A team in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering led by Chris Backhouse has been awarded the Engineers Canada 2009 National Award for an engineering project that developed "lab on a chip" technology.

A decade ago Backhouse set out to develop a portable, hand-held device with the technological horsepower of million-dollar medical diagnostics lab.

"We put this capability into instruments that we made progressively smaller and less expensive," said Backhouse, whose research has been funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

"We had a $100,000 version, then a $10,000 version, and we now have a $1,000 package that can perform a wide range of diagnostics, especially genetic ones," he said.

Backhouse has been developing the technology with professors Duncan Elliott and Jim McMullin, combining microfluidics, microelectronics, microphotonics and nanobiotechnologies. The team, with its students and trainees, has worked closely with its medical colleagues to develop new devices, blending different technologies into compact and inexpensive instruments that may have a profound impact on public health.

The devices could, for example, screen travellers for infectious diseases, help determine the correct dosage of medications or test the safety of drinking water.

"It's a wonderful honour," Backhouse said. "The amount of engineering required in this integration is immense and the recognition of this by the professional engineering association is very satisfying."

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