| Article Index |
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| Forging collaboration: McMaster's academic-industry partnership |
| How the MACC works |
| Outside opportunities |
| Awards and looking ahead |
| All Pages |
Page 3 of 4
Outside opportunities
A significant impact of MACC has been the formation of spin-off company ProSensus, incorporated in 2004 and currently residing at nearby McMaster Innovation Park (which opened its doors last year), further advancing the research done at MacGregor’s lab at the university. “At McMaster,” MacGregor says, “my group developed a whole class of multivariate statistical methods for extracting information from large industrial data bases and using them for analyzing/troubleshooting process problems, on-line monitoring of process health and on-line control and optimization of processes and products.”
The company provides advanced solutions and software to companies like DuPont, Alcoa, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer to analyze industrial data for improved process control. MacGregor says ProSensus provides consulting services on analyzing process problems, develops and installs on-line imaging solutions for product quality control, develops and installs on-line advanced batch control systems for the control of final product quality, provides technology for the scale-up and optimization of industrial processes, and provides technology for the rapid development of new products based on using companies’ diverse manufacturing, pilot plant and laboratory databases.
The spin-off currently employs five full-time engineers, including recent graduate Mark-John Bruwer, and has been self-financed since incorporation.
When Bruwer first applied to the MACC program in 2001, he had already been in the industry for five years working on model-predictive control at Pavilion Technologies, but moving forward, he wasn’t interested in doing anything hypothetical. A former colleague encouraged him to pursue graduate studies as a basis for an advanced technical career and recommended MacGregor’s research program. The two factors that stood out to Bruwer were McMaster’s world-recognized work and that the focus was very industrially relevant. “Coming from industry myself,” he says, “the latter factor was an important consideration for me.”
So once he began his studies at McMaster in January 2002, “the benefits of the program under MACC were as I had anticipated: a pool of world renowned professors in the process systems engineering field, all engaged in leading edge research with strong industrial relevance.”
Now, as chief technology officer of ProSensus, Bruwer gets the best of both worlds by pursuing leading-edge technology developments (akin to a research institute) and the engaging directly with industrial clients. “I was also attracted by the challenge of helping ProSensus transition from a start-up company to an established provider of products and services in its field,” he added.
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