UW research grant fight heating up

Ex-business partners in court over alleged forged signature involving rechargeable military batteries

WATERLOO — A University of Waterloo professor and his former business partner are gearing up for a legal battle as the federal watchdog into ethical research examines a forgery allegation tied to a $480,000 government grant.

The legal spat between Zhongwei Chen, a chemical engineering professor at UW, and Vancouver-based investor Allen Sun has been brewing for months.

It follows after the pair had a falling out over a research project to develop rechargeable batteries for military use.

Chen has slapped Sun with a $1.2-million lawsuit,

He claims his former business partner defamed him by publicly accusing him of using forgery to get a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSREC) grant.

“Professor Chen has been exposed to hatred, ridicule and contempt, and has suffered, and will continue to suffer, damage to his feelings and damage to his reputation,” according to Chen’s statement of claim.

“Sun’s malicious, high-handed and arrogant conduct also warrants an award of

punitive or exemplary damages to ensure Sun is appropriately punished for his conduct and deterred from such conduct in the future,” the statement of claim says.

Sun, who says his company has invested millions in Chen’s research over the years, has also hired a lawyer and plans to fight the lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The businessman claims Chen digitally forged Sun’s signature on an application used to get the NSERC grant. Chen, who did not respond to requests for an interview, told university officials he added Sun’s signature with his consent.

Sun alleges the professor forged his signature because he needed to change the name of the company listed as an investor in the battery project, supposedly to avoid a conflict of interest Chen would have had as a co-owner of a firm called Newtech Power.

NSERC’s code of funding states that lead researchers can’t also be owners of their partnering sponsors. Newtech Power, which both men had an ownership stake in, was not listed as a partner on the NSERC grant.

Chen, a Canada Research Chair in advanced materials for clean energy, and a director of Waterloo’s collaborative graduate program in nanotechnology, was awarded the $480,000 NSERC grant in August 2016.

But after Sun went public with his forgery complaint, the university said it would return the money to the federal government, at Chen’s request. It also wrote Sun a cheque for $78,000, to reimburse him for his company’s investment in the cancelled project.

Sun complained to the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research, the federal body that monitors government research grants. The secretariat is reviewing the case, but has yet to report on its findings.

The university says its own internal investigation found no wrongdoing, and adds it has cooperated fully with federal watchdog.

“The University submitted its investigation report to the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research in the summer of 2017. It is our understanding that the report is still with the Secretariat for review. It would be premature to offer any further comment at this point in time,” read a statement from Matthew Grant, the university’s director of media relations.

“At Professor Chen’s request, the University refunded all monies associated with the project. This included all monies provided by NSERC, as well as the $78,000 provided by Sun Solar as the project’s industry partner,” Grant added.

Sun also took his concerns to the RCMP and the Waterloo Regional Police, who are reviewing his claims. After his falling out with Chen, Sun was removed as CEO at Newtech, and his wife lost most of her shares in the company.