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Centre for Sensors and System Integration

NAIT’s Centre for Sensors and System Integration is a Technology Access Centre (TAC) supporting Alberta businesses with applied research and development projects that deliver a new product, an improved service, or a more efficient process.

Businesses across all major Alberta industry sectors have identified digital transformation as the critical next step in their operational evolution.  The centre helps address parts of these digitization challenges through prototyping activities in preparation for commercialization, enhancing a company’s productivity, competitiveness, and innovation.  This may be automating a manual process, testing existing technology in an innovative way, developing a tool to meet a specific  application, or designing and building something  new.   

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The technical lead for the Centre for Sensors and System Integration inspects an automated tool under development.

What we do

We help industry partners develop prototype devices that address sensor-based challenges in resource extraction, agriculture, biomedical, and advanced technology enterprises. Working with both established sensor devices and new or innovative devices, our team uses engineering technology to help you produce and evaluate prototypes for field trial.

Our expertise and experience focuses on moving sensor innovations along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale. The TRL is a nine-level scale that categorizes the developmental state of an innovation as it moves from concept through to commercialization. 

Our Expertise

The Centre for Sensors and System Integration works with small and medium enterprises to develop prototypes for a defined application.

Meet the Team

Our amazing and highly qualified team of scientists and specialists helps meet the needs of industry and Albertans

Our Projects

Check out a few of our projects dealing with electro-optical sensor integration and polymer coating

Contact Us

Email: cssi@nait.ca
Phone: 780.491.5433

Working with Industry 

As a recognized polytechnic institute, NAIT is approved to receive and manage research grant funds from several provincial and federal programs, potentially reducing the cash commitment necessary from industry partners to engage in applied research projects. We can help you determine appropriate funding programs and assist in completing applications.

The centre collaborates with many innovation service providers across Alberta, giving our industry partners a single point of contact for access to the expertise of a wide range of researchers and organizations.

An important aspect of NAIT’s service model is that we do not retain any interest in any intellectual property (IP) developed in partnership with industry during the course of research or prototyping activities.  Possession of IP is retained by the industry partner.

The Centre for Sensors and System Integration team uses an instrumented process loop to help validate a client’s technology.

Our Equipment

The centre is equipped to fabricate, integrate, and test the electronic, optical, and material characteristics of innovations as they are advanced through technology readiness levels.

Sensors, Microelectronics, Embedded, Optics and Photonics Technology Integration

  • Class 4 certified laser testing facility
  • Test facility for optical photonics integration
  • Facility for printed circuit board design and fabrication
  • Pick and place system and reflow ovens for mounting components
  • 3D printer for custom component fabrication

Micro and Nanotechnology Integration

  • Class 1000 clean room
  • Ultraviolet (UV) lithography
  • Wet chemical processes: metal etch
  • Magnetron metal sputtering
  • Thermal evaporation
  • Wire bonding
  • Die bonding

Electronics, Optical, Micro and Nanotechnology Test and Characterization

  • Electronic test instruments
  • Scanning Electron Microscope
  • Optical Microscopy
  • Film stress measurements
  • Contact profilometry
  • Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) probing
  • Optical beam profiler
  • Spectral characterization equipment

Advanced Material Characterization

  • XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence)
  • Multi Array UT (Ultrasonic Testing) system
  • G65 Tester
  • Polish and Grinding system for sample preparation
  • Wet deck and Fume hood facility for ASTM tests in corrosion
  • Micro Vickers hardness tester
  • Rockwell hardness tester
  • Universal Testing Machine
  • Thermal Imaging system

Other fabrication equipment

  • 5-axis water jet system
  • Thermotron environmental chamber
  • 3D metal sintering system (3D metal printer)