of barnacles and algae on ship hulls, and聽XGIT-URN,聽which聽minimizes聽underwater-radiated noise pollution, a very real threat to whales and other marine species.聽What sets聽both聽products聽apart in the industry聽is the use of nanoparticles, which聽have a larger聽surface area聽and yet a fraction of the weight of聽traditional聽versions of raw materials, meaning聽it takes a very small amount to achieve an effective coating,聽Dr. Gaier聽explains. 聽
鈥淥ur goal is to solve the environmental issues facing the shipping industry, but we鈥檙e also helping to reduce聽overall聽costs at the same time,鈥� says Dr. Gaier, noting that a ship with a heavy coating of slime can require up to 38 per聽cent more energy to maintain the same speed as a vessel with a clean hull.聽GIT鈥檚 coating creates a slippery surface so that any buildup is washed away as a ship moves through water, leading to less drag.聽If the vessels are not moving, the surface can be easily cleaned by modern techniques such as water pressure or mechanical brushes.
Last聽year, GIT was awarded a $2.4-million Transport Canada contract to聽pilot its prototype聽smart coating system聽on fishing boats, with a focus聽on聽reducing underwater聽noise and greenhouse gas emissions. The company is also leading Canada鈥檚 $4.6-million Ocean Supercluster project aimed at聽further聽developing聽its聽smart protective coatings,聽and recently launched a pilot program聽to engage聽10 boat owners聽who will聽experience聽the benefits of聽the聽technology聽firsthand.
Despite the challenges of finding and recruiting top talent during COVID-19, GIT has grown from two to nine employees since launching in 2017 and aims to hire an additional five employees by the end of 2021聽as it works to scale its product line. 鈥淲e鈥檙e聽growing our production capacity, but for now,聽we continue to work on a聽contract-by-contract聽basis,鈥澛爏ays Dr. Gaier. 鈥淭he more paint we produce, the more competitive our pricing and the closer we are to moving the needle and making a lasting change in the fight against climate change.鈥�