Jill and Derrick Green wanted nothing more than to
return to their hometown of Fredericton and raise
their children.
And thanks to new technology invented at the
University of New Brunswick, the couple - who had
been living in Ohio - has been able to do just that.
Now, one year later, the Greens say they're hoping
the company they've built around that technology and
the impact they've made on the oil industry will
inspire other New Brunswickers to stay in the
province.
"We left Fredericton not because we wanted to, but
because there was no job for Derrick's skill-level.
Now we're back and creating high-tech jobs for local
people and we're creating more of them as our
company continues to grow."
The Greens grew up in Douglas, graduated from the
same high school and attended UNB at the same
time.
Jill studied civil engineering while Derrick studied
electrical engineering.
Once they obtained their first degrees, the couple
married and Derrick began working in the physics
department for his PhD specializing in magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI).
"When Derrick was done with that we knew we were
going to have to go somewhere else because there
was just no place in Canada where his skills could be
used," she said.
After the birth of their twins, the Greens had a strong
desire to move back to New Brunswick to be closer
to their families. They wanted to raise their children
in a smaller city.
But Derrick said the work he was doing with Phillips
Medical Systems in Cleveland seemed to have no
place in Fredericton. "It seemed like an impossible
dream to think about moving back," he said.
But the Greens kept a close relationship with UNB
and when an opportunity came up for someone to
commercialize a new MRI technology from the
university, Derrick was the first one called.
"I believe it's important for New Brunswickers to
experience the world, then come back to this
province," said Bruce Balcom, physics professor and
director of the UNB MRI research centre.
"Derrick had worked with us before as a student. I
knew I'd be happy working with him again and that
he and Jill had the experience and knowledge needed
to start up a company."
The Greens made the move back to New Brunswick
last January after visiting Balcom and researching the
technology. By then, they had done a lot of leg work
and had already incorporated their company - Green
Imaging Technologies (GIT).
With a strong partnership with UNB, the Greens
successfully launched their company and began
collecting hard data to prove the efficiency and
accuracy of their technology.
"An MRI is basically used for imaging water in the
human body," Balcom said. "At UNB, over the past
decade, we had developed a way to image fluids like
water or oil not in the human body, but in rock
cores."
GIT purchased the patent for the technology and
developed software and hardware to be used in
oil-field exploration.
It's designed to save oil companies time and money
when searching and extracting oil from reservoirs,
according to the Greens.
"What used to take 2-3 months we can do in 2-3 days
more accurately than what has been done
historically," she said.
"Now we're hoping to upgrade the existing
technology used by oil companies and oil-service
companies around the world."
The Greens say they are well on their way. They've
raised more than $1 million to finance GIT and have
recently partnered with one of the world's leading
manufacturers of magnetic resonance imaging for
non-medical applications in Texas.