October 13, 2021 (Chalk River, Ontario) – Dr. Martin Smith of Bubble Technology Industries (BTI) has been awarded the prestigious 1906 Award from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This international award is in recognition of Dr. Smith’s leadership in the development of a new IEC performance standard on Radiation Protection Instrumentation for Vehicle-Mounted Mobile Systems for the Detection of Illicit Trafficking of Radioactive Materials, as well as for his other technical contributions on radiation protection instrumentation. Dr. Smith was nominated and selected for the award by a panel of international scientists.

Dr. Smith is the Manager of Research and Development at BTI, where he leads a multidisciplinary team focused on developing innovative technologies for detecting radiation and explosives in defence, homeland security, and space missions. Located in Chalk River, BTI has a thirty-year history of cutting-edge technology development. The company’s equipment has flown on over two dozen space missions and has been used to screen for nuclear threats at high-profile events, including US Presidential inaugurations, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the World Series of Baseball.

Dr. Smith joined BTI in 2005 and has served as a technical expert in nuclear instrumentation with the IEC since 2009, becoming the Canadian Chair of the Subcommittee on Radiation Protection Instrumentation in 2012.  In this role, he leads the Canadian delegation in providing inputs to international performance standards for radiation detection systems. Dr. Smith completed his PhD in Experimental Nuclear Physics at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom and moved to North America in 1999 to continue his career in research. He currently resides in Deep River with his family and is active in the community’s minor soccer and minor hockey programs.

A link to the announcement by the Standards Council of Canada is available here.