John Root

John Root received his PhD from the University of Guelph in 1986, after developing a way to measure quantum effects in the structure of water and other liquids. He joined Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), and helped to develop a method to map stresses inside materials with neutron beams from the NRU reactor at Chalk River Laboratories. The stewardship of Canada's neutron beam facilities was transferred to the National Research Council of Canada in 1997. In 2003, Dr. Root was appointed NRC Director of the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (CNBC), comprising six neutron spectrometers supported by a team of expert researchers and technicians, and managed as an international user facility. In 2011, Dr. Root established the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the University of Saskatchewan, funded by the province of Saskatchewan, with the purpose of placing Saskatchewan among global leaders of nuclear research, development and training through investment in partnerships with universities and industries for maximum societal and economic benefit. The Fedoruk Centre provides consultative support for university executive leaders of the Canadian Neutron Initiative, which aims to establish the new framework of a Canadian program for materials research with neutron beams, through access to alternative neutron sources, after the NRU reactor closes in 2018.