It’s an important milestone for a St. FX University developed technology that detects gas leaks. The vehicle-based system called Emissions Attribution via Computational Techniques or ExACT (exact) has been awarded a patent in the United States.
St. FX Earth Sciences Professor Dave Risk says work on securing a US patent began about four years ago. By comparison, Risk says seeing a patent through is bigger and takes much more time than developing a scientific paper for publication.
The system, mounted on the back of a pick-up truck is used to detect gas leaks at wellheads. Several years ago, St. FX signed a technology collaboration agreement with Toronto-based Altus Group Limited, giving the company exclusive worldwide commercial usage rights to ExACT.