March 12, 2012
Québec, March 13, 2012 - Professor Denis Laurendeau, from the Electric Engineering and Computer Engineering Department, and his team announced today the launch of the NSERC-Creaform Industrial Research Chair on 3D scanning: 3D-CREATION, which objective is to democratize the tridimensional scanning process.
"Our goal is to develop innovative applications and user-friendly tools that will meet the users' needs and the requirements of the future generations of 3D digital sensors", said Laurendeau.
As a positive outcome of this new research chair, let's mention the fact that a group comprised of the holder of the chair, eight and six last-year graduate students (master's and doctorate level respectively), three postdoctoral research scientists and one research professional will be given the opportunity to develop an expertise in 3D scanning.
The 3D-CREATION Chair will focus its work on three major lines of investigation, which are intelligent multisensory data acquisition, modeling and recognition (geometry, appearance, movement, behavior) and visualization and action (of web applications, for instance).
"With this new research chair, our researcher scientists will be able to strengthen their links with other experts, while creating an international hub for knowledge exchange and transfer of expertise and 3D scanning technologies", said rector Denis Brière.
With a total budget of $2.7 million over five years, this research project was made possible thanks to the granting of an IRC and financial support from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, under the Collaborative Research and Development Grants (CRD) program. Financial contribution from both Creaform and Université Laval are also accounted for in the budget.
"Innovation is at the very core of Creaform's strategy, noted Charles Mony, company president. Our optical 3D scanning and measurement technologies are spreading all over the world, and offer a great application potential. The creation of this IRC, in cooperation with strong partner Université Laval will enable us to develop new and innovative 3D applications for our clients from the manufacturing, medical and multimedia industries."
"Three-dimensional (3-D) scanning is a cutting-edge technology that has found novel applications in fields as diverse as industrial engineering, medicine and entertainment," said NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. "Dr. Laurendeau's research will help make Canada a leading developer of 3-D scanning technology. His research will provide new tools to industries that are looking to quickly and accurately capture visualizations of real-world objects, whether those are an engine part or a human being.