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i ; ,, l ‘ , l mu mum UIRONlfiw'M-dmy.hitie town» a ”Don'tletm , int i l moo tom \\;/\\3','/ // that, l WWW ANDY WATION Inn-r; ‘ Mites go to your “Minimal-uh" f ‘ my .5. “W 519.579.4iio - 519.741.2708 ‘ l . . WW 1 _. ,, , ,. . f____,.~a___.s‘_n~._. , 7 m ”WM; ,-....... i ‘ t_._.~._.__a‘_,.. ._ .# l Separating the chaff from the wheat , I O O U W prof named to Canada 3 top 40 under 40 for innovative plastic BYGRH.‘ MM:D()NAU) ' 3- .~ .34.; 3 * .. 1‘ :- . 1 *M7 $; ‘ W Ford Flex. a crossover vehicle being manuâ€" - Chronicle my - :5 " ~ ' . an“... ' ‘a , rm in Oakville. I; , ‘ ' ‘ -~- - .;' 3': .t-.~__ The third object on the desk is a piece of niversity of Waterloo research er " ‘ ' '= ~w. '3 plastic, representingtheparts the plastic will l I leonardo Simon carefully lays down H ‘ l l â€" cteate. four objects on his desk â€"â€" the first is _. y 4 ‘ ‘ And if you‘re looking for a more concrete a packet of ground wheat straw and the last 53’ I » y t m or»..- 3 example, Dion rummages through boxes l is a toy car. $3.1. ' ; i ' ‘ ‘ behind his desk and pulls out some car ’ What's in between is the story of why l :3 5 parts. ‘ Simon was named one of Canada's top 40 ' “ ‘ > « . -. ~â€"-â€". if it ’ #1 ”Now these aren’t made with wheat straw, under 40 by the Globe and Mail earlier this X ‘ . ‘v‘ f V , . , but they illustrate the point,” he said. month. , The project. called BioCar. started in 2007 A native of Brazil. Simon came to UW in / I with the cooperation of a number of insti~ 2002 and has helped develops a revolution a I \ tutionsas well as Ford Motors. ary form of plastic. ‘ ‘_,,_ . 5" ri- ._________.! ' One of the advantages of the wheat-to When asked what he does, Simon ““ ""‘-~’ "-4.- .t _ carprocess is that is helping economyinthe answers simply: “i work in plastics." ‘ ‘ province. Simon said. But he doesn't work with plastics so 1 Ontario farmers are producing the chaff. much as work inside of plastics ~ using _ the plastic is being refined and manufac- nanotechnology to improve the final prod- .. g turBd in the GTA and the cars are assembled uct. ; . â€"~ g «A g . -- "- in Oakville. “We work to make plastics lightweight '/,« "1' “It’s very gratifying." Simon said. and renewable," Simon said. .z/ " Equally rewarding was being named to . lie was part of a research team that has . .» one of the country's most prestigious lists. introduced wheat straw to the plastics ’ . the40under40. process. reducing the weight of the material " ‘lt’s great to be recognized outside of the by 20 per cent, ‘ ‘ . up“: university," Simon said. The 38 year old and the team wanted to " As pan of the ceremonies for the award. find a way to improve plastic by looking at . ’ 7 Simon attended a symposium from some of the product on asmall scale. 7 ,. Canada's top minds. including Gen. Rick “Our society cannot exist without plas- . Hillier. Simon also got to hear from top sci- tics." Simon said. "When you look at a vehi» emists and business people. cle what do you see? Metal. But that's the is.» ‘ “l heard about a lot of the challenges exterior. . Canada is facing," he said. “look on the inside. its all plastics, We ’ l ' ' The ceremonies also included a recep- t‘zinnot survive without plastics, but we can I ‘ - ‘ tion at the Hockey Hall of Fame in dowry improve them." in" ; - town Toronto. Wheat straw is what farmers know as the § “l‘m still getting used to hockey," Simon tlldff ~ the leftovers once wheat is harvest- {:4 ‘ ' 0 admitted. “I guess it's like soccer in Brazil.” ed ' He‘s more excited about the World Cup “it‘s unused materials,” Simon said , than he was for the Stanley Cup finali and is in Lilli)? he joined a research team that 1' ‘ A .. hopingto spend some ofhis summer watch ”It litdt-d representatives from Ford as well . ‘ .. ing the beautiful game. its the University of Guelph to find a way to 293:: . But he's most excited about the product make that essentially useless material into ' ‘ 21‘; and the possibilities that can come from his something useful A F I“ x . 3': research. liter treated a wm in integrate the wheat f * N ‘ “Right now the wheat t top is already into plastic making a more lightweight and «,. ..« ‘ " growing in the field," Simon said "At the end ri-iii-wzihle form of plasma r: 'F i a.» A” i; of the summer there will be golden fields ,. . . L . - p. 5 . w. . We rent only use nanotechnology to if ‘ and that wheat Will be harvested. made into (rt'ttlt' lH'W man-rials.” Simon \alll, “We can "M i” ‘ ' m bread, pasta. iii/ya also use ll to lind improvements in mono Leonardo Simon, a researcher 3M5 W0le550’ 3‘ University 0' Waterloo, has been named one “But it Wlll also he headed around lrl( Hiring “ 0f "‘9 ‘09 40 UN!“ 40 in Canada m" ”WM” W "‘ ()ntario, ultimately to ()akvilli- where it Will “he.” straw is .t renewable ri'soiiri i“. ll](' seiond ohjett In Simon's row is small l'ront those the pellets. the wheat straw he used in the production lifttll\ " int-ailing it‘s mori- t'll\‘lr(Hllllt'lllitll) lili‘lllll) we:v pellets speiklt‘d with even timer brown plastic is further refitted Right now. it‘s Simon sits hack at hl\ desk and smiles. i tillll sustainable to use in production grains. being used to treati‘ dashboard parts in the "All because (llllill‘llfli‘l'lllllill“3‘." 1 v » ' i . . ~Mi; , * , 1 / F. - . . , , l are: t. :1; M," I l ' ‘ 5-â€" . .3 of.» . i 'v , - i l _‘ . . v4.1 c ‘ l .7. ,.,‘..., . ~41¢'~' l l - ‘ ' "if?! ‘ ‘.y~ {i h. ,IAIL - . .fi-fi..h._,, .. 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